Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:58:05 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Amanda Gordon :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Amanda+Gordon istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/fit-couture-council-launches-fall-social-season/85169/ Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Some people say New York's social season won't begin until the Metropolitan Opera or Carnegie Hall have their opening-night galas (on September 22 and September 24, respectively). But this view is obsolete: New York women are just too industrious and too charitably engaged to wait that long. And so, yesterday, two days after Labor Day, the social season launched at a gala for the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, organized by its supporters group, the Couture Council. It was the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/fashion-weeks-first-and-largest-runway/85102/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The Brooklyn Bridge is a New York treasure, to be sure, but last night it became apparent that it may also be the world's most perfect runway. Fashion Indie Week Brooklyn launched with a fashion show that used the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle and pedestrian path as its runway. At a quarter to 7 in the evening, just as a dusty pink hue had sunk into the city skyline, some two dozen models marched onto the path, starting on the Brooklyn side and walking to the center white line that divides traffic... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/savoring-summer-african-dance-and-film-at/84917/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST A lot of events in Central Park emphasize its grandness, but the park also offers neighborhood events that are just as magical, like the one that took place Wednesday night on the Harlem Meer, at East 110th Street. Just as the fishermen and teens on scooters headed home, about 100 people spread out on the lawn for a performance of Ivorian drummers and dancers from the Kotchegna Dance Company, followed by a screening of a 2008 documentary about Bob Marley, "Africa Unite." The event was the first... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/style/dennis-basso-moves-beyond-fur/84988/ Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST After years of outfitting women in stylish furs, Dennis Basso is giving his clients fashion for the rest of their closets. Next Tuesday, as part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Bryant Park, Mr. Basso will present the debut of his first complete ready-to-wear collection — with hardly a pelt of fur in it. Although he has created two small spring collections in the past two years, the spring 2009 collection is the first to have a full runway show. Mr. Basso's appearance at the tents, along with... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-sunny-party-with-a-serious-agenda/84800/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST When Betsy McCaughey is on her subject — reducing death from infections contracted in hospitals — she glows. So at the recent fund-raising party for the organization she founded, the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, she held the crowd's attention with ease. It helped that she was surrounded by sunflowers at Henry Buhl's Southampton home, where the party took place: giant ones planted in the ground, painted ones found on the glasses and pool cushions, and sculpture renditions in the front... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/mcenroe-makes-a-racket-for-city-tennis-instruction/84715/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST John McEnroe's band kicked off its hour-long set last night at the U.S. Open hospitality tent with David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust," and rocked through "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who, and other classic rock favorites. It wasn't a center-court match, but it wasn't a bad way to spend the cocktail hour of the City Parks Foundation benefit to raise funds for its year-round tennis instruction in neighborhood parks. The benefit will help support several hundred instructors teaching about 8,000 children... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/the-belles-gents-of-the-hudson-river-park-blues/84536/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Olga Brodsky had a tragicomic explanation of the short black minidress she was wearing yesterday at Hudson River Park's ninth annual Blues BBQ Festival at Pier 54: "I bought this dress at Loehmann's just now because a bird pooped on me as we were walking over," Ms. Brodsky, who was out celebrating her friend Monica Chase's 25th birthday, said. Twanna Hines had dressed in less of a state of emergency. "It's summer — still — so I knew I wanted to wear a sundress," Ms. Hines said. "But I chose a... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/blue-bloods-blue-boxes-reemerge-at-tiffany-ball/84079/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST New York designer and architectural scholar Thomas Jayne spent Friday visiting homes in Newport before attending the Preservation Society of Newport County fund-raising gala on Friday night, the Tiffany Ball. The visit was part of his research designing his first furniture line, inspired by Newport, R.I., living, which launched in the spring under the auspices of the society. One of his most successful pieces to date is a canopy bed with a green quilted headboard and footboard. The initiative... