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| Looking north along Fifth Avenue from 97th Street. 12:00 PM. Photo: JH. |
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| Wednesday, December 11, 2013. Very light snow yesterday morning; didn't stick. Got a lot colder by nightfall which takes place about 5 PM. |
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| I planned to cover three parties last night. The first one, taking place at the Four Seasons restaurant, it turned out, is tonight ... not last night. So I was early for a change. But a little too early. It was 7 PM when I learned this, and I knew I'd never get a cab in this area, so I decided to walk to my next destination which was Fifth Avenue in the 60s. Walking up East 52nd Street past the Seagram's Building, I came upon this wonderful city view. The trees are in the pools on the plaza of the Seagram's. This is a golden triangle of classic (now landmarked) architecture. On the lower left is the Racquet and Tennis Club, designed by Charles Follen McKim, formerly of McKim, Mead and White, and completed in September 1918. To its right is the Lever House, completed in 1952, designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. |
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| It was a sensation when it was completed because it marked the end of bricks and mortar on that part of Park Avenue and the beginning of steel and glass. New York was beginning its great post-War renaissance. And we are looking at them from the plaza of the Seagram's building, designed by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with additional interior aspects designed by Philip Johnson which included the Four Seasons restaurant; completed six years after the Lever House, in 1958. Interestingly the year the Racquet & Tennis was begun building, the city made a new law requiring all Park Avenue towers built thereafter had to be recessed from the street. |
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| The Helmsley Building (built in 1929 as the New York Central Building), designed by Warren & Wetmore, the architects for the Vanderbilts' New York Central Railroad whose terminal occupied the southern side of the building. It was then the company headquarters. It was later owned by the General Tire & Rubber company and then sold to Helmsley-Spear. Leona Helmsley renamed it the Helmsley. In 1998 it was sold to Max Capital for $253 million but with the stipulation that it remain the Helmsley. Eight years later they sold it to the royal family of Dubai for $705 million. A year later Goldman Sachs paid over $1 billion for it. |
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| Walking north from 52nd. At 56th, on the northwest corner of the avenue, now under construction, “432 Park Avenue.” When finished, it will be the 3rd tallest tower in the United States. One World Trade Center will be the tallest. Rafael Vinoly is the architect. Harry Macklowe is the developer. The site had been occupied by the Drake Hotel, built in 1928. Macklowe bought it for $440 million six years ago and demolished it. Once upon a time in the 1960s at the height of the discotheque popularity (versus discos today), there was a fabulous nightclub in the Drake called Shepheard’s modeled after the legendary nightclub in Cairo, patronized by the Beautiful People and the International Set of the day providing what became the last gasp of glamorous nightlife in New York. (Studio 54 was the 11 o’clock Number). The tree covered in red and gold bulbs and white lights is in the window of the Chinese Porcelain Company at 58th and Park. |
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| Last night Susan and John Gutfreund held a reception for their friend Clarissa Bronfman, who is now designing her own line of jewelry. She told me she calls the line “Tolerance.” The pieces can be worn together, separately, as bracelets, as necklaces, as single pins. |
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| Leaving the Gutfreunds, I walked over to 825 Madison at 69th Street where Dennis Basso was hosting a cocktail reception to celebrate the grand opening of his new flagship townhouse. Big crowd, as you can see. |
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| I love this picture for a lot of reasons. It's the holiday card for the Humane Society. It comes with the following message from the Humane Society's president Virginia Chipurnoi: "Dear Friend, Please help us care for a dog or a cat in need. Your contribution, large or small, will help to underwrite veterinarian care for a sick or injured animal in our Clinic, for a pet who brings affection and comfort to a lonely elderly person on a very small income. Or it could help feed, medicate, and neuter a dog or cat in our Vladimir Horowitz & Wanda Toscanini Horowitz Adoption Center. If you have a well-loved pet, think of all the homeless animals who long to have the same good fortune. By supporting our Animal Emergency Appeal, you will be helping a disadvantaged one whose life needs may be small but who depends on your generosity for its survival." |
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| I am currently sharing a home with Mr. Byrone who came to stay from the Humane Society several years ago. Several years before that, we had another full-time resident named Teddy. Both boys came from hard times and thanks to the Humane Society, both made it to a comfortable, warm and healthy home where they share a lot of love and affection. Always good for what ails ya. The Humane Society of New York 306 East 59th Street, New York 10022 (212) 752-4840 www.humanesocietyny.org |
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| This past Monday night at the Ainsworth on West 26th Street, The Board of Directors and Friends Committee of New Yorkers for Children (NYFC) hosted a Wrap to Rap, presented by Valentino USA benefitting youth in foster care. Committee members and special guests including Wendy Kahn, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Lauran Tuck, Ayla Farnos, Allison Aston, Marisa Brown, Clare McKeon, Susan Gilroy, Susan Burden, Dana Auslander, Brian Mazza, Eric Brettschneider, and Susan Magazine, among others, joined more than 50 teens in foster care to wrap 1000 gifts for younger children in care. DJ D-Nice spun hip hop and holiday classics. The wrapped presents will be distributed by the Administration for Children's Services to children in Foster Care throughout New York City. |
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| Besides providing much needed holiday gifts for children in need, Wrap to Rap also serves as a reminder to teens in foster care of the importance of volunteering and giving back to their communities. In fact, New Yorkers for Children is the direct result of "giving back" by Nicholas Scoppetta who was once a child in foster care and learned from experience that challenge it presents to all children, and the needs to be filled to help these children succeed in meeting those challenges. |
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Contact DPC here. |