Night out with the Mayor

One of the perks of my job is that every once in a while, you get to go to a really fun publishing related event.  Last month I experienced  just such an event.  It was the launch of Guide to New York City Landmarks, published by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.  Held at Gracie Mansion, the party was hosted by the gentleman who wrote the foreword to the book, aka Mayor Bloomberg.

First off, if you are a resident of the City or a tourist, I strongly encourage you to take a tour of the Mansion.  It’s a beautiful building, even more so when you consider it’s location on the river smack dab in Manhattan –  it has survived for decades and watched the city grow up around it.

We were among the first to arrive at the event, and after checking in for our name tags and going through the metal detector and x-ray scanning, we entered the building.  The main festivities were held in the ballroom aka the blue room, the same room where Mayor Bloomberg holds his press briefings.  And as it turns out, it was the only room where we were able to take pictures.  Quite the bummer, as later in the evening we were invited to tour the residence portion of the mansion.

"I'm sorry ma'am, no pictures here"

There was a band from Music and Art HS (or whatever they call it now; that’s what they called it back in my day) playing jazz tunes.

The bar was set up next to a lovely Christmas tree, topped by a replica of the mansion itself.

Gracie Mansion tree topper

Simple canapes were passed around, and we certainly availed ourselves of them.  Here’s John, the editor of the book, trying to do his best mayoral impersonation.

"My fellow NYers..."

We also experienced the “Mayor Bloomberg Do Si Do.”  Upon entering the party, we were handed out forms in case we wanted a photo with the Mayor.  I wasn’t sure when these were being done, but about 20 minutes before he was due to address the party, a line started to form out of the Blue Room.  Some thought to not get on the line, because it was too long.  But I had a feeling it would be quick.

And how!  It took about 5 minutes to work our way through the line.  When we got to the room where the Mayor was, we were held at the door as we handed over our card.  We then walked up to the Mayor, who shook our hand while moving us out of the room.  Seconds, I tell you, it took seconds.  We all laughed about the shuffle when we made it out of there.

The Mayor then kicked things off by announcing that we were all here to celebrate an important book.  Of course, he was holding up a copy of Bloomberg by Bloomberg, his own memoir, which was fine with us, because Wiley publishes that one too.  No, it was for the Landmarks book, as he explained, and gave a really nice speech about the Commission and those involved with it and the book.  Then people from the Landmarks commission spoke, and the evening ended.

It was great fun, and certainly a cool thing to be able to brag about share with others.  When my photo with the Mayor arrives, I will be sure to post it here.  It’s got to be funny as I was in motion when it was taken.