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/an-artists-retrospective-in-just-the-right-setting/83973/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Emotions were tender and exuberant at the gala preview of the "Larry Rivers: Early Major Works" exhibition at Guild Hall's museum in East Hampton. The exhibition contains paintings and collages from the 1950s and 1960s, a period during which Rivers, who died in 2002, forged a path from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. On view are works examining historical subjects — Napoleon, the Civil War, and the Russian Revolution — as well as the artist's own friends and family. A separate exhibition... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/authentic-simple-refined-a-night-with-david-monn/83889/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST When the planner of perhaps the world's most elegant parties throws a party himself, what can a guest expect? At David Monn's home in Bridgehampton on Friday, about 200 guests, including Martha Stewart, Jock Soto, Kathy Hilton, Catherine Marron, Linda Janklow, Bob Colacello, Brooke Neidich, Fern Mallis, and Patrick McMullan, started the party on a candlelit pathway running next to a moon- (and artificially-) lit duck pond, with its own strange and natural quacking symphony. Somewhere along the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/its-summertime-and-the-junior-fund-raisings-easy/83776/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The summer months have long been considered off-season for fund-raising galas, but this year they have emerged as the high season to gather young donors. The Museum of the City of New York held its inaugural Big Apple Bash for its Young Members Circle on Thursday, drawing more than 200 patrons officially between the ages of 21 and 39 — but, in reality, mostly under 30, and easily found on Facebook. The guests, some of whom are pictured here, sipped acai berry vodka cocktails, listened to music... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/partying-in-honor-of-a-glamorous-locales-local/83594/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Those looking for reading material for the beach, a lounge chair by the pond, or wherever one goes to read in a resort of international renown, found exactly what they needed at the East Hampton Library's fund-raising Authors Night on Saturday. The event, in its fourth year, is an increasingly popular summer tradition on the East End. The cocktail hour was spent under a tent next to the library, where 75 scribes signed copies of their books; afterward, the authors became guests of honor in... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/stars-rockers-and-weeping-willows-a-night/83484/ Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Bring your beer, your children, and your strollers," the president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, Marianna Koval, said to the crowd gathered at the Tobacco Warehouse on Wednesday night. The crowd contained beer drinkers, parents, and everything in between: Law student Kathryn Tyler read "An Introduction to the American Legal System," waiting for the band French Kicks to go on. Butcher Reid Dodson admired the park's "picturesque" weeping willow. The Asmundsson family came to watch the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/catering-to-a-younger-crowd-at-the-met/83287/ Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST When you're a college student in New York City for the summer, the night is always young, but it felt particularly so Friday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the 18- to 22-year-old set assembled for a viewing of Jeff Koons's giant heart and puppy dog sculptures on the roof, followed by a screening of a film written by Dr. Seuss, "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," a fantastical story about a boy, a plumber, and an evil piano teacher. "It sounded weirder than anything else we were thinking of... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/christies-art-star-wields-power-welcome-mat/83091/ Mon, 4 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Standing by a fireplace and a table stacked with art books, the hostess gave her formal welcome, smiling broadly and gesturing with her arms not only to guests but to her children looking on from a balcony above. "And if you don't eat more food, I'll be really annoyed," she said. As a deputy chairman at Christie's America, Amy Cappellazzo spends a lot of her time coaxing and educating collectors in preparation for big auctions; since 2001, she has presided over sales of postwar and contemporary... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/the-lincoln-center-family/83034/ Fri, 1 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Mayor Bloomberg turned up at the Mostly Mozart Festival's opening night gala on Tuesday to introduce the honoree, Richard DeScherer, his lawyer and a personal friend. "I'll do this introduction quickly as I know you're billing me by the hour," Mr. Bloomberg joked, going on to praise Mr. DeScherer's "outstanding service and unfailing common sense." Mr. DeScherer, a Lincoln Center board member who has recently been involved in the financing of its redevelopment, named three influences on his life... