Copyright 2009 The New York Sun Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:48:46 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Out & About :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/new-york-night-and-day/86855/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The day The New York Sun published a letter to readers stating that the paper was in danger of closing, I was at the New York Public Library's flagship building. I had come to write, but all I could think about was the parties I had attended there on assignment for the Sun. The rooms that day were quiet, well lit, and filled with people hard at work studying their many subjects — and so were foreign to me, who knew them best filled by candlelight and men and women in evening attire, deep in... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/film-buffs-go-back-to-class-at-festival-opening/86795/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST During a sober time in America, the New York Film Festival opened on a serious note, with "The Class," a French film about the struggles between a teacher and his students, directed by Laurent Cantet. And so while the festival's opening night is traditionally the most glittering, red-carpeted affair of the year for the Film Society of Lincoln Center, instead, it was an evening and celebration that remained focused on, well, the important things. The film's examination of how students from... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/at-hebrew-university-gala-ross-talks-peace/86790/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The Greater New York Region chapter of the American Friends of the Hebrew University raised $800,000 Thursday night for its Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, which is the largest research center in Israel focused on conflict resolution in the Middle East. Scholars at the institute are studying contemporary Palestinian youth culture; human rights in the Arab countries, and the choices Israeli soldiers make while manning a checkpoint and in other situations they... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-remembrance/86794/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The task of coordinating the service of meals to hundreds of people at the same moment, in a cramped, gala setting, is a complex, high-stakes endeavor. One woman who performed this task with honor was Bettina Felder, who passed away in May after a brave battle with cancer. Felder ensured the perfect serving of thousands of baked Alaskas, pats of butter, and potatoes au gratin, not to mention the wine and water glasses she kept filled. Working for the catering company Glorious Food for more than... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/all-the-mets-a-stage-at-125th-seasons-opening/86694/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST On October 22, 1883, 125 years ago, the Metropolitan Opera, at 39th and Broadway, had its first opening night. The opera was "Faust," seats were $1, and the program carried advertisements for Runkel's chocolates and coal. As for quality, wrote New York Tribune critic Henry Krehbiel, "The performance of the opera was on the average plan of performances of the same work ... not better as a whole nor worse as a whole." Since then, the world has been watching the Met, both the boxes and the stage... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/on-the-town-for-carnegie-hall/86588/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Before the sun set last night, the town's swells had suited up in their finery and gathered for cocktails at Carnegie Hall, to open the hall's 118th season and kick off a citywide festival celebrating our city's beloved Lenny, that is the late composer and conductor who ran the New York Philharmonic and wrote "West Side Story" and "On the Town," Leonard Bernstein. "I've been in sneakers all summer, and this week, it's back to the party shoes," Joan Weill, the wife of the chairman of Carnegie... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-park-salute-for-laura-bush/86501/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The stewards of the city's parks have been partying an awful lot lately to engage a base of private support for public treasures that are indispensable to New Yorkers and its tourists. Tonight, Laura Bush will be honored by the National Park Foundation. Mrs. Bush led the First Bloom initiative, a program aimed to expose children from urban areas to nature. In New York, a pilot city for the program, boys from the Boys' Club of New York City and girls from the Lower East Side Girls Club learned... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/leading-hens-chicks/86502/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST My breakfast yesterday at the Pierre hotel was no ordinary affair. First, in the lobby, I passed a Pierre resident, designer Tory Burch, with her three boys in tow, on their way to school. Then I sat down in the ballroom for breakfast, where the meal alone is worthy of a paragraph. On my narrow, rectangular plate were three items, each no more than two bites: a soft scrambled hen egg with black truffle coulis, a quenelle-shaped salmon tartar served on a bagel chip and topped with crθme fraiche... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/gildas-club-ball-shows-off-benefits-of-seeing-red/86323/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Many people saw red on their balance sheets last week, but the color had only positive associations at the Gilda's Club Worldwide Young Leadership Council Red Ball on Friday night. The red theme — expressed in attire, cupcakes, and the event's decorations — takes its inspiration from the bright red door that serves as the entrance to the 30 Gilda's Club clubhouses in North America. (Nine more are in development.) The clubhouses offer warm environments for people living with cancer and their... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/born-with-a-restless-spoon/86221/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST With a music executive, not a banker, as its honoree, the New Yorkers for Children gala on Tuesday raised $1.85 million for its programs helping children in foster care. The honoree — who lured, among others, Beyoncι Knowles and Jay-Z to the event — was an executive vice president at Warner Music Group, Kevin Liles. "I want to make sure we raise enough money so these kids don't have to worry," Mr. Liles said. "Of course, to succeed, they gotta want it themselves." His own story may serve as... