Gotham - 2015 - Issue 2 - Late Spring

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N: IO ATE CT ST SE E O H L L T AC IA EA G IN BE EC I R YIN IRE SP M BU IONA A I L M IL

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Earth QuakE

New York’s first earth DaY Drew over a millioN people to the streets, amoNg them paul NewmaN, BarBra streisaND, aND DustiN hoffmaN—aND forever chaNgeD the waY we thiNk aBout the eNviroNmeNt. by judy deyoung When the US observed the first Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22, 1970, New York City, never known for its subtlety, held one of the largest and most impressive celebrations in the country. Mayor John V. Lindsay, the glamorous celebrity politician—assisted by his bright, young staffers—pulled out the stops, closing Fifth Avenue to all vehicles between 14th and 59th Streets for two hours, literally shutting down Midtown Manhattan. “He wanted to make it the most meaningful celebration in the world,” explains Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, who at the time was a 20-year-old aide to the mayor. In a spirit of passion and celebration an estimated 1 million people crowded the streets to demonstrate their commitment to a clean city and clean air. “It was an incredible outpouring of support,” adds Katzenberg. Office workers set down picnic blankets on street curbs, and young women handed out fresh flowers. Attractions included a bicycle parade, a block-long plastic bubble of pure air, organized cleanups in city parks, and “teach-ins” about the environment.

The center of the celebration was a ’60s-style festival of music and protest in Union Square. Huge crowds listened to speakers ranging from anthropologist Margaret Mead to Mayor Lindsay, who asked, “Do we want to live or die?”

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Lending their star power to the rally were ’70s A-listers Dustin Hoffman, Ali MacGraw, and Paul Newman, longtime champion of humanitarian causes and a personal friend of the mayor. Other participants included the cast of Hair and composer Leonard Bernstein. Governor Nelson Rockefeller arrived on his bicycle. At one end of the square, Barbra Streisand sang “On a Clear Day,” while a rock group shouted, “Power to the people!” at the other end. Although the mood may have seemed jubilant, it also struck a serious tone. “This was a powerful moment that triggered a way of rethinking our relationship with the earth,” says Fred Kent, president for Project Public Spaces, who was the Earth Day coordinator and a Columbia University student at the time.

In the 45 years since 1970, Earth Day has gone global and over a dozen important pieces of environmental legislation have been passed, including the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts. “Earth Day 1970 signaled a new awareness of environmental issues and the role and impact of humans in the world,” notes John Oppermann, Esq., executive director of Earth Day New York. Returning to its inaugural site, this year’s events will kick off in Union Square with a 5K Walk & Green Tour. For more information, visit earthdayny.org, or call 212-922-0048. G

PhotograPhy by Lawrence SchiLLer/PoLariS communicationS/getty imageS (newman); Santi ViSaLLi/getty imageS (crowd)

Paul Newman, a friend of John Lindsay, the mayor of New York in 1970 when the first Earth Day was celebrated throughout the city, lent his considerable star power to the event. right: A street scene on Earth Day, April 20, 1970, in Manhattan.

contents

Late spring 2015

8

// front runner

22 // letter from the editor-in-Chief

24 // letter from the publisher

26 // ... Without Whom

this issue Would not have been possible

28 // the list 63 // invited

style 33 // the shoe in Following in the chic footsteps of Manolo, Christian, and Jimmy, Paul Andrew is now the hottest designer in town.

New York women show their softer side as ballet-inspired pieces take center stage this spring.

38 // style spotlight Max Mara unveils an artful bag, while Eileen Fisher and Stella McCartney showcase new sustainable materials.

40 // earth tones Eco-conscious designers forge a green path in fashion.

42 // gold rush

82

Watchmakers are crafting modern timepieces in unique shades of gold.

Florals get a modern edge in the new spring collections.

culture

Embroidered bomber jacket ($9,600) and silk Cadi pants ($1,650), Dior. 21 E. 57th St., 212-931-2950; dior.com

45 // rapture

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Debbie Harry of the iconic band Blondie sings at Cafe Carlyle.

PhotograPhy by rene & radka at art dePartment. Styling by martina nilSSon at oPuS beauty

36 // en pointe

hartschafnermarx.com

contents

Late spring 2015

52

Amanda Crew stars in this month’s release The Age of Adaline.

48

Ohio, by Ray Metzker, on view at the AIPAD Photography Show.

46 // Flying HigH Kacper Kowalski shows his breathtaking aerial photography at the Curator Gallery.

48 // Culture SpotligHt Mark Morris Dance Company dazzles at BAM, the Tribeca Film Festival returns, and Lisa Yuskavage explores the beauty myth.

60 // How DoeS tHeir gArDen grow?

Edible Schoolyard NYC board members Fernanda Niven and Lela Rose talk about the nonproft’s mission to teach kids about healthy eating—from the ground up.

taste people

68

Brussel sprout leaves with shaved baby roots, house-smoked ham, and Manchego at Narcissa.

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68 // A new StAnDArD

50 // up on tHe rooF

At celebrity nexus Narcissa, André Balazs gives vegetables the star treatment.

Viraj Puri, founder of Gotham Greens, an eco-savvy start-up redefning locavore dining, debuts his most ambitious project.

70 // tHe unDerStuDy iS reADy For prime time

52 // Crew CutS

Vegetables have their turn in the spotlight on top city menus.

Amanda Crew, best known for TV roles, goes big-time big screen in The Age of Adaline.

72 // tASte SpotligHt

54 // A rACe AgAinSt time

Sustainably grown tequila, glamorous new cookbooks, and all-veggie tasting menus on offer this spring.

Rudy Albers, president of luxury watch company Wempe America, fnds a need for speed can be very good for business.

56 // BAnking on green Top brokers discuss sustainable design and the luxury market.

74 // HAt tip Over lunch at Tavern on the Green, Karen May and Anne Harrison talk about the Central Park Conservancy’s upcoming “Hat Luncheon.”

PhotograPhy Courtesy of LaurenCe MiLLer gaLLery, new york, ny (ohio); josePhine rozMan (narCissa); Matthew sCott; styLing by angeL terrazas; hair by ashLey streiCher at forward artists; MakeuP by katey denno at the waLL grouP; shot on LoCation at the Library at the redbury (Crew)

Dress, Thomas Wylde ($1,975). thomas wylde.com. Rings, Charlotte Parmentier (price on request).

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contents

Late spring 2015

78

Hail to the chief: Kevin Spacey moves into the Oval Office in Season 3 of House of Cards.

features 78 // Down to Earth With House of Cards, Kevin Spacey helped change the way we watch TV. Now he wants to change the way we look at the planet.

By David Hochman Photography by Sheryl Nields

82 // FLowEr PowEr Romance meets modernity with spring’s sophisticated forals.

Photography by Rene & Radka Styling by Martina Nilsson

90 // a CLEan SwEEP Valerie Rockefeller Wayne—a member of one of America’s most prominent families whose fortune was built on oil—talks about the controversial decision to divest the Rockefeller Brothers Fund of fossil fuel investments and how her family plans to lead the charge for sustainability.

By Suzanne McGee

The world’s growing population and the impact of the changing climate are putting nature’s ability to provide for all of us at risk. Are we paying enough attention to the looming threat?

By Jill Sigal

102 // miami hEat How the Magic City became New York South for Manhattan billionaires and investors.

By Suzanne McGee

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photography by Sheryl NieldS

94 // naturE in thE EyE oF thE Storm

contents

Late spring 2015

Haute ProPerty 115 // STaRCHiTECT ROw With 505 West 19th Street, architect Thomas Juul-Hansen adds his signature to a street that has become a design walk of fame.

118 // GREEN wiTH ENVy Celebs scoop up posh pads with chic eco amenities.

tHe Guide 121 // GOTHam 101 A concise guide to the city’s happening restaurants and nightspots.

and Finally…

128 // GREEN CaRd

118

The children’s playroom adjacent to the courtyard garden at The Greenwich Lane, a new condo and townhouse complex in the West Village.

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ON THE COVER:

Kevin Spacey Photography by Sheryl Nields/August

photography by t hayes DaviDson

What does it take for the city’s super rich to earn their eco cred?

Š2015 Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, FL

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We have the inside scoop on New York City’s best parties, style, nightlife, and more. style

HOW TO LOOK GOOD IN A RAINSTORM From drip-proof makeup to rain boots that are anything but average, here’s how to dress stylishly despite April showers.

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CHAMPAGNES TO TOAST SPRING Celebrate the arrival of higher Fahrenheit—finally—with these luxurious glasses of bubbly.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETR MALYSHEV (STYLE); NEIL RASMUS/BFA (LEE); GEPHOTO (IMBIBE)

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CATHERINE SABINO Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor JENNIFER DEMERITT Editor-at-Large SAMANTHA YANKS Art Director ANASTASIA TSIOUTAS CASALIGGI Photo Director LISA ROSENTHAL BADER Assistant Editor ERIN RILEY Fashion Editor FAYE POWER Copy Editor WENDIE PECHARSKY Research Editor JAMES BUSS

DAWN DUBOIS Publisher Advertising Directors VICTORIA HENRY, JIM SMITH Account Executive MORGAN CLIFFORD Business Development Manager KRISTIN BARNES Assistant Distribution Relations Manager BRACKETT BILODEAU Senior Director of Brand Development ROBIN KEARSE Director of Brand Development JOANNA TUCKER Brand Development Manager JIMMY KONTOMANOLIS

NICHE MEDIA HOLDINGS, LLC Senior Vice President and Editorial Director MANDI NORWOOD Vice President of Creative and Fashion ANN SONG Creative Director NICOLE A. WOLFSON NADBOY Executive Fashion Director SAMANTHA YANKS ART AND PHOTO

Senior Art Director FRYDA LIDOR Associate Art Directors ALLISON FLEMING, JUAN PARRA, JESSICA SARRO Senior Designer NATALI SUASNAVAS Designers AARON BELANDRES, SARAH LITZ Photo Editors KATHERINE HAUSENBAUER-KOSTER, JODIE LOVE, SETH OLENICK, JENNIFER PAGAN, REBECCA SAHN Senior Staff Photographer JEFFREY CRAWFORD Senior Digital Imaging Specialist JEFFREY SPITERY Digital Imaging Specialist JEREMY DEVERATURDA Digital Imaging Assistant HTET SAN FASHION

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Copy and Research Manager WENDIE PECHARSKY Copy Editors DAVID FAIRHURST, JOHANNA MATTSSON, JULIA STEINER Research Editors LESLIE ALEXANDER, JUDY DEYOUNG, KAREN MCCREE, AVA WILLIAMS EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

Director of Editorial Operations DEBORAH L. MARTIN Director of Editorial Relations MATTHEW STEWART Editorial Assistant CHRISTINA CLEMENTE Online Executive Editor CAITLIN ROHAN Online Editors ANNA BEN YEHUDA, TRICIA CARR Online Editorial Assistant CATHERINE PARK Senior Managing Editors DANINE ALATI, KAREN ROSE, JILL SIERACKI Managing Editors MURAT OZTASKIN, OUSSAMA ZAHR Shelter and Design Editor SUE HOSTETLER Timepiece Editor ROBERTA NAAS ADVERTISING SALES

Account Directors SUSAN ABRAMS, MICHELE ADDISON, GUY BROWN, CLAIRE CARLIN, MICHELLE CHALA, KATHLEEN FLEMING, KAREN LEVINE, MEREDITH MERRILL, NORMA MONTALVO, JEFFREY NICHOLSON, SHANNON PASTUSZAK, MIA PIERRE-JACQUES, VALERIE ROBLES, JESSICA ZIVKOVITCH Account Executives SUSANA ARAGON, LAUREN BROGNA, JANELLE DRISCOLL, VINCE DUROCHER, IRENA HALL, SAMANTHA HARRIS, SARAH HECKLER, CATHERINE KUCHAR, JULIA MAZUR, FENDY MESY, MARY RUEGG, ERIN SALINS, JACKIE VAN METER Advertising Business Manager RICHARD YONG Sales Support and Development EMMA BEHRINGER, ANA BLAGOJEVIC, BRITTANY CORBETT, DARA HIRSH, KARA KEARNS, MICHELLE MASS, NICHOLE MAURER, RUE MCBRIDE, ELIZABETH MITCHELL, STEPHEN OSTROWSKI, MICHELLE PETRILLO, ALEXANDRA WINTER MARKETING, PROMOTIONS, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations LANA BERNSTEIN Director of Creative Services SCOTT ROBSON Promotions Art Designers KAITLYN RICHERT, CARLY RUSSELL Event Marketing Directors AMY FISCHER, HALEE HARCZYNSKI, LAURA MULLEN, KIMMY WILSON Event Marketing Managers KELSEY MARRUJO, CRISTINA PARRA, ASHLEY VEHSLAGE Event Marketing Coordinator BROOKE BIDDLE Event Marketing Assistant SHANA KAUFMAN ADVERTISING PRODUCTION

Director of Positioning and Planning SALLY LYON Positioning and Planning Manager TARA MCCRILLIS Assistant Production Director PAUL HUNTSBERRY Production Manager BLUE UYEDA Production Artists MARISSA MAHERAS, DARA RICCI, ALISHA SMITH Distribution Manager MATT HEMMERLING Assistant Distribution Relations Manager JENNIFER PALMER Fulfillment Manager DORIS HOLLIFIELD Traffic Supervisor ESTEE WRIGHT Traffic Coordinators JEANNE GLEESON, MALLORIE SOMMERS Manufacturing Coordinator KIMBERLY CHANG Circulation Research Specialist CHAD HARWOOD FINANCE

Controller DANIELLE BIXLER Finance Directors AUDREY CADY, LISA VASSEUR-MODICA Director of Credit and Collections CHRISTOPHER BEST Senior Credit and Collections Analyst MYRNA ROSADO Senior Billing Coordinator CHARLES CAGLE Senior Accountant LILY WU Junior Accountants KATHY SABAROVA, NEIL SHAH, NATASHA WARREN Accounts Payable Coordinator NADINE DEODATT ADMINISTRATION, DIGITAL, AND OPERATIONS

Director of Operations MICHAEL CAPACE Director of Human Resources STEPHANIE MITCHELL Digital Producer ANTHONY PEARSON Facilities Coordinator JOUBERT GUILLAUME Chief Technology Officer JESSE TAYLOR Desktop Administrators ZACHARY CUMMO, EDGAR ROCHE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

J.P. ANDERSON (Michigan Avenue), SPENCER BECK (Los Angeles Confidential), ANDREA BENNETT (Vegas), KATHY BLACKWELL (Austin Way), KRISTIN DETTERLINE (Philadelphia Style), LISA PIERPONT (Boston Common), JARED SHAPIRO (Ocean Drive), ELIZABETH E. THORP (Capitol File), DAMIEN WILLIAMSON (Executive Editor, Aspen Peak), SAMANTHA YANKS (Hamptons) PUBLISHERS

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Managing Partner JANE GALE Chairman and Director of Photography JEFF GALE Chief Operating Officer MARIA BLONDEAUX Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer JOHN P. KUSHNIR Chief Executive Officer KATHERINE NICHOLLS

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Letter from the editor-in-Chief // this issue //

on my radar 1. The Tribeca Film Festival, April 15–26, tribecaflm.com 2. Chevalier, the new restaurant in the Baccarat Hotel, helmed by Charles Masson, the legendary restaurateur from La Grenouille. 20 W. 53rd St., 212-790-8800 ; baccarathotels.com 3. “Fata Morgana,” Teresita Fernández’s sculpture exhibit in Madison Square Park. madisonsquarepark.org

1

If you asked a New yorker whIch was the greeNest cIty IN the us,

Gotham probably wouldn’t come first to mind. But last year’s Global Green Economy Index, published by data analytics firm DualCitizen, claims we are, thanks to low greenhouse gas emissions for a metro area our size, a vast public transportation system (meaning lower auto use per capita), and aggressive green building initiatives. Still, it’s hard to get past the urban-jungle clichés: In the movie Eat, Pray, Love, the main character, author Elizabeth Gilbert, is asked for a word that best describes New York and she answers, “soot”—a sarcastic and knowing response for sure, but who has ever opened a window in Manhattan without feeling like it’s Ash Wednesday? The smoky residue that continues to dust our buildings and makes winter whites a wistful fashion concept is a chronic fact of city life, just like our ongoing traffic mayhem, lottery-like odds for private school admission, and 90-decibel restaurants.

The ever-present soot reminds us that despite New York’s notable GGEI ranking, significant green challenges remain, among them a growing population, an aging infrastructure, and the changing climate’s impact on a vulnerable waterfront. PlaNYC Green, the municipal government’s sustainability and resiliency action plan, is an ambitious one, with a 2030 target date for realizing such goals as having the cleanest air in the nation, fortifying the shoreline, and ensuring all New Yorkers live within a 10minute walk to a park. There’s more encouraging news: The Big U project, the plan to rim low-lying coastal areas with parkland, was just awarded $335 million in funding and will break ground in 2017.

As Mayor de Blasio pointed out at the start of the United Nations Climate Summit last year, “Global warming was much more of an abstraction to New York City, until two years ago,” the remark referencing Hurricane Sandy, a storm that led to 44 deaths and $19 billion worth of damage to the city.

We can also thank the Bloomberg administration for many initiatives, among them making privately owned buildings report on energy and water use and identifying ways to rid the city of, yes, even its soot problem! According to PlaNYC Green, about 86 percent of the soot comes from 1 percent of our buildings; the city has required a phase-out of their low-grade oil use and a transition to cleaner fuels.

This is the first April edition of Gotham, whose timing—Earth Day is April 24—helped generate many of the topics you see in our pages this month, a few of which we hope will inspire you to have a very eco-smart spring!

catherine sabino Follow me on Twitter @csabino and on gotham-magazine.com.

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photography by EugEnE gologursky (sabino); courtEsy of thE tribEca film fEstival (movE marquEE); courtEsy of lEhmann maupin, nEw york and hong kong, anthony mEiEr finE arts, san francisco (madison squarE park)

Chatting with the great Lorne Michaels at our party celebrating Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary and Gotham cover.

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WE ARE PLEDGED TO THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THE U.S. POLICY FOR ACHIEVEMENT OF EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY THROUGHOUT THE NATION. WE ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT AN AFFIRMATIVE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING PROGRAM WHICH THERE ARE NO BARRIERS TO OBTAINING HOUSING BECAUSE OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, HANDICAP, FAMILIAL STATUS OR NATIONAL ORIGIN. THE SKETCHES, RENDERINGS, PICTURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ARE PROPOSED ONLY AND THE DEVELOPER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY, REVISE OR WITHDRAW ANY OR ALL OF THE SAME AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION WITHOUT NOTICE. THE RENDERINGS ILLUSTRATE AND DEPICT A LIFESTYLE, HOWEVER, AMENTIES, FEATURES AND SPEFICIATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL INFORMATION IS DEEMED RELIABLE BUT IS NOT GUARANTEED AND SHOULD BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED. ALL REAL ESTATE ADVERTISED HEREIN IS SUBJECT TO THE US FEDERAL FAIR HOUSING ACT OF 1968 WHICH MAKES IT ILLEGAL TO MAKE OR PUBLISH ANY ADVERTISEMENT THAT INDICATES ANY PREFERENCE, LIMITATION, OR DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, HANDICAP, FAMILIAL STATUS, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN. PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY FOR MORE INFORMATION. ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THIS BROCHURE AND TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. THIS IS NOT AN OFFER FOR CONTRACT OR SALE IN THE STATES OF NY, NJ OR MASS. MARKETING & BRANDING BY TURNBERRY AND BRIDGER CONWAY

letter from the Publisher // this issue //

on my radar

1

Celebrating Gotham’s Spring issue with cover stars and Saturday Night Live cast members Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Jay Pharoah.

2

Spring iS in full bloom , and it could not be more welcome. We planned

dawn dubois Follow me on Twitter @dawnmdubois and on gotham-magazine.com.

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3 1. I am looking forward to the Palm Bay International Winemaker Tour and Tasting at the New York Public Library, with a charity auction to beneft the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.

2. These fantastic crystal panels, created by Damien Hirst for Lalique’s limited-edition “Eternal” series, are on view at the Lalique showroom on Fifth Avenue. They capture the spirit of spring so beautifully.

3. I can’t wait to test-drive the GranTurismo with Maserati of Manhattan—it’s totally spring-ready!

PhotograPhy by EugEnE gologursky/gEtty ImagEs (thomPson)

this Earth Day issue while winter still gripped the city in its icy clutches. The first glimmer of hope that the green of spring could return hit me one evening while walking down Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District, which was eerily desolate due to the cold. In a shop window there was a fanciful display of handbags that joyfully shouted April: a green leather purse shaped like a watering can, another resembling a snail, and a wicker one that looked like a frog. Those accessories were a vision of New York in all its whimsical, warm-weather glory: floral patterns, eyelet fabric, bare legs, peep-toe shoes, exposed skin… Bring it on!

On our calendar for April, Gotham has a roster of fabulous events designed to celebrate the city and engage our readers. The New York International Auto Show roars into town April 3–12, where we we’re excited to check out the hottest wheels from around the world. Italy’s dynamic spirit will be on full display when Maserati of Manhattan proudly launches the sleek, sporty, new Ghibli. Mixing wine with lions, at the New York Public Library we will host a VIP winery tour and tasting with Palm Bay International at our Summer Warm Up party for Gotham and Hamptons magazines. Proceeds from the auction of wine and other special items will benefit the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.

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...Without Whom this issue would not have been possible

Guillaume Gaudet Photographer

Benedetta PiGnatelli Writer

Guillaume Gaudet grew up in France, Spain, Germany, and Argentina. After working in public relations in Paris, he moved to New York City, where he turned his passion for photography into a career.

He has since shot for such diverse clients as Travel + Leisure, Corcoran, and Sephora. He photographs Rudy Albers, president of the American Wempe Corp., for this issue’s After Hours on page 54. Were there challenges with the shoot? We met three times before finally getting the shot.

The first time, the car was so dirty that it couldn’t be photographed. The second, it started snowing right after we met. Third time was the charm—though the shot was taken in subfreezing temperatures. How did you become interested in photography?

It wasn’t until I moved to New York from Paris that I started to take photography seriously.

I didn’t have a job, so I would spend a lot of time taking photos around the city. New York was my playground, and I still haven’t tired of capturing the smallest details.

Benedetta Pignatelli is a Naples-born, New York– based lifestyle photojournalist whose work has appeared in Vogue Italia, Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, and Interiors. She scoured the city for the best super-seasonal veggie dishes for this issue’s CuiScene (page 70.) What interested you in writing this piece? I wanted to explore the elaborate new offerings chefs are creating to adapt to diners’ ever-increasing desire for veggies. Did you learn anything new about vegetable cooking techniques? It was interesting to see how excited chefs are about vegetables finally becoming the belle of the nutritional ball and what lengths they go to unlock their flavors. Bacchanal’s chef Schmidtberger and his Alto-Shaam Combi oven (“the price of a car”—his words) come to mind. What is your favorite NYC restaurant? I would say Harlow (111 E. 56th St., 212-935-6600; harlownyc.com) because of the history of the building (it was a gift from William Randolph Hearst to actress Marion Davies), the Meyer Davis design, and the branzino with wasabi stem gremolata.

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// late Spring 2015

Conor doherty Photographer

Jill SiGal Writer and Consultant

david hoChman Writer

Brooklyn-based Conor Doherty, a former business analyst, used to spend weekends with his true passion—photography—experimenting with lighting and camera settings at home. It wasn’t long before he was discovered and hired to do a 10-page spread and cover in Boston magazine. Since then, his images have appeared in Nylon, Teen Vogue, and Fortune magazine. He photographed designer Paul Andrew for this issue’s Tastemaker on page 33.

What aspect of Paul Andrew’s personality did you want to capture in the photos? Paul was laid-back and easy to work with, while clearly passionate, driven, and focused when it came to his own work. I was hoping to capture that balance. I also wanted to convey his creative process: how he never designs with a computer and still does everything by hand. Who is on your photography bucket list? Jimmy Fallon. He has such an expressive face.

Words of advice for aspiring photographers in New York? Don’t try to distinguish yourself on ability alone. Keep a positive attitude—if you’re fun to work with, people will want to work with you!

In the course of her wideranging career, Jill Segal has founded a public policy consulting firm and worked as a presidential appointee in former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Currently, she is the chief of staff of US government policy at Conservation International.

In this issue, Sigal pens the feature “Nature in the Eye of the Storm” on page 94. What did you enjoy most about producing the piece?

Interviewing Walmart Chairman Rob Walton, Conservation International Chairman and CEO Peter Seligmann, President of the Council of Foreign Relations Richard Haass, and President Anote Tong of Kiribati. These are men whom I admire for their individual contributions to making the world a better place. What motivates you to work to protect the planet? My son, Harrison. I have a choice—I can sit by and do nothing or I can take action and do my small part to help ensure that nature continues to provide essential resources to future generations.

David Hochman covers personalities, travel, and lifestyle for The New York Times, Food & Wine, Forbes, and Details, among other publications. In this issue, Hochman interviews cover star Kevin Spacey (page 78).

You’ve interviewed Kevin Spacey in the past. What was the most surprising thing you’ve learned about him? He collects letters. He’s been doing it for years. He used to correspond with mentors like Katharine Hepburn and Jack Lemmon.

He kept them all. How did the interview for Gotham go? He’s one of the more intense people I’ve interviewed in the past year. He curses a lot. He loves the F-word. You just want to make sure he doesn’t direct it at you. What do you consider your biggest achievement as a writer?

I recently got an assignment to go around the world by private jet. It wasn’t an achievement exactly, but it was unforgettable.

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Howard Slatkin

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John Mooney

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Edward Norton

Ilana Judah

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Jeff Sharpe

John Mandyck

Chelsea Clinton

Steven Winter

Galen Zamarra

Laurie Kerr

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Hillary Rodham Clinton

Marissa Feinberg

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Nilda Mesa

Chris Garvin

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Bart Potenza

Steven Cohen

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Caspar Wagner

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Peter Seligmann

Aine Brazil

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Susanne Desroches

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Jason Keehn

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Matt Damon

28  gotham-magazine.com 

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STyle Tastemaker Paul Andrew, who won the 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition, in his studio near Central Park. Richard Serra’s Double Weight I hangs on the wall.

The Shoe In Paul andrew, Following in the chic Footsteps oF Manolo, christian, and JiMMy, is now the hottest designer in town.