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-night-of-gothic-proportions/85271/ Fri, 5 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST 'I'm used to standing out everywhere I go," designer Kambriel said last night at the opening party for the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology's "Gothic: Dark Glamour" exhibit. But this night was different. Dressed in a gown of her own design with a black bodice and spider-web sleeves, and with an entourage of friends and models dressed also in her dramatic designs, Kambriel blended in with the crowd. "It's wonderful," she said. The Gothic look was not only on display in the exhibit... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/new-york/new-food-watchwords-at-6-private-schools-local/85005/ Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST When school starts in the next few days, children at Nightingale-Bamford, St. David's School, and Birch Wathen Lenox will be eating greens from Satur Farms on the North Fork, drinking milk from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in Ancramdale, N.Y., and eating eggs and apples from Breezy Hill Orchards in Staatsburg, N.Y. Cater to You is going local with the school lunch menus at the six private school dining halls it manages. Contrary to expectations, the cost is about the same as with the previous... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/supporting-our-parks-very-very-very-fine/82976/ Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST "Teach Your Children Well" harmonized Crosby, Stills and Nash at its SummerStage concert Tuesday night. But on such a pristine evening — with the sun setting behind the trees, a mild breeze blowing, and a fashion parade of 7,000 hippies, hipsters, and others singing along — the theme could just as easily have been "Treat Your Park Well." It was certainly the sentiment at the preconcert fund-raising cocktail party organized by the City Parks Foundation. With 330 guests, the event raised $160,000... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/the-keigwin-high/82860/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The glow at the Viceroy on Monday night seemed to affect everyone, but perhaps no one moreso than Larry Keigwin, the dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of the troupe Keigwin & Company. Arriving after his company's performance, the first in a four-night engagement at the Joyce Theater featuring the New York City premiere of "Elements," Mr. Keigwin said, "I'm filled with joy and love, really, I'm ecstatic." It was a joyful moment in a young career already studded with dance highs. Mr... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/philanthropy-gets-physical-at-the-garden/82717/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The Fitch's Corner Horse Trials in Millbrook, N.Y.; Camp Eisner's 50th birthday Shabbat in Great Barrington, Mass.; the New York Yacht Club's races in Newport, R.I., and the Watermill Center benefit in Watermill, N.Y.: all these events over the weekend (to name but a few) demonstrated in splendid fashion how much summer is meant to be spent in the great outdoors. But indoors can be fun, too, especially when its the center court at Madison Square Garden. That's where a few dozen children... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/an-informal-gathering-for-lewitters/82641/ Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It's easy enough to miss a good party, but I can't go without writing about the extraordinary party I missed at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (known as Mass MoCA) earlier this month. The event on July 12 was an informal gathering to toast and tour the progress on an installation of 100 of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings in a former factory on the MASS MoCA campus in North Adams. The artist himself planned it before his death in April 2007. "It was one of the greatest experiences I've had... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-symphony-of-sculpture/82533/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Vermont artist Kathryn Lipke Vigesaa has been drawing chuckles with her sculpture on display this summer in downtown Lenox, Mass.: "Melt/Water" brings the beach to the Berkshires in an installation of two Adirondack chairs and a deck facing a triptych of water scene photographs — all of it on a patch of green grass adjacent to the town library. A speaker underneath the deck plays sounds of the lapping ocean. I have an idea for a companion work, placed in beach territory, perhaps next to the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/the-bang-on-a-can-sonic-vacation/82452/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST A performance with Bang on a Can brought poet and musician Lee Ranaldo — most famously of the band Sonic Youth — to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Mass., during the weekend. The concert, with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, was part of the New York-based music collective's July residency at the museum, which has featured two recitals daily and concludes Saturday night with an appearance by Terry Riley. Mr. Ranaldo started with a solo (a welcomed, last-minute addition... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/the-impresarios-boogie-night/81987/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST To introduce a night of disco dancing with the band the Loser's Lounge on Friday night, Bill Bragin wore a blue polyester leisure suit, with two BlackBerrys bulging out of his pocket. A few times, he danced with his wife, Lisa Philp, the global head of philanthropic services at JPMorgan Private Bank. And he worked: checking the BlackBerrys or conferring in person with colleagues in security, production, marketing, and ticket sales (the event sold out almost immediately). It was Mr. Bragin's... