Closing out the Spring Season

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After the medal presentation at the Battery Conservancy’s 14th Annual Spring Gala.

This past Tuesday night there was a cocktail party at the Battery Bosque, garden designed by Dutch garden planner Piet Oudolf, for more than 400 guests who gathered for the Battery Conservancy’s 14th Annual Spring Gala.

They were celebrating the Battery’s revitalization and they honored the Kingdom of the Netherlands with the Battery Medal for Cultural Heritage.

Melissa Francis, Gala MC

Bill Rudin and Warrie Price

Following the cocktail party there was a dinner on the Battery’s waterfront promenade in a banquet style tent.

The tent’s interior was bedecked in orange construction fencing to celebrate the construction of New Amsterdam Plain & Pavilion, the Netherlands’ NY400 permanent gift which is to be located on the Battery’s Peter Minuit Plaza. In a tribute to the Dutch, the guests were festively dressed in royal orange, delft blue and porcelain white.

Melissa Francis and table

Fred Donor, Warrie Price, Frans Timmermans, Frank Bisignano, Melissa Francis, and Michele Oka Donor

The evening’s emcee was Melissa Francis, host of CNBC’s the Call and MSNBC’s It’s the Economy. Bill Rudin, Battery Conservancy Chairman, and NYC Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe presented the inaugural Battery Medal to Frans Timmermans, the Minister for European Affairs and International Cultural Policy. Mr. Timmermans has been politically responsible for the co-ordination of the input of the Dutch government into NY400 celebrations.

Also present at the awarding were Battery Conservancy President Warrie Price as well as Carol Ash, Chair of the NYS Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Lucy Waletzsky MD, National Parks of New York Harbor Commissioner Maria Burks, and head of the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, Joan Kaplan Davidson.

David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby's

Christine Roussel, Nancy Hoving, Robert Kloos, Harry Verweij, and Warrie Price

Every year, contributions raised by the Battery Gala fund over half of the Battery Conservancy’s park operations and cultural activities. More than 5 million people, including residents, office workers, school groups, and tourists from around the world, visit the park and its major landmarks. The Conservancy along with its partners at the city, state and federal levels, has raised more than $110 million to revitalize the park.

To learn more about the Battery Conservancy visit: www.thebattery.org

Joan Navin and Maureen Pearce

Bill Rudin, Samantha Rudin, and Rey Allan

Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner

Linda and Bob Douglass with Warrie Price

Tracy O'Rouke and Frank Bisignano

Warrie and Liz Atwood

Nick Daly and Alex Karabell

Piet Oudolf, Battery Garden Master Planner

Frans Timmermans, Bill Rudin, and Adrian Benepe

Michael Rudin and Sabrina Leichter

Louis Vuitton held a "Friends of the House Summer Cocktail Party" at Louis Vuitton in Soho last Tuesday night.

Tikka Singh, Daniel Lalonde, and Paul Helbers

DJ Jus Ske and DJ Sinatra

Daniel and Yvonne Lalonde

Laurent Boidevezi, Ulrich Wohn, and Peter Hunsinger

Christine Dutreil and Renaud Dutreil

Mark Cornell and Tikka Singh

David Hamilton and Renata Merriam

Bevy Smith, Mark Cornell, and Lucy Cornell

Christopher Bollen, Iana Dos Reis Nunes, and Aaron Hicklin

Amy Erbesfeld, Heather Vandenberghe, and Meg Sharp

Elizabeth Loomis

Jennifer Creel

Mona Sharf and Damon DeGraff

Eric Lichtmess and Michael Carl

Harmeet Singh, Aurelie Brunet, and Jerome Neutres

Maria Eliason, Cindi Leive, Howard Bernstein, and Connie Anne Phillips

Hunter Hill and J. Errico

Elizabeth H. Hughes and Michael Hughes

Hannah Castro and Sandra Marinello

Ed Kelly and Horatio Silva

Derek Blasberg, Jenn Brill, and Christopher Bollen

Geoffroy van Raemdonck, Dorothy Boissonnas, and Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia

Horatio Silva and Matthew Marden

Robert Quaintance Fomon and Jennifer Creel

Pamela Baxter and Gayatri Steeg

Kai Kuhne and Roxanne Lowit

Richard Story and Stefano Tonchi

Olivier Cheng and Jason Duchesne

Marc Ecko and Emil Wilbekin

Robert and Nancy Bezzone

Lauren Silverstein, Terrence Charles, and Paula Fortgang

Marcia Mossack, Glenn Pagan, and Nancy Bezzone

American Friends of the Louvre (AFL) hosted two galas in May to honor I.M. Pei and the 20th anniversary of his glass pyramid at the Louvre.

