By: Lieba Nesis

The conclusion of the Hamptons social season makes way for the Fall in New York where gala extravaganzas abound with a minimum of five events per week.  2023 might be the busiest year yet, as the dire effects of Covid have subsided and the glitterati whose summer months were ensconced in Europe and the South Fork are currently situated in the Big Apple.  After a busy fashion week concluded Wednesday September 13th, New Yorkers had some time to catch their breath before the UN Assembly brought traffic to a halt.  Sunday September 17th Cherie Blair along with her husband Tony, took over the showroom of designer extraordinaire Helen Yarmak at 724 5th Avenue to toast Cherie’s birthday and raise glasses to the 100,000 women who have been uplifted by the Cherie Blair Foundation.

Expected attendee Hillary Clinton was an unfortunate no-show while magnificent Chair of the Manhattan Republican Party Andrea Catsimatidis made her way through the enthusiastic crowd with one man remarking, “I’m in love already.”  As the week heats up an off the cuff meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected on Wednesday at the UN General Assembly, the first face-to-face meeting since Netanyahu resumed office.  Monday the Clinton Global Initiative announced plans to spearhead a Ukraine Action Network in conjunction with First Lady Olena Zelenska to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians-as the Clintons desperately try to refill their empty coffers.

Let’s not forget the Global Citizen Festival occurring Saturday September 23rd from 11-3 PM on the Great Lawn in New York City, with free tickets featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lauryn Hill.  Upon the conclusion of Yom Kippur on September 25th the week beginning Tuesday goes into full gear with Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” Metropolitan Opera opening night gala.  With cocktails beginning at 5:30 PM and a spirited afterparty with the cast including soprano Joyce DiDonato and Ryan McKinny, this $2,500 per ticket shindig chaired by philanthropist Ann Ziff is one of the annual highlights of the social season.

Tickets for principal sponsors reach $7,000 a piece and expect to see billionaires Jerry Speyer, John Paulson, Sana Sabbagh, Pepe Fanjul, John Hess, Michael Bloomberg, and Ken Griffin fraternize amongst celebrities such as Brooke Shields, Jill Hennessy, Sigourney Weaver, and Gina Gershon.  Gowns and black ties are the uniform-forget casual chic this is all-out-glam old New York style.  Don’t remove your gown too quickly, as the following evening Wednesday September 27th one of the most anticipated events of the year will be the New York Philharmonic Gala featuring superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma and illustrious conductor Jaap Van Zweden.

This evening is full on sold-out with zero tickets available at the David Geffen Hall.  So I guess Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Dvorak aren’t antiquated after all as this $3,000 per person gala will allow you to fraternize with billionaires Michael Shvo, Robert Smith, Mercedes Bass, Bruce Kovner and luminaries such as Richard Gere, Jon Batiste and Alec Baldwin.

A brief respite awaits before the much awaited Thursday October 5th 2023 New York City Ballet Fall Gala where Carolina Herrera’s Wes Gordon will provide costume designs for Balanchines “Who Cares?” For $3,000 a ticket you better care as ballet Gala Chairs Sarah Jessica Parker, Andy Cohen, Naomi Watts, Claire Danes, and Diane Kruger join forces at the David H. Koch Theater.  Hopefully, Sarah Jessica will not depart abruptly as she did last year after experiencing a “family emergency”  and attendees will be able to witness a true fusion between fashion and dance.

If you are not gala’ed out by now for $1,750 per ticket you can’t miss the Angel Ball celebrating its 25 years with a Monday October 23rd 2023 debut that will honor nightlife king Richie Akiva along with Elizabeth Elting and Monique Rodriguez.  Anyone familiar with Akiva knows to expect a crowd full of supermodels, celebrities Leonardo DiCaprio Tobey Maguire and Jay-Z, along with a who’s who of the Syrian Jewish community including the Chetrits and Nahmads. If you aren’t exhausted from the 5 AM afterparty Akiva will undoubtedly throw at private club Ned, Wednesday evening October 25th the Alzheimer’s Imagine Benefit at Rose Hall Lincoln Center is one of those only in New York evenings where for $2,500 per ticket you can cozy up to the magnificent Princess Yasmin Aga Khan and hear her reminisce about legendary mother Rita Hayworth’s illustrious life before she was robbed by Alzheimer’s.

November will be the most celebrity packed in memory with the Council of Fashion Designer Awards sponsored by Amazon and occurring for the first time at the Museum of Natural History on November 6th 2023 with tickets at $20,000 with honorees Vera Wang, Maria Cornejo, Alina Cho and Domenico De Sole and a host of celebrities expected including the Kardashians, Hadids, Drake and more than one style star.

For those more intellectually inclined, the 74th National Book Awards, often referred to as the Academy Awards of Publishing, will occur November 15th at Cipriani Wall Street with Oprah Winfrey receiving an Award while Drew Barrymore was removed as host for resuming production of her show during the Writer’s strike-a clear affront to the creative community.  The list of Big Apple shindigs is endless while the City That Never Sleeps reasserts its dominance as the worldwide epicenter of cultural events where moguls, celebrities, and creatives can mingle in historic venues with abandon.