By Andrew C. Stone photogrAphy By Conor doherty

“A well-made shoe is an architectural feat,” says Paul Andrew, known for his exquisitely sculpted designs. The 36-year-old Brit, the hottest shoe designer in town, launched his eponymous collection just two years ago and was crowned the winner of the 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition in November. Now Manhattan style setters, once wed exclusively to their Louboutins, Manolos, and Choos, are stepping out in his creations all over town. continued on page 34

gotham-magazine.com

33

STyle Tastemaker

clockwise from far left: Andrew at

work; a recent mood board; Rhea triple-dyed suede flats in a rainbow of shades ($545).

Andrew’s CFDA/Vogue award is noteworthy for several reasons. His is the first shoe or accessories brand to win; he’s also the first British designer to gain the honor. “It’s been a huge gift,” Andrew says. “The celebrities interested in wearing the shoes increased dramatically. Emma Watson and Helena Christensen have now become great supporters, and Elle Macpherson has been wearing my gladiator sandals all over the place.”

Born and raised in Bray, England, Andrew graduated from the Berkshire College of Art and Design, where he won awards for his shoe designs, which led to an apprenticeship with Alexander McQueen.

“He knew how to push any design to its limits and beyond,” he says. “Whenever I reach a creative roadblock, I ask myself what McQueen would do.” Stops on his

34 gotham-magazine.com

résumé read like a who’s who of fashion—Calvin Klein, Narciso Rodriguez, and Donna Karan, who served as mentors and taught him how to navigate in the hypercompetitive New York fashion world. “Narciso helped me understand the nature of the business; Calvin showed me how to remain true to a brand,” he recalls. “Donna, who is a dear friend, taught me about what a woman wants.”

And from Andrew’s perspective, what do women want? Shoes that are sexy yet never vulgar, of-the-moment stylish, and timeless, too. His kitten-heel sling-backs, fringed Lara boots, and classic pumps with winged peaks (favorites of Vogue Paris editor Emmanuelle Alt and Lupita Nyong’o), which range in heel height from a half inch up to four and a half inches, are on constant reorder at retailers like Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth

Avenue, Barneys, and Jeffrey.

Andrew, whose studio is near Central Park, says his inspirations are far-flung: He used a color palette for the clothes worn by Tilda Swinton in the film I Am Love (plum, cobalt, Hermès orange) for pre-fall, brought back the block-heeled mule—a trend he sees emerging—and crafted a sling-back/sneaker hybrid for spring. But New York remains a constant muse. As part of a Vogue-Maybelline challenge, he created luxe, Manhattaninspired shoes, and even a jewel-encrusted skyline on black thigh-high boots. For his Fall–Winter 2015-16 collection, Andrew says he was inspired by “the literal and figurative architecture of New York City: the city lights, its energy and pace, the resolve to win.”

Andrew’s shoes are made by hand in Italy, in the town of

“Whenever I reach a creatIve roadblock, I ask myself What mcQueen Would do.”

Varese near Milan; his luxury skins and leathers come from tanneries on the outskirts of Florence. “Fit and comfort are my watchwords,” he insists, explaining how he builds hidden cushioned wedges into his heels for a pillowlike lift, and precisely measured toe boxes to eschew gravitational scrunch.

After opening his first pop-up shop within the Donna Karan Collection store on London’s Conduit Street, Andrew plans freestanding boutiques in fashion capitals around the world. He’s also devising an e-commerce model for his business, and is

collaborating with artist Timothy Goodman on an exclusive print for Bergdorf Goodman, which will be unveiled during New York Fashion Week in September.

He is set to launch a line of men’s shoes in the next year, and introduce accessories and handbags, too. “I like the idea of being a true lifestyle brand,” he says. “To me, that means extending my offerings while maintaining the DNA of the brand.”

Bergdorf Goodman, 754 Fifth Ave., 212-753-7300; bergdorf goodman.com; Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Ave., 212-753-4000; saks.com G

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STYLE Accessories ETHEREAL EXTRAS Delicate pieces set a feminine mood for spring.

en Pointe

New york womeN show their softer side as BaLLet-iNsPired PieCes take CeNter staGe this seasoN. photography by jeff crawford styling by faye power

36  gotham-magazine.com 

ProP styling by sharon ryan for halley resources. hair and makeuP by griselle rosario using dior addict/tata harPer skin care and amika hair tools at factory downtown; manicure by casandra lamar using dior Vernis/eos hand lotion at factory downtown

Jumpsuit ($5,290) and skirt ($4,500), Valentino. 693 Fifth Ave., 212-355-5811; valentino.com. Gem clutch, Rauwolf ($990). Barneys New York, 660 Madison Ave., 212-826-8900; barneys.com.

Kallie flats, Michael Kors ($550).

790 Madison Ave., 212-452-4685; michaelkors.com

2

1 SOFT SOPHISTICATION

POISED PRECISION

Neutral tones contrast in classic and cutting-edge shapes.

Thinking pink the modern way with glossy tones and sleek design.

3

4

CURTAIN CALL

RAISING THE BARRE

A pas de deux of shimmery and sheer powder tones.

Old-world detail contrasts with a distinctive new shoe silhouette.

1. Headdress, Jenny Packham ($347). Bergdorf Goodman, 754 Fifth Ave., 212-872-8700; bergdorfgoodman.com. Zoe envelope clutch, Max Mara ($425). 813 Madison Ave., 212-879-6100; maxmara.com. Mariposa flat, Alejandro Ingelmo ($625). 51 Wooster St., 646-692-8184; alejandroingelmo.com. 2. Patent pump, Brian Atwood ($855). Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Ave., 212-7534000; saks.com. Crystal headdress, Jenny Packham ($733). Bergdorf Goodman, see above. Specchio resin clutch, Judith Leiber Couture ($1,495). Bergdorf Goodman, see above. 3. Monili wallet, Brunello Cucinelli ($955). 379 Bleecker St., 212-627-9202; brunellocucinelli.com. Lana pump, Bionda Castana ($805). Intermix, 98 Prince St., 212-966-5303; intermixonline.com. Comb, Jenny Packham ($376). Bergdorf Goodman, see above. 4. Lyssa flat, Jimmy Choo ($795). 407 Bleecker St., 212-366-1305; jimmychoo.com. Crown Goa clutch, Oscar de la Renta ($2,250).

772 Madison Ave., 212-288-5810; oscardelarenta.com. Tribal earrings, Dior (price on request). 105 Greene St., 646-613-7013; dior.com

gotham-magazine.com

37

STYLE Spotlight Stella McCartney’s vibrant jacquard cardigan (PICTURED ), made from sustainably farmed wool combined with silk crepe de chine, is just one of the eco-chic pieces in the designer’s Resort 2015 collection, available this month. Other “green” items are made from organic cotton and eco alter leathers. 112 Greene St., 212-255-1556; stellamccartney.com

// WHAT’S IN STORE//

1

MOTHER EARTH

When Eileen Fisher began using organic cotton and natural fibers over 10 years ago, she was considered a pioneer within the eco-chic movement. Spring 2015 marks Fisher’s most eco-friendly collection yet—with 70 percent of the items approved by Blue Sign, a Swiss company that audits textile production, from raw material to finished product, and measures its environmental impact. There’s more news, too, from the brand: The Icon capsule collection, featuring reissues of six of the designer’s favorite pieces that draw upon the label’s 30-year history, is available this month.

1039 Madison Ave., 212-879-7799; eileenfisher.com

The Swallow Intarsia cardigan in Midnight ($4,325).

RIDING HIGH

Museum Piece

MAX MARA CELEBRATES THE NEW WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART WITH A NAMESAKE BAG. BY ERIN RILEY To mark the anticipated opening of the new Whitney Museum in May, Max Mara will unveil the “Whitney” bag created in collaboration with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. (Piano was the architect for the new museum.) The bag will be available in small, medium, and large ($1,150, $1,450, and $1,750, respectively) and three colors: black, bordeaux, and tan. There’s a limited-edition version too—in blue-gray to match the museum’s steel-beamed façade. Max Mara is also the sponsor of the Whitney’s openingnight gala. 813 Madison Ave., 212-879-6100; maxmara.com

// arm candy //

SADDLE UP

Ralph Lauren ($1,250).

888 Madison Ave., 212-434-8000; ralphlauren.com

38 GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

2

Since 2001 Pierre Hardy has created jewelry designs for Hermès that put a modern spin on the brand’s equestrian heritage.

His Mors de Bride (French for “horsebit”) fine jewelry line, which debuts in April, will include necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that feature a mix of curb, cable, and round forçat chains and natural brown diamonds set in silver. 691 Madison Ave., 212-751-3181; hermes.com The Argent Diamants Bruns bracelet ($24,600).

BALLET BEAUTIFUL

Spring marks the release of Cole Haan’s third collection of Avery ballet flats, co-created by New York City Ballet principal dancers Sara Mearns, Megan Fairchild, and Gretchen Smith.

141 Fifth Ave., 212-677-4693; colehaan.com

The hippest handbags this spring echo the shape and spirit of equestrian saddle bags.

Emilio Pucci ($2,390).

855 Madison Ave., 212-752-4777; emiliopucci.com

Michael Kors ($795).

790 Madison Ave., 212-4524685; michaelkors.com

Chloé ($1,950).

93 Greene St., 646-350-1770; chloe.com

Tory Burch ($550). 797 Madison Ave., 212-510-8371; toryburch.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF CRAWFORD (RALPH LAUREN, EMILIO PUCCI, MICHAEL KORS); STANISLAS WOLFF (CHLOË); ARIAN CAMILLERI (TORY BURCH)

WHOLE CLOTH

YOUR PARTY IS WAITING, BUT AFTER ALL IT IS YOUR PARTY loewshotels.com/regency-hotel 800.23.LOEWS

OPENING NEW DOORS.

style eco-Chic

Tara St James (left) uses only sustainable materials for her Study NY designs. inset: Shirt.1.1, $180.

time, effort, and start-up capital, they’re nonnegotiable to many of the new-guard garment crowd.

TARA ST JAMES:

EARTH TONES

Eco-conscious dEsignErs forgE a nEw grEEn path in fashion. by andrew c. stone

For many years, if shoppers wanted to fill their closets as conscientiously as they filled their cupboards, choices were limited and, let’s face it, pretty bland. But today, many top fashion labels have made eco-consciousness an integral part of their brand identity, embracing earth-friendly practices and cruelty-free fabrics for the production of their clothes.

Stella McCartney, who has proven that covetable, high-end garments can be made from animalfriendly fabrics has been leading the charge since launching her eponymous line in 2001, and John

40 gotham-magazine.com

Bartlett has also become an outspoken friend to animals, refusing to work with leather or fur and emblazoning many of his T-shirts with animal imagery. Charlotte Ronson and Vivienne Westwood have taken similar stands against the use of fur and animal products. Yet green fashion is about more than creature consciousness. A new wave of New York–based designers are holding themselves to high standards when it comes to sourcing responsibly, locating factories with low-carbon footprints, minimizing production waste, and using recycled materials. While these practices often require extra

“I don’t believe another human, animal, or the environment should have to suffer for fashion,” says Brooklyn’s Tara St James, who creates womenswear under the label Study NY (study-ny.com) from Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator.

The brand—which is available online and at Brooklyn boutiques like Joinery (263 S. First St., 347-889-6164; joinerynyc.com) and Brooklyn Denim Co. (85 N. Third St., 718-782-2600; brooklyndenim co.com) and is a favorite of Esperanza Spalding and Irina Pantaeva—won second place at the 2014 CFDA/ Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge for its uncompromising ethos and “smart girl” separates (a hip marriage of geometric tailoring and feminine silhouettes).

St James—the fashion director of the Uniform Project, which raises money for underprivileged youth—uses only sustainable textiles like organic cotton, hemp, and recycled poly. To minimize production, she has abandoned the concept of seasonal collections, choosing to create pieces based upon demand. “I only produce what is beautiful and wanted,” she says. Her pieces are made primarily in New York City’s Garment District or within fair-trade, co-op-based factories in Peru and India. This spring, she’s collaborating with Brooklyn weaving studio Weaving Hand to upcycle scraps into usable textiles and experimenting with Japanese 3-D knitting machines to potentially construct seamless, waste-free garments with a minimum of fuss. “I spent the first 10 years of my career producing overseas,” she says. “I now have a broader understanding of construction, costing, fit, and finishing. I take responsibility for those decisions and wouldn’t trade what I have now for any amount of efficiency in the world.” study-ny.com

this page: photography by sara Kerens (st james). opposite page: ames perKins (manning); gisel Florez (earrings); scott macDonough (bogle)

Study Ny

“The consumer is The one who will change The way The world consumes, noT The companies.”

—morgan bogle

Morgan Bogle’s vegan handbag line, Freedom of Animals, is only two years old, but has a celebrity following. She is pictured (left) holding her Sonje clutch; Melia Pia bag, $200.

MORGAN BOGLE: Freedom oF AnimAls

Another corner of the fashion industry, the accessories market, is a particularly challenging environment for a cruelty-free designer as consumers continue to buy bags made from exotic skins, leather boots, and silk scarves. Yet New York stylist Morgan Bogle has a hit on her hands with her sustainable, vegan line of fashionable handbags, Freedom of Animals (freedom ofanimals.com). Launched less than two years ago, the New York–designed line is a fashion-press favorite and counts Kerry Washington, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Anne Hathaway as fans of Bogle’s designs, which are known for their sophisticated, minimalist shapes: triangle purses with generous exterior pockets, colorblocked shoulder bags, roomy totes with slender straps, and pared-down clutches in subdued shades.

She recently teamed up with Nordstrom and PETA to create bags, and beauty line Ilia tapped the brand to produce a chic, two-tone makeup bag/evening clutch.

“We follow strict guidelines and don’t compromise,” she says of her manufacturing and collaborations.

“It’s very important for us to be a part of the solution, rather than to continue production that doesn’t have a healthy impact on the planet.”

Bogle has made it her mission to source luxuriously soft materials—vegetable-dyed, post-consumer polyurethane and organic cotton as well as recycled metal zippers and plastic water-bottle linings—and to follow certified EPA guidelines. All pieces are manufactured at a low-carbon-footprint factory in New Jersey. Bogle credits educated consumers with the responsible changes we’re seeing throughout the fashion world. “The consumer is the one who will change the way the world consumes, not the companies,” she insists. “People want to know where everything comes from and the process each item on

the market goes through to get to the shelf. Without this need to know, companies don’t have to monitor production as carefully.” freedomofanimals.com

MELISSA JOY MANNING: melissA Joy mAnning

Eco-conscious jewelry designers such as Melissa Joy Manning have their own issues to consider.

Manning, a sustainable-jewelry pioneer for more than 15 years and cochair of the CFDA Sustainability Committee, creates one-of-a-kind, organically shaped pieces that are regularly seen on stars like Katie Holmes, Jessica Alba, and Angelina Jolie. She uses recycled precious metals from a green-certified refiner, employs green-certified artisan practices (like metalsmithing that yields no

chemical waste), and tirelessly seeks out stones— rough-hewn Herkimer diamonds, opals, cultured pearls, agates, and so forth—that are in line with her company’s ethos. “Stones are tricky,” Manning admits. “We use responsibly sourced stones as much as possible and try to have direct relationships with miners and stonecutters.” Inspired by the stones’ natural beauty, her asymmetrical pieces possess personality galore.

Manning’s team designs from a Wooster Street studio, where they share resources with likeminded contemporaries, promote forward-thinking vendors, talk about issues, and solve problems as a collective. And like Bogle, Manning applauds conscientious shoppers for turning the tide when it comes to stemming waste in the fashion industry.

“It’s easy to forget, but the premise of our economy is supply and demand,” she says. “If we demand the right product, companies have to supply it.” 12 Wooster St., 212-219-2194; melissajoymanning.com G

from left: Melissa Joy Manning uses only responsibly sourced stones for her jewelry; these one-of-a-kind drop earrings are made with agate, Biwa petal pearls, and 14k yellow gold.

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41

Gold Rush

watchmakers are crafting modern timepieces in unique shades of gold.

By RoBeRta Naas PhotogRaPhy By Jeff CRawfoRd

Since the beginning of recorded history, gold has been considered the ultimate symbol of wealth. As far back as 3600 BC, Egyptians depicted precious gold objects in their hieroglyphics, and the Mesopotamians were among the first to craft gold jewelry. As time progressed, gold became a unit of currency, an important element in art, and when forged into wedding bands, a symbol of love. The 17th century saw the creation of personal timepieces in the form of pocket watches, leading early watchmakers to utilize gold to satisfy affluent clients. The partnership between gold and timekeeping that began over 500 years ago continues to this day.

Seventy percent of the gold used for jewelry and fine watches is 18 karat. The karatage, indicated by a number

42  gotham-magazine.com 

this page: styling by terry lewis. opposite page: photography courtesy of chopard

STYLE Time Honored

18k white gold, along with 18k pink or rose gold, are now most popular for timepieces. followed by “k,” refers to the proportion of pure gold in a piece of jewelry: 18k gold contains 75 percent; 24k gold, 99 percent. Since 24k gold is too soft and malleable to be crafted into the hull of a watchcase, other metals are mixed with it to strengthen it. When combined with the original ingot, these metals can also add new hues to the gold’s color.

As watch trends have evolved, classic yellow gold, which once reigned supreme, has become less in demand, while 18k white gold and several hues of 18k pink, or rose, gold are now the most popular for timepieces. White gold is created by mixing metals like palladium and nickel with yellow gold. Adding copper to the mix creates pink, rose, and even red-gold hues. The more copper added, the richer and deeper the pink gold. Typically, the value of 3N and 4N is given to pink and rose gold, while 5N denotes a deeper, richer hue (some brands refer to their 5N pink gold as “red” gold).

Some watch brands create their own hues, such as green, orange, honey, brown, gray, and even purple by introducing various alloys to gold. Others not only add special metals to achieve a proprietary color, but also add other materials to slow down or stop gold from fading, or to help prevent it from scratching. To create certain unique shades, such as black, the color is achieved via an external coating process, such as electroplating, physical vapor deposit (PVD), or controlled oxidation. Though these specialized colors lack the broad market appeal of yellow, white, and pink gold, they add intriguing options for watch collectors looking for variety. For more watch features and expanded coverage, go to gotham-magazine.com/watches. G

The Chopard L.U.C Tourbillon QF Fairmined watch ($144,570) is made using Fairminedcertified gold from South America. The brand’s movement powers it with L.U.C Quattro Technology.

Fair Minded

Watch and jewelry maker Chopard embraces sustainable luxury in its use of Fairmined gold.

The watch and jewelry industry has faced controversy when it comes to mining diamonds, gemstones, and precious metals. The 2006 release of the flm Blood Diamond publicized the reality of unethical practices at diamond mines, some of which fund illegal or criminal activities. The movie helped spur reform, and now similar initiatives are being introduced for gold mining. Chopard has taken a leading role in advocating for and implementing these reforms.

In 2013 Chopard launched its Journey to Sustainable Luxury project, a multiyear commitment (in partnership with Eco-Age) to sustainable and ethical practices. For that initiative, the brand entered into a partnership with the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), an NGO that has established “Fairmined” standards and certifcation for gold mining. Chopard has committed to purchasing a substantial portion of the cooperative’s resulting gold—certi-

opposite page, clockwise from top left: Rolex offers the Oyster

Perpetual Datejust ($31,300) crafted in the brand’s proprietary 18k Everose gold, which exudes a dark rose hue that won’t fade. It is fitted with an Everose President bracelet. Rolex, 665 Fifth Ave., 212-758-7700; rolex.com

From Bulgari, this stunning Serpenti watch ($59,000) is crafted in 18k white gold with a supple white-gold bracelet designed to mirror the shape of a snake—right down to a tapered tail. 730 Fifth Ave., 212-315-9000; bulgari.com The Omega Ladymatic Co-Axial watch ($38,500) is crafted in 18k yellow gold with a yellow-gold bracelet. The 34mm watch houses a self-winding movement with co-axial escapement for greater stability and precision. 711 Fifth Ave., 212-207-3333; omegawatches.com This Buccellati Cleopatra cuff watch ($43,500) is crafted in a proprietary 18k black gold. The cuff consists of 66.22 grams of gold and is set with 32 diamonds. 714 Madison Ave., 212-308-2900; buccellati.com

fed as Fairmined according to strict standards—for use in its jewelry collections.

“It is a bold commitment, but one that we must pursue if we are to make a difference to the lives of people who make our business possible,” said Karl Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard.

Last year Chopard unveiled the world’s frst watch made of Fairmined gold from South America—marking the offcial arrival of watchmaking to ethical luxury. Now available for purchase, the L.U.C Tourbillon QF Fairmined watch features a case, case back, and bezel that are made entirely with this gold. The watch’s certifcation guarantees that the gold was extracted in a responsible manner and that miners have been paid fairly.

The 18k rose-gold watch is powered by a hand-wound mechanical movement with tourbillon escapement and nine days of power reserve thanks to the L.U.C Quattro Technology, which utilizes two sets of stacked barrels for long-lasting power. The 43mm COSC-certifed chronometer also holds the Qualite Fleurier Foundation certifcation, a testament to its precision and durability. Just 25 of these watches are being created, though Chopard plans additional Fairmined watch releases. 709 Madison Ave., 212-223-2304; chopard.com

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culture Hottest ticket

RaptuRe

photography by Fred hermansky/nbC/nbCU photo bank via getty images

Debbie Harry of the iconic band blondie sings at café carlyle. By Jennifer DeMeritt

Debbie Harry performing with Blondie on Saturday Night Live on October 13, 1979.

Longevity is rare in rock ’n’ roll, which makes Debbie Harry, of the groundbreaking New-Wave band Blondie, an unusual songbird indeed. Four decades after Blondie started making a splash in the downtown music scene at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, Harry is performing in a two-week run of solo shows at one of uptown’s most venerable venues, the Café Carlyle. Over the years she’s sold more than 40 million records with Blondie, recorded five albums as a soloist, and duetted with some of the hippest gents in the music biz, including Nick Cave and Elvis Costello. “I guess I’ve either been really stubborn and hardheaded and determined,” Harry says of her long career, “or I’ve been really lucky.”

The shows at the Carlyle will be a chance for Harry to “put together an interesting list of songs I don’t usually play with Blondie,” she says. “The basis for the whole thing is collaboration—it’s about the people I worked with on these songs, who I wrote them with, who I recorded them with.” Surprise guests will stop by to perform with her, and though she wouldn’t divulge their names at press time, one imagines they’ll be impressive given the caliber of artists she’s partnered with over the years, from Franz Ferdinand to the Jazz Passengers. The intimate space at the Carlyle will allow for a show that’s “much more interactive on a personal level,” Harry says. “In a club, it’s like having a conversation.”

Never one to rest on her stardom, Harry remains committed to New York City as an incubator for the arts, and she lends her talents to a variety of causes, from the glamorous to the obscure. On March 5 she joined Philip Glass, Patti Smith, and other luminaries at the annual Tibet House benefit concert at Carnegie Hall.

She’s also performed at benefits for the music program at the Institute for Collaborative Education, a progressive school on 15th Street where her friend Roy Nathanson of the Jazz Passengers teaches. “It’s a throbbing, exciting, intense, urban universe,” she says of the city’s creative community. “A force unto itself.” March 24–April 4. Café Carlyle, 35 E. 76th St., 212-7441600; rosewoodhotels.com G

gotham-magazine.com

45

culture Art Full An aerial image of a river in Poland, 53°36’20.36”N 17°57’44.68”E, from the series “Side Effects” by Kacper Kowalski on view at the Curator Gallery.

Flying HigH

Can man-made beauty rival the glories of the natural world? acper owals i’s aerial photography explores that question in a new show opening on earth day at the Curator gallery.

When Bill Shapiro, a former managing editor for Life magazine, saw Kacper Kowalski’s photographs last September at Photoville, an annual event in Brooklyn Bridge Park, he literally stopped in his tracks. The brilliant colors and compositions of the aerial images reminded him of the work of the 20th century’s great abstract and minimalist painters. Shapiro was even more intrigued upon learning of the subject matter: a traffic-choked highway across a frozen river, the grounds of a chemical plant, the effluent of open-pit mines. The stunningly beautiful photos—part of a project that Kowalski calls “Toxic Beauty”—“led to the question ‘What is beauty?’” Shapiro says.

The Polish photographer had already won numerous prizes at the time, including two World Press Photo Awards (he recently won a third) and a Sony World Photography Award, and had exhibited around the world—but never in New York. Shapiro immediately phoned his friend Ann Moore, former CEO of Time Inc., who had recently opened The Curator Gallery, which focuses on emerging artists. “Send him over,” was Moore’s reply.

Intrigued by the photos and by Kowalski’s means of taking them—from an open-cockpit gyroplane skimming above the Polish landscape—she signed him immediately. “He is just what we’re looking for,” Moore says.

The result of that meeting is the exhibit “Above and Beyond,” curated by Shapiro and opening April 22, Earth Day. Kowalski’s first career was in architecture, but in his spare time he would

46 gotham-magazine.com

wheel his mini-helicopter out of his barn, near the port of Gdynia on the south coast of the Baltic Sea, and take to the skies—sometimes, when Poland was still ruled by the Communists, snapping shots secretly. “Flying was the main reason I became a photographer,” he says.

Aloft, one question constantly intrigues him: “What is mankind’s natural environment? Is it untouched virgin land before man populated it or is it a landscape that human beings have changed to suit their needs? My pictures raise that question but leave the answer open for interpretation.”

To produce one image, Kowalski painstakingly layers hundreds of photos. “Sometimes I need up to two years to create one piece,” he says. In the exhibit (and a forthcoming book of his work), none of the photos will have captions, only the GPS coordinates of the place depicted. Essentially, Kowalski wants to take viewers up with him in his glider, so they can see what he sees. As he says, “There is no caption on the ground.” Instead, what he, and now we, look at are little landscapes that turn into riddles. “The lack of information is actually important,” Kowalski explains. “I don’t want to determine the way people interpret my pictures. Interpretation can change from person to person or even by the same person when he takes a second look.”

Just as Kowalski’s vision changes with every flight. April 22–May 30. The Curator Gallery, 520 W. 23rd St., 212-243-1806 G

photography Courtesy of KaCper KowalsKi/panos

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Culture Spotlight music in motion

beauty myth A 1953 photograph by Louise Dahl-Wolfe for Harper’s Bazaar will be on display at this year’s AIPAD Show.

