There was a light rain in Manhattan last night when they held the second annual Fete de Swifty, the largest, chicest block party in New York held in a big white tent that extended for the entire block on East 73rd Street from Lexington to Third Avenue. The event is the brainchild of syndicated columnist Liz Smith in order to raise funds for the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York.

Mayor Bloomberg with Nancy and Joe Missett

The Mayor was there, along with the more than 650 congregating for this do and they raised more than $500,000 for the Fund. These dollars are earmarked for after-school programs in the City’s parks so that the kids have something to do after school – especially the kids who might otherwise be going home to empty houses because their parents are working.

It was just one big giant cocktail party with the best buffet tables in town filled with freshly roasted turkey, chicken, beef, baked ham, cheeses, breads; tables of clams and oysters on the half shell along with shrimp, plus tables of desserts, bars, not to mention a waitstaff passing around the hors d’oeuvres that Swifty's is famous for – the pig-in-a-blankets, the little hamburgers on the mini-roll.

There was the lady on stilts, the jumpin’-jiminy, the hat lady who instantly and deftly creates hats with a pair of scissors and colored paper. There was the life-sized cut-out of Paris Hilton which many were photographed next to as well as the instant photo-booth that had a line practically around the block waiting to get in.

It was a big crowd, all ages and sizes and shapes. It was scheduled from 6 to 9 although the last of them were filtering out at almost ten o’clock.

Jamie Niven conducting last night's live auction

It was a busy Monday night in New York. Right across the street from the Fete de Swifty, there were actor’s trailers parked along the avenue as well as vans filled with tech equipment because they were filming the screen version of “The Devil Wears Prada,” a roman a clef about Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue.

Further down the avenue, and over on Park at 68th at the Council on Foreign Relations building (the former Harold Pratt mansion), there was a book party for Carole Radziwill who’s written about her late husband Tony, the son of Lee Radziwill, and his late, beloved cousin John F. Kennedy Jr. This party was hosted by Pete Peterson and his wife Joan Ganz Cooney and although I wasn’t there, no doubt brought out a lot of the boldfaced names.

Then, even farther down the Avenue, at The Four Seasons restaurant at the very same hour, Richard Johnson, the voice of Page Six in the New York Post and his fiancee Sessa von Richthofen were celebrating their engagement party with another crowd of bold-faced names and many others who would like to be. Congratulations Richard and Sessa; you were missed at the Fete de Swifty. We'll have even more pics for you on Wednesday, so stay tuned ...