Mayor Bloomberg employed perfectly appropriate “flowery rhetoric” (his words) to pay tribute to Kate French, the departing executive director of the Bronx public garden and cultural center, Wave Hill, who spent 17 years in the post.

Speaking at a celebration for Ms. French Monday night in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, Mr. Bloomberg praised her “perennial” leadership.

“It has led to the blossoming of Wave Hill as a historic house site, botanical treasure, center for the arts, and classroom,” Mr. Bloomberg said, pausing a beat before adding, “It’s also a great place to have a bar mitzvah or wedding.”

Fortunately, the food at this party was as good as it is at Wave Hill: Both use the catering company Great Performances, headed by Liz Neumark.

So how did Ms. French get to the Riverdale institution on the Hudson River, donated to the city by the Cabot family in 1960? She arrived after working for two nonprofit start-ups: the Central Park Conservancy and the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation.

“It was always in the right place, at the right time, with the right people,” she said.

Her personality probably helped her find her luck: Ms. Neumark described her as “wise, kind, funny, and dependable.”

Ms. French said she learned a lot about management from her colleagues in the Cultural Institutions Group, a coalition of 33 publicly owned and privately operated nonprofits in the city, such as the New York Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the New York Hall of Science.

However, even after 17 years, she did not become a gardener. “My husband has the green thumb,” Ms. French said.

For Ms. French’s daughter, Anne Pearson, a lawyer in the city’s Department of Public Health, Wave Hill’s loss is her gain. “I have two kids and I need a babysitter,” Ms. Pearson said.

The new executive director of Wave Hill, Claudia Bonn, starts on April 7.

From Italy, With Love

Italians love their opera. Tenor Marcello Giordani will perform “Nessun Dorma” and “Panis Angelicus” for the pope on April 20 during the spiritual leader’s visit to New York.

So Mr. Marcello and Edward Cardinal Egan told me on Monday at the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s tribute to Italian director and designer Franco Zeffirelli.

People at the event expressed their Italian pride in many ways: To wit, the wife of Italy’s ambassador to America, Lila Castellaneta, wore a Prada coat, a Fendi belt and pants, and Miu Miu shoes.

Guests also dined Italian-style: the opera-themed meal included Tosca Napoleon, Chicken Turandot, and Tiramisu Franco.

The guild’s annual tribute to opera legends is a legend in itself, but it is a small part of the guild’s activities. It offers tours of the Metropolitan Opera House, runs the shop there, publishes the magazine Opera News, and offers education programs.

agordon@nysun.com