Hightower De Niro started Coffee of Grace in 2012 and works with impoverished communities in Rwanda by providing market access and trade support in order to produce a selection of fair-trade coffees.
She was joined at the event by her actor husband and company investor, Robert De Niro.
During the ceremony, she described the project as “earning her global citizenship”. She asked the students how they planned to earn theirs and shared five of her top tips for achieving this goal:
There’s no hurry. It’s not an accomplishment so much as a process. Live like a global citizen, and you’ll become one.
Forget about borders. Be open to the people and opportunities wherever they are.
Keep learning. “Duh.”
You might have to fight for it.
Keep the lessons learned here at Léman with you. You are prepared for whatever the changing world will bring. You will be the global citizens we all need.
Prior to the ceremony, students took to the streets of the Financial District and as part of a longstanding Léman tradition, posed for photos in front of the Federal Hall National Memorial.
The well-heeled crowd was kept in stitches all night as host, Samantha Bee — from the hit show Full Frontal on TBS — poked fun at everything, from our current political leaders to some famous faces in the room. The stylish guests were also treated to an intimate performance by Tony and Grammy Award Winner, Cynthia Erivo, who dazzled the crowd with her stunning vocals.
IWC showcased their support of the festival by making a donation to the Tribeca Film Institute, a nonprofit arts organization that supports filmmakers. The award was presented to filmmaker, Chloe Zhaoat the dinner and consists of a cash prize of $50,000, providing production or post-production funds to one feature-length narrative film, which demonstrates innovation and technical mastery, inventiveness through direction, cinematography and/or editing or forward-thinking storytelling.
As an actor, writer and director, Chazz Palminteri has been working steadily since the late 1980s. Starring in his one-man show, A Bronx Tale, turned out to be his big break as Robert De Niro helped develop it into a film in the early 1990s. Since then, Chazz has been seen in a mix of hit dramas and comedies, including The Usual Suspects, Mulholland Falls, Analyze This, and Bullets Over Broadway. The New York native has also worked steadily in television, portraying Shorty on Modern Family and Angelo Gallo on Blue Bloods in recent years.
2016 was also a big year for Chazz off-screen. A Bronx Tale returned to Broadway as a musical, now doing eight shows a week at the Longacre Theatre. Chazz Palminteri’s Ristorante Italiano opened cross-town on the East Side in partnership with the owners of Empire Steak House. In addition, Chazz became the 50th inductee into the Ride Of Fame.
Congratulations on your Ride Of Fame induction. How did that go for you?
Chazz Palminteri: Oh, that was great…Sometimes you get great awards but this is really special to me because my dad, my father was a bus driver. He would’ve gotten a real kick out of that, me having my own bus with the name on it, you know?
How did this induction came about? Did you know somebody, or they reached out?
CP: They reached out to me. They said, “You know what, you’re a real New Yorker, born and raised here.” I’ve been on Broadway, I do my work here, everything is New York to me. So they asked me if I was interested. I said I’d be honored, that’s cool, I would love to do it.
A Bronx Taleis obviously a testament to your being a long-time New Yorker and that’s play has been done in different incarnations over the years. How would you describe the play’s evolution?
CP: Well, when I did the one man show, people loved it and thought it would make a great movie. Then Bob De Niro saw it and that’s how the movie got made. But we always talked about it being a musical because of the themes. It has these bigger than life operatic themes like love and hate, and father/son…I always thought that if you can get that to song, and capture that feeling, it will be pretty incredible. Tommy Mottola was the one who really said, “Look we gotta make this thing happen,” and Tommy Mottola was really the one who put this whole show on his back and made it happen. Then we got Alan Menken, eight-time Academy Award winner, to do the music, and Glenn Slater, three time Tony nominee, to do the lyrics,and Tony nominee — I think three time — Sergio Trujillo to do the choreography, Bob De Niro and Jerry Zaks co-directing…It’s a pretty astounding group of people we put together and it really truly came out great. Right now it’s a hit show and people are just clamoring it, coming to the theater. It was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, so I’m very excited.
Do you have a favorite song within the musical?
CP: A bunch of them. I think “The Choices”…It is the final song.
You’re often associated with music. I remember a Beach Boys tribute show that you hosted on TNT a decade or so ago. Was that one of your favorite groups?
CP: Oh, I love The Beach Boys. I love the harmonies…I just thought they were great and people realize how great they are now even now.