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/style/a-lasting-impression-finding-the-best-hostess/81857/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST For many New Yorkers the summer season brings with it the promise of invitations to share houses and country homes. While trips to the Hamptons, Nantucket, and other destinations offer opportunities for leisurely activities or festive dining, these weekend engagements and parties can stir up deliberation on what gift to bring. A host worth her thread count in bed linens will probably not expect a gift from invited guests, but the right token can ensure a positive, lasting impression — and a... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/sand-and-sun-at-the-parrish/81798/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The traffic flow of the Parrish Art Museum's Midsummer Party is as predictable as the tide: Guests race through the museum's summer exhibit, then settle in for food and drink in two tents, one with a large tree in the middle, another with a formal garden in the center. And when the "After Ten" party for young patrons starts, few make it into the museum at all. This year's party on Saturday night was different: The exhibit "Sand: Memory, Meaning, and Metaphor," curated by Alicia Longwell, drew... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/movers-shakers-converge-at-pillow/81220/ Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST There's a lot of talk about collaboration in the Berkshires, but so far this year, only one summer-season gala has brought together so many of the region's heavy hitters: the season-opening fund-raiser for Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Add the choreographers, dancers, and teachers assembled (Sandra Burton, Garth Fagan, Bill T. Jones, Anna-Marie Holmes), and there was a preponderance of talent, delighting in a thoroughly charming place — the festival's campus in Becket, Mass., where exhibits... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/shakespeare-swings/81106/ Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST To all those who did not see me covering parties in the Hamptons last month, please accept my apologies. As some of you may know, I have a crush on another resort area. The Berkshires doesn't have FreshDirect delivery. It does have the Berkshire Co-op Market and Guido's, and — here's where my knees get weak — gems of cultural institutions with gem supporters. At Shakespeare & Company on Saturday night, I met a donor who has helped fund a clever renovation of an underused building on the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/an-artist-meets-his-patrons/80945/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The Waterfalls party on Thursday night at South Street Seaport gave the patrons who helped fund the $15 million art project an opportunity to meet its artist, Olafur Eliasson. "The waterfalls are meant to be experienced individually, but they are also meant to be a shared experience," Mr. Eliasson said. The crowd of arts and civic leaders included the head of the Art Production Fund, Yvonne Force Villareal, a former chairman of the Museum of Modern Art, Robert Menschel, the director of the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/supporting-local-health-care/80946/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Against a backdrop of an election-year national debate on health care, New Yorkers gathered Thursday to raise money for the United Hospital Fund, which supports quality care and financing at local hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. "New York City is a place that has leadership," the president of the fund, James Tallon, said as about 200 people gathered around him. The fund has attracted leaders such as Marianne Hardart, a director in the Child Life division at New York University Medical... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/hot-city-nights/80834/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The eighth annual Friends of the High Line benefit on Wednesday, which raised $2.4 million, celebrated some of the individual donors who, in tandem with government allocations, are helping to turn a beautiful dream about an abandoned segment of railroad into an actual, incredibly imaginative park, using what the High Line design team of Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro call "agri-tecture." Lisamaria and Philip Falcone gave money to build the stairs at 14th Street. The 10th Avenue... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/gluttons-for-charity/80759/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Tim Zagat casually made the rounds at the City Harvest tasting event on Tuesday night, sampling dishes from 29 restaurants. The food ranged from chef Cheryl Smith's chicken wings topped with arugula, from Cheryl's Global Soul in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, to chef Luc Dimnet's foie gras, enriched with a caramel cherry vinegar sauce and served on tortillas, from Brasserie in midtown Manhattan. It would have been in character for the creator of the Zagat restaurant surveys to critique the fare... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/new-york/recalling-a-career-of-speeding-after-modern-art/80650/ Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST John Elderfield has spent 30 years hunting down works for the Museum of Modern Art, but on Monday, at a farewell party in his honor, the tables were turned. With the all-Bob Dylan soundtrack Mr. Elderfield had selected for the event temporarily halted, the museum's director, Glenn Lowry, presented Mr. Elderfield with a Jasper Johns print. It was a fitting token of appreciation: One of Mr. Elderfield's achievements as the museum's chief curator of paintings and sculpture — one described as... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/feting-a-spiritual-and-social-home/80629/ Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Marc and Eve Karstaedt received enthusiastic greetings as they introduced their 7-year-old son, David, one of the few children at the Jewish Center's annual gala on Monday. "Family is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the Jewish Center," Mrs. Karstaedt, a stay-at-home mom, said of the Modern Orthodox synagogue and community center on the Upper West Side. "It serves as a spiritual and social home," Mr. Karstaedt, a wealth adviser and international wealth specialist at Morgan... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/romancing-the-stone/80472/ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Early in the evening Saturday, Pritzker prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando climbed a trail in the woods with red lanterns and chimes hanging from tree branches, crane and koi fish puppets dancing above him, and the country air filled with the sounds of a Japanese drum troupe. A few hundred others followed, making their way to the opening party for Mr. Ando's building, the Stone Hill Center, at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/introductions-for-a-green-arrival/80418/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The Dutch designer who will lead the creation of a park and promenade on Governors Island, Adriaan Geuze of West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture, received a high-powered welcome Monday night at the Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Geuze started the working party clinking glasses with landscape architect Laurie Olin, a member of the jury that selected West 8 for its first commission in America, along with Rogers Marvel, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Quennell Rothschild, and SMWM. He ended the party... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/meet-at-the-castle/80300/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Before the crowd at the opening night of Shakespeare in the Park enjoyed "Hamlet," they enjoyed, at a pre-show supper that raised $1.5 million, speeches inspired by "Hamlet." "To sponsor or not to sponsor?" the president of Bank of America's private wealth division, Alan Rappaport, said, referring to the financial support the bank gives to the Public Theater's presentation of Shakespeare in the Park. The answer was a definitive yes. Mayor Bloomberg could have talked about what he will or will... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/opening-doors-in-city-and-in-israel/80197/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Putting aside the extravagance of a dessert buffet offering mini pecan pies, fresh kiwi, blackberries, and cherries, lemon sorbet, profiteroles, Florentine cookies, and chocolate-colored strawberries, the American Friends of the Open University of Israel exhibited good judgment at its annual fund-raiser on Monday night. The organization chose an appropriate venue: the Plaza Hotel, owned and newly restored by an Israeli businessman, Isaac Tshuva. For the students of the Open University, many of... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/fresh-coat-of-party-for-the-citys-historic-houses/80046/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Paint swatch samples were napkin rings at the Historic House Trust of New York City's 20th anniversary gala honoring the paint company Benjamin Moore. The company "has literally painted the town," Mayor Bloomberg said, "and not only the Little Red Lighthouse." The lighthouse is one of 22 structures that receive support from the trust, which Thursday raised $460,000 at its best-attended party, and announced it has raised $200,000 as part of a $1 million endowment campaign. Mr. Bloomberg said... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/bringing-their-new-york-to-the-big-screen/80051/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST At the Ghetto Film School benefit held recently at Bottino in Chelsea, film industry professionals celebrated the talents they believe are the future of their business, such as Ariel Morales, of the Lower East Side, who decided he wanted to be a filmmaker after seeing "Raising Victor Vargas," because it captured his own neighborhood so vividly, and Naheem Kujenya, of Staten Island, who already has his own production company, Wrong Number Films. "I would love to hire a good director from the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/park-of-originality/79963/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST To the Battery they came, from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Governors Island, and the middle of Manhattan, for the Battery Conservancy's annual gala. The honorees came: the director of the New Museum, Lisa