9.23.09: Rainclouds threatening and grey clouds promising

Rainclouds threatening and grey clouds promising

Looking north towards the Empire State Building from 15th Street and Sixth Avenue. 12:45 PM. Photo: JH.

September 23, 2009. Warm first of autumn day in New York with rainclouds threatening and grey clouds promising, but nevertheless no rain.

The story in New York is the traffic because it’s UN Week. Groan. Actually the story is logjam, not traffic.

On one block on East 48th Street, for example, the entire block was in lockdown (not uncommon elsewhere on the East Side) because Muammar Gaddafi is/was staying at the mission. A neighbor on the block, standing on the stoop of her brownstone reported: “about two hundred men in bow ties, shiny suits and many wearing porkpie hats walk by, reminding me of Malcolm X in appearance ... most of them texting ... carrying little pies. They are muslims. The guy with the tow-away truck parked in front of my house -- whom they were all embracing and saying ‘hello brother’ to -- says they are called bean pies.” This sort of thing, in one style or another, is going on frequently and elsewhere, including the ubiquitous big black SUV caravans and red and blue whirling police lights.

57th Street and Lexington Avenue at 8:15 with one lane at the junction closed off which created a backup crawl stretching into the upper 70s. Once past this junction with its brilliant traffic control, it was smooth sailing for the next fifteen bocks with no caravans of crosstown VIPs to interrupt our journey.

That’s the pleasant news, believe it or not. The unpleasant news is that by 7 last night, the city roads on the East Side of Manhattan were either at a standstill or blocked off from public thoroughfare. This is so a few distinguished folks can get to their receptions or favorite restaurants or what have you.

This is not new. Whoever figured out the logistics for city traffic is a failure. When the High Mucky Mucks come to town it’s proof. Sorry, but it’s true. We have too many cars in Manhattan and too many people who don’t follow the rules. Hundreds of thousands come across the bridge everyday, besides what’s already here. Add to this way too many poorly thought out and tinkered with street directionals. Oy is the nice way of putting it.

So when Mr. Big and his boys and girls come from all over the planet to the UN for the week to speechify and what have you, we have way too many security planners mucking up the flow of the city for the millions of us who live here and need to get around for work. It makes you think: These people could solve the world’s problems?


	The Century Association designed by Stanford White and built in 1891.

With all that, I forewent Michael’s (where I’m told President Clinton was hosting a lunch in the back terrace room), and went down to lunch as a guest at the Century Association. I am not a member, and never will be. The Century is one of those clubs that bans the use of its name in print, whenever it is in their power. There are others like this. The Knickerbocker, for example. So is the Racquet and Tennis. Several others. All the old WASP establishments (I know the Century doesn’t consider itself such, as such, although to the outsider it’s definitely the shoe fitting).

I think the No Mention/No Writing About (it does get written about, even in encyclopedias), is an absurd rule. In the 21st century the only real secrets of importance left are political and financial. And most of those are vile. All of these clubs are a celebration of the best of New York past (where no doubt certain members had their share of “vile” secrets too).

All of them are venerated in this particular age because the magnificence of their presence is tribute to the triumphs of that age. For its members and their guests, the legacy is excellent (if old fashioned) athletic, dining, and reading facilities to enhance their lives and contemplation. After that it’s all folderol, just like the rest of us.

That said, the Century is a wonderful old organization, established in 1847, and the clubhouse which was built in 1890-91, was designed by Stanford White. Because it’s been a solvent (presumably) organization all those years this monument to the American Gilded Age is in excellent condition, Also, for many of its members it’s a very desirable club for dining. They began admitting women members for the first time twenty years ago. Someone told me that Brooke Astor was the first member.

The I-Heart-NY tee-shirts on the corner of 77th and Third are 50% more than the same tees down next to the Apple Cube on Fifth and 59th.

Looking up at the beacon of Art Deco and modernism, the Chrysler Building, seen from 43rd and Fifth.