Were you ever in a band?
CP: I started out as a singer, I was in a band for 10 years, I was the lead singer and travelled all over and I loved it. But my real love was always acting and writing…I was studying, I got into The Actor’s Studio, I worked very hard, and things worked out pretty well for me.
When you were a touring singer, what were some of the venues you performed at in New York City?
CP: In New York City it was mostly the clubs, some of the hotels. I remember the Sheraton Hotel in the city, but it was mostly the clubs, we were a cover band. Then we performed down the [Jersey] Shore, in Seaside Heights I remember. It was great, really great, had fun.
CP: Well, you know what I’m a really diehard Yankees fan and I love to listen to sports radio…I’ll listen and listen, and at times you know I get upset when they would say something that was wrong, or putting down the Yankees, and I’m pretty very knowledgeable in sports. So one day I said, “This is bullshit, I’m calling up, I called up and that’s how it started.”
Is sport your main interest outside of acting and writing?
CP: It’s one of them, and also I’m very spiritual. I’m very much into psychology. I’ve always felt that if I didn’t become an actor or writer I would have been a psychologist.
Wow. Is that something you started in school or just you picked up on your own?
CP: I didn’t study it in school no, I was always interested in the human mind, you know. I would read about Sigmund Feud and I would read Carl Jung and also probably 25 years ago I started really learning a lot about Rudolf Steiner. I just love philosophy — Homer and Aristotle…I don’t know, it is something that always fascinated me.
Does that ever help with getting into character? You know, learning who it is that you are going to be portraying…
CP: I think it helps you there to do that, but I think it helps me more as a writer, Darren, because I got to know human nature and what people are about.
I assume another hobby of yours is food, given that you have got Ristorante Italiano. Have you always been interested in cooking as well?
CP: Yeah, I’ve always loved to cook. I’m okay…My wife’s a great cook, my mother-in-law’s a great cook, but I can cook certain things really well. I can make a great sauce and chicken parmigiana and eggplant parmigiana, certain things I can cook very well. We travel, we have a house in Italy, so my wife and I and the kids, all these years we’ve been traveling to Italy and we came up with a lot of recipes that we found. So when I had a chance to open up my own restaurant about a year ago, I did it with Jack Sinanaj, who owns Empire Steak House. We’re partners and we opened up Chazz Palminteri Ristorante Italiano and I’m telling you, Darren, the restaurant is incredible.
It’s doing fabulous and it’s amazing because my restaurant’s on 48th Street and my play is on 48th Street. One is on the West Side, one is on the East Side…I am at the restaurant having dinner, some people see me before the show, and then after the show I take some of the stars to my restaurant to have dinner and people see me…So it’s really an amazing time I am having right now.
It definitely sounds like it. So given all the success you’ve had, is there anything you haven’t accomplished that you are still hoping to in the professional sense?
CP: I would like to do a TV series where I play a priest. I don’t know, it’s in my head, I want to play a priest — the street priest — and I want to do a series on that. I think that would be great, a great series.
That’s quite different from your character Shortyfrom Modern Family. Do you find that the character Shorty turned you on to a new fanbase?
CP: Absolutely, I think that’s a very good question, yes. All these kids I see, a lot of these young kids I see, they go, “Hey, Shorty, we love you on Modern Family.” It’s a lot of fun, I enjoy that.
Other than your own restaurant do you have a favorite restaurant in New York City?
CP: You know what, it would be really nice if you mentioned that I always go back to my old neighborhood in the Bronx. I go to Roberto’s Restaurant, and it’s amazing, Darren, but the stores that I grew up with there was Gino’s Pastry [Shop]…I go to Borgatti’s Raviolis, Mike’s Deli, and Madonia Bakery. If you come to see the show, those are the four stores in my set, so it is pretty amazing.
That’s amazing, So finally, Chazz, any last words for the kids?
CP: I would say a very important thing is the choices you make will shape your life forever, so be really cognizant of the choices that you make in life. Stay away from drugs and alcohol and try to be the best you can be, because any choice you make definitely has an action for it, so make the right choices. The saddest thing alive is wasted talent and that’s what I’d like to leave you with.
Arthur Sulzberger, Glenn Hoagland, Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal.
When you think of New York, you can’t help but imagine the Manhattan skyline and its busy city streets. But New York is much more than skyscrapers and urban settings.
