A subprime miasma hung over the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Tuesday night as the stars and superstars of the financial community gathered for the Robin Hood Foundation’s annual gala. As founder Paul Tudor Jones conceded, “A lot of us aren’t doing as well as we were last year.”

Whereas last year Wall Street’s royalty was treated to decor featuring gigantic castles and thrones, this year the visuals emphasized some of the causes favored by the foundation. Lighted signs saying “Survivor” and “Health is Hope” probably resonated in more ways than one for those whose businesses are on life support.

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Nonetheless, there was good work to be done, and Mr. Jones wasn’t about to let a downturn in Wall Street profits stand in the way of the yearly Robin Hood fund-raising juggernaut. He called on the crowd — “4,000 of the greatest achievers on the face of the earth” — to remember that though they were “feeling a lot more pain than a year ago,” there are New Yorkers who are suffering much worse difficulties every day of their lives.

Longtime supporter Diane Sawyer reminded the audience that donations by the foundation’s board underwrite the evening, and also spelled out Robin Hood’s signature hard-nosed approach to philanthropy: “If we ask for your money, you are owed results.”

Mr. Jones offered the gala crowd a “chance to ratify the ideals behind the American dream,” and called on his hedge fund brethren to personally commit $1 million to fight poverty and homelessness.

Ken Langone, one of the evening’s co-chairs, waved his glow-stick, and 12 others joined in. Another round of contributions followed, as 22 celebrants promised $250,000 apiece. It wasn’t quite the breathtaking take of last year’s gala, at which 23 attendees practically leapt out of their chairs to pledge $1 million each. Still, few organizations can raise $13 million in the course of a year, much less in under five minutes.

Celebrity appearances punctuated the evening and lightened the mood. Shakira, seated at Mr. Jones’s table, was the headline attraction, but the crowd was also treated to a surprise performance by Sheryl Crow, who pounded out one of her hits accompanied by the Robin Hood-funded Kipp Academy Orchestra.

The task of revving up the hall was handed off first to the waiters, who diligently filled wine but not water glasses, and then to Conan O’Brien. In the crowd were New York bigwigs like Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein, Senator Schumer, private equity stars Henry Kravis and Tom Lee, hedge fund players Richard Chilton Jr. and Daniel Och, and Robin Hood board chair Robert Pittman.

Mr. O’Brien celebrated many of the evening’s finer aspects, including the chance to be “the closest you can get to New Jersey without actually having to go there.” He also asked “the owner of a red Toyota, no, make that a red Toyota company,” to make themselves known. He apologized that certain people were not in the room, including Ben Bernanke, who he claimed was at FlashDancers getting the economic stimulus package, and Bill Gates, who was going to come until he heard that Yahoo was not one of the auction items. Eliot Spitzer’s supposed whereabouts are better left unsaid.

The humor highlight of the evening was Mr. O’Brien’s fictitious description of a TV movie about the hedge fund business being made at NBC. He flashed up on gigantic screens pictures of those supposedly cast to play real-life roles; many were dead ringers. For instance, Paul Tudor Jones would be played by Dave Matthews, Alan Greenspan by Larry King, George Soros by the uncanny look-alike Madeleine Albright, Ken Langone by Statler from the Muppets, Mayor Michael Bloomberg by a Galapagos sea turtle, and Harvey Weinstein by Star Wars’s Jabba the Hut.

Mr. O’Brien proved an excellent foil for the debonair Jamie Niven of Sotheby’s. Mr. Niven worked harder than in past years to muster excitement for the auction items. One package, called “Universally Entertaining,” put the winner behind the scenes on election night with the NBC news team, at the Golden Globes and its after-party, as well as front-and-center at “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.” Mr. O’Brien raised the stakes by offering to sleep with anyone willing to donate $10 million, or to not sleep with someone for $15 million. The item, donated by gala co-chair and NBC Universal head Jeff Zucker, went for $480,000.

Only a group responsible for dreaming up with synthetic derivatives products could have created an auction item entitled “Aussie Adventure.” This package included four nights on the Great Barrier Reef for four people, four nights in Melbourne, lunch with Hugh Jackman, flights on Qantas, a private wine tasting, a helicopter ride, an outback encounter, another wine tasting, a behind-the-scenes trip to a Melbourne sporting event, a tour of a wildlife sanctuary, a private tour of The National Gallery of Victoria with a Sotheby’s art specialist, two Leica cameras, and, once back in New York, a membership to Pure Yoga and a one-on-one meditation session with “Quantum Wellness” author Kathy Freston. Mr. Niven rightly exhorted purchasers by pointing out that arranging such an adventure on your own would be too complicated. The package fetched $420,000.

At the end, the evening raised $56 million, compared to $72 million the year before. Celebrating the success, the Empire State building glowed green across the city. As did Robin Hood.

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