On May 12, Louvre director Henri Loyrette, architect I.M. Pei, AFL chair Christopher Forbes, and co-chair Becca Cason Thrash welcomed guests at a black-tie gala at the Pei-designed Four Seasons hotel in NYC.

Consul General of France Guy Yelda, Guy Wildenstein, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy Kareen Rispal, Ambassador of France To The U.S. Pierre Vimont, President-Director of The Louvre Henri Loyrette, Chairman of AFL Christopher Forbes

Attending guests included French Ambassador to the U.S. Pierre Vimont; New Yorkers Guy and Kristina Wildenstein, Patrick and Elizabeth Gerschel (Patrick is on the AFL board of directors), Stanley and Elizabeth DeForest Scott and real estate developer Will Zeckendorf and his wife, Laura; Houstonians Diane Farb, Ceron and Meg Goodman and Mike Bonini; Max Blumberg and Victoria Cummock from Miami, International Council of the Louvre members Kassidy Choi Schagrin from Washington, D.C., Charles and Tanya Brandes from San Diego, Gabrielle de Kuyper from Austin and Jules Brassner, San Lee and Mickey Beyer from Palm Beach; Los Angeles-based philanthropist Suzanne Saperstein, Sarah Meeker Jensen, June De Line and Diane Naegele also from Los Angeles; Consul General of France Guy Yelda, and Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy Kareen Rispal, among many others. Guests enjoyed cocktails, dinner, and a live auction emceed by Thrash, who helped raise $109,000 for the organization with only three lots.

I.M. Pei and Henri Loyrette

Ceron, Diane Fard, Suzanne Saperstein, and Christopher Roselli

Henri Loyrette and Becca Cason Thrash

June De Line and Sue Devine

Charles and Tanya Brandes

John Thrash and Beatrice Pei

Cecile Perrin, Victoria Cummock, and Kassidy Choi Schlagrin

Domitille Loyretta and Christopher Forbes

John Evatz and Kassidy Choi-Schagrin, Brett Sloan

Arthur and Elizabeth Mirante

Elizabeth Stafford, Joseph Baillio, and Elizabeth Scott

June De Line, Max Blumberg, and Sabine de La Rochefoucauld

Michelle Park, David Park, Gabrielle De Kuyper, and Christopher Forbes

Jules Brassner and San Lee

Irene Aitken, Mitzi Perdue, and Becca Cason Thrash

Michelle Conte and Thomas Guss

Then on Wednesday, May 20, the Young Patrons Circle of American Friends of the Louvre hosted their own “Soirée au Louvre” at The Centurion Condominium—the world’s first residential building to designed by Pei Partnership Architects and I.M. Pei—in partnership with Stillman Development International and ELLE magazine. Kipton Cronkite, Olivia Chantecaille, Peter Fitzpatrick and Catherine Forbes co-chaired the evening, where guests were privy to a live performance from the Afro-German singer Ayo in the Centurion’s Penthouse. David Chines, Jamie Johnson, Vogue’s Genevieve Bahrenburg, Dior’s Ellie Hawke, real-estate developer Robbie Antonio and many others enjoyed the festivities, which lasted well into the night.

Kipton Cronkite

Catherine Forbes and Lisa Anastos

Robbie Antonio

American Friends of the Louvre was founded in 2002 to strengthen ties between the Louvre, the most-visited cultural institution in the world, and its American public. Through its ongoing support, AFL raises awareness of the Louvre’s collections and programs and helps make the Louvre’s exhibitions and permanent collection more accessible to all English-speakers.