Last Friday, the acclaimed actor and longtime advocate for the city and state he loves, Robert De Niro hosted Mohonk Preserve 50thAnniversary Gala at Three Sixty – Tribeca. It was the first New York City Benefit Gala for the state’s largest non-profit preserve.
Proceeds from the Inaugural Gala will support the Conservation for the Next Century – Campaign for the Mohonk Preserve and its initiatives: restoration of carriage roads, acquisition of the Mohonk Preserve Foothills, and designs for a new interactive visitors’ exhibit and multi-media orientation theater.
De Niro served as the honorary chairman of the event, but was far from the only renowned face. Among the more than 200 guests, were such luminaries as producer, Jane Rosenthal, New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Mary Wittenberg (President of the NYRR), interior designer, Brian McCarthy, Scott Stewart of the Corcoran Group, Bruce Littlefield (author, design specialist and lifestyle expert), Mike Keegan (CEO, M&T Bank), Noah and Maria Gottdiener (CEO and Chairman of Duff & Phelps), the preserve’s Executive Director, Glenn Hoagland, former President of the Paine Webber Group, Paul B. Guenther, DOWNTOWN’s CEO, Grace A. Capobianco, in Zac Posen, and New York publicity luminary, R Couri Hay.
The program followed a cocktail reception and comments from De Niro and others.
Robert DeNiro making his impassioned comments about the Mohonk Preserve.
“Mohonk Preserve is a shining example of the good that came come from smart sensitive care of our natural resources,” said De Niro. “Not long ago, that seemed like a good choice, now it’s a matter of life and death. We call all agree on that. This should be the first commandment—‘Don’t fuck with Nature.’”
Maybe we all should follow the advice of another famous New Yorker’s advice and “Take a Walk On The Wild Side.” But for that to happen, the first step is to take advantage of and support preserves like the Mohonk Preserve which already receives more than 150.000 each year—making it the most popular in the state.
-Xavi Ocaña
Maria and Noah Gottdiener (CEO and Chairman of Duff & Phelps).
Mohonk’s Executive Director, Glenn Hoagland and wife, Melissa Greig.
Hadrien Coumans (Co-founder of the Lenape Center) and Curtis Zunigha.
Tomorrow evening, acclaimed actor Robert De Niro is hosting Mohonk Preserve‘s first New York City Benefit Gala at Three Sixty° – Tribeca. The event is a celebration of Mohonk Preserve’s 50th Anniversary and its successful multi-million dollar capital campaign – Conservation for the Next Century.
“I’m proud to support Mohonk Preserve, not only as a place of remarkable beauty and recreation, but also as a leader in environmental education and research,” said Robert De Niro.
Duck Pond, a popular site for environmental education programs at Mohonk Preserve. Photo by John Thompson.
The Mohonk Preserve, established in 1963, is New York State’s largest member and visitor supported nature preserve. Eight thousand protected acres in the Hudson River Valley entice more than 150,000 visitors each year. The Preserve features over 30 miles of historic carriage roads and more than 1,000 of the world’s finest rock climbing sites. The Mohonk Preserve has 14,000 members and 350 volunteers that work towards its mission of protecting the Shawagunk Mountains by inspiring people to enjoy, explore, and take care of the natural beauty of the area via groundbreaking programs in environmental education, land protection and stewardship, and conservation science.
Friday’s benefit will feature a sit-down dinner, live music, and dancing. Honorary Chair Robert De Niro will be in attendance along with Co-Chairs Noah and Maria Gottdiener, Paul B. Guenther, and Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. Proceeds from the event will support the campaign’s objectives, including the acquisition of the Mohonk Preserve Foothills, restoration of eight miles of carriage roads, enhancing visitor experiences, and building the endowment to ensure long-term financial sustainability.
Three Sixtyº – Tribeca. Pic by Borowski Muller Photograhers
“This Gala – our first to take place in New York City – marks the culmination of our ambitious two-year capital campaign,” said Mohonk Preserve Executive Director Glenn Hoagland. “We are thrilled that Mr. De Niro and the rest of our stellar committee will be there to help us celebrate our $5.5 million fundraising milestone, an accomplishment which will allow us to invest in new initiatives to safeguard, enhance and sustain the long-term protection of this great natural treasure.”
Tickets start at $500 for individuals and $10,000 for tables. For more information, visit mohonkpreserve.org
