I want to be a Part of it, New York, New York

The Lotus Club stately oak paneled library.

Architectural Digest annual dinner held at the
grand ballroom at The Lotus Club

The Seventh Regiment Armory



Opening night Preview of the 54th Annual Winter Antiques Show in New York benefiting East Side House Settlement. There was lots to see and the crowd was big , with more than 75 dealers on display. This is a great show that runs for ten days through January 27th.

A few blocks down on 66th Street, at the famous Lotos Club was the AD100 dinner that Architectural Digest’s Paige Rense editor in chief of Architectural Digest, gives each year for the top 100 interior designers. Archetictural Digest is the most successful shelter magazine today and an invitation to this dinner is an honor in the design community.

The guest list was made up of decorators, designers, architects, writers who do the Architectural Digest stories, photographers, and AD editorial staff.

The Lotos Club is one of the oldest literary clubs in the country, founded in 170 by a group of young writers, journalists and critics. The lotus house was built in 1900 as a wedding gift by Mrs. Elliot F. Shepard for her daughter Mrs. William Jay Schieffelin. Mrs. Shepard was a daughter of William H. Vanderbilt, who was one of the original occupants of the double Vanderbilt mansion that took up the west side of the block on Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Street. The clubhouse went directly from private residence to club and it retains much of the original family’s interiors. The stately oak paneled library and the grand ballroom on the second floor is where the AD 100 dinner was held. The Lotos were filled with men and women who were very happy to be among the invited. Of course the night was not complete without the song:

New York, New York

(Ebb-Kander)
Start spreading the news

I'm leaving today

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York

These vagabond shoes

Are longing to stray

And make a brand new start of it New York, New York

I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps

To find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap

These little town blues

Are melting away

I'll make a brand new start of itIn old New York

If I can make it thereI'll make it anywhere

It's up to you, New York, New York.