D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A volunteer and supporters who, in a way, have devoted much of their lives to the hospital. Charlotte Ford, who emceed the evening with Bob Appel, is much like that: passionate about serving the needs of the hospital. Ford has been actively involved for the past four decades. She is now a vice chair of the board. Friedman told how her interest in medicine and healthcare led her to this lifetime of involvement. She was part of the initial group of the branch in Qatar and remains on the board there. In her acceptance, she remarked that none of her work would have been possible without the support—financial and
otherwise—of her husband Steve Friedman. Kalikow spoke of his awe with those members of the medical field in the hospital and medical college and how, while he did not have their expertise, he was grateful that he possessed what it took to build great buildings for those men and women and their work. Guests were shown two videos about the work of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College. I’m not a watcher of medical T.V. shows and I don’t share the same focused interest of my friend (Charlotte Ford) about medical science. But these videos were infor-
mative and helpful in understanding the work of the medical community and how much success it has had. It lead me to believe that the human consciousness is capable of so much and has the potential to make it so that we can live together in a healthy society as well as in healthy bodies. After the speeches and acceptances, we got to the “Cabaret” part of the evening with Kristen Chenowith and her orchestra. Chenowith serenaded us with her extraordinary, glittering soprano. It was a great evening for all, despite the not-to-be-ignored matter of guests getting up from tables to say their goodnights by 9:50 p.m. They raised $3.6
million for the work. Winners, all around. This is the nature of social life in New York in the second decade of the 21st century. And it is a very important aspect of the kaleidoscopic social world that is now. The practice serves not only the individuals who seek it for their own ends and pleasures, but it rallies and inspires those financial forces that can be progressively helpful in the community. Compared to a century ago, social life in New York is much broader, wider, and more worldly not to mention enthusiastic—at times to the point of aggressive. That, too, is the Big Apple. “Philanthropy” is the catch-
CINEMA SOCIET Y AND ESTEE LAUDER SUPPORTED BREAST CANCER AWARENESS AT T R I B EC A G R A N D H OT E L
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PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
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