MoMA, Estelle, & Mayor Bloomberg Get Down in the Garden

It's a very special (and sort of weird) occasion when someone like Mayor Michael Bloomberg shares red carpet face-time with someone like Kelis. Equally unexpected is when members of the Kennedy and Rockefeller clans hip-gesticulate while discussing Maurice de Vlaminck and his contribution to Fauvism, as Estelle performs "American Boy" onstage. But upon entering the colorfully-lit tented garden at Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art last night, the collision and collusion of uptown and downtown seemed almost natural.

Socialites in pearls and downtown it-girls downed mini-champagne from straws. Glenn Close and Candice Bergen were somewhere—presumably nearer architect Richard Meier than DJ Cassidy--as were many of New York’s deepest pockets (tickets for the 41st annual event go for as much as $100,000 for groups). A friend of a friend who helped organize the party even said that Kanye was backstage, but he stayed quiet while his collaborator Estelle commanded the limelight. Here’s hoping he shows tonight at the unveiling of H&M’s Fashion Against AIDS collection. Maybe there we’ll see Jamie Burke canoodling with Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud?