New York Gala 2024: April in Paris Dinner Dance

The annual gala was hosted on a beautiful Sunday evening in New York City’s iconic Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. The sun was shining and so were our guests, all decked out in a black-tie array of spring colors. Everyone was excited to come together for our biggest event of the year and of course to support AFL’s mission. Surrounded by bouquets of purple flowers, we successfully rang in springtime with “April in Paris.”

It was Thomas E. Moore III’s inaugural gala as Executive Director of American Friends of the Louvre. Thomas was introduced to the podium by Christopher (“Kip”) Forbes, the Chairman of the Board, and followed by this year’s Gala Chairman, Darren Star, creator of Sex and the City and Emily in Paris.

A video featuring the cast of Emily in Paris kicked off the live auction, which included a luxury stay in Paris and private museum experience sponsored by Air France, the Ritz Paris and Musée du Louvre; as well as a journey to the Hotel Cipriani in Venice by way of the Orient Express, sponsored by the Belmond Group. A silent auction was sponsored by Ruinart, The Metropolitan Opera and Elizabeth Segerstrom, among others. Our auctioneer, Phyllis Kao, charmed the crowd and electrified the room – the energy was palpable!

Gala attendees dined on Dover sole before dancing the night away to a live band. Notable guests at the gala included Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France in the United States and Director of Villa Albertine; Joan Kahn; Naoma Tate; Dr. Andrea Achi; Chiwoniso Kaitano; and Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City.