On Wednesday, May 24, the Museum of the City of New York held its CENTENNIAL GALA — an evening of dinner, dancing, and the unveiling of its new exhibition, This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture. At the awards ceremony that kicked off the event, Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City, was presented with the Gotham Icon Award in recognition of his steadfast dedication to New York City and his continuous support of the Museum.
Willian C. Vrattos, the Museum’s Board Chair, addressed the crowd, saying: “This is a unique moment for NYC as a whole. A moment to look back at its evolution and the success of the past 100 years and to salute the leaders who have been crucial to getting us there … Tonight we are honoring Michael R. Bloomberg … who embodies NY’s spirit, of invention, leadership, chutzpah, and generosity.”
The Centennial Gala raised over $2 million dollars for the Museum, and VIPs on hand included NYC Mayor Eric Adams; Christine Baranski (award-winning actor and performer); Georgina Bloomberg (author and philanthropist); Brian Stokes Mitchell (award-winning singer and actor); Former NYS Governor David Paterson; Charlie Ahearn (filmmaker); Jane Dickson (artist); Elizabeth Streb (choreographer); Jon Kamen (Chairman & CEO, RadicalMedia); Nazli Parvizi (President of the Museum of Food & Drink); former MCNY Directors Susan Henshaw Jones and Whitney Donhauser; James Dinan (founder, York Capital Management); Ronay A. Menschel (vice chair of Museum of the City of New York’s Board of Trustees); William Vrattos (Chair of Museum of the City of New York’s Board of Trustees); as well as Sarah M. Henry (Robert A. and Elizabeth Rohn Jeffe Chief Curator and Interim Director of the Museum of the City of New York).
And back in little ol’ Manhattan, The annual Waxman Luncheon, benefitting the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF), took place on Wednesday, May 17th, 2023, at AVRA Madison in New York. The luncheon honored Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank for his continued support of the SWCRF mission and passion for scientific advancement, raised in excess of $165,000. A live fashion presentation by Max Mara featured their stunning Spring/Summer 2023 Collection. Funds raised will support crucial SWCRF initiatives such as the International Network on Aging and Cancer Research and the Women’s Cancer Research Program.
The Waxman Luncheon also included a live auction, silent auction, and raffle with specially curated lots featuring generous donations from companies such as Chopard, Movado, Jimmy Choo, Schiaparelli, Fendi, Arlotta Cashmere, and The Baker House 1650. Heritage Auctions were the official auctioneer.
Notable attendees at the Waxman Luncheon included; Dr. Samuel Waxman, Marion Waxman, Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank, Jani Aronow Gerard, Danny Miller, Dr. Lorraine Gudas, Helen Vaysman, Nancy Litman, Lauren Silvers, Erica Linden-Fineberg, Kobi Halperin, Susan Gutfreund, Ingeborg Rennert, Ramona Singer, William Brobston, Jean Shafiroff, Ingeborg Rennert, Ariella Wertheimer, Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin, Maribel Lieberman, Luisa Diaz, and Larry Scott.
The Waxman Luncheon Committee included: Karen Amster-Young, Chris Arlotta, Karen Giberson, Sarah Irby, Orital Karelic, Dina Koutroumanis, Norah Lawlor, Pamela Morgan, Deanna Passarelli, Jaq Poussot, Lorri Scott, Barbara Warren, Bettina Waxman and Andrea Wernick.
Since 1976, SWCRF has invested more than $100 million towards collaborative, cross-institutional research, supporting more than 200 investigators around the world.
The SWCRF philosophy of collaboration has led to breakthrough discoveries such as a treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), developed in collaboration with researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Hematology that improved the survival rate to 95% (APL had an 80% fatality rate). Most recently, research funded by SWCRF led to an FDA approved medication shown to reduce lung cancer tumors by up to 50% by targeting the KRAS protein.
