South O' the Highway This Week: May 22
Water Mill’s Jennifer Lopez announced plans for a 20-date residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas last week. The concert series will begin in January. Said Lopez on Instagram, “So excited! This is going to be the show I’ve always dreamed of creating.” The popular American Idol judge reportedly will receive a $26 million paycheck for the gig.
Sagaponack’s Jimmy Fallon, East Hampton’s Jon Bon Jovi and Amagansett’s Paul McCartney all performed at the Robin Hood Foundation’s annual fundraising gala last Tuesday. Held at the Javits Center in New York City, the event was attended by more than 4,000 guests, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, John McEnroe and others. The gala raised a record-setting $101 million to combat poverty.
Calvin Klein, who just completed work on his $75 million Southampton estate last year, is reportedly house hunting in Los Angeles. The fashion designer was also seen shopping for art for his new West Coast pad at a Bryan Fox show at L.A.’s Think Tank Gallery.
Pop sensation Taylor Swift invited two Hamptons residents, Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo and Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, to appear in the video for her new song, “Bad Blood.” The video premiered during the Billboard Music Awards broadcast last Sunday.
South Fork fans Hugh Jackman and Paul McCartney recently recorded a rap video with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, Ed Sheeran and others. The group collaborated to raise awareness for Oliver’s Food Revolution Day, which strives to bring food education into schools.
Amagansett resident Sarah Jessica Parker’s SJP Collection is coming to New York. The shoe line will be available at Bloomingdale’s beginning next month. Parker was seen modeling for ad campaign photos outside the store last week, posing by the marquee, inside windows and on the hood of a taxi. Said the Sex and the City star on Instagram, “Well. I guess the cat’s out of the (little brown) bag.”
Tito Puente, Jr. and his 10-piece band will serve as the evening’s entertainment for Veinte!, the 20th anniversary celebration of the Ellen Hermanson Foundation for Breast Cancer, on Saturday, June 20. Jean Shafiroff, who was the 2014 honoree, is the event chairperson and Andy Sabin is the 2015 honoree. Steven Klein will host the event at his ranch, Westkill Farm. Dinner will be prepared by Chef Peter Ambrose.
This year’s Memorial Day issue features another cover by our very own Mickey Paraskevas. His covers have graced Dan’s Papers since he started working closely with Dan in 1988. We’ve lost count of how many paintings he’s done for us. Paraskevas continues to work on Lili and Derek with his wife, Maria. It’s a daily comic that can be found online at liliandderek.com. Paraskevas is also working on a children’s book that will be announced shortly. It’s a secret, but if you bump into him around town he might tell you about it.
Bethenny Frankel, star of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City, recently purchased two properties. The busy TV star and businesswoman reportedly bought a SoHo penthouse for $4.2 million, as well as a five-bedroom vacation home in Bridgehampton.
What’s up in the harbor: We bid a fond farewell to Sag Harbor’s century-old Ideal Stationery. After 25 years of ownership, Terry and Gary Sanders are heading into a well-deserved retirement. The store closed earlier this spring. Chef Paul and Susana Del Favero opened the new Harbor Market and Kitchen in the former Espresso site on Division Street in Sag Harbor last month. Look for locally grown ingredients transformed into gourmet delights.
Renowned green architect Pamela Glazer has teamed up with Hampton Bays restaurateur David Hersh (Rumba, Cowfish) to create Rhum, a new restaurant on Patchogue’s Main Street. The 120-seater will feature a rooftop bar and a casual atmosphere throughout. The new eatery is scheduled to open later this year.
Several top interior designers are participating in the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons’ annual show house, including Brian P. Brady, Jamie Drake, Kevin Hart, Tamara Magel, Mark Schryver and Peri Wolfman. Using donated and new furnishings, the designers will transform ARF’s Thrift & Treasure Shop in Sagaponack. All featured items will be available for purchase. The event kicks off with a cocktail party on Saturday, May 30 and opens to the public on May 31.
