RE-cap: What you missed at “The Art of Real Estate” party

Monday night The Real Deal was lucky enough to attend “The Art of Real Estate,” a rooftop wing ding in which we got to swim in a sea of dark suits the art, real estate and legal worlds came together over mini-lobster rolls and glasses filled with clinking ice cubes to boozily discuss art, real estate and NYC’s amazing sunset — and by that we mean to gossip and to make deals happen. The NYC real estate industry is a small and tightly knit world. So at events like this, it’s fun to see many old friends and not-so-fun to fruitlessly attempt to avoid even older enemies.

Rate-an-Event
Who: Herrick Feinstein, LLP a midsize law firm in NYC

Why: To invite leaders in the art and real estate industries for an evening of cocktails, conversation and collaboration celebrating the two most influential creative forces in New York. We attend these things so you don’t have to.

Where: Tribeca Rooftop 2 Desbrosses Street

Theme: The Art of Real Estate

When: 6 – 10 p.m.

What we did: Upon entering the 12th floor, we viewed a gallery of architecture-inspired artwork featuring wood sculptor James McNabb and some of the most innovative architectural models from newcomers.

We milled about for a little while as mini lobster rolls and tiny reubens were passed around by a waiter who squealed that we absolutely had to try one because they were “so cute.”

Then on to the real star of the party: the rooftop. Panoramic views of Lower Manhattan competed only with the myriad of food offerings: Sushi (complete with a genuine sushi chef in authentic garb), burger and pasta stations and enough cheese to keep every subway rat in Manhattan happy for the summer.

The whole vibe left us feeling like we were attending a wedding rather than a networking event.

High points: We got to say often, to whoever would listen, “Yeah, it feels like we’re at a wedding — the marriage of art and real estate, that is!” (See what we did right there?)

Also, we noticed that Herrick’s Harvey Feuerstein shares a resemblance to Mad Men‘s beloved Bert Cooper.

We loved the ample food, the venue with outdoor space with amazing views, the subtle music, the NYC-centric art, the organization for an event of this scale, the free shuttles back to Grand Central and Penn Station and seeing so many colleagues in one place.

Low points: At times the party got too crowded.

We also learned about the perils of everyday objects (name tag edition):

And lastly, the strangest point of the evening was entering the ladies restroom, where we came upon tons of chocolates personalized with the HERRICK logo left by the sink. We love chocolate as much as the next guy, but were baffled by the location. Suggestion: Next time, personalized logo soaps instead?

Ultra-creepy confession: We took one anyway. Creepier confession: We ate it.