Phillips, and the president and chief executive of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mark Wagar. The patrons came: Elizabeth Atwood, Frank Bisignano, and William Rudin (the conservancy's chairman), to name a few. The designer Charlotte Pinson came. She is the one who made the president of the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/man-vs-museum/79837/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Art often overpowered guests at the Museum of Modern Art's 40th annual Party in the Garden Tuesday, demonstrating not only how pale and short people can look compared to a lot of modern art, but also how complex the relationships can be between museums and their supporters. Even though 850 people paid thousands of dollars to dress up and eat beef tenderloin, even though some of them had their names on the walls, the Museum of Modern Art imposed its presence. The expansions of the past few years... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/arts/jacobs-pillow-creativity-award-to-alonzo-king/79826/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Shaolin monks, jazz musicians, and the Pygmies of Central Africa are just some of the people choreographer Alonzo King has invited onstage to perform with the classically trained dancers of his LINES Ballet, the company he founded 26 years ago in San Francisco. These collaborations have helped establish Mr. King internationally as a choreographer and teacher who simultaneously embraces classical ballet and other forms of dance and movement. And now they've helped him become the recipient of the... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/for-ballet-togas-and-croissants/79482/ Fri, 6 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST On Monday, dancers and patrons of the New York City Ballet will pretend they are in Rome for a fund-raising party planned in large part by the dancers and led by Megan Fairchild, Sean Suozzi, and Georgina Pazcoguin. The dancers so embraced the theme that they posed in Roman costume for photographs by Arthur Elgort, which were used on the event invitation. But partying in Europe isn't just a fantasy. In September, the dancers will go to Paris to perform at the Paris Opera — and the itinerary... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/promoting-mental-health-on-campus/79483/ Fri, 6 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST It's early for parents and high-school seniors to be tackling the pre-college summer agenda: packing towels and Band-Aids, browsing through the course catalog, and learning the names of the freshman roommates, to name a few items. So there's plenty of time to heed the message conveyed at the Jed Foundation gala Wednesday, that parents and students should prepare for the mental health challenges of a big transition year, and of the college years in general. A child's life could depend on it... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/the-gores-and-wynton-marsalis-join-schiff-safari/79385/ Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST With some civilized partygoers crowded around him, Wynton Marsalis's trumpet playing Tuesday night at the Central Park Zoo wasn't quite a call of the wild. But the managing partner of Kuhn, Loeb & Company, David Schiff, got called some wild things at the safari-themed event in his honor, a fund-raiser for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Noting that a past honoree, Howard Phipps, had "practically a whole colony of Naked Mole Rats" at the Bronx Zoo named after him, Mr. Schiff's daughter... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/out-about/79260/ Wed, 4 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST At the New-York Historical Society's annual Strawberry Festival Luncheon on Monday, the society's president, Louise Mirrer, sounded remarkably Victorian in her remarks about the event's honoree, Nancy Newcomb. "She has performed exquisitely in public life, and in her personal life, she has been beyond reproach," Ms. Mirrer said, sounding like she could have been speaking at the society's first Strawberry Festival, back on June 15, 1856. Fortunately, in 2008, the language seemed to suit Ms... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/new-york/sweeping-up-soho-cleaning-up-lives/79272/ Wed, 4 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Something unusual is going on in the windows of Bloomingdale's SoHo this week: The mannequins, instead of being dressed in the latest summer fashions, are wearing the uniforms and holding the brooms of the men who sweep the streets and sidewalks of SoHo, picking up 15,000 pounds of trash a day. The tribute to the SoHo Partnership, a privately funded organization that works to keep the neighborhood clean — it received a cleanliness scorecard rating of 98 out of 100 from the New York City... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/embracing-the-child-within/79068/ Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Within every successful, hard-driving, fund-raising New York adult is a smiley, giggling child, as demonstrated at the Sesame Workshop gala. The chairman of Time Warner Inc., Richard Parsons, was in a suit and standing very tall Wednesday night, but one could see the boy within as he greeted Elmo and his Indian counterpart, Chamki, who appears on "Galli Galli Sim Sim," India's locally produced version of "Sesame Street." Time Warner is Sesame Workshop's corporate partner in India. The gala was...