vip in the city

Hens and gators

Tonight, a gathering of the work crew — past and present — at English pub-themed watering hole, Pound and Pence, where Wednesdays is “Hen night.” Translation: 2-for-1 drinks for the ladies.

The bar operates on the first two floors of Liberty Tower, where in the 1920s future president Franklin D. Roosevelt had an office during his tenure as vice president of the Fidelity and Deposit Insurance Company of Maryland. The sublevel is now home to a wine store and a Starbucks — one of three within a one block radius of the office.

This unique-looking Neo-Gothic skyscraper was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and in 1979, it became of one of the earliest conversion projects in Lower Manhattan when architect Joseph Pell Lombardi bought the building and converted it into luxury apartments. Still pricy  luxury apartments.

The 33-story tower, based on a Henry Ives Cobb design, was completed in 1910. In 1919, it was purchased by the Sinclair Oil Company for use as their headquarters. Harry Sinclair, head of the company, had his private office suite built on the 29th floor with its views of the East and Hudson rivers. It was from those offices that in 1922, Sinclair bribed Interior Secretary Albert Fall to secretly lease the U.S. naval petroleum reserve in Wyoming to his oil company without competitive bidding, in what became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal.

The white terracotta-clad limestone building – unique for its time — is most notable for its fanciful ornamentation: birds, lions, this alligator (which flanks the Pound and Pence entrance) and a dozen roof gremlins, including one “who looks like a demonic Santa’s elf.”

Opening night at the Philharmonic

On my way home, I passed through a parade of finery heading into Avery Fisher Hall for the New York Philharmonic’s Opening Night Gala Concert. Flashbulbs, red carpet, tuxedoed men and their burnished and ballgowned escorts – hey, that’s Henry Kissinger and his wife Nancy — and me with my dirt-smudged canvas sack of organic vegetables.

Opening Night is always something of an event here in the city, and to add to the excitement this season, the Philharmonic hosted its first free public dress rehearsal earlier in the day. At midnight Tuesday, the first of the eager music lovers arrived at Lincoln Center to line up for the 8:00 am ticket distribution. 2,500 others would eventually join him. The 9:45 am open rehearsal of the evening’s gala concert was to be an all-Dvořák program, featuring Yo-Yo Ma, (and Petunia, his 1733 Montagnana) led by Music Director Lorin Maazel. The run-through would be Ma’s only one with the orchestra and conductor.

The concert launches the Philharmonic’s 166th season and Maazel’s sixth and penultimate season as music director.

At showtime, there were more opportunities for the plebes to take part in the event, as 1,000 chairs were set up on the Lincoln Center’s plaza for a free, live broadcast of the concert, sponsored by the Philharmonic’s new (and first) exclusive global sponsor, Credit Suisse. Thousands more eventually filled the standing room only slots, or caught the simulcast on PBS.

Mighty Aphrodite

At ABC Carpet & Home for the grand unveiling of Sabin Howard’s “Aphrodite Collection” – a series of sculptural figures inspired by Greek mythology and abstract forms. By the time the elevator spirited me up to the fifth floor, the artist was already sharing his welcoming remarks among the ghostly white figures and assembled guests. Not mutually exclusive, those two groups; art lovers and collectors aren’t generally viewed as the most rugged of individuals.

The sculptures themselves were riveting to behold: finely rendered faces, muscled torsos, sinewy limbs. Classical nudes of heroic proportions. Sadly, it seems that Howard’s talent outpaces his name recognition. No doubt this is due in part to the nature of his chosen medium, which harkens back to the antiquated art of classical statuary rarely seen now outside of museums. New Yorker Howard did have one local exhibition that I recall: his 7 foot bronze Hermes graced the second floor of the Time Warner Center for a few months in 2005… assuming one can count a showing near the United Colors of Benetton as an “exhibition.”

The collection pieces will be available to the public for purchase through ABC, and range in price from $24,000 to $145,000.