Shutter to Think

The 35Th annual aIPaD PhoTograPhy Show comeS To Park avenue armory. by jenniFer deMeriTT

Louise Dahl-Wolfe’s legendary shot of model Jean Patchett for Harper’s Bazaar in 1953 ( pictured, from Staley-Wise Gallery) is just one of the highlights at this year’s AIPAD Show, which features vintage, rare, and contemporary photography from 89 international galleries. Other noteworthy pieces this year are a 1919 portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz (at Edwynn Houk Gallery), fashion photography by Louis Faurer for Harper’s Bazaar (Deborah Bell Photographs), and work by contemporary Cuban artists at Robert Mann Gallery.

Presented by The Association of International Photography Art Dealers, the show runs April 16–19 and kicks off with a fundraising gala on April 15 to benefit the 92nd Street Y. 643 Park Ave., 212-616-3930; armoryonpark.org

// don’t miss //

Lisa Yuskavage toys with conventional notions of beauty in paintings that are themselves ravishingly gorgeous, with female figures set in dreamlike surrealist landscapes, striking poses that are both titillating and confrontational. Her work is represented in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. This month the David Zwirner Gallery presents an exhibition of her paintings in a show that runs April 23–June 13. 533 W. 19th St., 212-727-2070; davidzwirner.com

above:

SCREEN GRAB

The Tribeca Film Festival turns 14 this year, hosting a dizzying array of movies by emerging and established artists. Among the splashier offerings are the world premiere of Live from New York!, a documentary celebrating the 40th

48 GoThAM-MAGAzINE.coM

Hippies by Lisa Yuskavage, 2013.

Movie buffs fock to the Tribeca Film Festival.

anniversary of the TV show Saturday Night Live, and the feature film The Wannabe, starring Oscar winner Patricia Arquette, about the trial of infamous NYC mobster John Gotti. The festival also offers the rare opportunity to

check out a host of foreign, documentary, and indie films before they hit the big time—or become cult phenomena that only the most in-the-know movie buffs have seen. April 15–26. tribecafilm.com

photography Courtesy of staley-Wise gallery (dahl-Wolfe); Courtesy of the tribeCa film festival (outdoor sCreeNiNg);tim NighsWaNder/imagiNg 4 art (hippies)

on view

Early in his career, Mark Morris earned a reputation as a “bad boy” of modern dance, thanks to works like The Hard Nut, a cheeky modern interpretation of The Nutcracker complete with G.I. Joe toy soldiers. Now 58, Morris is known for creating lyrical pieces that are respected by the dance-world cognoscenti while being accessible to mainstream audiences. In April Mark Morris Dance Group returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, staging popular pieces from the company’s repertoire as well as brand-new ones. While all choreographers take inspiration from music, Morris is known to delve especially deep into the compositions that shape his dances. This fascination will be on full display in Spring, Spring, Spring (pictured), a staging of Stravinsky’s groundbreaking The Rite of Spring with the score reinterpreted and performed by the acclaimed jazz trio The Bad Plus. April 22–April 26.

Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100; bam.org

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people View from the Top

Up on the Roof

Viraj Puri, cofounder of Gotham Greens, an eco-savvy start-up redefininG locavore dininG, debuts his most ambitious project to date.

By Mark Ellwood

Next time you book a table at Gramercy Tavern, don’t forget to order the salad—and pause to appreciate the butter lettuce. Like yellow cabs, Robert De Niro, and Bergdorf Goodman, it was born and bred in New York City. The lettuce was grown by Gotham Greens, an eco-savvy start-up run by Viraj Puri that’s redefining locavore dining by building greenhouse farms on rooftops across the city. Now seven years old, his booming firm is about to open its most impressive project: a 60,000-square-foot growing space on the roof of a factory in Jamaica, Queens, set to be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.

The 33-year-old Puri grew up between New York and Chicago in an outdoorsy family; he remembers trekking in the Himalayas on vacation as a child. But Puri didn’t plan on becoming a guru of

50 gotham-magazine.com

photography by gregg delman (puri); opposite page, mark louis Weinberg (exterior); ari burling (interior)

Viraj Puri oversees production at a Gotham Greens rooftop facility in Brooklyn.

counterclockwise from left:

urban farming. It was only when he was assigned to an environmental engineering project after graduating from Colgate University that his green fingers started to itch. That project focused on controlled growth habitats—essentially, greenhouses that allow for year-round production using minimal resources. He was stunned at how resource-efficient such greenhouses could be, especially with hydroponic cultivation (where plants are grown with mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil); it can cut overall water use by up to 90 percent. “We were seeing the farm-to-table movement, and farmers markets going through a renaissance in the US in the mid-aughts, and a lightbulb went off: why not combine these trends in the marketplace?” he recalls.

Until then, though, most high-tech greenhouses had been erected in rural areas or in California’s Salinas Valley, still the main source of much of America’s homegrown produce. Puri wanted to bring the crop closer to market in New York—and for good reason. “The salads we eat often come from California via a pretty intricate supply chain of brokers and distributors, so by the time we get the product, it’s probably already a week or 10 days old.”

He found a solution after analyzing the city’s most underutilized assets. “Rooftops are an abundant resource that people aren’t using,” he says.

“Landlords can get income from an otherwise unused space.” Puri was even more encouraged after a conversation with the produce buyer at Whole Foods, whom he nicknamed Produce Fred.

“He thought it was a great idea, and said, ‘If you guys can do what you say you’re going to do, and grow good quality product, Whole Foods will buy it.’”

Puri knew then that he had both an original idea and a ripe market. Of course, building the first rooftop greenhouse garden in New York City was an arduous process. “That was 12 to 18 months of hard work, supporting myself on a shoestring budget,” as well as navigating ordinance, zoning, and occupancy laws.

After one abortive attempt was stymied by a city requirement that the greenhouse have brick walls (“It’s not really a greenhouse then, is it?”) he finally opened his first site in 2011—aptly, in Greenpoint.

Two years later, Produce Fred and Whole Foods more than made good on their promise: In fact, they partnered with Gotham Greens to create a 20,000-square-foot year-round urban farm on the roof of the new Whole Foods store in Gowanus.

Leafy greens, tomatoes, and herbs can be grown there on a rolling cycle 365 days a year, and be picked fresh at regular intervals. And it isn’t just Whole Foods that wholeheartedly endorses Puri’s firm, though: Gotham Greens counts chefs like Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony and Mario Batali as fans; it also supplies Fresh Direct and Dean

By utilizing one of the city’s most underutilized resources, rooftops, Gotham Greens has become a leader in urban farming; Puri attends to a crop of basil in a greenhouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn; by using a hydroponics environments, plants are nourished to maximize flavor.

& DeLuca with premium, locally grown produce.

Despite his firm’s rapid expansion, Puri hasn’t lost sight of the real reason locavores love his produce. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you’ve grown it, if your product tastes like shit,” he says. He explains that finessing taste is easier in a hydroponics environment: Plants are nourished using a recipe of elements tailor-made to maximize flavor. In soil, for example, tomatoes often lack calcium, a deficiency that can impact their taste; water-grown plants at Gotham Greens receive optimum nourishment.

So far, though, one product has eluded Puri’s masterful team of green-fingered urban gardeners: strawberries. “We really want to grow them, but they’re just temperamental.” He hasn’t given up, though, and in the interim, Puri’s mulling other rooftop crops. “I would love to start an urban vineyard—that would be so cool. But so much of the grape comes from the terroir.” He pauses. “Doing it in New York City? You’d need a different type of grape for sure.” G

the green apple: Viraj Puri’s locavore likes.

Favorite urban greenspace: “I

like The Ramble in Central Park. For a few seconds—before you’re interrupted by the sound of traffc—you feel like you might be in a bit of wilderness.” best Farmers markets: “Though

I’m biased toward my local market in Tompkins Square Park, the one in Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn has a big variety, and a lot of farmers go there.”

eat like a locavore: “I

go to Momofuku once or twice a month and have tried everything on the menu. Gramercy Tavern is my go-to fne-dining restaurant; a lot of places that have been around a long time aren’t reliably good, but Gramercy Tavern is consistently phenomenal. I don’t know how they do it.” city break: “I

go running in Prospect Park or play tennis. I love being outside.”

gotham-magazine.com

51

PEOPLE Talent Patrol Chill Time

Dress, Bryan Hearns ($850). bryanhearns.com.

Bracelet, Porter Lyons ($85). porterlyons.com.

Ring, EF Collection ($1,050). Macy’s, 151 W. 34th St., 212-695-4400; macys.com

Amanda Crew’s favorite city stops.

Souen:

“I’m not vegan but was for many years, and the food was really good,” says Crew. “It’s an amazing restaurant; I sat beside Alec Baldwin, who told my boyfriend that he was ‘doing it right,’ as in chewing slowly and taking his time.

Alec apparently eats too fast.” 326 E. 6th St. AritziA:

“I’ve bought a lot from their Wilfred line, which has a bit of a menswear feel. I grew up with them,” she says of the Vancouver-based company.

“I feel pride because they’re now in America—they’re doing it!” 524 Broadway

Crew Cuts

AmAndA Crew, best known for tV roles, goes big-time big screen in The Age of AdAline, starring Harrison ford and blake liVely. By Lauren Sherman There’s a good chance you’ve glimpsed Amanda Crew in one performance or another. Steadily working since she was 18, the Vancouver area-bred actress has had her fair share of television and film wins, from nighttime soap Whistler to Sex Drive, a raucous indie comedy that has developed a cult following since its sleepy 2008 release. (“It’s still the thing I get recognized for most,” says the 28-year-old actress.)

But it’s 2015, and Crew is eager to make sure she’s not just another pretty face in the crowd. April, in fact, is her month to shine. First up is Season 2 of HBO’s Silicon Valley, a satirical take on the tech world created by Mike Judge (who rose to fame with the subversive animated series King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead). Crew plays Monica, a venture capitalist with a financial and increasingly personal stake in a start-up founder, played by Thomas Middleditch, and his band of socially awkward computer engineers. “What I find interesting about her is that she’s a fish out of water,” Crew says during a recent interview at a coffee shop, dressed in a favorite mariner shirt with her nails painted Wite-Out blanc.

(The actress doesn’t consider herself a style maven, but does love sitting front row

52 gotham-magazine.com

HudSon Common At tHe HudSon Hotel:

“It’s cafeteria style, with communal tables.

The drinks are exceptional.”

356 W. 58th St. le lAbo:

“I love the store, and I can always tell when someone is wearing one of their fragrances.”

233 Elizabeth St. SoulCyCle:

“It’s like you’re at a rave, and damn, you get a great workout. The instructors are rock stars.” 45 Crosby St.

at New York Fashion Week.) “She’s in a world driven by tech guys who are very smart but don’t have the greatest social skills. She has to navigate that.”

While a recurring role on a critically praised American television series is reason enough to celebrate, Crew is also costarring in this month’s The Age of Adaline with Blake Lively, Harrison Ford, and Ellen Burstyn, her first megawatt project. She plays Ford’s daughter Kiki, a part that comes with a generous amount of screen time. “She was a lot of fun to do because she has this great sarcastic wit and dark sense of humor, which I definitely share,” Crew says. As for acting opposite Ford? “It’s fascinating to watch a legend like that. I got it. I got why he is where he is. He has a really great work ethic.” Lively, who plays the title character, inspired her as well. “There were a few scenes where she had to navigate through some multilayered emotions and knocked it out of the park on the first take,” Crew says.

Hollywood and New York red carpets are a long way from Langley, British Columbia, where Crew and her older sister were raised. (Her father, now retired, worked for Telus, the Canadian phone company, and her mother was a legal secretary.) As a teenager, she landed acting gigs in nearby Vancouver, where many American films and television series are filmed.

“I could have stayed there and kept working, which a lot of my friends have done and are really happy,” she says.

“But at some point, I wanted more.”

Seven years later that “more” is finally coming to fruition, but that doesn’t leave a lot of downtime. When she’s in New York she tries to pack in a whirlwind tour of new restaurants, as well as alone time with her camera. (She sells her prints online via art marketplace Society6.) Crew says the fast pace of the city rarely throws her. “As high energy as it is here, people have this laid-back confidence that I really admire. Everyone is go-getting, but also really chill with themselves. New York puts me at ease.” G

PhotograPhy by Matthew Scott; Styling by angel terrazaS; hair by aShley Streicher at Forward artiStS; MakeuP by katey denno at the wall grouP; Shot on location at the library at the redbury

In addition to her role in The Age of Adaline, Amanda Crew begins Season 2 of HBO’s Silicon Valley.

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people After Hours Rudy Albers, president of the American Wempe Corp., with his Jaguar F Type in Tribeca.

Motorcycle jacket ($1,295) and (in hand) Pilot sunglasses ($260), Polo Ralph Lauren.

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A RAce AgAinst time

Time isn’t the only thing that flies when Rudy Albers is having fun. The speedometer does, too. “I’ve always loved fast cars,” says Albers, who, as president of American Wempe Corp. and manager of the company’s watch and jewelry boutique on Fifth Avenue, has found some exceptional opportunities to test his passion over the years.

There was the “out-of-body experience” he had driving Formula One racers with jewelers and journalists assembled by TAG Heuer at Circuit de BarcelonaCatalunya. “I remember thinking, Who would put ordinary people in a Formula One? After instruction and practice in a Formula Three, Albers went four laps in a Formula One, reaching 165 mph. “They stopped us at four because by the fifth lap we’d likely have killed ourselves.”

There was ice racing in Arjeplog, Sweden, part of an AMG Academy driving experience that Albers arranged for some of Wempe’s best customers. “It’s the most fun you can ever have,” he says of zipping around a frozen lake in a spike-wheeled Mercedes. “The worst that can happen is you spin off course and they haul you back in.” Albers finished second to a client from Singapore: a smart move saleswise, no doubt.

Albers has also invited Wempe customers to similar driving challenges at American racetracks, including Pocono Raceway, Lime Rock, and Laguna Seca. He came in second at the last one, too—four seconds behind auto racer-turned-TV analyst Tommy Kendall, who was recently

54 gotham-magazine.com

inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Born in Hamburg, Albers, 52, began his apprenticeship as a watchmaker at age 16, two years before he was old enough to drive. “When you live in rural Germany, you can’t wait to turn 18 and drive on the Autobahn,” he says. He worked his way to master watchmaker and joined Wempe in 1987, then transferred to New York the following year. He became head of American Wempe in 2002.

The 911 Carrera S convertible has since been sold, but he still has three cars to drool over: a Jaguar F Type, a Tesla Model S, and a “very sexy” Jeep Wrangler, whose drive shaft was recently sheared off in a collision with a tree on his property in Westchester County.

Albers admits commuting to Manhattan is “a pain, but a necessary evil,” so he tries to have fun with it, taking his environmentally sensitive Tesla most days, and occasionally the Jag, because he finds the sound of the latter’s 495 horsepower engine “outright intoxicating” in a tunnel or on city streets. “My Porsche purred, but the Jag growls,” he says.

Timepieces and automobiles have paired well since the Heuer Watch Company introduced the first dashboard chronograph in 1911. “People who attend races and work on cars are the same people who like fine watches,” says Albers, whose company has previously sponsored the Ferrari Challenge at the 24 Hours of Daytona. “There are lots of parallels—logical and intangible.” G

photography by guillaume gaudet

Rudy AlbeRs, president of luxury watch company wempe, finds a need for speed can be very good for business. by neal santelmann

A Well-Deserved Thank You— GIVE WINSTON FLOWERS FOR MOTHER’S DAY

winstonflowers.com | 203.622.4222 | Boston | Greenwich | New York

people Brokers’ Roundtable

Banking on Green

real estate pros discuss sustainable design and its impact on the luxury market. photography by Julie Skarratt

Celebrity homeowners like Leo DiCaprio were among the first to embrace and tout the benefits of green condo living in New York City. But beyond the A-list, how important is green to the high-end residential market? At this broker roundtable, part of gotham’s ongoing series, nine experts share their experiences brokering sustainable luxe.

How much is “green” a factor in luxury sales, and at what price points does it most resonate?

Barry Rice: The broader issue is one of ethics— doing the right thing for the environment. From our point of view, as the architect, that’s a large motivating factor that would encourage developers like Toll Brothers and Greystone and others to do energyefficient buildings. I’m not sure whether it has much of a financial benefit for the developer of the building.

Richard Steinberg: For a project we did at 180 East 93rd Street with Greystone Development, we used many of the green amenities to market the units. It increased our sales by approximately 20 percent on offering plan prices.

Wendy Sarasohn: For me, a building being green is an add-on, not a driving force. We’d all like to think we have this consciousness about the environment, but most people searching for apartments are looking for location, quality, ease of life, and good value.

Deborah Grubman: I agree. As time goes on, it will become more and more important. A younger demographic will be more conscious of LEED and ecologically thoughtful living, [which will become] deciding factors.

Ginger Brokaw: During a project this past year, we found that buyers in their 20s, 30s, and 40s were most interested in green. They asked many questions regarding the structure, what paint was used, and what the operating systems were.

The highest rated LEED buildings in the city include The Visionaire, The Solaire, 1 River Terrace, Tribeca Green, and Millennium Tower Residences. How do you think green amenities affect appreciation?

RS: None of those are uptown buildings, which

Richard Steinberg, right, greets architects Barry Rice, left, and Stephen Wang. above: Luxury broker Deborah Grubman from Corcoran says, “A younger demographic will be more conscious of LEED and ecologically thoughtful living.” right: Wang (center left) discusses building green during a lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel New York.

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goes back to what they were saying, that this is an age issue—the younger you are, the more interested you are in the green environment. Not that we’re disinterested, but we’re less interested.

BR: So the underlying association is that if you live downtown, you’re young? [Laughs] Stephen Wang: I want to weigh in, not on appreciation or selling point, but as an architect, LEED is just one measurement of the building. It could be green and not be LEED. Your customer may regard air quality and light [as important along with] certain things that might not achieve LEED, but it’s still sustainable.

Reba Miller: If you took an existing building with a history of sales, made it LEED, then put it back on the market, then you could see a difference. If 740 Park all of a sudden became a LEED building, you could ask if it could now command $5 million more per apartment because it’s LEED. What about wellness amenities, the so-called second generation of sustainable real estate?

Are people asking about them?

WS: I’m very much into health and wellness; however, when I hear about vitamin C [shower] water, I think it’s a gimmick. If a building enhanced the well-being of a prospective owner, that would be terrific, but I think that as used, it’s pretty much, “Lets try this now!”

GB: People want the basic amenities that pertain to health, like maybe a gym or a yoga stretcher in-room, but some buildings far exceed that, like 515 East 72nd Street, which originally had its own outpost of the Miraval Spa when the building was converted to condominiums. But after a while, people forget about it; that’s not why they are buying the apartment. continued on page 58

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people Brokers’ Roundtable

from left:

Stephen Wang, Lisa Simonsen from Douglas Elliman, and Emily Beare from CORE Group. inset: Kale salad appetizer. below, from left: Corcoran’s Deborah Grubman and Wendy Sarasohn from Brown Harris Stevens; Ginger Brokaw, a broker at Town Residential.

58 gotham-magazine.com

How have severe climate events, for example, a storm like Hurricane Sandy, affected how you build and what you are selling?

BR: One of the first things that developers ask me is to allow the space for a rooftop emergency generator. There is no point in having it in the basement because it will flood, but now it’s taking up more space on the roof.

GB: That’s one of the most common questions we are receiving now when we are selling a new development.

BR: And “What does that generator do?” should be the next question.

RM: Some of the buildings that have done nothing may eventually do something if banks start to mandate and say, “We will only lend if this building meets this criteria.”

WS: Especially if the building is in a zone at high risk for flooding.

Lisa Simonsen: I have a question—every year we hear that the market is not going up anymore. Do you see prices increasing in the next five years? At the high end of the market right now, apartments are selling in the $10,000-per-square-foot range. Is it going to be $15,000?

RM: It’s time to get a little more realistic. Developers have come on very strong with prices I can’t make sense of, with 6,500 new units and 18 new developments north of 57th Street. I’m questioning who the buyers are going to be at those numbers closing two years from now.

What are the luxury price points with most traction and the ones where there is pushback?

Emily Beare: I think people are really taking their time, especially in the high end, to see what’s coming on, where pricing is. [Sales of] $5 million and below are transacting really fast; above $5 million, [they are] taking much more time.

RM: The $1 million to $8 million range is the market that can move.

WS: In condos or co-ops?

RM: In both. I see some Fifth Avenue stuff that’s not moving. It used to be the barometer, but I don’t think it’s the only barometer today, as there is a lot of luxury. There’s so much being offered, and buyers are trying to figure out where they should buy and how much they should pay for it.

Is there more demand for Park over Fifth or vice versa?

RS: When I speak to foreign buyers, everyone wants to know how close they can be to the park.

They’ve been so brainwashed. So in answer to your question, I think it’s a matter of a view. I tell

my buyers there’s no advantage to buying a Fifth Avenue apartment in the back of a building; they might as well use their money more selectively than just going for the address.

WS: Fifth has more pied-à-terre buyers and Park has more full-time residents who have multiple homes.

RS: What I can say about this year is that the $20 million to $30 million co-op customer is still out there. I think Wall Street is doing better than ever. In the $20 million to $40 million range, there is not a single co-op, and we all have buyers who would jump at the chance. The ultraluxury condo market—it’s either feast or famine. There’s nothing in between.

GB: Where I have a problem is what do I sell my customer who can afford between $5 million and $10 million? I feel like they are outpriced in so many situations. They are never going to be able to touch what’s being built. One of the smartest buildings I’ve seen recently is 20 East End Avenue. It was done brilliantly at a price point for real people.

WS: I bought at 20 East End, and I am someone who thought East End Avenue was in Queens.

RS: So much new real estate needs to be absorbed in the next two years, but that’s not to say prices won’t go up. I’m shocked we haven’t seen more $70 million to $80 million apartments coming on the market. The past three were so hugely successful. And I don’t understand why someone at 740 Park Avenue or 820 Fifth hasn’t said, “I can get $120 million.”

DG: That’s the question. First of all, you don’t have a motivating selling point because where are they going to go? And they don’t need the money.

BR: And the capital gains.

DG: We’ve all been there, aggressively calling people, asking if there’s a number where they would sell. We have all made those calls. Do you know what percentage of them would actually say—“Yes, Deborah, what’s the number, I’d love to hear it”? Maybe 1 percent.

RS: I have a question for Stephen and Barry as architects: In architecture there are always trends.

The quality limestone building is now coming back. Do you see this as cyclical?

EB: That’s why I think 20 East End Avenue is so successful, because it’s going to look like it’s been there forever. And that’s why 15 Central Park West and 135 East 79th Street were so successful. Those are buildings that are new but people really relate to that.

SW: Most of my work ends up being traditional.

Even out in the Hamptons, a shingle-style will sell better than a glass box.

BR: I see the same thing. I was someone who was upset about too much glass going up on the Upper East Side and in Chelsea. I knew how sad these buildings look after 10 years, because that’s what London looks like. G

clockwise from above left: A table setting at the luncheon; exterior detail of Four Seasons Hotel New York; Reba Miller, founder of RP Miller Realty Group.

thE panEliStS: Emily Beare: associate broker, CORE Group Marketing, 127 Seventh Ave., 212-726-0786; corenyc.com

Wendy Sarasohn: associate broker, Brown Harris Stevens, 445 Park Ave., 212-906-9366; bhsusa.com

Ginger Brokaw: associate broker, Town Residential, 730 Fifth Ave., 646-998-7408; townrealestate.com

Lisa Simonsen: associate broker, group head of The Simonsen Team, Douglas Elliman, 575 Madison Ave., 212-702-4005; thesimonsenteam.elliman.com

Deborah Grubman: associate broker, The Corcoran Group, 660 Madison Ave., 212-836-1055; corcoran.com Reba Miller: founder and associate broker, RP Miller Realty Group, 135 E. 65th St., 646-210-3177; rpmillergroup.com Barry Rice: founder and principal, Barry Rice Architects, 37 W. 17th St., 212-944-1929; barryricearchitects.com

Richard Steinberg: senior managing director, Warburg Realty, 654 Madison Ave., 212-439-5183; warburgrealty.com Stephen Wang: founder and principal, Stephen Wang + Associates, 135 E. 55th St., 212-829-9494; thenewyorkarchitect.com

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PEOPLE Spirit of Generosity

clockwise from top left: Schoolchildren eating broccoli they grew and cooked in Edible Schoolyard classes; flowers in an ESNYC garden; Lela Rowe, gallerist David Maupin, and Fernanda Niven.

How Does THeir GarDen Grow?

Edible Schoolyard NYC, inspired by the original not-for-profit founded in Berkeley, California, by farm-to-table pioneer Alice Waters, gives New York City schoolchildren a hands-on education about healthy eating habits. At schools in Brooklyn and Harlem, students from kindergarten through the sixth grade grow fresh food in a lush organic garden, which they then cook in classroom kitchens. The experience gives the children—most of whom live in disadvantaged neighborhoods with limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables—a unique opportunity to learn how food is produced, and the ability to create their own healthy alternatives to frozen or fast food.

Now in its fifth year, ESNYC works directly with 1,000 city children at the two public schools where it has built gardens (PS216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and PS7 in East Harlem), and has reached another 35,000 students through teacher-training programs.

On April 3, ESNYC holds its third annual spring benefit, which features four-course, farm-to-table dinners created by some of the city’s most acclaimed chefs, including April Bloomfield (The Spotted Pig),

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Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster), David Chang (Momofuku), and more than a dozen others. As they prepare for the event, board members and longtime friends Fernanda Niven and Lela Rose talk about how ESNYC is making a difference.

How did you get involved with Edible Schoolyard NYC? Fernanda Niven: I had seen a story on 60 Minutes about Alice Waters and Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. I used to have Lyme disease and needed to be very carful about what I ate, and I had also worked for Organic Avenue [which sells organic cold-pressed juices], so it was this perfect storm of understanding about food. A friend who is on the board of Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley said to me, “We are thinking about starting one in New York City. Do you want to be involved?” I said, “One hundred percent; absolutely.”

Lela Rose: I always loved good, healthy food, and it’s something I care about with my own kids. We originally thought my son had attention deficit disorder, and I

wondered what he was eating in school. So when Fernanda spoke to me about Edible Schoolyard, I was like, “That’s right in my wheelhouse.”

How does the program work?

FN: We started with one school, PS 216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn, where we built an organic garden. All the children have garden time, so they learn how to grow food—actually grow it—whereas most of these kids go into a store and think food is magically there. Then they go into the kitchen classroom and make dishes from what’s been grown in the garden.

LR: They take it home, and this influences what goes on in their home lives; hopefully they want to have salad for dinner.

FN: I heard a story about the former principal of PS16. She realized that some of the children had never eaten a slice of watermelon. She thought, What kind of world is this where a kid doesn’t have a slice of watermelon on a hot day? So she implemented change in the school’s snacks—the cookies with high fat and sugar were replaced with fruit.

photography by Cavan Images (kIds, marIgolds). opposIte page, by danIel krIeger (group)

As EdiblE Schoolyard prepAres for its AnnuAl spring gAlA, boArd members FErnanda nivEn And lEla roSE tAlk About the nonprofit’s mission to teAch kids About heAlthy eAting—from the ground up. by jennifer demeritt

LR: Teachers are so frustrated with kids’ attention span, but the kids are loaded up with sugar. They’re not linking the two? I once worked with a group of charter school students for a weekend program. I brought in grapes and oranges, and there were maybe two out of 12 of those kids who had actually seen fresh fruit before. It was shocking.

During kitchen classes, do the kids prepare dishes like salads, or do they cook hot meals?

FN: We have this amazing kitchen. It’s a happy, friendly place with ovens and stoves and washing and prep stations. The kids are part of the whole cooking process from beginning to end.

Do city kids find it difficult to relate to a gardening program?

LR: Every once in a while we’ll hear, “I thought that looked gross, but I tried it and loved it.” There’s a lot of enthusiasm. The kids in ESNYC want to eat the food they make, want to have it at home and say, “Mom, let’s figure out how to do this.” Which is exactly what we want to see—reaching into people’s lives.

FN: So as these kids become older they can make better choices.

LR: And they can be agents of change in their community: going into a bodega and saying, “I want an apple. I want greens for salad.” Just asking their local bodega starts the people who work there thinking, “Maybe we should start carrying apples.”

FN: There is one example I love. The principal of PS7 saw one of the kids who participated in ESNYC walking down the street carrying a McDonald’s bag.

The principal was like, “Come on, McDonald’s?”

The kid opened the bag, and inside it he had two

salads. At McDonald’s, kids want fries, they want burgers. The idea that he would order the salad— LR: It’s a better choice than what he would have made without this education.

After just five years, is it possible to track the long-term benefits of ESNYC? FN: Kate Brashares, the executive director at ESNYC, has made program measurement a huge priority. The organization monitors changes in students’ attitudes toward healthy foods and their eating habits at school. ESNYC also work s with their families to note how the program could be benefiting those at home.

LR: Anecdotally, the tracking that’s been done has been largely positive. We take quotes from the kids. They have a better understanding of food, and you can tell that by what they are saying about it. One fourth-grader wrote, “The plants feed us so we’ve got to feed them. You’ve got to give a little in return.”

What’s in store for your spring gala this year?

LR: What makes it so amazing is the caliber of chefs who participate. We get 25 to 30 chefs who each cook for two tables of 10 guests. The guests never know which chef will be cooking for their table until they sit down. It’s like going to a fantastic restaurant, but you have no idea which restaurant it’s going to be.

FN: We have the chef community of New York City behind us, which is amazing. They love this cause, so they donate their time. ESNYC’s spring benefit takes place April 13 at the JP Morgan Building, 23 Wall St. For information, visit esynyc.org. G

“TEACHERS ARE So FRuSTRATED WITH KIDS’ ATTENTIoN SPAN, BuT THE KIDS ARE LoADED uP WITH SuGAR. THEY’RE NoT LINKING THE TWo?”—lela rose ESNYC Executive Director Kate Brashares (center) with the chefs from last year’s spring fundraising dinner, including David Chang (back row center, in gray apron), Ruth Rogers (to brashares’ right), Michael Anthony ( back row right, in gray shirt), and Justin Smillie (front row left, in light blue apron).

Charity register Opportunities to give.

EndomEtriosis Foundation oF amErica At the seventh annual Blossom Ball, EFA cofounders and hosts Padma Lakshmi and world-renowned surgeon Tamer Seckin will honor medical pioneer and endometriosis expert Ronald Elmer Batt.

The evening will kick off with a cocktail reception followed by dinner and a special performance by the Brooklyn-based band Red Baraat.

When: Monday, April 13 Where: Cipriani, 25 Broadway Contact: endofound.org

Brooklyn musEum The Brooklyn Artists Ball, an annual gala celebrating the borough’s creative community, will feature elaborate table designs by artists like Dustin Yellin, Swoon, and Fernando Mastrangelo.

The event will honor museum director Arnold Lehman, who will retire in June, as well as artists Kiki Smith, Takashi Murakami, and the late Jean-Michel Basquiat.

When: Wednesday, April 15 Where: Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway Contact: brooklynmuseum.org

Food allErgy rEsEarch & Education At FARE’s annual spring luncheon, WABC-TV news anchor Lori Stokes, who is personally affected by food allergies, will host an afternoon of fundraising and advocacy. The Legacy Award honoree will be Liana Silverstein Backal for her commitment to FARE’s activism efforts.

When: Wednesday, April 29 Where: Cipriani 42nd Street, 110 E. 42nd St. Contact: foodallergy.org

city harvEst A star-studded chair committee including Richard Gere, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, and Jay McInerney and Anne Hearst McInerney will oversee City Harvest’s 21st annual “An Evening of Practical Magic.” The festivities, which will include cocktails, dinner, and silent and live auctions, will honor Richard S. Berry, David Patrick Columbia, and Tom Colicchio.

When: Thursday, April 30 Where: Cipriani 42nd Street, 110 E. 42nd St. Contact: cityharvest.org

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nature is speaking JULIA

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natureisspeaking.org

INVITED SNL creator and executive producer, Lorne Michaels, toasts the show’s 40th anniversary and Gotham cover with cast members Aidy Bryant and Pete Davidson.

NEW YORK, AFTER DARK PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSSA COLE/ROSSA COLE PHOTOGRAPHY

THE CITY’S BRIGHTEST STARS, DESIGNERS, AND PHILANTHROPISTS PARTY ALL OVER TOWN. Fashion Week, the Academy Awards, and SNL’s 40th anniversary were just a few of the reasons New Yorkers hit the party circuit in recent weeks. amfAR kicked off Fashion Week festivities with a stunning gala honoring supporters Harry Belafonte, Rosario Dawson, and Patrick Demarchelier; Fendi celebrated its flagship opening and 3Baguette Charity Initiative alongside collaborators Rihanna and Sarah Jessica Parker; and Gotham toasted SNL’s 40th anniversary and the magazine’s cover with the show’s cast at a glitzy party at Four Seasons New York.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 64

GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

63

INVITED

Cecily Strong, Larry Scott, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Aidy Bryant

Jay Pharoah, Michael Law, and Bobby Moynihan

Mozhan Marnò and Amir Arison

SNL COVER PARTY

ON FEBRUARY 23, Gotham magazine, along with

Anthony Fazio, Joel Cardona, and Jacob Babago

Mala Sander and Noble Black

Daniel Kibblesmith, Taran Killam, and Jennifer Ashley Wright

Christine and Victor Canalo

Too Many Zooz

Over 300 guests filled Fifty7, Four Seasons New York Hotel’s newly opened venue.

Terry and Jim Moreno

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Neal Sroka and Leslie Wolfson

Maura and Steven Smith

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSSA COLE/ROSSA COLE PHOTOGRAPHY AND EUGENE GOLOGURSKY/GETTY IMAGES

sister publication Hamptons, celebrated Gotham’s Spring issue cover featuring the cast of Saturday Night Live. Over 300 guests joined the SNL stars at Fifty7, Four Seasons Hotel New York’s newly unveiled event venue, to toast the milestone achievement. Creator Lorne Michaels partied with SNL cast members Cecily Strong, Colin Jost, Kyle Mooney, Bobby Moynihan, Jay Pharoah, Taran Killam, Kenan Thompson, Sasheer Zamata, Kate McKinnon, Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Vanessa Bayer, Pete Davidson, Michael Che, and Leslie Jones for this special evening. Supported by New York’s Wempe Jewelers, the event showcased the brand’s latest collection of diamond jewelry and watches while presenting partner DeLeón Tequila specialty crafted cocktails, which were paired with hors d’oeuvres from Four Seasons Hotel New York. Voss Artesian Water supplied additional refreshments.

Guests were red carpet-ready thanks to Sisley Cosmetics, which provided makeup touch-ups backstage. The night ended with a rousing performance by Too Many Zooz, a local rock and jazz band.

DeLe贸n Tequila provided cocktails.

Christian Sanders and Genisa Babb

Cristina Bisono and Sonya Menon

Lily Wokin and Prince Rumi

Stephanie Middleberg and Andrew Kalish

Taran Killam, Kenan Thompson, and Michael Che

Eric Herd and Meredith Wolff

Vanessa Bayer

Massimo Lusardi and Hyo Jin Yim

Yvette Thomas-Henry

Alina Cho and David Knight-Legg

Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett

Tara Compton and Gary DePersia with Matt and Tara Brietenbach

Nikhil Menezes, Suvadip Choudhury, and Kimon Triantafyllou

Keith Green and Ann Ciardullo

Steven Levy and Nancy Mynpto

Jonathan Davis and Kiera Pendzick

GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

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INVITED Naomi Campbell

Kenneth Cole and Karlie Kloss

Marc Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton

Ivanka Trump

Camila Alves

AMFAR NEW YORK GALA

glamorous gala at Cipriani Wall Street honored amfAR supporters Harry Belafonte, Rosario Dawson, and Patrick Demarchelier, who were presented with their honors by friends Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, and Anna Wintour, respectively. Jeremy Piven and Coco Rocha

introduced Regina Spektor, who sang a rendition of Belafonte’s “Island in the Sun,” and Shirley Bassey closed out the night with a moving performance.

Brooke Shields announced a $1 million donation from amfAR trustee Don Capoccia, which inspired others to contribute.

A total of $2.25 million was raised at the event.

Alexandre de Betak and Sofia Sanchez Barrenechea Diane von Furstenberg and Rachel Zoe

Natalie Joos

Chelsea Leyland

Rosario Dawson, Chris Rock, and Michelle Rodriguez

Caroline Vreeland and Yi Zhou

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG’S POSTSHOW DINNER

Devon Windsor and Elizabeth Gilpin

FOLLOWING DVF’S FASHION WEEK runway show, guests made their way from Spring Studios in Soho to the fashion house’s glass-tiered headquarters in the Meatpacking District. Zoë Kravitz got the crowd dancing with a funky DJ set, while art and fashion stars like Dustin Yellin, Zani Gugelmann, Rachel Zoe, and Andy Dunn enjoyed Champagne and hors d’oeuvres before sitting down to a candlelit buffet dinner.

Kate Nash

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GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN TACHMAN (AMFAR); NEIL RASMUS/BFANYC.COM (DIANE VON FURSTENBERG DINNER)

SPONSORED BY HARRY WINSTON, the

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taste this Issue: Glamorous Greens Chef John Fraser uses barley for this risotto because “it’s a grain with a little more character.”

A new StAndArd

At celebrity nexus nArcissA, AndrÉ BAlAZS gives vegetAbles the stAr treAtment. by gary walther photography by Josephine rozman Considering the celebrity table d’hôte at André Balazs’ restaurants here and in LA, you might think that the name of his newest venture, Narcissa, in the recently renovated Standard Hotel East Village in Cooper Square, is a sly allusion to vanity. And indeed, New York’s fairest-of-all contingent has come: Ivanka and Jared and Chelsea and Marc on a double date; Olivier Theyskens, Patrick McMullan, Julianna Margulies, Jessica Stam, Leigh Lezark, A Small World CEO Sabine

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Heller, Laure Heriard Dubreuil, and Arden Wohl. But despite the nightly presence of these semi- and supernovas, your instincts have misled you, for Narcissa is about rare virtues in the Balazs Van Allen belt of celebrity—sincerity and earnestness. You heard me right.

Narcissa may be New York’s best tip of the hat to the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, for it is one man’s farm-to-table dream realized. The produce and some other products at Narcissa come from Locusts-on-Hudson,

perfect pairings What to drink with dinner.

Eat: Carrots Wellington.

Drink: The Night and Day, made with Great King Street Scotch (chill-fltered and lightly smoked) tempered with clockwise from above: Chef John

Fraser in the kitchen; his signature Narcissa dish, carrots Wellington; rotisseriecrisped beets.

matcha green tea, apple, and orange oils. Net net: It counterbalances the richness of the carrots.

Or, the Benoit Courault, Anjou, Les Tabeneaux 2010, a red wine whose black pepper and savory notes get the sweetearthy carrots.

Eat: Rotisserie Beets.

Balazs’ Hudson River Valley farm; the chef is John Fraser, known for his farm-fresh cooking at Dovetail (three stars from The New York Times; one star from Michelin); the menu has a broad swath of vegetable dishes; and—ta da!—there is a celebrity behind the restaurant, but (and this may be the real vanity shot) she’s a dairy cow.

Narcissa is, in fact, named after a Jersey-Brown Swiss crossbreed who is “the boss cow” at Locusts-on-Hudson.

(She once took an afternoon off to go into town; now the fencing system is better.)

Balazs speaks of her fondly: “She was the first and pretty much the only contender for the restaurant’s name,” he says. That’s her close-up, the big color photo at the left end of the bar. But here’s the kicker: Narcissa isn’t kidding— Balazs, either. While the menu will more than satisfy carnivores, it’s the vegetable side that sets it apart. As for the wine list: most of the

bottlings are sustainable, organic, or biodynamic.

“We’re trying to create equal choice,” says Fraser, adding, “If you’re knocking back a piece of beef five days a week, there’s no way you can feel well.” This is a restaurant that has taken vegetable dishes to a new level without being ideological about it. It’s about taste, and Narcissa delivers—and with wit. “Our creativity is dictated by the farm,” he says, adding sotto voce, “like when 75 pounds of kale show up.”

The signature dish is carrots Wellington, a nice play on the classic beef dish created for the victor at Waterloo. On the plate, it looks like Stonehenge: standing wheels of puff pastry embracing carrot rounds that arrive in the kitchen fresh daily and are cured in sugar and salt. (“That is one person’s job,” says Fraser.) The carrots come out of the curing and cooking almost meaty, but they melt in your mouth—“a carrot on steroids,” as Fraser says.

Fraser has also raised beets to star status by roasting them on a rotisserie, treating a dense vegetable as you would meat. “We leave them on the rotisserie way too long,” says Fraser, but the result is a sweet-and-char fugue with grace notes of orange-infused oil. “The char keeps you coming back,” he says.

In other dishes, Fraser reimagines vegetables; for example, using Brussels sprout leaves as ceviche. The key is to extract the water, which is done by dusting them with cumin and then gussying them up a bit with smoked ham and Manchego cheese. It is somehow a new- and old-fashioned salad at the same time.

From here, the soft-core vegetarian can move to some semi-vegetarian dishes on the menu. There’s the barley risotto with littleneck clams—the barley because “it’s a grain with a little more character,” says Fraser, and

indeed the barley does glisten like freshwater pearls in the table’s candlelight.

The steamed sea bass, in a French curry broth over lentils, is a gorgeous collage set off by the herringbone skin of the fish, which sits on a plinth of vegetables.

“Transparency and openness” are the foundations of the restaurant, Balazs told me, citing the open kitchen and the spare Scandanavian/Shaker-style design. “There’s an honesty about Shaker and midcentury Danish and Swedish décor,” Balazs added with conviction in his voice. I understood perfectly.

Narcissa comes across without narcissism, and if you can score a banquette along the case-window wall looking out on the garden, you’re on the A-list, although here, it’s lowercase “a.”

That’s the house style. Revel in it. 25 Cooper Square, 212-228-3344; narcissa restaurant.com G

Drink: The Smoky Night, concocted from Pierre Ferrand Ambre cognac, Scotch, and a caramel infusion. The drink balloons into the roof of your mouth and the caramel carries the weight of the whisky.

Eat: Brussels Sprouts.

Drink: The Perfect Kiss is the perfect caress.

The mezcal plays off the smokiness of the sprouts.

The fresh pineapple is the ambush ingredient lying in wait to tone down the smokiness.

Perfect Kiss

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taste Cuiscene

Whole crispy hen of the woods mushroom, Cloumage, and herbs from Upland.

The Understudy Is Ready for Prime Time Vegetables haVe their turn in the spotlight on top city menus. by benedetta pignatelli “More chefs are paying attention to vegetables and transforming them from the eternal wallflowers at the party to the shining star doing the hustle in the middle of the dance floor,” says Amanda Cohen, chef and owner of the influential Dirt Candy, an award-winning vegetable restaurant on the Lower East Side. Her reasoning? She and other chefs see how New York diners, even those who are not vegan or vegetarian, are more mindful of healthy and sustainable eating practices, and increasingly attuned to the tenets of Mediterranean,

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Ornish, and Flexitarian diets, in which veggies play a key role. Gotham recently took a survey of vegetable dishes not to miss this spring.

ElEvEn MaDison Par

The Dish: Curd with garden peas and mint.

What to Know: At Eleven Madison Park, where 70 percent of the menu items are vegetable-based, famed chef Daniel Humm raises them to four-star status, creating such memorable dishes as a luscious carrot tartare and butternut squash cannoli. Humm particularly likes to focus on a single

vegetable and find new ways to bring out its tastes and textures. “There are more layers of flavors, more nuances in a single green pea than is possible to ever imagine,” he says of his latest vegetable dish, which takes a classic spring pea and mint combo and updates it with the curd pairing. 11 Madison Ave., 212-889-0905; elevenmadisonpark.com BaCChanal

The Dish: Red quinoa and asparagus spears with charred spring onions, candied walnuts, shaved radishes, snap peas, and

UPlanD

The Dish: Whole crispy hen of the woods mushroom and maitake mushroom with Espelette pepper, cheese mix, Cloumage, lemon, sliced chives, smoked salt, and ground pepper.

What to Know: “This dish is an example of how chefs are becoming more inventive with vegetables by contrasting textures,” says chef Justin Smillie, who also experiments with different cooking techniques to evolve a vegetable’s flavor. “We shallow-fry the mushroom petals to become crispy but steam the stems, which results in a creamy, contrasting texture.” To texturize the beets, he slow-cooks them in a vinegar and water bath at

180 degrees. 345 Park Ave. South, 212-686-1006; uplandnyc.com CafE ClovEr

The Dish: Cauliflower steak a la plancha with grilled garlic scapes, baby peas, spring herbs, and romesco sauce.

What to Know: Chef David Standridge utilizes the romesco sauce as a culinary passepartout “because the classic nut and red pepper-based sauce is easy to change up with seasonal ingredients.” In spring, he likes to incorporate fresh peas “for sweet variation.”

10 Downing St., 212-6754350; cafeclovernyc.com Dirt CanDy

The Dish: Mint and tarragon fettuccine with yogurt saffron sauce and zucchini relish.

What to Know: “Spiralizing zucchini and adding it [atop] the pasta noodles is a trick I learned from my time in the raw food world,” says Michelin-starred chef Amanda Cohen. “It adds a surprising bite to the pasta.

And that’s what you always want to do with vegetables, surprise people.” She also likes to use yogurt sauces for pastas because it “makes them creamy but light.” 86 Allen St., 212-228-7732; dirtcandynyc.com G

photography by Corry arnold (upland)

Cauliflower steak a la plancha with grilled garlic scapes, baby peas, spring herbs, and romesco sauce from Cafe Clover.

dried strawberries in a dill vinaigrette.

What to Know: “I like to create vegetable entrées that can stand alone if a fish or meat entrée is completely removed,” says chef Ryan Schmidtberger, who has recently overhauled the Bacchanal menu. For the quinoa and asparagus dish, he uses an Alto-Shaam Combi oven (“that costs as much as a car”) to dry vegetables at low temperatures for extra flavor.

146 Bowery, 646-355-1840; bacchanalnyc.com

TASTE Spotlight Juni’s thinly sliced, maple-glazed butternut squash wraps around crystal lettuce set atop egg-yolk purée and maple reduction. LEFT: Brushtroke’s vegetable bento box.

Garden Flavors

WITH VEGETABLES NEWLY CENTRAL TO NEW YORK DINING, ALL-VEGGIE TASTING MENUS ARE SPROUTING UP ALL OVER TOWN. BY ERIN RILEY Chef Isao Yamada uses the kaiseki technique, a range of cooking methods—grilled, fried, boiled, and steamed—to prepare vegetables for his eight-course tasting menu ($120).

Each course focuses on a different Japanese taste experience, from umami to sweet and sour. A must-try dish for spring: katsia sprouts that are lightly boiled and toasted with walnut paste to retain their earthiness and then neutralized with mirin sauce, a rice wine similar to sake. 30 Hudson St., 212-791-3771; davidbouley.com/brushstroke

Juni Three times a week, chef Shaun Hergatt and his team make a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket to determine what makes it on to his vegetarian tasting menus (priced at four courses for $90, six courses for $120). “Like a wine tasting, we start with the lightest, most acidic options and end with

heavier, deeper flavors,” explains Hergatt, whose spring menu includes young pea quenelle (a seasoned sphere of creamed young peas) with ricotta cake and spring peanut potatoes—chef Hergatt’s veggie version of comfort food.

12 E. 31st St., 212-995-8599; juninyc.com

“No one who’s really into fashion eats anything,” is the opening line in The Bergdorf Goodman Cookbook (Harper Design), an urban myth the rest of the book sets out to disprove in delicious fashion.

Recipes from BG Restaurant and favorite dishes from A-list stylistas like Linda Fargo, Betty Halbreich, and Gilles Mendel show that social X-rays do indeed like to nibble—and even imbibe. The Gotham salad, lobster mac and cheese, and chocolate-hazelnut dessert are among the most requested items at the restaurant, and they’re all in the book, along with a smattering of scrumptious cocktails.

Picholine After regaining a Michelin star in this year’s rankings, Terrance Brennan’s flagship is back and better than ever. In February, the Upper West Side institution began focusing exclusively on tasting menus, with a vegetarian option (three courses for $88, five courses for $125, and eight courses for $145) that experiments with flavors traditionally used in meat dishes. Take the celery root variations, a dish that’s prepared like beef bourguignon—it is salt-baked and portioned into a cube and then glazed in a mushroom bordelaise sauce. 35 W. 64th St., 212-724-8585; picholinenyc.com G

// drink up //

Recipes from a favorite fashion boîte and from style mavens, too.

SUSTAINABLE SIPS

GOOD NEWS: There’s a way to kick back a few eco-friendly drinks on Earth Day without resorting to carrot juice. You can even do tequila shots! Tequila Herradura, a company that’s made a major commitment to sustainable processes— renewable energy, composting agave nurseries, and “Clean Field” programs—recently debuted a limited-edition reposado tequila, Colección de la Casa, Reserva 2014. Only 14,000 bottles have been produced, which makes it not only good for the environment, but super exclusive, too. Philippe Liquors, 312 W. 23rd St., 212-243-1355; herradura.com

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GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS SCHAUER (BRUSHSTROKE); SHAUN HERGATT (JUNI)

Brushstroke

BY THE BOOK

TasTe On the Town

aren may AND anne HarrISOn SPEARHEAD ONE OF THE CITY’S BEST KNOWN SOCIETY EVENTS—THE CENTRAl PARK CONSERVANCY’S FAmOuS “HAT luNCHEON.” AT THE NEW TAVERN ON THE GREEN, THE SITE OF THE FIRST luNCHEON OVER 30 YEARS AGO, THEY DISCuSS THE GlAmOROuS GATHERING, HOW IT GREW, AND WHAT IT mEANS FOR THE PARK. by jennifer demeritt photography by doug young

Anne Harrison (left) and Karen May at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. below, from left: Lunch included Domaine d’Eole rosé and Cobb salad, one of the restaurant’s signature dishes.

Karen May: When they restored the restaurant, the theme was to connect it back to the park. People used to ride horses out here—they’d tie up their horse, come inside, and have a drink. anne Harrison: Before that, it was a home to shepherds.

KM: Now [with the redesign], it’s like, let’s take Tavern on the Green back to what it was really like.

Previously, they kept adding and adding, so they peeled it away…

[The waiter brings a Cobb salad with tarragon chicken, blue cheese, and duck eggs for Anne; the cave-aged Gruyère and ham toasted sandwich for Karen] aH: This salad can feed a group! It’s beautiful, and I’m happy to share. Isn’t that so pretty?

KM: Mine looks really good.

[They raise their glasses for a toast] aH: You and I met through the Conservancy.

That’s one of the pluses of the Women’s Committee.

I joined the board in 1994, and you joined in 2008.

KM: We’re both Southerners, so we immediately had a rapport. aH: The Hat Luncheon started in 1983, and it was actually here at Tavern on the Green. We had about 300 people attend and raised $175,000 dollars. So fast-forward—last year we raised $3.5 million and had 1,300 people attend. It’s our largest fundraiser.

park life wHat: A lunch to celebrate Central Park and its most famous fundraiser. wHere: Tavern on the Green, 67th Street at Central Park West, 212-877-8684; tavernonthegreen.com

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opposite page: photography by Zach h/bFanyc.com (central park conservancy)

Hat tip

Anne Harrison and Karen May met while volunteering for the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy, whose mission is to maintain the city’s landmark urban park. (The Conservancy is responsible for 75 percent of the park’s operating budget.) Today, May is president of the Women’s Committee Board of Directors and Harrison sits on the President’s Council. As organizers of the annual Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon (nicknamed the “Hat Luncheon”), they’ve helped raise millions of dollars for the park, while overseeing one of the city’s marquee society events. In early May each year more than a thousand well-heeled donors flock to the park’s Conservatory Garden, decked out in Ascot-worthy millinery. During a recent lunch at Tavern on the Green (the restaurant recently underwent a renovation and has a new menu from acclaimed chef Jeremiah Tower), which hosted the first luncheon in 1983, they talked about the CPC’s history and how they’re working to carry Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision into the future.

Anne Harrison and Karen May enjoyed a dessert of raspberry tart and chocolate mousse at the bar (right).

The CPC’s annual fundraising luncheon features fabulous hats and a spring menu.

“We love to create a meal that’s visually lovely and springlike.”

—karen may

AH: And we take our food very seriously.

KM: We love to create a meal that’s visually lovely and springlike. We have often served a green or orange soup as our first course, which looks so pretty on the tables, which are draped in beautiful tablecloths designed just for this luncheon.

AH: We always have two signature specialty drinks. Last year we served a ruby raspberry Bellini and a cucumber ginger margarita.

KM: The hats are their own story. There are funny hats and beautiful hats, and every year people do hats that are topical. When Mayor Bloomberg was the honoree, there was a woman with a top hat with little flags that said bloomberg.

KM: Since the date of the luncheon is when most things are in bloom in the Conservatory Garden, people come early to walk around. You’ve got

flowers on the hats and flowers in the garden.

AH: It’s a great celebration of the park—and the people working to maintain it.

KM: And it’s a great opportunity for the committee to remind everyone that the Conservancy is a public/private partnership with the city. This year’s budget to run Central Park is $57 million. The private money raised by the CPC is $40 million, and the Women’s Committee raises $8 million of the $40 million. We’re very proud of that.

AH: One of the biggest reasons for outreach is to let people know that the city pays about 25 percent of the park’s budget and the CPC raises the rest.

KM: The park gets over 40 million visitors a year—more than the Taj Mahal, more than Times Square. That’s a challenge, maintaining a beautiful space for that many visitors a year.

[Dessert arrives: chocolate mousse with ginger cookies for Karen; raspberry tart with apricot glaze for Anne] AH: I can’t wait to dig into this.

KM: Ginger is my favorite. This looks fabulous.

AH: A lot of people come to the reservoir to use the runner’s circle, so we’re finishing up that project.

We’re also working on the entrance. Most visitors come in through the Columbus Circle entrance, so we’re making that easier and prettier.

KM: And we have an Adopt-A-Bench committee.

AH: The benches that have been endowed by people have plaques. My husband and I have two daughters, and they used to play on the Alice in Wonderland statue, so we bought a bench for them there. Now they’re 24 and 22, and they come back to visit their bench.

KM: People don’t realize that the park’s 850 acres [are home to] different kinds of landscapes—woodlands, ball fields, playgrounds—and maintaining them requires different kinds of expertise.

AH: It’s amazing, what the Conservancy has done since 1980. Central Park in the ’60s and ’70s was in terrible shape.

KM: New York City was almost broke.

AH: The Great Lawn was like a dust bowl.

The Conservancy grew out of a dire need to take care of the park.

KM: The Sheep Meadow was another big open space that looked barren and sad. Now people take their trash out and the grass stays beautiful.

AH: People see how beautiful the park is now and they want to maintain it. So it’s been a very good story. The Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon takes place May 6 at Conservatory Garden, Central Park, 105th Street and Fifth Avenue; centralparknyc.org. G

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“You can’t control what happens to the world so you try to do the best you can while you are here,” says Spacey, a supporter of Conservation International.

down to earth

With House of Cards, Kevin Spacey helped change the way we watch TV. Now he wants to change the way we look at the planet.

photography by sheryl nields/august

By DaviD HocHman PHotograPHy By SHeryl nielDS

Kevin Spacey takes 10 seconds to dispense with the pleasantries and get down to business. It’s “Hey, how are you?” and then straight to the point, the way his character does it on House of Cards.

“You have to remember, it was just 10 or 11 years ago that everybody thought I was fucking crazy when I decided to pick up and move to London to run a theater company,” he says, referring to his recently completed stint as artistic director of the Old Vic in London’s West End. “I did my job there, and now it’s time to go.” Spacey was seven seasons in when he found the role that made him streaming media’s first superstar, as ruthless politician Frank Underwood on the binge-worthy Netflix drama. You can hear pride swelling in that cosmopolitan purr as Spacey takes in the fact that House of Cards is more popular in its third season than ever. “All those reports over the years that my career was over, that I was done, that I’d run away from Hollywood, they now sound rather….”

Shortsighted? Absurd? Spacey, 55, doesn’t need to finish the thought. The lesson is: Never count out a man of determination and style. The actor spent the 1990s charting a course to international stardom with lead roles in celebrated films like The Usual Suspects (which won him his first Oscar, for best supporting actor, in 1996), L.A. Confidential, and American Beauty (which earned him his second, for best actor, in 2000). A few years later, he was convincing interviewers that he’d had enough. “I love the performing part of being an actor,” he told me over lunch not long after taking the Old Vic job, “but the other bullshit is much, much less interesting to me.”

Leave it to Spacey to find a way back to the top that upends any standard approach. He is both the main character and co-executive producer on House of Cards, a show that’s been a big red disrupter to both network and cable TV. (It’s the first Emmy-winning series not shown on cable or regular broadcast TV.) What made him do it? “The script was fantastic, David Fincher [co-executive producer and director of Gone Girl and The Social Network] is a genius, and I liked that it was a brave thing to do,” he says. The series did not have a pilot, it doesn’t rely on commercials or arcane Nielsen data, and there’s never any wait time for “next week’s episode” since an entire season rolls out at once. That last detail has spurred something of a revolution in how we consume entertainment. “I’m not a binge-watcher myself, but I understand the addiction completely,” Spacey says.

He’s at home in London, where he spent the predawn hours glued to the Australian Open Tennis Championships beaming live from Melbourne. “People watch what they watch,” he says. “The audience doesn’t care how they get their content. They just want it to be good.”

House of Cards won three Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013 and received 22 Emmy nominations in its first two seasons. Spacey won a Golden Globe and SAG Award this year for playing the most dastardly elected official on TV who’s not actually on TV. Underwood lies, he sleeps around, he kills. Still, President Obama is such a fan that on the eve of last season’s premiere, he tweeted,

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“I’m so pleased to be able to do the stuff I do. I’m living the dream,” says Spacey, now in his third year of House of Cards.

“Tomorrow: @HouseOfCards. No spoilers, please.” Bill Clinton practically serves as a series advisor. Spacey has been a high-profile supporter and friend of Clinton’s (they used to play poker) since the presidential campaign days, and the admiration is mutual. “He tells me, ‘I love that House of Cards,’” Spacey says in a pitch-perfect impression, which reminds you that the actor’s talent for mimicry is legendary. “He becomes Johnny Carson; you’re looking at Brando,” his costar Robin Wright says. Here, it’s almost as if Clinton is in the room: “Kevin, 99 percent of what you do on that show is real. The 1 percent you get wrong is you could never get an education bill passed that fast.”

But even as House of Cards raises the stakes yet again—Underwood ascended to the presidency this season— Spacey himself remains the most intriguing character of all. He was born the youngest of three in New Jersey, reared in Southern California, launched his career in Manhattan, yet has no particular loyalty to any of those places. “My family moved so much that we’d have Thanksgiving in one house and Christmas in another, so I’ve spent my life trying to make everywhere I go home,” he says.

Spacey’s mother did secretarial work to support the family; his father, who he has called a “tough disciplinarian,” struggled to find jobs as a technical writer. Growing up, Spacey didn’t make life especially easy for either of them. He once set fire to his sister’s playhouse and later got booted out of Northridge Military Academy for throwing a tire at another kid. Not that he was an underachiever. Spacey graduated from Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles as co-valedictorian with actress Mare Winningham, but then left The Juilliard School early to find his own way. “I am fairly convinced if I hadn’t dropped out, they would have booted me out a few weeks later,” he says.

It was all part of character building, apparently. Young and broke in Manhattan, Spacey paid the rent by working the stock room at the Public Theater, where he answered a switchboard and requisitioned pencils. Soon enough, he landed an Off-Off-Broadway play called The Robbers. A Village Voice critic compared him to Marlon Brando and Karl Malden. One night, Joseph Papp, the Public’s illustrious theater producer and Spacey’s boss, came by to watch him perform. Papp fired him as the office gofer the next day. As Spacey likes to retell it, “Joe said, ‘I saw an actor last night onstage, and you’ve become too comfortable here.’” Spacey appeared in a New York Shakespeare Festival production of Henry IV in 1981 and made his Broadway debut a year later in Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts.

Spacey is famously circumspect about his private affairs. As he once told —kevin spacey Gotham, “I’ve just never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity.

I’m not interested in doing it. Never will do it,” and he’s still committed. Having spent time with him before, I know not even to inquire about his relationships or preferences for this or that. Even innocuous questions get pushback. When I cordially ask how he stays in such good shape, Spacey groans and says, “I’m not going to fucking talk about that. I work out like everybody.” Asked if he meditates, he says, “Fuck!

Is this therapy? I thought it was an interview. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

That razor edge is part of Spacey’s allure, too, of course. Michael Kelly, cast as Frank Underwood’s chief of staff, says, “I was scared to death at first. Kevin is a guarded individual in the beginning. You have to earn his trust. One of the most uncomfortable moments of my life was when I had to miss a table read—and I’d only missed one since I’ve been on the show. When I told Kevin, he turned to me slowly and said, ‘That’s okay,’ and there was a chilling pause. ‘Nathan [Darrow, another actor on the show] will read your part.’ But he goes from that to cracking me up with one of his Johnny Carson impressions.”

Dig a little and another side of Spacey emerges. He’s a big giver it turns out. Much of his philanthropic work is guided by a philosophy Jack Lemmon, an early mentor, once shared with him. Spacey also does a dead-on Lemmon impression: “If you have done well, then you’re obligated to send the elevator back down for others.”

To that end, Spacey established The Kevin Spacey Foundation in 2010 to support young actors, writers, directors, and producers. This year the initiative brought together 34 emerging talents from around the Middle East, a part of the world not known for supporting the arts. “I don’t think it’s enough to build extraordinary national theaters and palatial cultural centers only to farm things out to Cirque du Soleil,” Spacey says. He’s also an advocate for Conservation International. Last year Spacey was the voice of the rain forest itself in an awareness campaign that also featured Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, and Penélope Cruz.

“I remember seeing a piece of art that made me laugh recently,” says Spacey. “A group of men are in water up to their noses, standing around having an argument. The piece is called Politicians Discussing Global Warming. These problems are real and we can’t ignore them. We have to do everything we can to make people aware of what we’re doing to our planet and about what we can do to take care of it.”

Spacey’s voice softens for a moment. It’s like a small window opens on a place that’s usually off-limits. “You can’t control what happens in the world, so you try to do the best you can while you’re here. As for my life, I couldn’t have written it better. I’m so pleased to be able to do the stuff I do. Frankly, I’m living the dream.

There’s no doubt about it. I am the luckiest guy walking the face of the earth.” G

“If you have done well, then you’re oblIgated to send the elevator back down for others.”

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Flower Power Romance meets modeRnity in spRing’s sophisticated floRals. photography by rene & radka styling by martina nilsson

opposite page: Nude silk

organza beaded flower dress ($6,190) and Russian gold flower necklace ($695), Oscar de la Renta. 772 Madison Ave., 212-288-5810; oscardelarenta.com this page: Cotton seersucker

dress, Hermès ($1,925). 691 Madison Ave., 212-751-3181; hermes.com

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opposite page: Bellini dress ($7,900), resin drop earrings (price on request), and Firenze T-strap sandals ($995), Altuzarra.

Bergdorf Goodman, 754 Fifth Ave., 212-753-7300; bergdorfgoodman.com this page: Double linen

embroidered-collar dress, Valentino ($4,390). 693 Fifth Ave., 212-355-5811; valentino.com

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this page: Long blue threetiered silk dress, Lanvin ($5,150). 815 Madison Ave., 646-439-0380; lanvin.com.

Gunmetal crystal flower necklace, Oscar de la Renta ($1,195). 772 Madison Ave.,

212-288-5810; oscarde larenta.com. Flower Power Notte blue sandals, Casadei ($895). Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Ave., 212-7534000; saks.com

opposite page: Pale Banane embroidered cotton dress, Bottega Veneta ($10,000).

699 Fifth Ave., 212-3715511; bottegaveneta.com

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Embroidered black tulle gown, Dolce & Gabbana (price on request). 717 Fifth Ave., 212-897-9653; dolcegabbana.com beauté: Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation ($62).

Sephora, 555 Broadway, 212-625-1309; sephora.com.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Eyebrow Pencil in Ash Blonde ($21). Sephora, see above. Givenchy Ombré Couture Cream Eyeshadow in Prune Taffetas and Brun Cachemire ($23 each).

Sephora, see above. Tom Ford Lip Color in Sable Smoke ($50). 845 Madison Ave., 212-359-0300; tomford.com L’Oréal Paris EveryStyle Smooth & Shine Crème ($7), Elnett Hairspray Extra Strong Hold ($15), EverStyle Texture Series Energizing Dry Shampoo ($7). lorealparisusa.com

Photography by Rene & Radka at Art Department Styling by Martina Nilsson at Opus Beauty Prop styling by Jason McKnight at Exclusive Artists Hair by Dimitris Giannetos at Opus Beauty using L’Oréal Paris Makeup by Kathy Jeung at Forward Artists using Givenchy Model: Rachel Roberts at Next LA Production by Art Department Photo assistance by Adam Rondou Styling assistance by Jacquelyn Jones

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Valerie Rockefeller Wayne, chair of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, says that if her illustrious ancestors were alive today, they’d be “betting on clean energy and not on fossil fuels.”

a clean sweep

Valerie Rockefeller Wayne—a member of one of America’s most prominent families whose fortune was built on oil wealth—talks about the controversial decision to divest the Rockefeller Brothers Fund of fossil fuel investments, the need to push forward despite the criticism, and how she, her family, and colleagues plan to lead the charge for developing sustainable energy.

by Suzanne McGee

opposite page: photography by gregg delman (wayne). this page: photography by shutterstock.com (oil pump, solar panels)

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund shifts from investing in fossil fuels, represented by the oil wells (shown here), to funding sustainable resources, among them solar energy (right).

In 1863, John Davison Rockefeller, then 24 years old, persuaded his partner in a Cleveland wholesale firm (selling foodstuffs and grains) to invest $4,000 in a fledging oil refinery and turned it into one of the largest fortunes the country—and the world—would ever see. His own ambition was to make $100,000 and to live to be 100 years old, but by the time he died at the age of 97, the estimate of his net worth was $1.5 billion, some $25 billion in today’s dollars.

And the genesis of it all was oil: refining, transporting, and marketing it, in the empire that was Standard Oil, which at its peak and before antitrust laws broke it up, controlled 90 percent of the country’s oil business.

Just over 150 years after John D. Rockefeller Sr. opened the Excelsior refinery and cleared the way for the creation of the companies that would evolve into today’s energy giants—ExxonMobil, Conoco, Chevron, and Amoco among them—his great-great-granddaughter, Valerie Rockefeller Wayne, announced that the Rockefeller Brothers

Fund, one of the family’s philanthropic entities, was going to eliminate any investments in the industry that her ancestors helped to create.

“If they were alive today, they’d be betting on clean energy and not on fossil fuels,” Rockefeller Wayne argues, referring to the first two John Davison Rockefellers (the third was her grandfather, John Davison Rockefeller IV, better known as Jay; the former Democratic senator from West Virginia is her father). “JDR Jr. was an environmentalist; I’m confident that, looking at both the science and the morality, he would have been a major investor in clean-energy technologies.”

As foundations and endowments go, the $860 million Rockefeller Brothers Fund, established by the five sons of John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1940, isn’t as heavyweight a player in the philanthropic world as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (assets of $37 billion), the Ford Foundation ($11 billion), or the foundation established by Michael Bloomberg ($4.2 billion). But when it comes to the hot-button

issue of divestment and the fossil fuel industry, it punches well above its weight.

That seems to be simultaneously exhilarating and daunting for Rockefeller Wayne, a former special education teacher and mother of three who now serves as chair of the fund. “There is a moral imperative here,” she says. On the other hand, Rockefeller Wayne is all too aware of what happens if the group makes a misstep. The process of divestment is still controversial, with many institutions, Harvard for example, arguing that it doesn’t make sense to abandon the prospect of investment returns from such a significant chunk of the stock market. While momentum is building, with students pressing managers of college endowments to abandon oil and gas investments, only a relatively small group of values-driven investors have jumped on the bandwagon to date.

“We want our experience to serve as an exemplar,” says Rockefeller Wayne. The goal is to educate people, including teaching them how hard divestment is.

We don’t want people thinking that divestment is

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easy, because failure will lead to discouragement.”

The challenge for the Rockefeller family members isn’t an easy one. When the five brothers and their sister, Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller, finally endowed the fund they had created in 1952, it was as a perpetual foundation. That means that while, like every family foundation, it has to disburse grants amounting to at least 5 percent of its assets every year, its goal is to remain in existence indefinitely.

That creates challenges for the trustees and for any investment managers they hire: To avoid spending down the fund’s assets, they need to generate a large enough return to replace that 5 percent and to keep pace with inflation year after year. And going forward, they’ll need to do it without any help from the oil and gas industry.

As of early 2015, that may seem like a pretty straightforward matter. With Saudi Arabia trying to reassert its preeminence in global energy markets by embarking on a price war, oil prices had plunged about 50 percent in the eight months ending in midFebruary. Needless to say, the values of oil and gas production companies—from those that rent the oil rigs and drill the wells to those that produce and refine the oil and natural gas extracted from those wells—nosedived as well. But that’s just one brief period, and there are many other time spans in recent market history during which avoiding energy stocks was a recipe for underperformance.

“If we really want to make money, this isn’t the right strategy,” admits Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, ruefully. On the other hand, he adds, “Most investment outlooks suggest that the future won’t look like the past, and we wanted to ensure that we didn’t miss out on opportunities.

For instance, if China does end up generating 20 percent of its power from renewable sources, that’s going to open up huge opportunities, and we’ll want to be a part of that.”

To help steer them through the tricky process of removing the last 5 percent of the fund’s assets that are invested in fossil fuels, including holdings in ExxonMobil and Chevron, and to find more attractive alternative energy investments, the RBF had to start from scratch. “We had to make fundamental changes in our investment management; to end the relationships that we had and select a new manager to work with, because we were invested in a [fund] that didn’t allow for the kind of customization that we needed,” says Heintz. That happened in 2014, when RBF hired Perella Weinberg to oversee all of its investments.

For its part, Perella Weinberg’s outsourced investment platform, Agility, turned to Imprint Capital, a San Francisco–based consulting firm that creates and manages impact investing portfolios for wealthy families and institutions, trying to reconcile their values and their investments. (One recent assignment was to help a group of nuns with their portfolio; the order ended up putting capital to work in solar

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lanterns and forestry programs.) While Perella Weinberg will oversee the big picture, John Goldstein, managing director of Imprint, says his firm will be contributing everything from new investment themes or ideas to the ability to analyze the impact on the portfolio at each stage of the process. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of what happens next, he agrees. “Everyone is watching. It will be a sign of what will be possible—or a cautionary tale.”

The Rockefellers have gotten it wrong before, after all. In the 1980s, they created a $2 million fund to help jump-start renewable energy businesses, but it folded very soon thereafter. The initiative was ahead of its time and not carefully thought through, and that’s a mistake that the RBF trustees don’t want to make again.

The news that the Rockefellers appear to be abandoning their family legacy made headlines worldwide when it was announced at the United Nations Climate Summit. That’s something to which Rockefeller Wayne seems to be resigned, although she and Heintz both seem to feel it shouldn’t have come as that much of a shock. “The process toward divestment started in 2003 or so as we saw this movement starting to build,” Heintz points out. “That’s when our colleagues on the board and among the staff started having this discussion.”

B

ut the roots were laid far, far earlier. As Rockefeller Wayne points out, her family’s interest in the environment predates RBF’s creation. Back when those who cared about the environment were still referred to as conservationists, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated more than any other American to the formation of national parks; by some estimates, his donations and purchases of land aimed at creating these parks (including the Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, and Shenandoah) cost him $45 million in 1920s and 1930s dollars. His son, Laurance, created the Virgin Islands National Park and helped oversee the formation of the National Park Foundation.

In the fourth generation, David Rockefeller Jr., whose mother gave him and his siblings copies of iconic books by Rachel Carson, including Silent Spring, to read while they were still children, has become an outspoken advocate of marine ecology.

(He also has pointed out that discovering oil underground “probably saved a lot of whales.”) David’s sister, Neva Goodwin Rockefeller, is a former trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, codirector of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, and a perpetual thorn in the side of ExxonMobil.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund itself hadn’t been sitting on the sidelines, either. The organization has always viewed preserving a sustainable environment as a program goal, and funding explicitly directed at that can be traced to the early 1980s, when it financed

a program titled One World: Sustainable Resource Use. In 1992, it doled out grants for that year’s Earth Summit, promoting an anti-fossil-fuel treaty package. By 2008, RBF had joined the campaign against the extraction of crude oil from the tar sands in northern Alberta—the same oil that, once it’s processed, would flow through the controversial proposed expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline to refineries in the southern United States.

“Everyone had been engaged in their own way,” says Rockefeller Wayne. “All the members of the family were using their own proxies; some trustees had held a lot of conversations with the management of Exxon. We were making grants in this area.

We all shared this concern.” But, she adds, it was time to align the fund’s investment portfolio with its mission and its grants—and with the convictions of the family members.

The initial step came in 2010, when RBF’s trustees voted to invest up to 10 percent of the fund’s assets in companies that meet sustainable-development objectives. That goes a step beyond the kind of “negative screening” that many socially conscious investors undertake when they prune objectionable companies from their portfolios. Instead, RBF actively sought out businesses that are being run in a notably sustainable manner; for instance, those that are providing products or services that help utilities generate or deliver power more efficiently or economically.

“No one thinks of this as being family money at this point. The family assets are held elsewhere, in trusts,” says Rockefeller Wayne. “These are assets that we’re overseeing for the public good, as stewards, and the environment is our main philanthropic goal.”

But the fund’s assets are the legacy of the wealth created by her great-great-grandfather and the reason that her family name is also a household name.

After all, it’s not every former teacher and mother of three who can walk into a business meeting in a skyscraper that’s part of a Midtown landmark named for her family. Yet the Rockefeller heirs can justify what they’re doing in a way that John D. Sr. might understand. “He disrupted a legacy that was all about kerosene and whale oil when he began refining crude oil,” Imprint Capital’s Goldstein points out. “Now Valerie and her cousins are trying to disrupt fossil fuels with something newer still.”

And she’s doing it with the eyes of the next generation upon her. Her daughters Percy and Lucy attend school at the Greenwich Academy, itself devoted to sustainability in everything from solar power to recycling. It’s part of the curriculum, and it’s turned Rockefeller Wayne’s children into environmental vigilantes, reprimanding their mother for wearing lipstick (it contains palm oil, the harvesting of which damages the habitat of the orangutan) and making sure she takes the train and doesn’t drive when she heads into the city. “You can’t get away with anything with kids,” she says, laughing. G

photography courtesy of the rockefeller archive center ( david rockefeller); Michael loccisano (susan rockefeller); gregg delMan (wayne); ron galella, ltd./wireiMage (laurance rockefeller)

Many family members have been involved with environmental causes. clockwise from above: In 1958 David Rockefeller (at left, with former Mayor Robert F. Wagner) founded the DowntownLower Manhattan Association, which now advocates for the use of green building technology in the area; David Rockefeller Jr., pictured with wife Susan, is an outspoken advocate of marine ecology; Valerie Rockefeller Wayne and Stephen Heintz at the RBF headquarters; Laurance Rockefeller created the Virgin Islands National Park.

“EvEryonE is watching. it will bE a sign of what will bE possiblE—or a cautionary talE.” —john goldstein

NATUR E

I N T H E E Y E of T H E S T O R M

By Jill Sigal

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this page: photography by Kurt MarKus/trunK archive; opposite page: JaMes WoJciK/trunK archive

The world’s growing population and the impact of the changing climate are putting nature’s ability to provide for all of us at risk. Are we paying enough attention to this looming threat?

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When you see the abundance of food at the local supermarket—the bins of fruits and vegetables, the seafood on ice, the water bottles on the shelves—you may not always think about where it all comes from or what would happen if nature could no longer provide for us. Currently there are 7.3 billion people on the planet. According to a report by the United Nations, the world’s population is expected to grow to 9.6 billion by the year 2050. Global demand for food, water, and energy is predicted to increase by 35 percent, 40 percent, and 50 percent, respectively, by 2030. This will further test nature’s ability to provide for us, as will the expanding middle class around the world.

The unprecedented consumption of critical natural resources poses enormous challenges for the entire planet. Some countries are already feeling the effects with depleted fisheries and diminished food stocks resulting from the inability of agricultural production to keep pace with demand. In recent years, more food was consumed around the world than was produced. The changing climate compounds these trends, as the increasing number and severity of storms (like Hurricane Sandy, which battered the East Coast in 2012), floods, and droughts threaten global food and water supplies.

Competition for increasingly scarce resources can lead to social and political instability, conflict, radicalization, and possibly even failed nations. According to the US National Intelligence Council, “[resource] scarcities are likely to hit hardest on poorer states, leading in the worst case to internal or interstate conflict and spillover to regional destabilization.” Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, the country’s premier foreign-policy think tank, agrees.

“Resources are linked to both the stability of countries and to the stability of regions,” he says. Resource shortages and competition need to be on “the list of possible sources of friction or conflict” and are “potentially a contributing cause of instability within countries and conceivably a source of instability between countries.” But resource scarcity is not just a problem for other countries; it is also a threat to the United States’ economic interests and national security.

is there hope?

Given the stress on nature’s ability to provide for the growing population due to increasing demand and the serious impacts of the changing climate, are we doomed, or is there still hope? According to Peter Seligmann, a leading conservationist and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Conservation International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting nature for the well-being of people, there is reason to be optimistic. Many governments,

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businesses, and local communities are realizing the importance of nature to the global economy, livelihoods, and security,” he says. “They are not standing on the sidelines watching as nature is depleted. They are engaging and taking actions to ensure nature is sustainable.”

Seligmann cites the example of Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, which is leading the charge for sustainability among corporations with its three goals: to sell products that sustain both people and the environment, to create zero waste, and to run on 100 percent renewable energy. Due to its vast size, Walmart can have a significant impact on sustainability up and down its supply chain. “Walmart executives see that their supplies of fish and food depend upon the health of ecosystems,” Seligmann explains, “and they see that ecosystems are being stressed out by shifts in climate. That affects their supply. They’re thinking long-term.”

According to Rob Walton, the company’s chairman and the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, “For Walmart, it’s about our responsibility as a business, but partly about how many of our sustainability efforts allow us to be more efficient and to continue to pass those savings on to our customers.”

Ensuring a sustainable supply chain so that its shelves are always fully stocked is critical to the company’s business.