Reminders. Leaving the clubhouse after lunch, walking East on 43rd Street, heading over to Grand Central to take the subway uptown and avoid the traffic disaster, I couldn’t resist the Chrysler Building, presiding as a modern master.

I was a thinking of that line from Cole Porter’s “I Happen To Like New York,” (“I love looking up at the Chrysler Building…”), and so I took the picture. Like the place I had just left, the Chrysler Building, built forty years (and far departed) after the Century, is still a tribute to its age (which came along with the Great Depression).

Inside the Grand Central Terminal on my way to the subway I couldn’t resist a shot of its magnificence, and the ceiling which, as you may have been reminded here recently, was done by the portraitist of the Gilded Age, Paul Helleu.

From there it was onto the 6 Local Uptown. And off at 77th Street, now half way home and out of the melee. A magnificent mass transit system created by wise and clever planners with vision. Also from that same aforementioned age.

The Grand Promenade of Grand Central Terminal looking east at 3 pm.

Last night was the 10th Annual New Yorkers For Children Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street. You’ve read about this organization here before. It was started by Nicholas Scoppetta and Susan Burden and a group of New Yorkers including Oscar de la Renta and Beth DeWoody.

It was Mr. Scoppetta’s objective to give a leg up to foster children who are coming of age where they are released from the foster system. Mr. Scoppetta comes from the experience. NYers for Children’s fund-raising goes to encouraging young people to continue with their education and provides assistance financially and otherwise to those its programs.

The entrance to the evening.

The table setting.

The first course: heirloom tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella and the Cipriani light-crusted roll.

What began as an idea to help the community has grown into a majority charity on the New York social circuit. Last night they filled the vast hall of Cipriani, and brought out a great cross-section of New Yorkers contributing. The honoree was Mary J. Blige who needs no introdution. The glamorous Ms. Blige was looking very slender and chic in pink taffeta. 50 million albums and 9 Grammys later, she could admit to the guests last night that she had a hard time emotionally getting there.

She understood the dilemmas the foster children faced. She eventually turned her head around. She found her peace in herself and in her relationship with her husband. She has also started the Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN).

“The mission is to help women gain the confidence and skills necessary to reach their full individual potential.”

Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta telling the audience about how the NYFC came into being out of his own experience as a foster child.

The evening's star honoree, Mary J. Blige.

The brilliant Shantel Schloss, recipient of the 2009 NYFC Spirit Award describing her experience and her convictions to a rapt audience.

There were several speakers including Mr. Scoppetta, Ms. Blige and then Shantel Schloss who was the recipient of the 2009 New Yorkers For Children Spirit Award. Ms. Schloss, who is 20 and a junior at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is studying history with a concentration in American and African-American Studies. Her next objective is law school.

She’s tall and shy looking on meeting, but when she stepped up to the podium to deliver her acceptance speech in which told us of her life and how she became a mother to her siblings when her mother was sent to prison (“a repeat offender”), she had natural grace and amazing stature for a young woman.

The story of her mother’s revealing to her that she would be leaving, be going to jail, moved the room to deep silence. Then when she was fifteen, she was placed in foster care with an aunt. Her aunt, she said, opened her eyes to the importance of education. The presence of that stable adult in Shantel’s life was all she needed to motivate her to study and learn.

Glenn Coleman, ShaRhone F., Shantel Schloss, Chantelle, and Ismael Komara.

Friends and fans congratulating the honoree.

Her story of how she coped, how she raised herself through the turmoil to the point she is at today was recounted without emotion, or retribution toward anyone, especially toward her mother whom she loves. Triumph, adversity became her friend in learning. I was listening to a woman who is a leader.

There was also a video of other young people in the NYFC program, talking about how they’d dealt with the difficulties of the foster system and how with the assistance of NYFC they were looking upwards.

To learn more about New Yorkers for Children, or how you can contribute or assist, visit www.newyorkersforchildren.org.

