Independence Eve my wife and I enjoyed hanging out with some 250 of our closest friends, their spouses, (some of their) other family members, their friends and associates, and some clients. What better place to hold such a gathering than Citifield, home of my beloved (albeit underperforming in won-loss records and certain aspects of playing a game I know rather well) New York Mets. This outing represents the fifth year running these kind of outings. Each year gets better. The...

With the start of summer, Gotham initiates a Season of Giving. At last’s Thursday’s meeting of Gotham Queens (which I nicknamed “GQ” when it rebooted under new leadership a few years back), we circulated an envelope. The idea is fives, tens and twenties much the way grass-roots on line fundraising is the craze in politics. The difference: instead of a candidate, you insert your business card with the name of your preferred charity on it. At the Gotham Holiday/ Winter Cocktail...

With Spring comes a number of “flings” – that means fundraisers. Many adopt causes. Some causes adopt others. Some come from relationships and involvements. Certainly explains mine.   I chair the Board of Directors on Services Now for Adult Persons (“SNAP” before the acronym had other worthy uses!). The Board’s biggest concern involves the completion of a new center to house several of our programs and offices, including a senior center serving four communities where I spent...

Tempted   Out with friends for dinner with more than a few couples before a charity function sponsored by my Knights of Pythias (FDR) Lodge, the ladies evidently were discussing plans ahead and my wife shared our plans for next weekend. Our friend Abby asked how many times Shelly and I attended a Squeeze show. I responded at least four.   That answer was correct only to how many shows we attended together through the summer of 2008. Since that time, we we experienced lead...

I knew the time would be soon.   Much of the summer I gave thought to it.   Retirement.   After basketball this morning, I stopped home before continuing on some usual errands, including checking the P.O. Box, gassing up my car, and sometimes a bank deposit.   I needed to pick up a civic association check to pay my neighborhood printer, Gotham's own Scott Levine (not the lawyer) who also prints my FDR Lodge 613 Knights of Pythias bulletin, The Beam. Since I stopped in for th...

As some know I enjoy maintaining my own website. Credit my son Jonathan who taught his dad enough code and who built some nifty sites (two still running) while in middle school. With a little help from my son who did not like the planned homepage banner and developed a nicer looking one (see pic), I redeveloped the website for a fraternal and charitable organization I am involved with. The Knights of Pythias a “non-sectarian fraternity, founded in Washington, DC, by Justu...