If you’ve noticed a difference in the size of laundry detergent bottles in the last decade, you have Walmart to thank. The company has single-handedly driven the industry to embrace more eco-friendly packaging. And at Walmart’s 2014 Sustainability Product Expo, it introduced an initiative challenging manufacturers to reduce by 25 percent the amount of water in every dose of detergent in North America by 2018. Also announced at the Expo was a new initiative to increase recycling rates in the US by providing low-interest loans to municipalities for recycling projects.

Increasingly, companies—including Disney, Starbucks, and Marriott—are realizing that environmental sustainability is not only in their economic self-interest; it is also in the interest of their customers and the communities in which they operate.

For example, The Walt Disney Company is implementing major changes designed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, improve its energy efficiency, reduce its water consumption, minimize waste, protect natural ecosystems, and inspire action on environmental health. The company is also funding a flagship project in the Peruvian Amazon to address the main causes of deforestation.

Many are aware of Whole Foods’ eco-friendly policies, which include supporting sustainable agriculture and sound environmental practices. The company has also designed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED]certified stores and initiated recycling programs, and it offsets 100 percent of its

opposite page: photography by XoNoVets

ake a look around and it becomes clear that nearly everything surrounding us—the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the butcher-block table in your kitchen, the paper used for this magazine—comes from nature. The simple truth is that humanity cannot survive without nature: for our food, fresh water, lifesaving medicines, and so much more.

The unprecedented consumption of natural resources

poses enormous challenges for the entire planet.

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“Protecting nature is not an option— it is essential for the well-being of people.

it is not someone else’s problem.

We are all in this together.”

PhotograPhy by montree hanlue

—Peter Seligmann

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energy consumption with renewable-energy credits. And through its sustainable coffee-sourcing program, known as CAFE (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices, Starbucks is maintaining the quality of its brews while encouraging higher environmental, social, and economic standards. The initiative has had a significant positive impact on forest conservation and coffee-farming communities, and the company is expected to meet its goal of serving 100 percent ethically sourced coffee this year.

(See sidebar for a list of other eco-conscious companies.)

how is the changing climate affecting us now?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international body that reviews scientific research on the changing climate, stated in a recent report that it is “unequivocal” that the global climate is warming: “The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen.”

The IPCC notes that concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased and projects that if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continues, the climate and oceans will continue to warm during the 21st century. That could result in sea levels rising anywhere from 21 inches to three feet by 2100, endangering cities worldwide, from New York and Miami to London and Sydney. Coastal flooding and erosion are expected to increase with rising sea levels.

The panel also found evidence that human health, agriculture, water supplies, and in some cases people’s livelihoods have already been impacted by climate change.

Increased acidification of the oceans (from the absorption of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) has harmed marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs and fisheries, potentially threatening our food security. The IPCC predicts climate change is projected to impact the availability of fresh water and increase water scarcity, which could result in competition for the resource. The production of crops like wheat and rice is also projected to be negatively impacted by the changing climate. Risks to human health may also rise due to stronger heat waves, decreased food production, and a greater prevalence of disease, according to the panel.

One place that is already feeling the impact of the changing climate is the remote nation of Kiribati, which sits just a few feet above sea level in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, more than 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. Kiribati is composed of 33 tiny islands and has a population of just over 100,000. If sea levels continue to rise, this republic, which is directly in the eye of the storm, could literally be swallowed up by the sea.

According to the country’s president, Anote Tong, rising tides have damaged property and infrastructure, and sea water is intruding on freshwater plants and damaging food crops. “The future is a very real concern,” he says. “My grandchildren will have a very difficult future. We really have to do a lot of work. We need resources to be able to build up the islands in order to be resilient to the impacts that will come in the future.”

Although people living thousands of miles from Kiribati may not yet feel the effects of climate change directly, eventually they will, Tong adds, and the world should act now, before it’s too late. “It is better not to look back and say, ‘Oh no, we should have done something,’” notes Tong. He sees this issue as “the most serious moral challenge for humanity,” adding that “humanity will, at some point in time, see the need and the obligation to respond to what is happening. If it’s later, we will go down the drain, but hopefully it will be a lesson. I hope that lesson is well learned to ensure that whatever further damage would be caused will not happen.”

Here at home, the third National Climate Assessment, published last year, reports that people across the United States—from corn growers in Iowa to oyster farmers in Washington State—are already feeling the impact of our changing climate, and that impact is growing. The first decade of the 21st century was the world’s hottest on record, and 2012 was the warmest year recorded in the continental United States. According to the report, temperatures in most areas of the country are expected to rise by as much as four degrees Fahrenheit in the coming decades, which threatens US agricultural production, worth about $330 billion annually.

The US defense and intelligence communities are increasingly focusing on the impact of climate change on resource scarcity, food security, and stability within and among nations. The US Department of Defense’s 2014 Quadrennial Defense

Making a

Difference

These global brands are leading the way in environmentally responsible practices.

Chipotle Mexican Grill has made a commitment to “Food with Integrity” by serving organic, locally grown, and familyfarmed foods. The company has also pledged to offer sustainably produced food and dairy products without synthetic hormones.

The Coca-Cola Company is working to achieve its 2020 environmental goals, which include improving water efficiency by 25 percent, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent, raising the recovery rate of its cans and bottles to 75 percent in developed markets, and sustainably sourcing key ingredients. The company has also participated in hundreds of Community Water Partnership projects, providing access to safe water in countries around the world.

Hewlett-Packard, through its Living Progress program, employs its technological expertise to help build a sustainable world. As part of the program, the Earth Insights project uses a groundbreaking early-warning system that allows scientists to monitor endangered species in tropical ecosystems in almost real time.

Marriott International, a Bethesda-based company, is implementing a comprehensive sustainability strategy that includes commitments to reduce energy and water consumption, green its supply chain, and inspire its guests and associates to conserve natural resources. The company has also provided support to forest and water conservation projects in Brazil and China.

Omega partnered with the GoodPlanet Foundation in 2011, and within a year the company showcased the beauty of the world’s oceans in the documentary Planet Ocean, examined the stresses on its ecosystems, and offered solutions. To further foster conservation, Omega designed a special timepiece, the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M GMT GoodPlanet, a portion of whose sales proceeds fully fund a project to preserve mangroves, sea grasses, and coral reefs in the seas of Southeast Asia.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts is committed to sustainable practices while continuing to offer a great experience for its guests. The company has set a target of 2020 to decrease energy and water consumption by 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively, and to reduce emissions and waste.

Stella McCartney’s line features an array of environmentally friendly products, such as eyewear produced with materials like castor oil seeds and citric acid; shoes with soles made from a bio-plastic called APINAT, which degrades when placed in a compost pile; and a faux-leather line created with more than 50 percent vegetable oil, which allows the company to use less petroleum in its products.

Tiffany & Co. employs only paper suppliers that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for the brand’s famous blue boxes and bags.

Unilever has established the goal of sourcing 100 percent of its agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. In the same time period, the company has also committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions, per-customer water use, and waste.

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adapt to the changes that have already occurred and prepare for those to come.

Ecosystem-based approaches, such as conserving and restoring forests and coastal mangrove swamps, as well as building seawalls to protect against the rising oceans, are adaptive measures that can reduce the impact of climate change by increasing a locality’s resilience. “Those actions require a change in our behavior,” he says.

“Those actions require a change in how we supply our energy. Those actions require an increased recognition of the importance of securing ecosystems and their health.”

What can individuals do to make a difference? “There is much we can do, in terms of whom we vote for and in terms of making good choices with our dollars to make sure we purchase things that are manufactured by companies that are really helping to find solutions rather than exacerbating the problem,” Seligmann says.

“Protecting nature is not an option. It is essential for the well-being of people. It is not someone else’s problem. We are all in this together.”

No one can predict the future with 100 percent accuracy, so we cannot know for sure how the changing climate will alter nature’s ability to provide for the world’s growing population. Nor can we be certain of the long-term impact that resource scarcity will have on the global economy, security, and people’s livelihoods. But what we can see are the consequences of the changing climate today. We can either take action now to ensure the health of our natural world, or we can wait and see whether the predictions come true and hope we don’t end up looking back and saying, “Oh no, we should have done something.”

Nature and all it provides for us—fresh water, fertile soil, food, and so much more—is the lifeblood of human well-being. The pressures on its ecosystems have never been greater. The stakes have never been higher. Protecting nature from the changing climate and ensuring its health is of strategic importance to our economy, our security, and our survival. The planet will endure, with or without us. As Harrison Ford, vice chair of Conservation International, says, “Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature.” G

this page: photography by Jan Mika. opposite page: renderings by blooMberg/daniel acker/big–bJarke ingels group (dryline); glen V. catrona associates (Wedg); photography courtesy of nyc parks/MalcolM pinckney (Milliontreesnyc)

Review characterizes climate change as a significant global challenge. “The pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions around the world,” the report states. “These effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions—conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence.”

In a 2013 speech, Chuck Hagel, then the US secretary of defense, spoke about how climate change can “significantly add to the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict. Food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and resources, and more severe natural disasters all place additional burdens on economies, societies, and institutions around the world.”

Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations agrees that the changing climate is potentially a source of social instability, possibly resulting in large-scale population movements and a humanitarian nightmare as well as political destabilization. The changing climate raises real questions of economic viability, he says, and if it leads to failed states, “that can create breeding grounds for terrorism or other forms of behaviors that we do not want to see.”

Despite the concerns expressed by scientists and world leaders, Americans rank addressing global warming near the bottom of their policy priorities. In a poll conducted last year by the Pew Research Center, global warming came in 19th among 20 policy concerns, with the economy, jobs, and defending the country from terrorism being the respondents’ top priorities. Yet, according to Conservation International’s Peter Seligmann, the changing climate could be devastating in all of those areas—threatening our food and water supply, our economic stability, and ultimately our security—and he believes that something must be done now.

Nations and communities need to take measures to mitigate climate change by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, Seligmann says, adding they must also

clockwise from left:

A drawing showing the proposed Big U, a series of parks and green spaces that would encircle Manhattan and protect it from floods; Sandy Hook Pilots Association’s new storm-resilient headquarters on Staten Island will be completely rebuilt according to WEDG guidelines; volunteers plant trees during a MillionTreesNYC initiative in Van Cortlandt Park.

The green apple Maybe New York should be called the Big Green Apple. According to a recent survey by the Global Green Economy Index, published by DualCitizen, a data analytics frm, Gotham ranks as the greenest city in the US. Spurred by Superstorm Sandy, politicians, planners, scientists, and the public have pushed hard to make the city even greener and more resilient. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who focused on fortifying New York against climate events, established the city’s Offce of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has emphasized lessening our impact on the global climate with his call to reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide by 80 percent by 2050. Many of the city’s climatechange initiatives are as exciting as they are ambitious and serve as models for similar projects throughout the nation. Here are just a few: MillionTreesNYC: In 2007, MillionTreesNYC was created with the goal of planting 1 million trees in the city by 2017. In addition to beautifying neighborhoods, trees absorb carbon dioxide from

New York City makes bold moves to become more sustainable. By suzanne charlÉ

the air, lower energy consumption by providing shade, and reduce storm water runoff. As of January, 943,205 new trees had been planted, thanks to thousands of volunteers—including Bette Midler, Jerry Stiller, and UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon. milliontreesnyc.org Green Roofs: More and more green roofs are sprouting in New York—a good thing, since they retain rainwater, provide insulation, reduce air pollutants, and mitigate the “heat island” effect while beautifying the city and offering a habitat for wildlife. Green roofs can be found atop all types of structures: hotels (recently Hilton greened 14,000 square feet), private residences (Goode Green designed a rooftop wildfower meadow), large condo buildings (the Visionaire and Zeckendorf Towers), and schools (including the Fifth Street Farm, tended to by students).

For more information, including how to apply for tax abatements, read Cooper Union’s “NYC Guide to Green Roofs” at cooper.edu/isd/ projects/green-nyc/green-roofs.

The BIG U: Star architects the Bjarke Ingels Group submitted the winning plan for a 10-mile defensive ribbon of parks and berms around Manhattan’s waterfront, stretching south from East 42nd Street, across the Battery, and up to West 57th Street. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $335 million for the frst section, which is scheduled to break ground in 2017. rebuildbydesign.org WEDG: By 2025, 90,000 buildings may sit within the 100-year food plane, up from 70,000 today. Hoping to build a more resilient future, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, with input from hundreds of architects, city planners, and others, created WEDG: Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines. Awarding buildings points in seven categories, WEDG offers developers, planners, and citizens a “tool by which they can share ideas for what’s good for the waterfront,” says Roland Lewis, MWA’s president. waterfrontalliance.org/WEDG

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MIAMI HEAT

How tHe Magic city becaMe New york SoutH for MaNHattaN billioNaireS aNd iNveStorS. New Yorkers have long had close ties to Miami— from investing in the 1920s land boom to the glory days of the 1950s and 1960s, when the city was a millionaire’s playground and Joe DiMaggio and Frank Sinatra, along with the rest of the Rat Pack, partied at the iconic Fontainebleau. In the 1990s, a cohort of New York photographers, led by Bruce Weber, helped put the city on the map for the fashion set. The latest chapter in this tale of two cities sees Miami as magnet for a new Manhattanamid-the palm-trees crowd, who come with less fanfare than Sinatra, but with a lot more

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money—New York billionaires and centamillionaires, like Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein or Leon Black, cofounder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management (estimated net worth $5.1 billion), who are not only scooping up trophy properties in the Magic City, but also hanging around to enjoy the fun.

“A word that has disappeared from our vocabulary here is ‘the season,’” explains star architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica (whose buildings have transformed Miami’s skyline, and the world’s perception of the city). “Because today, New Yorkers can come here and find the same

kind of culture, food, and entertainment they left behind them.” When a New York billionaire boards his private jet for the two-and-a-half-hour flight to Miami (less time than it would take to get to the Hamptons in summer traffic, unless he’s choptering, of course), increasingly he’s heading to a place where he can find a lot that reminds him of Manhattan—even his favorite restaurant may now have a Miami branch.

Richard LeFrak understands the urge on the part of his fellow billionaires to take another look at Miami. “Miami has grown up,” says LeFrak, a continued on page 104

photography by Cristina MuraCa/shutterstoCk

BY SuzANNE MCGEE

Luxe new developments are cropping up all over Miami and attracting prominent New Yorkers, among them Lloyd Blankfein and Leon Black.

Sunny Isles style (clockwise from above): The Turnberry Ocean Club has three club levels; one of two 51-story luxury towers at The Estates at Acqualina, which the Trump Group plans to build in a gated community; a living room design at Muse, an oceanfont residence.

“new yorkers appreciate art, and we acknowledge that by putting museum-quality art in our developments.”

—jorge pérez

New York–based developer who is spending more of his time—and getting involved in more business ventures—in Miami these days. But it wasn’t always a natural fit. When LeFrak began working on the recapitalization of a troubled bank in 2009, he found himself as an investor in another financial institution—and the owner of a lot of unsold Miami condos. “The world was yelling that this was a 20-year supply; a glut on the market.” Thanks to an influx of Latin-American buyers, it turned out to be no such thing; the Miami real estate boom was born, along with LeFrak’s growing fascination for “New York South.”

He remains a die-hard New Yorker, and spends about six weeks a year in his second home. That’s more than double the amount of time LeFrak used to

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spend in Miami; he now owns four condos there, has an office in the city, and has been spotted everywhere, making the social scene, celebrating 1 Hotel & Homes (a coproduction with Barry Sternlicht, chairman of Starwood Capital Group), and dining at Bâoli. Why the new commitment to Miami? “A lot of my friends are thinking about the city; they say it’s different than it was or than they thought. More and more, they’re willing to plant a stake in the ground.”

In fact, both Miami and New York have changed, say the billionaires who travel between the two cities and have feet in both camps. The fact that these transformations have occurred almost simultaneously explains why Miami is beginning to exert such a magnetic attraction on a certain breed of

New Yorker: ultra-affluent, ultra-mobile financiers, business titans, and creative minds who insist on living in a global city, but are considering the tax benefits of having an additional residence in Florida.

New York has become a more challenging place to live: Taxes are becoming more burdensome, and wealthy residents are particularly worried that the city’s new mayor, who came into office declaring, “It’s time to ask the wealthy to do a little more,” will propose policies that would shift the tax burden in their direction. And yes, there are those blizzards— Mother Nature hasn’t done Gotham any favors in the last three years.

Miami, in contrast, glitters all the more brightly. continued on page 106

// Power player ­ //

Jorge Pérez

The Related Group founder, who helped transform Miami into a global city, predicts a new influx from the North.

Echo Aventura will have 190 floor-through units and finish construction in June. below: The Turnberry Ocean Club will offer sweeping ocean views.

hot neighborhood SUNNY ISLES

OPPOSITE PAGE: Renderings courtesy of STA (Acqualina); ARX Solutions (Turnberry Ocean Club, Muse); THIS PAGE: Courtesy of ARX Solutions (Echo Aventura; Turnberry Ocean Club); The Related Group (Pérez).

A new oceanside condo raises the bar for luxury.

In Miami, the words “real estate” and “Turnberry” have become practically synonymous over the course of the last half a century. “We built the city of Aventura,” says Dan Riordan, president of residential development for Turnberry Associates. “Not many developers can say that.”

Donald Soffer, Turnberry’s founder, snapped up a classic package of Florida swampland in the area that is now Aventura, lying just inland from the coast and close to the community of Golden Beach. The area has long been home to one of Miami’s best-known luxury shopping destinations, and now the members of the Soffer/Turnberry empire are turning to the oceanfront in Sunny Isles for their next venture: Turnberry Ocean Club (18501 Collins Ave., 305-7028272; turnberryoceanclub.com), an almost all-glass building designed by Carlos Zapata.

The goal, Riordan says, is to create an iconic structure. “If you look around, a lot of the new condo towers haven’t been landmark designs. Now, a growing number will be legacy buildings, and ours will be among them.” The fact that Sunny Isles is one of the only stretches of Miami’s beachfront that permits buildings to rise above a dozen floors or thereabouts gives Turnberry a design edge, he believes. “We’ll have 54 floors—and six of them will be devoted to amenities.” That includes the three floors that start at the 30th floor, where the developers will incorporate sunrise and sunset pools for adults and even offer a retreat for residents’ pets.

The smallest unit in the building will have three bedrooms; Turnberry doesn’t want just anyone signing on the dotted line. “We’re not looking to fill up the building with investors,” Riordan says. At $1,300 to $1,600 per square foot, the residences will end up as some of the most expensive on that stretch of beach, but he isn’t worried. “We’re not trying to price ourselves out of the market, but we want each project we work on to be special and unique.”

“There is an almost universal desire to be in Miami,” says Jorge Pérez. The Argentine-born real estate developer has played a key role in transforming Miami into the kind of city that New Yorkers find themselves wanting to spend more of their time in. When he first moved there more than 40 years ago, “It was a ghost town,” he recalls. Pérez felt the urge—and believed he had the unique opportunity—to create great urban neighborhoods.

Working first as a planner and then as a developer, that’s precisely what he has done over the last four decades. The billionaire founder of the Related Group has become one of the biggest developers of luxury condominiums in Miami, beginning with the construction of towers in South Beach and Sunny Isles before moving on to the Brickell area, where he has had his single-greatest impact on the city.

“Miami is about a lot more than the beach these days, and the Miami real estate market is about a lot more than the Latin-American buyers,” who helped the city’s condo market recover so dramatically from the sell-off, says Pérez. He’s experiencing this firsthand in his latest project in the neighborhood of Brickell Heights (850 S. Miami Ave., 855-663-2434; brickellheights.com). In the first phase, sold about a year ago, New Yorkers accounted for only about 4 percent of buyers. In the second phase, they make up about 33 percent of buyers, and he’s seeing the same level of interest in SLS Lux Brickell (801 S. Miami Ave., 305-6000958; slsbrickellavenue.com), a luxury condo-hotel development that will include a rooftop pool and art displays. “New Yorkers are coming more frequently.”

And that’s just as it should be, Pérez believes, given that Miami now has earned its status as a global city.

gotham-magazine.com 105

A living room and pool (inset below) at Fendi Château, one of two developer-designer collaborations in Miami.

—bernardo fort-brescia

There’s the weather, which may become oppressively hot and humid from July through September, but is a delight in the autumn, winter, and spring.

You’re a pro sports fan and worried you’ll miss the Yankees, the Mets, the Nets, the Rangers? Well, what’s not to like about the Miami Heat? The Dolphins? The Marlins? If you’re a culture vulture, the Adrienne Arsht Center (which opened its doors in 2006) is the place to go to hear the exciting (and world-acclaimed) New World Symphony. Art Basel Miami is one of a handful of art-fair destinations that no collector would dare miss, bringing the who’s who of contemporary art from around the world to the city in December.

Jorge Pérez, an avid collector and one of Miami’s biggest developers and wealthiest citizens, has donated $40 million (in cash and art) to the former

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Miami Art Museum and has helped enshrine the museum’s collection in an iconic, newly designed building that opened less than 18 months ago. The renamed Pérez Art Museum will be one of the anchors of Miami’s new Museum Park district downtown. “If I’m a guy who likes art, well, there will be stuff that just doesn’t come to New York but that ends up here, especially works by great Latin American artists,” Pérez says. “And we know that New Yorkers appreciate art, and we’re acknowledging that by putting museum-quality art in our developments,” including pieces by Frank Stella that he snapped up during Art Basel last December.

Just who is investing in Miami and what are their reasons? The list is a diverse one. Hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert, once a familiar sight in financial circles in New York, is spotted much less frequently; he has relocated his Greenwich, Connecticut-based fund, ESL Investments, to Miami, and is now often spotted there. Andrew Hall, the former commodities trader who made headlines when he pocketed $100

million in compensation for his highly profitable transactions during the same year that his employer (Citigroup) nearly collapsed, now runs his own hedge fund, Astenbeck Capital Management, in Miami.

Goldman’s Blankfein, who was an early buyer at 15 Central Park West, could be expected to spot a bargain when he sees one and snapped up a Miami home for himself at the $1 billion Faena Miami Beach, a luxury development designed by Norman Foster.

There he—and other New Yorkers, including Apollo’s Leon Black—will get to relish amenities like a private spa, valet and concierge services, and two pools with cabana service, in an ultra-luxury development right on the beach. It has only 47 units.

Then there are the creative types. As well as Blankfein and Black, purchasers of the Faena condos include Larry Gagosian, gallerist to billionaire art collectors. (Perhaps Black can get some advice on where to hang the pastel version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, for which he just paid $120 million.) The octogenarian Pritzker Prize–winning architect Richard

this page: RendeRings CouRtesy of faena (faena distRiCt); fendi Chateau ResidenCes (inteRioR, pool). opposite page: photogRaphy CouRtesy of Makoto (inteRioR); faena (faena house)

“A word thAt hAs disAppeAred from our vocAbulAry here is ‘the seAson.’”

An aerial view of the six-block-long Faena District.

hot neighBorhood Mid-Beach/Bal harBour Close enough to South Beach, but with a different vibe.

Terraces at Faena House.

Baz Luhrmann spent decades directing movies like Moulin Rouge! and the remake of The Great Gatsby, flms that attracted as much attention for their astonishing design and dramatic visual effects as for the dramas themselves.

His latest project? Providing a backdrop for the daily drama of the lives of some of Miami’s wealthiest residents as the creative director of the Faena Saxony Hotel (3201 Collins Ave.; faena.com), an anchor of the six-block-long multi-use project (including luxury condos) at the heart of Miami’s Mid-Beach area. Luhrmann is just one of the star architects and designers that developer Alan Faena has enlisted to work on the multi-use project; others include Rem Koolhaas (the architect for the arts center) and Foster & Partners, which will design the ultra-luxury condos that the likes of Goldman Sachs honcho Lloyd Blankfein will call home.

Spanning Collins Avenue and stretching between 25th and 50th Streets, the Mid-Beach area is emerging as the luxury beachfront neighborhood of choice for many out-of-towners in downtown Miami. “Buyers coming from New York really want to be on the sand, and they particularly like these developments that have a hotel component,” says Jeffrey Fields, who has been working extensively with New York–based buyers. “They like the brands, they like the fve-star ratings, and they like being taken care of in a full-service building—just as if their home had suddenly become a fve-star hotel.” These buyers, eager for the intoxicating combination of luxury and the beach, “are transforming the area,” he says of Bal Harbour and its neighboring communities, where more such luxury condo developments are springing up.

Meier had never bought an apartment in a building that he designed until he decided to purchase a unit in the Surf Club Four Seasons, where some two-thirds of buyers are said to be New Yorkers. (The project’s developer is Fort Capital.) Tommy Hilfiger and his wife, Dee Ocleppo, shunned the mania for condos and opted instead for a seven-bedroom, three-story house on Golden Beach; having all that space, Ocleppo has said, enabled them to take out of storage art that they hadn’t been able to fit in their Manhattan penthouse or literally even get up into the apartment.

The Manhattan-in-Miami list is a long one, says Jeffrey Fields, a local broker with One Sotheby’s International Realty who relocated from New York—and now finds himself devoting much of his time to New York clients. Some of the New Yorkers he works with are household names (who make him sign nondisclosure agreements); others are still climbing the ranks within investment banks and hedge funds and are looking for a pied à terre in Miami, which they may upgrade in the years to come. “Miami has become more attractive in its own right,” Fields says. “New Yorkers want to hang out with their friends, and increasingly, those friends are now in Miami. So in the dead of winter, they’ll come down for a weekend to visit, gripe continued on page 108

Miami. At the thompson Miami Beach (4041 Collins Ave., 786-605-4041; thompsonhotels.com) award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein opened Seagrape to rave reviews.

It quickly became a power-crowd favorite. At Bal Harbour Shops, Cindy Crawford and Sofía Vergara are fans of the upscale Japanese eatery Makoto (9700 Collins Ave., 305-864-8600; makotorestaurant.com), known for its robata-style dishes. sunset drinks: At Mid-Beach, the newly opened patio bar

Japanese eatery Makoto attracts Sofía Vergara and other celebs.

27 at Freehand Miami (2727 Indian Creek Dr., 305-531-2727; thefreehand.com), designed by power duo Roman & Williams, is quickly becoming a must-stop spot for weekend drinks.

