FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 28, 2019 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 61
VICTORIA’S Celebrations for great causes
vschneps@gmail.com
These last few weeks are
what I call the “high season.”
There are galas
galore and events that fi ll
my calendar almost every
night.
Th is past week, my
favorites were supporting
Americans
for Israel Yad
Vashem and the
Long Island
Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce and
St. John’s Episcopal
Hospital’s ribbon
cutting ceremony
for their new lobby.
The powerful site
memorializing the
Holocaust honored dear
friends Mona Gore Sterling,
her husband David Sterling
and her adult children. Th eir
families, friends and colleagues
packed the Pierre’s ballroom to
capacity at the sold-out event.
I relished my favorite thing
aft er paying tribute to my
friends: networking and meeting
new “friends.” Th at happened at
the events.
I believe the advice of my
friend, former NYC TD Bank
President Peter Meyer, who
taught me, “When I sit down
for dinner, my night is over! Th e
best part of any event is the networking
at the cocktail party.”
He is so wise on many levels!
I always say my life is a great
adventure. I never can predict
where it takes me and those
events were no diff erent.
I took a seat at a small table up
on the balcony at Pierre’s stunning
large cocktail room and I
reached over to shake the hand of
the man next to me. With a broad
smile, he said, “Vicki, I’m Jerry
Lippman, publisher of the Jewish
Sentinel!”
Our paths had
crossed many
times over the
years and here
he was! He
then introduced
me to his friend
Alice Schweiger,
who is an experienced
freelance writer.
We immediately
bonded and promised to
meet aft er the gala.I also met
Zeil Feldman of HFZ Capitol,
who is working on a Brooklyn
development.
As Jerry left my side and began
his networking, another couple
looking like movie stars sat at
my table. We began chatting and
I got to know Jordan Edwards,
who owns a chain of sportswear
stores called Mixology with his
sister.
What knocked me over was
that he just hired my friend
Patricia to manage his Roslyn
store and I was in there the
day before to say hello to her
and make a purchase. I had
asked Patricia about who handles
marketing for the chain of
11 stores, and she said Jordan
Edwards makes all the decisions
— and there he was sitting
next to me!
His stunning wife works at
Lenox Hill Hospital, where she
is completing her medical training
to become a podiatrist. We
bonded.
I had noticed a book on the
Mixology shelf near the checkout
titled, “Th is Is It: If You’re
Waiting for a Sign to Start Your
Business.” Jordan explained that
he wrote the book with his dad
Glenn to advise business people
on how to have the know-how
to begin a business and lead it to
success. He and his dad run several
startup businesses that have
become successful.
He also admitted writing the
book leaves a legacy for his children
to know how their family
achieved the American dream
of building businesses from
scratch. Give it a read!
Later in the week, I had the
honor of receiving the Visionary
award from Luis Vazquez, president
of the Long Island Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce at the
Uniondale Marriott.
As with most events, there was
a robust cocktail hour and a VIP
party for the honorees.
Walking through the corridor,
I saw Rebecca Gordon, a fellow
honoree who was wearing a
gold sequined top like mine, and
when I came into the “honoree”
room, I sat with her and her husband,
Carleton.
Rebecca was recognized for
her important work as Senior
VP and Chief Labor Relations
Offi cer for the Northwell Health
system that is responsible for
6,000 employees.
Remarkably, we found out
while getting to know each other
that a valued friend of hers is my
dear friend Marc Kramer, the
former CEO of the Daily News
who is now President of the
League of Voluntary Hospitals.
Remarkable! We both texted him
to say we met.
Th en her husband and I started
talking about the borough president
race in Queens and his dearest
friend is Assemblywoman
Alicia Hyndman, who I had just
talked about with my staff to have
her on our podcast. Well, right
there at the table her husband
called the assemblywoman and I
arranged for her to come to my
offi ce for the podcast. Cocktail
party networking at its best!
What a week it was! I loved
every minute!
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
tweet me @vschneps
Jerry Lippman (l.) with Barry Rubenstein of the
Northwell Board of Trustees.
Left to right: Elizabeth Custodio, Mohinder Singh
Taneja, Samantha Oh, and Rebecca Gordon.
The Gore, Sterling and Friedman families
were honored at the Yad Vashem gala.
Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano,
the chair of St. John’s Episcopal
Hospital, and I at the ribbon
cutting ceremony for the
hospital’s new lobby.
Jordan and
Dr. Danielle
Edwards.
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