Hoping to create a somewhat untraditional fund-raiser, Dan Barasch and James Ramsey hosted their second anti-gala, a benefit dinner designed to build support, awareness, and money for the Lowline, an ambitious project that would turn an abandoned trolley terminal on the Lower East Side into an underground park. Held October 15 at the Angel Oresanz Foundation, the event was inspired by the 1900s, the era the site of the Lowline opened as a trolley station.
"The whole point was to have this be a transporting experience for people, taking them out of the everyday and delivering something that's much more immersive and much more exciting than your standard event. We wanted it to be a party we'd want to go to," Barasch said. "The question for us was, how do you draw guests into something in a really immersive way instead of having them passively watch a presentation?"
Their answer was to use the menu, entertainment, and decor to emphasize the history of the community, connecting the project to the neighborhood and celebrating local culture. Intrinsic in this was the choice of venue, the oldest surviving synagogue building in New York City and one that was in existence at the time the Lowline was in use as a trolley terminal.
The organizers also partnered with Neuman's Kitchen to create a cocktail-hour menu and a four-course dinner inspired by food that would have been popular in 1908. The catering company worked alongside Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef and owner of East Village restaurant Prune, to serve dishes such as turtle soup, broiled mackerel, and crème de menthe parfait.
Entertainment was also carefully woven into the evening, with performers dressed in period costumes.
The anti-gala attracted some 280 guests, among which were supporters of the High Line—a project like the Lowline that started as a grassroots, community effort. Guests included fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, actor Ed Norton, and Friends of the High Line co-founder Robert Hammond as well as Girls creator Lena Dunham, model Karlie Kloss, and director Spike Jonze.
With such high-profile attendees, Barasch believes the Lowline's fund-raising potential will continue to grow. "The question for us next year," he said, "is how much bigger we can get while also retaining the sense of intimacy that we would really like to keep."