Where to shop: Miami’s luxury shopping mecca

Who’s there: While some of Miami’s richest reside in the nearby Indian Creek Island (home to New York billionaire Edward Lampert and Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima), enclaves from Bal Harbour to Mid-Beach are home to power locals like Miami Heat owner Micky Arison.

Bal harbour shops (9700 Collins Ave., 305-866-0311; balharbourshops.com) is adding 250,000 square feet in 2015 to accommodate the lengthy waiting list of luxury brands, with Richard Mille and Tomas Maier set to debut this summer.

Where to hang out: What better to attest to the popularity

Culture: The public art program unscripted art

of Mid-Beach (between 23rd and 63rd Streets) than its spate of new hotels and restaurants. The trendy Miami Beach edition (2901 Collins Ave., 786-257-4500; editionhotels.com) marks hotelier Ian Schrager’s return to

projects (balharbourforida.com/unscriptedartprojects) commissions a series of site-responsive contemporary art pieces and programs throughout the public areas of Bal Harbour Village.—erin riley

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“luxury properties on south beach are [priced at] half of what they would be in new york.”

—edgardo defortuna

about the weather, and it transitions into a discussion about real estate. Before you know it, a week later they are buying a condo for $10 million on the beach, with a big smile on their face.”

Talk to Fields, or any one of the developers building condos and increasingly pitching them to New York buyers, and you’ll understand just why someone might be smiling after committing to a $10 million purchase—and putting 50 percent down on a still-unfinished condo project, more often than not. It all boils down to relative value: At a time when buying a condo in a top New York building will cost you $5,000 per square foot and an ultraluxury apartment may set you back $13,000 per square foot or more, those figures are, for the most part, still far, far out of reach in Miami. Yes, prices on Miami Beach or in the ultra-luxe buildings (like Faena, or the Four Seasons development) are more costly; the still-unknown purchaser of the duplex penthouse at Faena paid a record $50 million-plus for his new pad, in exchange for which he’ll get two kitchens, a media room, a wrap-around terrace that has more outside space than the condo has indoors, and a 70-foot-long infinity pool on the rooftop terrace. But even at the high end, says developer Edgardo Defortuna, an Argentine-born, Miamibased real estate developer and founder of Fortune International Group, “Luxury properties on South Beach are $2,500 to $3,000, half of what they would be in New York. I visited a project on 22nd Street in Chelsea where they were asking $3,000 per square foot—and that’s Chelsea. There’s no beach there.”

Power real estate broker Eloy Carmenate, also at One Sotheby’s International Realty, has helped drive those prices northward in large part by selling condos to eager New Yorkers, who make up nearly three-quarters of his clientele. The average condo he sells fetches between $5 million and $8 million, but he also holds the record for the highest price per square foot—$4,760 on a single Miami transaction. Carmenate says that, as the New York phenomenon has exploded in the last three years, the market has broadened geographically, even as it has deepened. “Buyers started off escaping and then went from owning smaller homes as ‘testers’ while they sampled what Miami had to offer to snapping up more valuable real estate,” he explains.

“At first it was centered around South Beach; now people are willing to look further, to be adventurous. They realize that Miami is an urban city with a beach that is always going to be accessible.” That continued on page 110

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The Paramount Miami Worldcenter is one of the largest mixed-use projects in the country.

It will offer condos, shopping, a hotel and conference center, and a rooftop soccer field.

hot neiGhBorhood DOWNTOWN MIAMI

opposite page: RendeRing CouRtesy of paRaMount MiaMi WoRldCenteR (WoRldCenteR). this page: RendeRing CouRtesy of neWgaRd developMent gRoup (pool); CouRtesy of Chateau gRoup (gRosskopf); photogRaphy by bRett hufzigeR (aRea 31)

This cultural mecca is hotter than hot and projected to see the greatest growth in the next five years.

The pool at Centro Lofts in downtown Miami.

Miami’s downtown core, long the overlooked cousin to Brickell just across the river, is about to emerge as one of its newest residential hubs. “Downtown is the area that will see the most growth in the next fve years,” says developer Harvey Hernandez.

The restaurants are already there, and like many of Miami’s prime residential neighborhoods, the beach is no more than 10 minutes away. “You can buy tremendous views for a fraction of the price,” he says.

“One night we were in downtown Miami and there was a traffc jam; I looked out and felt exactly the same buzz that I feel when I’m in New York!” says Daniel Kodsi, principal and CEO of RPC Holdings. Kodsi is among the developers behind one of the biggest real estate projects that Miami has ever witnessed: Paramount Miami Worldcenter (1010 NE Second Ave., 855-756-0123; paramountmiami.com). Part of a 27-acre multi-use development (a mall anchored by Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, a giant hotel, and a conference center in addition to condos, all on the site of the former Miami Arena). The condos’ amenity deck is what has grabbed attention: Built atop the mall, it will even have a soccer feld.

And from downtown, developers are starting to inch northward, to Edgewater, on the other side of the museums and the art center and a stone’s throw from the Design District. Reid Boren, managing partner of Eastview Development, is overseeing the Biscayne Beach condo construction (701 NE 29th St., 305-409-5722; biscaynebeachcondo.com). He says over 90 percent of the project has been sold, and a ffth has gone to New Yorkers and other Northeasterners. “Bit by bit,” Boren says, “people are discovering new parts of Miami they want to live in, just as happened in New York. Downtown and Edgewater have been the benefciaries.”

Area 31’s outdoor dining terrace.

S. Miami Ave., 305-530-1915; therivermiami.com), while hip, well-heeled crowds head to Ceviche 105 (105 NE Third Ave., Miami, 305-577-3454; ceviche105.com) for authentic Peruvian fare and an artsy setting. after hours: At touché rooftop Lounge & restaurant (15 NE 11th St., 305-358-9848; touchemiami.com), an Italian eatery with a sleek lounge, you’ll fnd Jamie Foxx and Derek Jeter cheering on the Heat. Just downstairs is e11even (29 NE 11th St., 305-829-2911; 11miami.com), Miami’s frst and only 24/7 nightclub and cabaret that counts Russell Westbrook and Ryan Phillippe as fans.

Who’s here: What was once considered a 9-to-5 business

Where to shop: The seybold Building (36 NE First St., 305-

district is now emerging as a dense urban center, as restaurants, cinemas, and major commercial developments like the Miami Worldcenter attract young professionals and families. The new Zaha Hadid-designed residences at 1000 Museum is sure to serve as catnip for New York hedgies who might otherwise opt for a condo on the beach.

374-7922; seyboldjewelry.com) is home to more than 280 jewelers. The upcoming Mall at the Miami Worldcenter (5201 Blue Lagoon Dr., 305-262-4974; miamiworldcenter.com) will house a 120,000-square-foot Bloomingdale’s and an outdoor promenade of specialty shops.

CuLture: For a taste of historic Miami, the Olympia Theater

Where to eat: area 31’s spectacular view of the Miami skyline attracts power couples like Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Organic seafood and an extensive wine list lure Miami’s stylish set to the river seafood oyster Bar (650

at Gusman Center for the performing arts (174 E. Flagler St., 305-374-2444; olympiatheater.org), a beautiful Mediterranean-Revival theater, is home to the Miami International Film Festival.—e.r.

// poWer pLayer //

The GrOsskOpfs Fashion adds new wow to Miami’s luxury condo scene.

Location, location, location. Add branding to that mix, and you’ve got an idea of what Château Group hopes will be a recipe for luxury real estate success in Surfside. Sergio and Manuel (pictured) Grosskopf, the father-and-son team from Argentina behind Château, have already overseen the construction of Château Beach Residences (5795 Collins Ave., 305-944-4440; chateaubeachmiami. com), a 35-story luxury tower in Sunny Isles—and so great was the demand for units that buyers forked over 70 percent of the purchase price before the building was even completed.

Manuel Grosskopf expects to do the same with Fendi Château (9365 Collins Ave., 305-944-4440; fendichateauresidences.com), his frm’s latest and most ambitious venture into Miami real estate. It’s only the second time that a fashion design company has crossed over into the world of real estate design, but the announcement came only weeks after news of a joint venture between the Armani Group and two other Florida developers for a project in Miami. The Fendi Château residences will be something quite different—it’s a boutique project, with only 58 units (compared to 260 for the Armani venture in Sunny Isles) within the 12-story complex.

Unsurprisingly, it’s all about design—even the exterior architecture will mimic the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. And inside? Fendi-designed cabinetry, of course; residents will be able to choose to furnish their new homes with items from the Fendi Casa line.

As more and more condo developments are added to the market, Grosskopf has thought carefully about what Château will offer buyers. He says fears about oversupply aren’t well-founded. “In the last cycle, from Sunny Isles to South Beach, there were almost three times as many units as there are under development now.”

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An outdoor terrace at the Jade Signature, designed by Herzon & de Meuron. below, from left: A living area at Brickell Heights, which will consist of two high-rise condos designed

by Arquitectonica; the SLS Lux Brickell will have 57 stories and 12 penthouses.

may mean that the latest crop of New York arrivals venture farther north to Bal Harbor or Surfside or leaves the beach altogether for downtown neighborhoods like Brickell that increasingly are a hive of activity. One of the more modest luxury developments—in size and price tag—is Louver House, with prices starting at $1.9 million or only $1,100 per square foot. “I call it tropical Tribeca,” says Carmenate of the design, calculated to appeal to urban dwellers from Manhattan, albeit with the usual array of Miami amenities, including a pool and cabanas in the South of Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach. The average price for Tribeca real estate, of course, starts at nearly double that.

Increasingly, developers are paying attention to what New Yorkers want when designing buildings.

Yes, the flashy features are still there—as in the Porsche

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Design Tower, whose residents will have plunge pools and summer kitchens on their terraces and car elevators enabling them to park in sky garages. But the typical New Yorker prizes white-glove service and amenities—access to a private spa, say, or a bar. “We have an aperitivo bar in the lobby, a kid’s playroom, a fur-storage facility, a movie theater, and two pools with cabanas,” says Heinrich von Hanau, CEO of Fisher Island Holdings, now completing Palazzo del Sol on Fisher Island. The island’s first new development since 2007, it’s fetching lofty prices: An undisclosed Russian buyer just paid triple the previous high price, or $3,602 per square foot, for the penthouse, a $35 million purchase. When it comes to layout, New Yorkers who are increasingly making Miami their second home prize closet space (who wants to go back and forth with suitcases?) and large

dining areas for entertaining—and architects are obliging. “There is no point in replicating their New York space; they are here to escape that mode of life and find big, open spaces,” says Fort-Brescia.

In Miami, oceanfront views are a given, even if you’re seeing them from a 10-minute drive away from your Brickell condo. (“Younger, hipper buyers are fine living that distance away—and in our SLS Brickell development, we include a membership to SLS in South Beach,” notes Related’s Pérez.) In New York? Well, if you want ocean, you need to venture out to the Hamptons, where a waterfront lot will start at $30 million. When most of your Hamptons social circle is zooming to and from Miami except between Memorial and Labor Days, why bother?

Nitin Motwani has been preaching the benefits of continued on page 112

hot neighBorhood brickell

opposite page: rendering by dboX (Jade); rendering Courtesy of the related group ( briCkell heights, sls). this page: rendering Courtesy of arX solutions (eCho briCkell); photography by george apostolidis (CebiChe); brett hufziger (defortuna)

An urban lifestyle, with palm trees.

Condos at Echo Brickell are averaging $1,200 a square foot.

Go to Miami and not live right on the beach? At one time, the mere idea would have been heresy. But that was before a bunch of canny developers decided that Brickell Avenue, which in the 1900s had been known as Miami’s “Millionaires’ Row,” could be so again, with the addition of luxury condominiums among the cluster of offce towers and hotels that dominated the landscape. Back in the 1970s, recalls Related Group’s Jorge Pérez, the streets in the area were empty on any weekday after 5 pm, and those on the north side of the bridge in the heart of downtown were vacant even during daylight hours.

Pérez was one of the developers who fought to change that vibe. His Philippe Starck–designed Icon Brickell (475 Brickell Ave., 305-371-1411; iconbrickell.com) is only one of a vast array of condo towers that have made Brickell one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the country—and one of the hottest areas for Miami’s urban afcionados. In spite of all the frenzied building in Brickell over the last decade, real estate price tags remain well below those that buyers would confront for beachfront property, often topping out at around $1,000 per square foot. And they are getting higher—Property Markets Group’s Echo Brickell properties (1451 Brickell Ave., 305-931-6511; echobrickell.com) are being offered at a record $1,200 per square foot. A 10,500-square-foot penthouse is on the market for $40 million—a breathtaking sum for a property that faces Biscayne Bay rather than the ocean.

Still, those aren’t Miami Beach prices. And it’s that relative value proposition that tempts early players in Brickell to keep returning. One of these is Ugo Colombo, whose latest Brickell project is a 65-story glass tower, the Brickell Flatiron (1001 S. Miami Ave., 305-400-7400; brickellfatiron.com), which will have Julian Schnabel as “artist in residence.” Schnabel will play a role in the design, and his work will be showcased throughout the public spaces. “Living with art is the most luxurious amenity I could provide,” says Colombo.

ceviches, while the modern American fare at otC restaurant (1250 S. Miami Ave., 305-374-4612; otc-restaurants.com) is a magnet for Miami’s young creatives.

Cebiche Clásico at La Mar, made with fluke, cilantro, and red onions.

Who’s here: Once a millionaire’s playground where South

American and European business whizzes liked to buy second homes, the neighborhood now attracts up-and-comers from abroad as well as the northeastern US, who scoop up properties for year-round use.

Where to eat: At Japanese hot spot Zuma (270 Biscayne

Boulevard Way, 305-577-0277; zumarestaurant.com), expect a starry crowd, including Bill Clinton and David Beckham, who like to dine on the riverside terrace. Daisy Fuentes and Will Smith head to La Mar at the Mandarin Oriental (500 Brickell Key Dr., 305-913-8358; mandarinoriental.com/miami) for celebrity chef Gaston Acurio’s menu, known for its authentic

happy hour: Mary Brickell Village has a lively happy hour scene with hangouts like perricone’s (15 SE 10th St., 305-374-9449; perricones.com), noted for its wine list. For a glam stop, head to tamarina (600 Brickell Ave., 305-5791888; tamarinarestaurants.com), where Michael Caine likes to grab a glass of bubbly at the alfresco Champagne bar.

Where to shop: When the Brickell City Centre (801 Brickell Ave.; brickellcitycentre.com) opens this year with 500,000 square feet of retail stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Apple, luxury shoppers will have an alternative to shopping mecca (and codeveloper) Bal Harbour Shops.

CuLture: The new Museum Park, located between American Airlines Arena and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, is home to the buzzy Herzog & de Meuron-designed pérez art Museum (1103 Biscayne Blvd., 305-375-3000; pamm.org).

In 2016 the patricia and phillip Frost Museum of science (3280 S. Miami Ave., 305-646-4400; miamisci.org) will make its debut with interactive exhibits and an aquarium within its 250,000-square-foot space.—e.r.

// poWer pLayer //

edgardo defortuna A new partnership helps bring Manhattan to Miami.

When Argentine-born Edgardo Defortuna was completing his MBA at the University of Miami in the early 1980s, he realized that real estate buyers from Latin America—like himself and members of his family—weren’t getting the kind of attention and service they felt they needed. So Defortuna founded Fortune International—and built what was missing himself.

The frst step was creating a real estate brokerage and sales division, and Defortuna hopped on planes for Buenos Aires, Rio, Santiago, and other major Latin-American hubs, becoming a one-man marketing machine, preaching the many advantages of owning real estate in Miami and telling prospective buyers just how easy it was to do so. “Life here was incredible: the weather, the beaches, the safety—you could drive the car you wanted and not worry about being kidnapped.”

These days, Defortuna’s business empire has expanded exponentially, as has the list of features that he can offer customers of both his brokerage business and his real estate development frm. Currently, he’s building the ultra-luxury Jade Signature condominium complex (1300 Brickell Ave., 305-940-0335; jade signature.com) in Sunny Isles in partnership with the Château Group as well as working on two ventures with the Related Group, one in Brickell and one in Fort Lauderdale. And while Defortuna may have built his business by catering to Latin-American buyers, increasingly he’s looking northward for new clients. In February, he announced a pact with Town Residential (25 W. 39th St., 212-398-9800; townrealestate.com), a New York brokerage frm, which will see the two companies combine their websites, databases, and marketing efforts. “Miamians would like properties in New York, and more New Yorkers are very, very interested in what is available here; they are following members of their social circle southward,” Defortuna says.

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“You can’t give up new York—who are we kidding? now You don’t have to choose. You can have it all.”

—eloy carmenate

Miami for years. The former trader for Goldman Sachs, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, began investing in South Florida real estate in 2006, assembling parcels of land on the fringes of downtown Miami. The properties evolved into a large, multi-use project, including a new luxury condo development, Paramount Miami Worldcenter. Motwani spends most of his time now working on the Worldcenter project, but whenever he can, he tries to woo hedge fund managers on behalf of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority. The DDA is on a mission to convince more New York and Connecticut hedgies to follow in Eddie Lampert’s footsteps. The only notable taker so far has come from Los Angeles, but Motwani figures that so many hedge fund managers are spending their time in the city— some even telecommuting and making Miami their de facto residence for tax reasons—that it’s only a matter of time. “It can start small, with satellite offices, and grow to be big,” he says.

A potent lure for Florida residency (of at least six months plus one day), of course, is taxes. Florida has no personal income or estate tax. “Not only is Florida a great place to live, it’s also a great place to die,” quips Miami Beach’s mayor, Philip Levine. There’s no state capital gains tax either. Florida’s governor, Republican Rick Scott, a former venture capitalist, vehemently opposes the idea of taxing incomes of venture, private equity, or hedge fund managers; proposals to tax their profits as ordinary income rather than as capital gains (and thus collect billions more in revenue) keep resurfacing as a political issue in New York. A provision of the tax code that will require hedge fund managers to repatriate all fees and earnings held in offshore accounts by 2017 adds a new wrinkle. Who wants to pay state income taxes on all of those funds once they’re back in the country?

And then, there’s the weather. “One of my friends from Darien came for four days last weekend and he’s still here, a week later,” says Edgardo Defortuna, the Miami-based real estate developer and founder of Fortune International Group. But for all the ways in which New York and Miami have become sister cities in the last few years, they are still distinctly different— and it’s those differences that will keep the ultra- affluent jetting back and forth. “You can’t give up New York— who are we kidding?” says Eloy Carmenate of One Sotheby’s International Realty. “Each city offers something the other doesn’t. And now you don’t have to choose; you can have it all.” G

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Changing the Fort Lauderdale waterfront: Auberge Beach Residences & Spa, developed by the Related Group, Fortune International, and the Fairwinds Group, will have two glass towers.

Prices are averaging $1,000 a square foot.

HOT NEIGHBORHOOD FORT LAUDERDALE

OPPOSITE PAGE: RENDERING COURTESY OF THE RELATED GROUP (AUBERGE). THIS PAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PROPERTY MARKETS GROUP (MALONEY); COURTESY OF STEAK 954 (INTERIOR); RENDERING COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH (CONDO)

Developers and buyers head north of Miami for good value and a laid-back vibe.

The new Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach condos.

Fort Lauderdale, long the domain of retirees and college students on spring break, is starting to emerge as an alternative of sorts to Miami for those who want a bigger bang for their buck. “A growing group of people are thinking Miami is either too expensive or at least that the values are more interesting here.” says Harvey Hernandez, whose Newgard Development Group in addition to developing loft-style apartments at Centro Lofts Miami (96 NE Second Ave., 305-938-5321; centromiami.com) in downtown Miami is renovating a historic Fort Lauderdale beachfront hotel, which will also have luxury condo residences and will be called Gale Fort Lauderdale Boutique Hotel and Residences (2900 Riomar St., 954-296-6741; gale-fortlauderdale.com). “The gap in valuation between Miami and Fort Lauderdale is wider than it has ever been,” thanks to the rapid surge in condo prices in the last few years, says Hernandez. A beachfront property that might fetch $1,500 per square foot in Miami may be half that in Fort Lauderdale, and you’re likely to end up with some of the same amenities.

He isn’t the only developer eyeing Fort Lauderdale. So many are now launching new projects in the city that crane spotters.com, the Miami condo database and consulting firm that tracks new construction, expanded its bus tours for industry watchers and potential buyers to include Fort Lauderdale as of February. Among the projects they’ll be eyeballing are the Auberge Beach Residences (2200 N. Atlantic Blvd., 954-883-9575; aubergebeach.com), a Related Group and Fortune International venture with Fort Lauderdale’s Fairwinds Group: The 171 condos will be the priciest in town at $1,000 per square foot. Developers Nitin Motwani, Daniel Kodsi, and Art Falcone—all active in Miami’s downtown—have broken ground on Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach (N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., 954-514-7492; paramountresidences.com), where prices will start at $1.2 million. “It’s all about the beach, whether it’s in Miami or a bit farther away,” says Motwani, whose brother, Dev Motwani, will be bringing a new Four Seasons to Fort Lauderdale in 2018.

W Hotel’s Steak 954 attracts an art-savvy crowd.

of NBA Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen. Alec Baldwin opts for vegan dining at Sublime (1431 N. Federal Hwy., 954-615-1431; sublimerestaurant.com).

WHERE TO HANG OUT: Las Olas Boulevard, anchored by the

happening bar at Yolo (333 E. Las Olas Blvd., 954-523-1000; yolorestaurant.com), the brainchild of famed Miami restaurateur Tim Petrillo, whose muchanticipated sky bar at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort (505 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., 954-4142222) is set to open in October.

WHO’S THERE: A below-the-radar billionaire hideaway

WHERE TO SHOP: The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale (2414 E.

(home to Subway restaurant’s Fred DeLuca and serial entrepreneur H. Wayne Huizenga), the city is now attracting creatives from all over the world who are eager to be part of the South Florida scene without Miami Beach prices.

Sunrise Blvd., 954-564-1015; galleriamall-fl.com) and Harbor Shops (1900 Cordova Road; theharborshops.com), while smaller boutiques and artisan shops can be found along Las Olas Boulevard.

WHERE TO EAT: Newlyweds Kaley Cuoco and Ryan Sweeting

brunch at the W Hotel’s Steak 954 (401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., 954-414-8333; steak954.com), where the ultra-contemporary design attracts a young, art-savvy crowd. Todd English’s da Campo Osteria (3333 NE 32nd Ave., 954-226-5002; illugano.com) is a favorite

CULTURE: The Broward Center for the Performing Arts

(201 SW. Fifth Ave., 954-462-0222; browardcenter.org), opened skybox-style seating last year. Meanwhile, the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale (1 E. Las Olas Blvd., 954525-5500; nsuartmuseum.org) anticipates a revamp, helmed by new director Bonnie Clearwater, the lauded former director of North Miami’s MOCA.—E.R.

// POWER PLAYER //

KEVIN MALONEY Selling New York and Miami to each other.

“Miami has become the New York of the South; now New York is the Miami of the North,” says Kevin Maloney, founder and CEO of PMG, who began to explore the real estate markets beyond New York in the aftermath of 9/11 and now has four projects nearing completion in Miami (and a fifth just getting underway). “We’ve always marketed Miami to New Yorkers—and we’ve had more and more success in the last few years. Now it’s working the other way around, too, which is perfect for our business.”

But the fact that Maloney is pitching PMG’s New York buildings to denizens of Miami doesn’t mean that he is pulling back from Southern Florida in response to soaring Miami prices. On the contrary, he says that PMG is more invested in the Miami area than ever before.

One project on the verge of completion is Echo Aventura (3000 NE 188 St., 786-383-1553; echo aventurafl.com), built on a seven-acre site that Maloney snapped up in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Only 28 of the 190 units remain unsold, and construction will wrap up in June. PMG is forging ahead with the construction of Echo Brickell (1451 Brickell Ave., 305-931-6511; echobrickell.com), a joint venture with JDS Development. “We’re getting top dollar there—$1,200 a square foot, 30 percent above the usual price,” he says.

In the beachfront neighborhood of Sunny Isles, there’s Muse (17141 Collins Ave., 305-974-0107; museresidences.com), a 47-story tower that will house only 64 ultra-luxury units. An extra amenity for Muse buyers: They’ll meet individually with Italian artist Helidon Xhixha and on their move-in date will find “a personalized gift from the artist” in their new home. Maloney’s next venture? Turning a site in the downtown corridor into a high-end rental and condo building. “Sure, people buy condos and rent them, but there are too few rental-only buildings,” he says.

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haute property

New york real estate trends and News

starchitect row With 505 West 19th street, Thomas Juul-hansen, a socialist architect beloved by billionaires, adds his signature to a street that has become a design Walk of fame. by c. j. hughes West 19th Street by the High Line, from 10th Avenue to the West Side Highway, can feel like a design hall of fame, with buildings by such brand-name architects as Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, and Frank Gehry. It may be a good place, then, for a creation by of-the-moment architect Thomas Juul-Hansen, who designed No. 505, a 35-unit limestone-walled condo building, as he tears an architectural path through the city (he also designed the interiors for One57, the billionaire haven).

But Juul-Hansen, who is fond of sneakers and tieless shirts, won’t indulge the comparisons. “Everything you see,” he says, “these are ideas I have been working on for years.”

Once focused mostly on interiors but now tackling entire buildings, from their foyers to their façades, Juul-Hansen says that No. 505 is the first residential job in which he had full creative control. “It was a pivot for him, but he was absolutely ready for it,” says James Lansill, a director with Corcoran Sunshine

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continued on page 116

Thomas Juul-Hansen designed both the exterior and interiors at 505 West 19th Street.

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An airy living space at 505 West 19th Street, where apartments range in size from 1,100 square feet for one-bedrooms to 5,900 square feet for units with four bedrooms.

“TheSe are ideaS i have been Working on for yearS.” —thomas juul-hansen MarketingGroup, which is handling No. 505’s sales.

“The block will always be looked at as an architectural feast, and I think that Thomas’s design will sit very comfortably, shoulder to shoulder, with the others.”

An inventive layout may have something to do with it. Developed by HFZ Capital Group, No. 505 has a lobby that sits directly under the High Line and a 10-story tower on either side of it, so the U-shaped building essentially cradles the popular park.

Offering units ranging from 1,100-square-foot onebedrooms to 5,900-square-foot four-bedrooms, the building, which will open to residents by year’s end, also gives Juul-Hansen a chance to show his fondness for traditional, unadorned metals and stones.

505 West 19th Street consists of two buildings that cradle the High Line. right: The building’s lobby sits under the elevated park.