Carlos Souza and Beth DeWoody

Muffie Potter Aston and Sharon Handler

Monique Maxwell

Richard Mishaan

Marcia Mishaan and George Farias

Pamela Gross and Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia

Colin Cowie and Christine Schwarzman

Anthony Taveras, Gillian Miniter, and Alexandra Lebenthal

Ines Rivero and Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos

Alina Cho

Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond

Katharina Otto-Bernstein and Dana Hammond Stubgen

Alexis Clark

Brad Shaheen

Rachel Hovnanian

Debbie Bancroft and Patricia Duff

Barbara de Portago and Geoffrey Bradfield

Nathan Bernstein and Peggy Siegal

Jonah Fay-Hurvitz and Kyle DeWoody

The New York Philharmonic opened its 168th season with their Opening Night Gala and concert on last Wednesday night at Avery Fisher Hall. And gala it was with a glittering cocktail reception for a wide array of distinguished and prominent New Yorkers, followed by concert and dinner.

Under the direction of Music Director Alan Gilbert in his inaugural season, with guest soprano Renée Fleming, the New York Philharmonic performed the World Premiere of EXPO, a New York Philharmonic commission by Magnus Lindberg, Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi, and Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz.

Alec Baldwin, Paul Calello, and Gary Parr served as this year’s Gala Chairmen. Gerald L. Hassell served as the Gala’s Executive Vice Chairmen with global sponsor Credit Suisse. Mr. Parr is also the new Chairman of the Philharmonic. The evening raised $2.5 million with a list of more than 800 guests.


	New York Philharmonic Chairman Designate and Gala Co-Chair Gary W. Parr

Among the glittering array in the black tie evening were: Christiane Amanpour and James Rubin, Robert DeNiro and Grace Hightower, Billy Joel, Meryl Streep, Robert and Denise Benmosche, Artist-in-Residence Thomas Hampson, Robert and Beverly Bartner, Sid and Mercedes Bass, The Honorable Donald and Vera Blinken, Kenneth and Noreen Buckfire, Lori Singer, Matt Haimovitz, James and Nancy Buckman Frank A. and Mary Lake Bennack, Daniel and Anna Nikolayevsky Benton, Yefim Bronfman, Judith Carson, Yoko Nagae Ceschina, Gustavo and Patricia Cisneros, H. Rodgin Cohen, John S. and Jill Chalsty, Alan D. and Betsy Cohn, Toos N. and Hira Daruvala, Richard S. and Susan Braddock, Richard and Jennie DeScherer, Timothy and Cosby George, Peter and Barbara Georgescu, Gunther and Renata Greiner, Florence Davis and Tony Gooch, Elizabeth de Cuevas, Paul Demarais, Sr. and Jacqueline Desmarais, Katherine G. Farley and Jerry I. Speyer, Professor Meyer Feldberg and Barbara Feldberg, Niall Ferguson, J. Christopher Flowers, Alan and Sandra Gerry.

Wait, there’s more: The Honorable Roy M. Goodman, Robert M. Frehse, Jr. and Dale Frehse, John French, III and Marina French, Leonard S. and Jennifer Gruenberg, G. Chris Andersen and Sung E. Han-Andersen, Robert and Colleen Hekemian, Peter and Barbara Georgescu, John and Maggy Kongsgaard, Gurnee and Marjorie Hart, Robert and Mary Henrikson, Roger and Susan Hertog, Eugene and Barbara Kohn, Bruce and Suzie Kovner , Henry and Marie-Josée Kravis, Frederick Krimendahl, II and Emilia A. Saint-Amand, Honey Kurtz, Stewart Lane, Petra Lang, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder, Laurence C. Leeds, Jr. and Dalia Leeds, Richard and Karen LeFrak, John and Betty Levin, William Lewis and Carol Sutton Lewis, Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, Samuel and Linda Lindenbaum, Kenneth Lipper, Albert and Carol Lowenthal, Alan and Christina MacDonald, Morris and Susan Mark, Peter and Leni May, William and Suzanne McDonough, Thomas and Diahn McGrath, David and Nancy McKinney, Slade and Phyllis Mills, Vivian Milstein, Sylvester and Gillian Miniter.