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/emulating-roosevelt/86222/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The physical resemblance between dogs and their owners is often noted, with good humor. At a gala for the New York Harbor Conservancy on Tuesday evening, I and a few others noted a similar phenomenon: the resemblance many of the 170 guests bore to the man being celebrated on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth: President Theodore Roosevelt. The resemblance was to be expected of his blood descendant, Theodore Roosevelt IV (who wore a happy expression even though he and his son... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/blooms-are-booming-at-garden-fund-raisers/86116/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The roses at the New York Botanical Garden did not wither Tuesday night at the news of the markets and bank bailouts; neither, more importantly, did the chairman of the garden, Wilson Nolen, who rather was in his usually high spirits about the garden and its ability to weather any storm. What more could you expect from a man who goes by the name "Roly"? Cause for confidence could be found in the amount raised, $700,000, at the Rose Garden Dinner Dance, which honored Mr. Nolen and his wife... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/young-professionals-get-behind-the-wrongfully/86041/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST At its first fund-raising event on Monday night at the Rubin Museum of Art, the Young Professionals Committee of the Innocence Project raised more than $40,000 for the Exoneree Fund, which provides financial assistance to men and women who have won their freedom after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. The Young Professionals Committee of the Innocence Project formed last year as a formal outlet for the large number of young people who already have a passion for the organization. Many... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/super-bowl-stars-double-as-champions-for-children/85822/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST How do New York's Super Bowl champions prepare for an away game? With a few coach-endorsed Bellinis at Cipriani 42nd Street. On Friday night, before heading to St. Louis and defeating the Rams yesterday afternoon, several Giants players, including Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, and Antonio Pierce, joined their coach, Tom Coughlin, at the former bank-turned-gala venue for the annual Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation Champions for Children gala. In addition to Bellinis, the pre-game fare included... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/whats-doing-this-week/85823/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Those suffering fashion week-frenzy withdrawal can find relief tonight on Madison Avenue. One hundred and one shops on the avenue including Anne Fontaine, Bond No. 9 New York, de Grisogono, Michael Kors, and Tod's, are staying open until 9 p.m., with 10% of purchases made with an American Express card going to the Whitney Museum of American Art's photography collection. And how will you know which stores are participating? The windows of these shops will be decorated with photographs from a new... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-park-avenue-luncheon-in-honor-of-the-duchess/85756/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Her friends once called her the Oxford hermit, but since her book "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire" has been turned into a movie starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, Amanda Foreman has transformed into a social butterfly. At the new (as-yet-unopened) Cooper Square Hotel on Wednesday night, Ms. Foreman — whose brother Jonathan is a film critic for the New York Post, and whose late father Carl Foreman wrote the screenplays for "High Noon" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai," among other... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/a-fashionable-crowd-meets-away-from-fashion-week/85639/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST For some it's fashion week. For others, it's film party week. A screening at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, followed by a party at the SoHo Grand Hotel, took place Tuesday for the Groundwell Productions release "Appaloosa," organized by Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society and Vanity Fair magazine. The film is a Western based on a novel by Robert Parker, directed by and starring Ed Harris and featuring Jeremy Irons, Viggo Mortensen, and Renιe Zellweger. Guests included Alfre Woodard, Julian Schanbel, Chip... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/fashion-takes-center-stage-literally/85640/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Tory Burch had the right idea for her spring 2009 presentation at Matthew Marks Gallery: Models showed the clothes while standing on a raised platform in the middle of the room, and guests gathered and mingled around it, a setup that gave everyone great views of the clothes and of each other. Seen: Marcia Mishaan, who's planning a benefit for the New York University Child Study Center; Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, sporting perhaps the sleekest ponytail I have ever seen; Peggy Siegel, who today is... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/celebrating-new-yorks-color-characters-and-leaders/85562/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The Morgan Library & Museum was the grand setting Monday night for an event that celebrated the variety, colors, characters, and leaders of New York City's communities. The Rockefeller Foundation presented its Jane Jacobs Medal to the executive director and co-founder of the West Harlem Environmental Action organization, Peggy Shepard, and the executive director and founder of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Alexie Torres-Fleming. First announced in the spring, the winners were selected... AMANDA GORDON http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/gallery-going-an-artist-grieves-heals-through-her/85352/ Mon, 8 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Hope Esser was in one of her studio art classes at Oberlin when she got a phone call from her father informing her of a tragedy: Her close friend, Julia Armstrong Minard, who was also an artist, had been murdered in Belize at the age of 20. It was the first time Ms. Esser, who was 21 at the time, had lost someone close, and her grief overwhelmed her, until she found a way to cope: through her art. Ms. Esser remembered that she had a shirt her friend had given to her, in a drawer at her home in... 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/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/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/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/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...