Parties All the Time

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The New York Sun

Galas in New York naturally adjust to the rhythm of the city — and that includes the ups and downs of the stock market. Given the recent market jitters, this season will see some subtle toning down of glamour at fundraisers. But the show must go on: Arts institutions and philanthropic organizations still have much to celebrate, and many fund-raisers expect to match or surpass last year’s totals.

With so much going on, it often seems that fall is the start of the year. “It’s like the beginning of school. I look forward to it,” the author and editor Tina Brown said.

And nothing makes the start of the season more exciting than something new. The most-anticipated parties this season are likely to be at two new venues: the New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Plaza Hotel’s ballroom.

The New Museum, which officially opens on December 1, will host an evening for patrons in late November. And it will be quite a celebration: The museum’s new building — designed by the Tokyo-based firm Kazuyo Ryue Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA — is a 60,000-square-foot space devoted entirely to contemporary art. Located on the Bowery, the museum has already attracted art galleries to set up shop in the neighborhood, making the Lower East Side a new hub for the visual arts. Uptown, the Plaza Hotel’s landmarked ballroom will reopen in late November to host fund-raising events again. The famed hotel is in the process of a $400 million renovation into a combination hotel and condo building.

Much earlier on the social calendar is the Metropolitan Opera’s opening night performance on September 24. With Peter Gelb entering his second year at the helm of the opera, the event is likely to keep the momentum it established last year with a red carpet full of celebrities, a dramatically decorated tent, and video screens outside the theater. The return of the video screens will help expand the audience for the new production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” starring Natalie Dessay under the direction of Tony Award-winner Mary Zimmerman.

Given his commitment to philanthropy and passion for parties, Mayor Bloomberg is likely to attend many events — and those that he signs on to are sure to become the hottest tickets in town. Liz Smith’s presence doesn’t hurt either. So the hot party of October 2 is the Fete de Swifty, where the mayor will speak and Ms. Smith is the chairwoman. The event, which benefits the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York, is a luxury street fair outside Swifty’s restaurant, with hotdog vendors, snow cone machines, and wax figures from Madame Tussauds. The mayor will also be an honoree on October 19 at the Heritage Ball, the annual gathering of the building industry organized by the AIA to benefit the Center for Architecture.

The building industry will also come together November 7 at the Habitat for Humanity New York City gala, which raises money to build affordable housing for low-income families in New York City.

Its most ambitious project to date — double the size of previous projects — is a 41-unit condominium building in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. It is scheduled for completion in 2009. The building includes a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units in three four-story buildings, with 11 ground-floor residences for the handicapped. The design is by Dattner Architects, the firm responsible for the beautiful new Bronx Library Center the New York Public Library opened in 2006. The gala, which will take place at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, will honor United Technologies Corporation, the Today Show’s Al Roker, who has emceed fund-raisers over the years, and Hedge Funds for Habitat-NYC.

Guests at the Frick Collection’s Autumn Dinner on October 15 will encounter something new: For the first time, supper will be served surrounded by six Fragonard panels in the East Gallery. These works usually hang in the Fragonard room, but have been moved temporarily while that room is refurbished. The Frick Collection expects the Autumn Dinner to raise more than $1 million. The honorees are a past chairman of Sotheby’s, John Marion, and his wife, who is a chairman of Burnett Oil Co., Inc. and the founder and chairman of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Art dealer Bill Acquavella and his wife Donna are among the chairmen of the event.

By late November, a handful of partygoers will admit to fatigue and go on to spend some time in Aspen, Colo., or St. Bart’s. The rest will be dressing up for Unicef’s Snowflake Ball at Cipriani 42nd Street on November 27. The Unicef snowflake hangs over the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street during the holiday season, and it symbolizes the organization’s effort to raise money for children. Pamela Fiori, Charlotte Moss, Hilary Gumbel, and Amy Robbins are co-chairs of the project and event, which will also include a live auction.

Another way to get in the holiday spirit — and teach the little ones about the spirit of philanthropy — is at the benefit performance of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” at New York City Ballet. The fund-raising fete with performance will take place on December 8.

On November 28, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater opens its season at City Center, followed by a gala dinner that draws one of the largest crowds of any New York fund-raiser, with more than 1,400 people attending. The décor will pay tribute to a featured work on the program: Maurice Béjart’s “Firebird.” The performance will mark an important milestone: it will be the first presentation of a complete work by Béjart in America. Set to Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite,” the dance has a powerful message of revolution and rebirth. The program will also include the company’s signature work “Revelations,” created by Alvin Ailey in 1960. The uplifting power of this masterwork of modern dance — along with the dancers who will attend the gala — are sure to result in a vibrant party mood.


The New York Sun

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