And even more: Georgette Mosabacher, The Honorable Frank and Lizabeth Newman, Charles and Anne Niemeth, Martin and Suzanne Oppenheimer, Stuart Orsher and Gladys George, Liliane Peck, Donald Pels and Wendy Keys, Itzhak and Toby Perlman, Charles and Elaine Petschek, Joel and Joan Picket, Cynthia and Leon Polsky, Peter and Barbara Regna, Ira and Ingeborg Rennert, Thomas and Elizabeth Renyi, Leon and Paula Root, Benjamin and Donna Rosen, James and Barbara Schadt, Charles and Carol Schaefer, Oscar and Didi Schafer, Marvin and Donna Schwartz, Martin and Edith Segal, Charles Shirley Shamel, Fred and Irene Shen, Joel and Joan Smilow, Dick and Ann Solomon, Paul and Daisy Soros, Michael and Joan Steinberg, Leonard and Allison Stern, The Honorable Scott Stringer, Peter and Lynn Tishman, Donald and Barbara Tober, Ronald and Christie Ulrich, John and Lauren Veronis, Geza and Elizabeth Von Habsburg, Mary J. Wallach, Stanford and Sandra Warshawsky, Bruce and Angela Wasserstein, Sandy and Joan Weill, James and Elaine Wolfensohn, Masamoto and Yoko Yashiro, and Ann Ziff. Not quite 800 but enough said.

New York Philharmonic Board Member Honey M. Kurtz, New York Philharmonic Board Member Ronald J. Ulrich, and Christie Ulrich

Frank Newman and Lizabeth A. Newman, New York Philharmonic Board Member

Diane Guenther and Paul B. Guenther, New York Philharmonic Chairman

New York Philharmonic Board Member Karen T. LeFrak and Richard LeFrak

Deborah Dampiere, Billy Joel, Lori Singer, Matt Haimovitz, and Alec Baldwin, Gala Co-Chair

New York Philharmonic Board Member Alan S. MacDonald and Christina MacDonald

Joan and Sandy Weill

New York Philharmonic President and Executive Director Zarin Mehta and Carmen Mehta

New York Philharmonic Board Member Sung E. Han-Andersen

Katherine Farley

Gillian Miniter

New York Philharmonic Board Member and Gala Co-Chair Paul Calello and his daughter Jin

New York Philharmonic Board Member Oscar S. Schafer and Didi Schafer

New York Philharmonic Board Member Frederick Krimendahl and Emilia A. Saint-Amand

Paul Soros and Daisy M. Soros, New York Philharmonic Board Member

Henry R. Kravis and Marie-Josée Kravis

Vera Blinkin and Ambassador Donald Blinkin

New York Philharmonic Board Member Timothy M. George and Cosby George

Then, last Monday night a week, The New York Public Library presented its annual President’s Council Fall Dinner. The event took place at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street with 140 guests were in attendance.

Special guest Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the award-winning author of Infidel spoke about her dramatic escape from an arranged marriage and her abandonment of the Muslim faith that has made her a target for violent threats from extremists.

Ms. Hirsi was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” of 2005, received the Prix Simone de Beauvoir for women’s freedom in 2008, and is now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. Ms. Ali was interviewed by Lawrence Wright, author, screenwriter, playwright, and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine.

The President's Council Fall Dinner at The New York Public Library

President's Council Co-Chairs Louise Grunwald, Alice Tisch, and Gayfryd Steinberg with guest speaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The highest category of membership at The New York Public Library, the President’s Council is a select group of individuals from this country and abroad who have an interest in libraries and education; and in The New York Public Library in particular.

Co-Chairmen for the President’s Council are Louise Grunwald, Gayfred Steinberg, and Alice Tisch.