“The least we can do its make sure that we have access to basic healthcare and the freedom to make our own choices. This is not radical, it’s respect.” – Pink at Planned Parenthood
As AVENUE’s Editor-at-Large, I’ve been out every night for a week straight. So, tag along as I hit some of the best parties.
For the Young Arts Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I’m Cameron Carani’s guest. Inside the Met’s Great Hall, I run into Paul Arnhold and Wes Gorden, Misty Copeland, Gillian Hearst and Brian Donnelly aka the artist KAWS. At the Temple of Dendur, Sarah Arison welcomes guests and shares how she is continuing her family’s legacy with Young Arts. There are dance performances, poetry readings and songs performed by Young Arts alumni. Marisa Tomei is the night’s honoree.
The following night is Planned Parenthood of Greater New York’s “Spring into Action Gala” at Cipriani South Street. I see Casey Kohlberg and Steven Beltrani, and we watch videos of Amy Poehler, Melissa McCarthy, Isa Briones, and Jenny Slate about Planned Parenthood’s mission. Katherine Bernhardt’s interactive installation lights up the night. I also spot Natasha Lyonne, Iris Apatow, Hannah Bronfman and artist Marilyn Minter. The pop star Pink accepts the Champion of Change award, presented by Patricia Arquette. “The least we can do its make sure that we have access to basic healthcare and the freedom to make our own choices,” Pink tells the crowd. “This is not radical, it’s respect. So tonight I will accept this award, even though I have much more to do.”
“Hosted by Misty Copeland and Tamar Greene, international ballet stars debut stunning works.”
I stop by the new bond-eye Australia store opening and grab Savannah Engle to head up to Lincoln Center for Youth America Grand Prix’s “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow,” hosted by Misty Copeland and Tamar Greene. International ballet stars debut stunning works: La Scala’s Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Adrijashenko, Polina Semionova, Christine Shevchenko, Reece Clarke, and Roman Mejia, all culminating in a massive finale that brings 120 YAGP finalists onstage. LoveShackFancy’s Rebecca Hessel Cohen and Melanie Hamrick are honored. In the David H. Koch Theater Promenade, I see Sai De Silva, Lucas Jagger, Dylan Lauren, Laura Lobdell, Holt McCallany, Dotty Giordano, Chris Noth, Michelle Ochs, Brynn Putnam, Tony Shalhoub, Demi Singleton, and Sutton Stracke. Naturally, most of the ladies wear LoveShackFancy.
“We fill our table with some of the best dressed New Yorkers like Mark-Francis Vandelli, Emira D’Spain, Ava Dash and Polina Proshkina.”
The theme of Save Venice’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” is Celestial Serenissima. My sister Danielle and I co-chairs the event and we fill our table with some of the best dressed New Yorkers like Mark-Francis Vandelli, Emira D’Spain, Ava Dash and Polina Proshkina. The Grand Ballroom is like a starry Venetian night, and guests don elaborate masks beneath a canopy of constellation lights. Awards for best masks are judged by Racquel Chevremont, and at the Young Friends party, DJ Olivier Meiji pumps up the energy with Lauren Levison, Isaac Boots, Cyntha Rowley, Kate Mara, Ivy Getty and Julian Polak all on the dance floor.
“Eileen Guggenheim, Paul Provost, Nicole Miller, Will Cotton, Laurence Millstein and artist Dustin Yellin drift through the Academy’s artist studios.”
After a weekend-long disco nap, I hit the New York Academy of Art for the Tribeca Ball, a studio party where I see Eileen Guggenheim, Paul Provost, Nicole Miller, Will Cotton, Laurence Millstein and artist Dustin Yellin drifting through the Academy’s artist studios. Weaving between easels and sculptures, I listen to MFA candidates explaining paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures they’ve created over an intense academic year. At dinner, Christopher Hanke leads a spirited paddle raise. Alan Cumming receives an Honorary Doctorate alongside Russell Wilkinson. The night raises more than $900,000. Now time for another disco nap. – ALEXANDER HANKIN
