In Demand
But her skill at making skin look young is in demand. “I get calls daily, ‘I’d do anything to do get you down to Palm Beach,’” she said.
Jennifer Gross, a fundraiser for Tel Aviv University, called a donor on her birthday, finding her alone in her Upper East Side apartment.
“I could tell, she was just craving community,” Gross said. “She’s used to having a social and philanthropic life and that was curtailed. I said, ‘Let’s have lunch, let’s sit outside.’ She said yes almost before I was finished saying it.”
They met at Nectar on Madison Avenue on a warm September day. “She was beside herself. It was actually great,” Gross said. “Sitting on that corner, I thought, ‘I can envision New York pulling out of this.’”
A few weeks later, a much bigger outdoor lunch in Central Park brought out Amanda Waldron, wife of Goldman Sachs President John Waldron, and Abigail Baratta, wife of Blackstone senior executive Joe Baratta. The occasion was a socially distanced picnic hosted by the Central Park Conservancy Women’s Committee, raising $300,000 for park upkeep, with help from Nordstrom.
Guests sat on white chairs and at tables set up at Belvedere Castle, Bethesda Terrace and the Conservatory Gardens, among other locations. At every place was a picnic basket filled with a grilled chicken, ruby quinoa salad and a parfait in a jar featuring lavender crumble, catered by Canard. Music was provided by NYCNext, a new group that pays artists to perform, unannounced, across the city.
The mood was “buoyant” said one co-chair, Karen May, who had a perch near a statue of a Polish king. “Several people told me it was their first time socializing with anyone outside their family.” Some of her friends had come in from the Catskills and the Hamptons.
The park is one city resource that’s become more essential during the pandemic, when people need outdoor space to gather. But it relies on private support for 80% of its annual budget. Yesim Philip, president of the Conservancy’s Women’s Committee, said it’s a no-brainer to contribute at any level possible.
“If the park is healthy, the city is healthy,” Philip said. “We pay for landscaping at our second homes. Why not pay for our beautiful backyard in the city?”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.