May 6, 2016
Party in the Park Gala Celebrates the Inspiration of Madison Square Park
On Tuesday night, many neighbors from NoMad and the surrounding area came out for the Party In The Park, the annual gala benefitting the Madison Square Park Conservancy, raising over 1 million dollars.
The party began with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres for attendees at 6 p.m., with guests mingling around the park’s Southern Fountain while bartenders wore raincoats to fight off the spring showers. Afterward partiers moved to the Oval Lawn for dinner, with food and refreshment provided by some of New York’s most brilliant chefs and cocktail artists.
Cocktail hour hors d’oeuvres, such as canapes, were handled by Howard Kalachnikoff of the Gramercy Tavern, with specialty cocktails like the bourbon-based “May Day” designed by Gramercy Beverage Director Juliette Pope. The first course of chickpea salad and grilled octopus was provided by Philippe Massed of ilili, while Carmen Quagliata of Union Square Café handled the second course of polenta dumplings with lamb shank in brodo. Finally, Gramercy Tavern Pastry Chef Miroslav Uskokovic served a dessert of strawberry pound cake with coffee by our friends at Birch Coffee.
The Madison Square Park Conservancy has done remarkable work over the past fifteen years not only to restore and protect the park, but also to improve it with new plantings and give it new life with art installations, concerts and other events. The results are a model for what urban park conservancies can achieve. So, it was appropriate that the gala program featured a celebration of “Madison Sq. Moments” – those bits of individual meaning and inspiration that have come from spending time in the park.
The program paid special honor Fiona Angelini and Jamie Welch for their support of the Conservancy over many years. Also in attendance last night were Audrey and Danny Meyer, Jeff and Kirsten Uttz, Lucinda and Andrew Sussman and many others.
We consider this leafy emerald gem one of NoMad’s greatest assets, and we thank Madison Square Park Conservancy – along with all of its past, present, and future supporters – for this incredible daily gift of natural beauty and life enhancing experiences.