116 gotham-magazine.com

Travertine, for instance, turns up in the master baths, as it does in the lobby of Midtown’s skyscraping One57 condo building, another Juul-Hansen project. He also deployed the veiny material in a dining-room wall in the triplex penthouse at Tribeca’s One York, a unit owned by Michael Hirtenstein, a real estate investor. “Our goal is to strive for timelessness,” Juul-Hansen explains. “Nobody goes to Rome and says, ‘This travertine is so 200 BC.’” That old-world approach has appeal. As of late February, 505 West 19th had sold 21 of its 35 units in 11 months, at an average cost of $2,700 a square foot, according to a project spokesman. While those prices may seem steep—in the fourth quarter of last year, the

average price per foot for new condos in Manhattan was about $1,800, according to a Corcoran Group report—it can feel like a bargain compared with new condos in West Chelsea, most of which also stand close to the High Line and have a snazzy vibe.

Indeed, their average price in early March, according to StreetEasy.com, was about $3,000 a foot.

If Juul-Hansen, 45, has a minimalist touch—his website features a single grayed-out page with contact information—it’s understandable. A Dane who attended the University of Miami before enrolling in Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, he worked for Richard Meier, the esteemed modernist, when he first started out. And one of Meier’s jobs in the 2000s was 66, a restaurant in Tribeca, which introduced Juul-Hansen to a client who would shape his career: chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. JuulHansen would go on to design his apartment, at 176 Perry Street, a crystalline tower overlooking the Hudson River in the West Village, as well as the restaurant on its ground floor. Later commissions for Vongerichten included the redesign of his restaurant Jean-Georges, at Columbus Circle, and Nougatine next door as well.

Soon developers needing someone with glasswall expertise came calling. Alf Naman hired Juul-Hansen for the interiors of the shimmering HL23, which grazes the High Line on West 23rd Street. And Time Equities enlisted him for 50 West, a 188-unit tower now rising in the Financial District, where Juul-Hansen fitted the kitchens with stained walnut cabinets and brushed granite counters.

Travertine, of course, is found in the baths. “I will tell you, buyers love what they see,” says broker Javier Lattanzio, who handles sales at the building, which in late January was 50 percent sold after six months of marketing. Juul-Hansen even snapped up a unit for himself, where he plans to relocate in fall 2016.

Meanwhile, other developers are taking note and giving him freer rein. For Glenwood Management, Juul-Hansen recently created the 15-unit 60 East 86th Street, an inside/outside job. The architect is also giving the whole-cloth treatment to a pair of new condo buildings from Naftali Group that will face one another on West 77th Street.

With a higher profile, though, comes closer scrutiny. Comments that Juul-Hansen made last year about being a socialist led to criticism about hypocrisy, since his homes are usually bought by wealthy capitalists. Juul-Hansen says he was grossly misquoted: “I was raised in a socialist country, and I think we have a humanitarian obligation to help those who have less and are in deep trouble.”

But with his recent success, he can also award bonuses to his 25-person staff, he notes, “and everyone is living better. They buy more expensive dinners, they buy a little more wine, and the money trickles down incredibly fast.” 505 W. 19th St., 212308-5050; 505w19.com G

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Long Island Properties danielgale.com

Baiting Hollow, NY – Geodesic Dome

Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Douglas Manor, NY

Glen Cove, NY

SD #3. MLS# 2733985. $799,000.

Ann Weiser, 631.477.0013, c.646.265.4196

CSH SD #2. MLS# 2674710. $2,775,000.

Joan Gannon, 631.692.6770 ext.315 c.516.532.3608

SD #26. MLS# 2737368. $2,680,000.

Ann Carlucci, 516.627.4440 ext.203 Catherine Matteo, 516.627.4440 ext.243

SD #5. MLS# P1216262. $2,388,000.

Carolina Boucos, 516.674.2000 ext.321 c.516.835.1804

Greenlawn, NY

Huntington, NY – Classic Character

Huntington, NY – Sophisticated Style

Locust Valley, NY – “Pink Gardens”

Harborfelds SD #6. MLS# 2717616. $1,299,000.

Debra Russell, 631.692.6770 ext.217 c.516.662.5401

SD #3. MLS# 2709504. $849,000.

Bonnie Williamson, 631.427.6600 ext.210 c.516.443.5958

SD #6. MLS# 2726056. $1,249,000.

Ruth Sansiviero, 631.427.6600 ext.246 c.516.449.6472

Masterpiece. SD #3. MLS# 2662084. $3,995,000.

Katie Cuddeback, 516.759.4800 ext.133 c.516.238. 9919

Lloyd Harbor, NY

Lloyd Neck, NY

Nissequogue, NY – “Bryleigh Manor”

Old Brookville, NY

SD #2. MLS# 2736585. $1,900,000.

Cathy Casalicchio, 631.427.6600 ext.222 c.631.678.8929

CSH SD #2. MLS# 2656953. $1,595,000.

Deborah Tintle Hauser, 631.692.6770 ext.328 Margy Hargraves, 631.692.6770 ext.227

Masterpiece. SD #1. MLS# 2656484. $7,350,000.

Marianne J. Koke, 631.584.6600 ext.206 c.631.335.7111

SD #1. MLS# 2736875. $2,198,000.

Carolina Boucos, 516.674.2000 ext.321 c.516.835.1804

Old Westbury, NY

Shelter Island, NY – West Neck Bay

Shelter Island, NY – Waterfront

Shelter Island, NY – Water Views

SD #15. MLS# 2702825. $3,488,000.

Debra Quinn Petkanas, 516.674.2000 ext.140 c.516.359.3204

SD #1. MLS# 2734846. $785,000.

Susan Cincotta, 631.745.1155 ext.207 c.631.514.9891

SD #1. MLS# 2717132. $2,400,000.

Susan Cincotta, 631.745.1155 ext.207 c.631.514.9891

SD #1. MLS# 2677967. $3,100,000.

Susan Cincotta, 631.745.1155 ext.207 c.631.514.9891

Each ofce is independently owned and operated. We are pledged to provide equal opportunity for housing to any prospective customer or client, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.

haute property tall Stories

Green With Envy Celebs sCoop up posh pads with ChiC eCo amenities. by sally goldstein

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in the light-filled chef’s kitchens.

There’s also building-wide purified air and water, bio-based insulation for optimal sound attenuation, and posture-support flooring. It’s a New York address with California attitude that’s attracting A-list celebrities like Leo DiCaprio and Deepak Chopra.

Both men sit on the Delos developer’s Wellness Real Estate advisory board, along with former Congressman Dick Gephardt, überbroker Dolly Lenz, and Nicholas LaRusso, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation. Kim Kardashian looked at the building’s sprawling 7,693-square-foot penthouse, priced at $39.8 million, which has 360-degree terrace views, four bedrooms, and four and a half bathrooms, when she was house hunting with Kanye West. Although the couple lives in LA, they are often in New York but outgrew Kanye’s former bachelor pad Downtown.

Dolly Lenz, Dolly Lenz Real Estate, LLC, 917-885-9169; dollylenz.com.

Steven Gold, Town Real Estate, 110 Fifth Ave., 646-998-7403; townrealestate.com Then there are the celebs who are going green by location. Bruce Willis might Die Hard, but he and his wife, Emma, have just bought a stunning duplex at 271 Central Park West. The six-bedroom co-op, which was asking $16.995 million with $10,944 per month in maintenance fees, was only on the market for one week when it was sold by Wesley Edens, founder of Fortress Investment Group and owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. The light-filled home comes with high ceilings, 80 feet of park frontage on both floors, a formal dining room, chef’s eat-in kitchen, and library. The listing broker was Jay Glazer of Urban Compass. 90 Fifth Ave., 212-9139058; urbancompass.com G

from top:

The terrace of a corner penthouse in The Greenwich Lane at 155 West 11th Street; a spacious bedroom at 66 East 11th Street; the living room at 271 Central Park West overlooks the park.

photography by hayes DaviDson (155 West 11th street); evan joseph (66 east 11th street); Donna Dotan (271 cpW)

Green is glam. Just ask Michael Kors.

The superstar designer, whose shares sold for almost $1 billion when his company went public in 2011, has just bought a posh three-bedroom penthouse at The Greenwich Lane in the West Village. Kors reportedly paid in the $17 million to $21 million range for the apartment, which has large entertainment spaces and great views of the Empire State building.

Greenwich Lane’s 200-unit project has a mix of condos, penthouses, and townhouses, and is built on the site of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital. It is fully LEED certified—quite a feat considering the challenges of combining renovations of historic properties with new construction. All of the buildings share a large, private garden, and come with eco-chic amenities like electric car charging stations and capabilities for collecting, treating, and reusing storm water for cooling and irrigation systems. Celeb designer Thomas O’Brien created the interiors, installing water-efficient plumbing fixtures and high-efficiency LED lighting for all the units.

Baseball superstar David Cone, with his significant other, Taja Abitbol, is another buyer in the building. Cone, who owns five World Series rings, is currently a YES Network commentator. While details about the purchase were not available at press time, we hear he was impressed with Greenwich Lane’s eco-green chops, and that helped seal the deal.

Another eco-green building to catch celebrity eyes is at 66 East 11th Street.

This West Village building, on the site of a former parking garage, comes with over-the-top healthy lifestyle extras—like lighting that changes with your sleep patterns, vitamin C-infused water in the showers, and herb gardens and vegetable and fruit juicers

is where time stands stil.

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W W W. WO L F G A N G S S T E A K H O U S E . N E T

GUESS?Š2015

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the guide the Best of New York City

Gotham 101

A concise guide to the city’s hAppening restAurAnts And nightspots.

Financial District/tribeca

photography by Quentin bacon

Brushstroke Seasonal kaiseki tasting menus helmed by David Bouley and chefs from Japan’s top culinary school, The Tsuji Culinary Institute. 30 Hudson St., 212-7913771; davidbouley.com Jungsik The first stateside Korean restaurant to receive two Michelin stars, this Seoul-based restaurant offers three- and five-course prix-fixe menus. 2 Harrison St., 212-219-0900; jungsik.kr Locanda Verde Celebrated chef Andrew Carmellini of Daniel and A Voce fame works classical French technique into family-style Italian dishes. 377 Greenwich St., 212-9253797; locandaverdenyc.com

soho/nolita

Porcini ravioli with a Champagne-truffle cream sauce at Il Mulino Prime.

Charlie Bird “We just want to be your favorite neighborhood joint,” reads a sign at Charlie Bird, a happening and innovative pasta spot that offers comfort foods with clever flavor twists. 5 King St., 212-2357133; charliebirdnyc.com Cherche Midi A Keith McNally bistro with a menu of brasserie favorites like frog legs with greengarlic velouté, steak tartare, and pot de fromage. 282 Bowery, 212-2263055; cherchemidiny.com Lafayette This landmark space takes the brass out of the brasserie with “French by way of the Côte d’Azur” cooking. 380 Lafayette St., 212-533-3000; lafayetteny.com

les/east Village

West Village/ greenWich Village

Balvanera “Balvanera is a way for me to share Argentina’s cuisine with New York City,” says chef-owner Fernando Navas about his eatery, named after a historic neighborhood in Buenos Aires. “Sure, we can make awesome steaks—but it’s exciting to go beyond beef. We like our vegetables and grains just as much.” 152 Stanton St., 212-533-3348; balvaneranyc.com Bar Primi This hip neighborhood spot specializes in simple Italian dishes, like linguini with garlic and oil, done to perfection. 325 Bowery, 212-220-9100; barprimi.com Empellón Cocina This Alex Stupak space focuses on sophisticated Mexican dishes and features an extensive menu of tequila and mezcal. 105 First Ave., 212-7800999; empellon.com Dirty French One of last year’s hottest restaurant openings, Dirty French does southwestern Gallic cooking with a Gotham twist. The Ludlow, 180 Ludlow St., 212-2543000; dirtyfrench.com

Annisa For her modern American cuisine chef Anita Lo crosses culinary borders, adding Asian and French flavors with inventive élan.

13 Barrow St., 212-741-6699; annisarestaurant.com Babbo Mario Batali’s inventive interpretations of Italian home-style cooking have made this spot a West Village mainstay. 110 Waverly Pl., 212-777-0303; babbonyc.com Blue Hill Dan Barber’s seasonal tasting menus win raves from city foodies. Ingredients are sourced from Stone Barns, a biodynamic farm and restaurant that Barber and his brother run in Upstate New York. 75 Washington Pl., 212-539-1776; whitehillfarm.com Margaux Hip hotelier Sean MacPherson’s fashionista magnet has a Paris bistro vibe and a stylish Mediterranean menu. Marlton Hotel, 5 W. Eighth St., 212-321-0111; margauxnyc.com The Spotted Pig Star chef April Bloomfield mixes up classic Italian,

French, and English cooking at one of the best-known gastropubs in the city. 314 W. 11th St., 212-620-0393; thespottedpig.com

Meatpacking District/chelsea Del Posto Star chef Mark Ladner has won raves for his gluten-free pastas and four stars from The New York Times. 85 10th Ave., 212-497-8090; delposto.com The NoMad The casual offshoot of Daniel Humm’s famed Eleven Madison Park, located adjacent to the lobby of the NoMad hotel, does seasonal American with a modern twist. 1170 Broadway, 347-472-5660; thenomadhotel.com

il Mulino priMe Less than a year old, this intimate Soho outpost feels like a secret and exclusive hideaway. The menu offers the specialties that made the frst Il Mulino famous, like the fve-star veal chops and dry-aged steaks. But the pastas and fsh deserve a shout-out, too—try the black ink frutti di mare pasta or the porcini ravioli; the roasted branzino is scrumptious, too.

331 W. Broadway, 212-226-0020; ilmulino.com

graMercy/Flatiron ABC Kitchen This Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant is a magnet for boldface names (even the Obamas have stopped by) and beloved by Downtown creatives who come for an American menu focused on locally sourced ingredients. 35 E. 18th St., 212-475-5829; abchome.com

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the guide the Best of New York City

Midtown East Aquavit This haute-Nordic spot earned two stars from Michelin this year, making new chef Emma Bengtsson the second woman in America to receive the accolade. 65 E. 55th St., 212-307-7311; aquavit.org Casa Lever Combine a landmark space (Lever House), art from übercollector Aby Rosen, and chef Mario Danieli’s exquisite Milanese fare, and you get a restaurant that continues to rank as one of Midtown’s most popular. 390 Park Ave., 212-888-2700; casalever.com The Four Seasons The ultimate in city power dining, The Four Seasons is where New York’s biggest names come to network, do business, and bask in the glow of their fellow diners’ celebrity wattage. 99 E. 52 St., 212-754-9494; fourseasonsrestaurant.com La Grenouille Despite family squabbles, this ultraclassic French restaurant, known for its exquisite flower arrangements, still draws New York’s old-money crowd. 3 E. 52nd St., 212-752-1495; la-grenouille.com

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Marta From the team behind Maialino, this recently opened spot focuses on Roman-style, super-thin pizzas and rustic Italian entrées.

Martha Washington Hotel, 29 E. 29th St., 212-651-3800; marta manhattan.com

Midtown wEst Beautique A Midtown “must” with a Downtown vibe, the restaurant draws a young beautiful crowd, which stops by for the scene, the inventive cocktails, and modern American cuisine served with artistic panache. 8 W. 58th St., 212-753-1200; beautiquedining.com The Lambs Club Culinary star Geoffrey Zakarian does modern American at its best. Bill Clinton, Sting, and Tom Hanks have all dropped by. 132 W. 44th St., 212-997-5262; thelambsclub.com Marea A power broker’s haven on Central Park South where Michael White celebrates seafood, Italian style, that draws chefs and foodies from all over the world. 240 Central Park South, 212-582-5100; marea-nyc.com Rainbow Room This landmark spot in Rockefeller Center has reopened with Sunday brunch, Monday dinner service, and SixtyFive, a new cocktail lounge.

Over the years, luminaries like Elizabeth Taylor and Cole Porter have wined, dined, and danced at the 65th-floor restaurant, which offers a classic American menu (think oysters Rockefeller and herb-roasted lamb) plus those incomparable views of the city’s skyline. 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 212-632-5000; rainbowroom.com

for chef Masatoshi Sugio’s adventurous tasting menus. 130 W. Broadway, 212-285-0130; sushiofgari.com

UppEr wEst sidE Jean-Georges Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship serves haute modern French fare in a jewel-box setting. The New York Times gave it a four-star rating again last year.

1 Central Park West, 212-299-3900; jean-georgesrestaurant.com Masa Acclaimed sushi master Masa Takayama specializes in very pricey omakase dinners, but the demand is always high for a reservation at this 26-seat restaurant. 10 Columbus Circle, 212-823-9800; masanyc.com Per Se Culinary superstar Thomas Keller takes the tasting menu to luxurious new heights at his four-star temple of haute dining. 10 Columbus Circle, 212-823-9335; perseny.com

HarlEM The Cecil Founded by media executive Richard Parsons, this restaurant celebrates the AfroAsian origins of American cuisine.

206 W. 118th St., 212-866-1262; thececilharlem.com Red Rooster Chef Marcus

Samuelsson works with cooking styles that chart Harlem’s history and his own: Southern, Ethiopian, Swedish, Caribbean, Mexican. 310 Lenox Ave., 212-792-9001; redroosterharlem.com Vinatería Chef Gustavo Lopez’s Mediterranean dishes favor the cooking styles of Italy and Spain, the two countries that dominate the wine list. 2211 Frederick Douglass Blvd., 212-662-8462; vinaterianyc.com G

ZUMa German-born chef Rainer Becker adds this stylish Japanese “izakaya” to New York’s international restaurant roster. Zuma soars with double-height ceilings and a design enlivened by raw granite, dark wood, leather, and steel. A 50-seat balcony lounge overlooks the dining room, where menu highlights include sushi, sashimi, tempura, and delicacies from the grill, like the spicy beef tenderloin. 261 Madison Ave., 212544-9862; zumarestaurant.com

The spicy beef tenderloin with sesame, red chili, and sweet soy at Zuma.

UppEr East sidE Café Boulud Daniel Bolud created both a neighborhood favorite and destination restaurant, with a menu that offers classic French, market and seasonal fare, and dishes created with a heady mélange of flavors from foreign shores. 20 E. 76th St., 212-772-2600; cafeboulud.com Sfoglia There are only 10 tables, but the scrumptious and original pastas are worth the trip all the way uptown. 1402 Lexington Ave., 212-831-1402; sfogliarestaurant.com Sushi of Gari Manhattanites swoon

photography by john carey

A Voce Andrew Carmellini put this restaurant on the map, creating a menu that was a classic-modern Italian hybrid, beloved by the Downtown fashion and ad agency crowds. Executive Chef Ben Lee now helms the kitchen. 41 Madison Ave., 212-545-8555; avocerestaurant.com Cosmé Mexican star chef Enrique Olvera, of the award-winning Pujol in Mexico City, opened his first US restaurant late last year in the heart of the Flatiron District. Cosmé’s innovative menu includes dishes with creative pairings like pulled suckling pig with annatto seeds, sour orange, and pickled radishes. 35 E. 21st St., 212-913-9659; cosmenyc.com Élan “French cooking, but with an American overlay,” is how Élan’s David Waltuck describes his menu.

A few sumptuous examples: fried oysters with caviar remoulade and potato pot stickers with truffles. 43 E. 20th St., 646-682-7105; elannyc.com Gramercy Tavern One of the city’s most beautiful restaurants, Gramercy Tavern offers modern seasonal American cuisine at its best. 42 E. 20th St., 212-477-0777; gramercytavern.com

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DESIGN FOR A CAUSE For Fendi’s 3Baguette project, each featured designer chose a charity to receive the proceeds from their customized bags.

1. Model Jourdan Dunn’s color-block creation will benefit The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

3. Artist Rachel Feinstein will have proceeds from the auction of her design go to the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center.

1

Sofia Coppola, Pietro Beccari, and Sarah Jessica Parker

Rosario Dawson and Rihanna

FENDI’S FLAGSHIP OPENING PARTY

FASHION WEEK’S BRIGHTEST came

out in droves to celebrate the opening of Fendi’s New York flagship on Madison Avenue along with the launch of the 3Baguette Charity Initiative in collaboration with Rihanna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jourdan Dunn, Rachel Feinstein, and Leandra Medine, all of whom were in attendance. Erykah Badu spun tracks for a crowd that sipped on Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Champagne.

Later, an exclusive group gathered in a luxury condominium at One57 for a private dinner.

Erykah Badu

Fe and Paola Fendi

2 3

Martha Stewart

Hailee Steinfeld

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Naomi Campbell

Petra Nemcova

Karl Lagerfeld’s seat at the private dinner held at One57.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES (FENDI); OPPOSITE PAGE: ANGELA PHAM/BFANYC.COM (DOM PERIGNON); NICHOLAS HUNT/PATRICKMCMULLAN.COM (CINEMA SOCIETY)

2. Leandra Medine, creator of the popular Man Repeller media brand, will use the funds from her handbag to support the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

Scottie and Larsa Pippen

Carmelo Anthony and Trent Fraser

Ellen Pompeo

Adam Spoont and Tyson Beckford

DOM PÉRIGNON NBA ALL-STAR AFTERPARTY

Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs

FOLLOWING A WEEKEND packed with Fashion Week soirées and NBA All-Star Weekend parties, Dom Pérignon joined eight-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony to host a late-night Sunday bash at Gilded Lily.

Karrueche Tran and Christina Milian

Partygoers enjoyed glow-in-the-dark bottles of the luxury Champagne, while DJ Swizz Beatz rocked the crowd that included sports stars Kenneth Faried and Scottie Pippen and actors Ellen Pompeo and Tyson Beckford.

Marc Platt

George Wayne and Josh Truesdell

Ben Rosenfield and Johnny Flynn

Mark Herman, John DeStefano, and Derek Hester

CINEMA SOCIETY SONG ONE PREMIERE THE CINEMA SOCIETY JOINED luxury goods label Tod’s to host the

premiere of Song One at Landmark Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side. Starring Anne Hathaway and Johnny Flynn, the romantic film was a hit with attendees, who joined the cast, director Kate Barker-Froyland, and producers Jonathan Demme, Marc Platt, Adam Shulman, and Molly Conners for an afterparty held at Omar’s in Greenwich Village.

Julia Taylor Ross and Christiane Seidel

Anne Hathaway and Kate Barker-Froyland

GOTHAM-MAGAZINE.COM

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INVITED

David and Marla Dankenbrink with Mark and Julie Breene and Dennis and Kim Floam

Pauline Raffaitin, Romain Pianet, and Ashley Turkett

Thierry Chouquet and Emilie Perrier Thomas Pierce II, Wael Davis, and Samantha Lim

PIPER-HEIDSIECK NEW YORK OSCAR PARTY exclusive Champagne of the Academy Awards— threw a grand soirée in honor of Hollywood’s biggest night. Held at the Bowery Hotel, the black-tie dinner

drew over 100 influencers from media and hospitality industries, who came to watch the ceremony and raise glasses of bubbly—including the Rare Millésime 2002—to toast their favorite nominees.

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Piper-Heidsieck’s Cuvée Brut flowed throughout the evening.

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Worldwide Stone, and Gotham magazine came together to celebrate the opening for Radical Intent, an exhibit of sculptural

works in marble by artists Sebastian Martorana, Barbara Segal, Stephen Shaheen, and Alasdair Thomson. The reception, which took place at Gallery 151 in Flatiron, coincided with the unveiling of Alfa Development’s exclusive Tower Gary Spindler, Michael Namer, Dr. Christine Namer, Elaine Diratz, and Aaron Goed

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Alasdair Thomson, Sebastian Martorana, and Stephen Shaheen

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Green Card

What does it take for the city’s super rich to earn their eco cred? by mark ellwood Of course, nothing induces more shameful admissions than emissions, the painful by-product of any journey by car, bus, plane, or yacht. Even investing in offsets won’t assuage green guilt (remember, a donation to your local soup kitchen doesn’t end world hunger either). Instead, when cutting down, follow the LEED of one wealthy Manhattanite, who agonized over owning both a G-IV and a yacht before forgoing his boat (he reasoned that he used the former more regularly).

Doubtless he’s also careful to follow the new unwritten rule of private jetiquette. Arriving at an airport to a half-empty plane, green-minded one-percenters are now expected to ring round to offer rides to their acquaintances until the cabin is full. It isn’t about earning cachet or offsetting the cost, but the carbon, of course. Even better, volunteer to fly commercial and donate the difference to eco-nut Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental foundation. He’ll probably thank you personally if you join the nanny in coach.

Such mindful minor eco-tweaks should keep you out of hot water with most climate-change obsessives. Sometimes, though, even the observant might commit a green gaffe unawares.

Swapping a Lexus for a Tesla for your next limo ride may seem to improve your kerbside impact, but the greatest footprint on the earth isn’t the idling engine; it’s the choice of Choo.

Indeed, more than 300 million shoes are thrown into landfills every year because their complex composition—most are fashioned from a hodgepodge of materials, such as leather, rubber, and plastic—makes them one of the toughest items to recycle, and they’re all but impossible to reuse. Since even Cinderella couldn’t manage a trip on a Citi Bike in six-inch spikes, perhaps it’s time to greenwash an important totem of city style by taking a cue from luxury winter havens Anguilla and St. Barth’s: Now that the weather is warm, why not consider going barefoot? G

Follow the leeD oF one Manhattanite who agonizeD over owning both a g-iv anD a yacht.

illustration by daniel o’leary

It isn’t easy being green, especially for the city’s private jet set. Gone are the days when recycling was a worry centered more on the closet than the climate. (“Did I wear that already?”) Now, after more than a decade under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg—the rare billionaire who believes that green begets greenbacks—New York is a city where eco trumps ego. Major changes in lifestyle may be, well, unsustainable, but every bit helps.

Consider that mantel piled high with a month’s worth of stiffies—those cardboard-thick charity invites—enough to strip-log a slice of the Amazon rainforest. They’re now a mark of profligacy, so tune out your inner Miss Manners and swap them for e-cards next season. Or text. When entertaining, think of carbon-neutral as the new gluten-free and indulge loca-bores by channeling your inner C.Z. Guest, co-opting a patch or two of Sagaponack lawn out East for an ad hoc cottage garden. And don’t forget how little things can make a huge difference: Tote that brand-new Birkin sans shopping bag when departing the store; you’ll leave a greater impression on fellow shoppers than on the earth.

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