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...

When March arrives I anticipate and look forward to Spring. I think more about Baseball with opening day at the end of the month of late. Some other things of note occur on the Sports side. March Madness means College Hoops and pools for many. Football Free Agency starts in less than two weeks on March 14 (the draft about six weeks later, April 25-27). Yet as a bit of snow yesterday demonstrated, it forecasts no real relief on the weather side. But for me still the small roun...

At Thanksgiving which we celebrated last Thursday, we express thanks for our family, friends and all good things. In two days we get a different chance to express our thanks. Indeed, many of our inboxes probably experienced receipt of email messages exhorting our participation in giving on Tuesday, christened  “Giving Tuesday,” Interestingly, in Gotham, we experience collectively the fruits of our own giving when our tribe’s “Season of Giving” concludes with the selection of ...

Looking forward to some fireworks on Wednesday? After all we celebrate our nation’s independence and for many fireworks displays remain an attraction. Already enjoyed two nice displays at baseball stadiums in San Diego and Flushing, in April and a few weekends back respectively. Last night’s display, our third this year was the 5th time we combined fireworks with a concert at Town of Hempstead Park. It was leisurely. We arrived rather early; got a really good spot to the left...

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...