A light shone on Christ Episcopal Church in Sag Harbor on Mother’s Day. Rev. Karen Campbell announced that the church’s stunning Tiffany windows had been cleaned and restored over the previous week. Indira Roth sang “Oh Happy Day,” ably assisted by her father, Wölffer winemaker Roman Roth, as Indira’s mother Dushy Roth looked on proudly. There was a general welling up.
Southampton’s Jane Krakowski hosted the Manhattan Theatre Club’s annual Spring Gala last Monday at Cipriani in New York. The event featured special guest and Tony Award nominee K. Todd Freeman and was directed by Tony Award winner John Rando. Performances were featured from the acclaimed Broadway musicals Beautiful, Finding Neverland, Gigi, It Shoulda Been You, On the Town, Something Rotten! and The Visit.
East End favorite Eileen Fisher has joined Ben & Jerry’s and Zingerman’s in signing a petition for a higher federal minimum wage. Titled “Business for a Fair Minimum Wage,” the new sign-on statement for business owners and executives supports a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12/hour by the year 2020. Eileen Fisher retail stores are located in East Hampton and across the United States.
The Independent Group Home Living program (IGHL), based in Manorville, has received the 2014 Edington Next Practice Award for their innovative Health is Wealth program for employees.
The Eastern Long Island Hospital Board of Trustees Chairman, Thomas E. Murray, Jr. of Orient, will receive the Theodore Roosevelt Award on May 30 at Peconic Landing in Greenport. Created by the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, the Award honors those who demonstrate exceptional volunteer commitment to their community hospital. Murray has served on the Board of Trustees since 1999 and has held the role of Chairman since 2003.
Bellport’s Isabella Rossellini will host the 12th Annual Beach Ball benefitting the Boys & Girls Club of the Bellport Area on Saturday, June 20, at the bayfront home of Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond. The event will feature live and silent auctions themed around “The Art of Summer” and a private fireworks display from Fireworks by Grucci.
Artwork by East Hampton modernist painter Gerson Leiber is showing in an exhibit titled “The Implications are Clear” at the Leonard Tourné Gallery at 46 East 65th Street through Sunday, May 31. Leiber’s work is rooted in abstract expressionism and is included in collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, National Gallery of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery.
Southampton designers Art Donovan and Leslie Tarbell Donovan are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Donovan Design. Art is recognized as a leading designer of and authority on Steampunk design, having written three well-received books and curated the first three major, international museum exhibitions of the style. Looking back to their original influences, the Donovans have created a new line of lamp designs called “Summer Golden” based on Art’s very first works. The collection features a warm, golden patina that Art hand-applies to the brass components.
Canine Companions for Independence, the oldest and largest assistance dog organization in the country helping people with physical disabilities, has announced Quogue resident John D. Miller as the nonprofit’s new chair of its Board of Directors.
Co-chairs Maria and Larry Baum and Lisa and Richard Perry will again host the The Hamptons Paddle & Party for Pink to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) on Saturday, August 1. The summer fundraiser includes a morning multi-skill paddle board race in Sag Harbor and an evening party hosted at a private Hamptons residence. The event has raised over $3.5 million for BCRF, with last year’s supporters including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Molly Sims, Martha Stewart, Donna Karan, Jonathan Adler, Simon Doonan, Hilary Rhoda, Sean Avery, Nicole Miller, Carolyn Murphy, Bethenny Frankel, and Tracy Anderson.
Dr. Bonnie Schnitta, President of SoundSense in Wainscott, was awarded her latest patent for an acoustic muffler. The original acoustic muffler, patented in November 2011. The new patent provides more flexibility and versatility to that previous muffler design. Schnitta also recently received an Outstanding Career Achievement Award from Tufts University and was advanced to Fellow by the Acoustical Society of America.
Sag Harbor’s Donna Karan was at her Urban Zen store at 4 Bay Street in Sag Harbor last Saturday, setting up and getting the space ready for Memorial Day weekend.