cityArts
DINING SINCE 1970
THURS.
NYPRESS.COM • THE LARGEST PAPER ON THE EAST SIDE • AUGUST 15, 2013
P. 9
Meow at the Algonquin Last week’s Reception and Cats in Fashion benefit at the Algonquin Hotel for Matilda and friends drew about 150 people and loads of cats in costume. All proceeds from the event went to the Bideawee animal shelter. Cat costumes were the biggest attraction. In addition, pet lifestyle expert and author Nikki Moustaki hosted the event. And let’s not forget the guest of honor, none other than Matilda, the cat, who is the Algonquin Hotel’s current in-house cat. The hotel has had a house cat since the 1930s, and Matilda has been with the hotel since at least 2007.
Aodhan in costume
EVERY
TEDx Rocks the Upper East Side Local TEDx conference brought new ideas to the community By Megan Bungeroth Matilda, the cat at the Algonquin Hotel, guest of honor at the Bideawee Reception and Cats in Fashion benefit
Malika Samuel, actress, with Ferrara, the cat, and Alex Denis of Channel 55 and WCBS
I
n a world where creative capital rules and the right idea could mint the next multi-millionaire Author Lorna Kelly presents her TEDx talk at the tech entrepreneur, Bohemian National Hall on East 73rd Street. TED Talks, once the bastion the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through of an insular nerdy world, TED-like experiences at the local level.” The have become part of popular culture. TED events take the signature TED conference (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, format – presenting a series of live presenters Design) is a non-profit organization devoted who give short, curated talks on a far-ranging to sharing “ideas worth spreading.” It started number of topics – and replicate that at a in 1984, but the somewhat recent ability for localized level. thousands of people to stream internet video That’s what happened on Sunday, of their biannual conferences has spawned August 4 on the Upper East Side, when the many fans of the TED Talks from all over the neighborhood hosted its first TEDx event world. at the Bohemian Hall. Organized by Sara TED officially sanctioned a new program called TEDx, which is “designed to give communities, organizations and individuals Continued on page 6
Teenager Celebrates with Upper East Side Woman Who Helped Save Her Life Helane Brachfeld-Colvin carries on her husband’s legacy with Project Kids Worldwide By Katya Johns
L
ast Thursday, Marisel Rodriguez celebrated her Sweet Sixteen over lunch with family, friends and the woman who saved her life. Although she didn’t look it, the cheerful teenager had just undergone life-
PAGE 13
saving heart surgery the week before. It was the third, and last time, she would have to treat her double outlet right ventricle, thanks to Helane Brachfeld-Colvin’s fund, Project Kids Worldwide (PKW). Working through a Spanish translator (a flagged waiter at the restaurant), Marisel haltingly described how she ended up in Bistango restaurant on Third Avenue between 29th and 30 streets, just blocks away from New York University Langone Medical Center. She had traveled with her mother, Marisol, and her grandmother, Augusta,
from the Dominican Republic on a subsidy that Brachfeld-Colvin provided. Twelve years ago, Brachfeld-Colvin’s husband Dr. Stephen Colvin, former chairman of the cardio-thoracic surgery department at NYU, decided that pioneering a minimally invasive alternative to open heart surgery was not enough if he couldn’t use it on those who needed it the most. So, in between his shifts at the hospital, he launched a nonprofit organization to give Continued on page 16
ALSO INSIDE MORE SENIORS LIVE ON UPPER EAST SIDE THAN WEST P. 5 LA-DI-DA HATS FOR ALL TASTES P.14