The Educational Programs Committee and the Arts & Entertainment Committee of the Yale Alumni Association of Metropolitan New York (YAAMNY), in collaboration with The National Arts Club, present...

an evening with Yale University Press author Joshua Shannon on his book The Disappearance of Objects: New York Art and the Rise of the Postmodern City. Shannon is assistant professor of contemporary art history and theory at the University of Maryland

In the years around 1960, a rapid process of deindustrialization profoundly changed New York City. At the same time, massive highway construction, urban housing renewal, and the growth of the financial sector altered the city's landscape. As the new economy took shape, manufacturing lofts, piers, and small shops were replaced by sleek high-rise housing blocks and office towers. Focusing on works by Claes Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Donald Judd, Shannon shows how New York art engaged with this transformation. Shannon argues that these four artists - all living amid the changes - filled their art with old street signs, outmoded flashlights, and other discarded objects in a richly revealing effort to understand the economic and architectural transformation of their city.

Join us in the second floor parlor room of the National Arts Club's Tilden Mansion at 15 Gramercy Park South for Professor Shannon's lecture, followed by an informal reception.

Register today by clicking here. All are welcome; this event is open to the public. Register before May 20th and save: tickets $8 before May 20th, $12 thereafter.

The Educational Programs and Arts & Entertainment Committees of the Yale Alumni Association of Metropolitan New York (YAAMNY), in collaboration with the Graduate Musical Theater Writing program of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, present an afternoon with Yale University Press author and Yale alumnus James Leve on the collaboration between composer Kander and lyricist Ebb.

Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb collaborated for more than forty years, longer than any such partnership in Broadway history. Their two most successful works, Cabaret and Chicago, had critically acclaimed Broadway revivals and were made into Oscar-winning films. Professor Leve's book, the first study of Kander and Ebb, examines their artistic accomplishments as individuals and as a team. Leve discusses their contribution to the concept musical; he examines some of their most popular works including Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman; and he reassesses their flops as well as their incomplete and abandoned projects. James Leve is associate professor of musicology and coordinator of music history at Northern Arizona University.

Students of musical theater and lovers of Kander and Ebb's songs and shows will enjoy hearing firsthand from Professor Leve. His talk will be followed by a question and answer session and an informal reception. This program will take place in a wonderful black box theatre in the heart of the East Village.

Register today by clicking here. Register before May 29th and save! Tickets are $8 before May 20th and $12 thereafter. All are welcome. This event is open to the public.

The Public Service/Social Justice Committee of the YALE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN NEW YORK is proud to co-sponsor the first PortSide NewYork Benefit. PortSide was one of the New York sites for the global Yale Day of Service (May 16, 2009) whereby volunteers thoroughly enjoyed a successful boat restoration project.

In addition to organizing and performing restoration projects, PortSide NewYork is a non-profit organization advancing a new vision for revitalizing New York City's waterfront by creating waterside public spaces without displacing the maritime functions essential to the city's transportation infrastructure. They promote sustainable waterfront planning that fosters the greenest form of transportation, waterborne transportation, and thinks about it in new ways, while also delivering educational, cultural, and recreational waterfront experiences in community-oriented ways. Yalies involved in this innovative, young organization include: Carolina Salguero '82, Director of PortSide NewYork, Elaine Carmichael '82, Board Member, and Daniel Goncharoff '82, Advisory Board Member

Proceeds from the benefit fundraiser will support planning for, and interim programming in, Atlantic Basin, soon to be the first publicly-accessible home for PortSide. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is negotiating directly with PortSide NewYork to create this home, next to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, which will include a pier as well as interior space for public programs.

For Yalies and their guests who attend, PortSide NewYork has graciously offered to provide a free boat tour to be scheduled later in the summer. More event details at http://www.portsidenewyork.org/fundraiser.htm. Get your tickets online at http://portsidefundraiser.eventbrite.com

PortSide NewYork, aboard the tanker MARY A. WHALEN
P.O. Box 195, Red Hook Station, Brooklyn, NY 11231 917-414-0565
www.portsidenewyork.org, This email address is hidden from email harvesters via JavaScript

The YAAMNY Arts & Entertainment Committee presents a talk by Lloyd Kaufman '69 on how to succeed in independent cinema. Numerous now-famous talents including Kevin Costner, Samuel L. Jackson, Oliver Stone, Marisa Tomei, Robert DeNiro, and Carmen Electra had their first start in Lloyd's films. Lloyd will discuss his success as the world's longest surviving, most prolific independent film maker.  He will show clips from his newest work, and share trade secrets that allowed him to produce gargantuan screen epics on microscopic budgets.  

Lloyd Kaufman is a giant in the field of independent films, having produced, directed, written and even acted in over 20 original films in 35 years at Troma Films, the New York City based company he co-founded with Yale classmate Mike Hertz. He works in a unique genre combining violence, sex, political satire, horror, humor and what film critic Pauline Kael called "actual sweetness." He has given to Western culture the iconic "Toxic Avenger," currently resurrected as a Broadway musical. PoultryGeist, his latest  work, features gigantic mutant chickens who spring from a fried chicken franchise and devour the staff, an ominous talking hamburger, musical and dance interludes and a cameo by Lloyd himself.

To register for this event and the reception afterwards, please click here.

Special thanks to Norm Zamcheck '69 for helping to organize this event!

YAAMNY is hosting the first-ever alumni trip to Iceland for the August 22nd marathon, half-marathon, 10K, and 3K races and to see glaciers and volcanic craters, walk on ancient lava flows, swim in geothermal pools, visit other scenic sites, and participate in local cultural activities. For information about the races in Reykjavik, Iceland's capital, click here. For more information on Iceland, visit: www.icelandtouristboard.com.

If interested, please email My ( This email address is hidden from email harvesters via JavaScript ). Alumni from various cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Miami, have already reserved their trip package. Yale alumni based in Iceland, including the Minister of Business Affairs and a University of Iceland professor of environmental studies, have agreed to speak at the welcome dinner. The trip costs only about $2000 (including international and domestic flights), which is an amazing deal.

On a separate but related note, we've started a Yale Alumni Running Group. If you'd like to join Yalies to do some runs, check out the following Facebook Yale Alumni Running Group to get details: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=80553446143

"Yale Alumni Runners" shirts are available for purchase on the following site: http://www.campuscustoms.com/yalealumnirunners/ 

Your Iceland Marathon trip leaders,
My Luu, BA '96 and Ajit Pai, M.Arch and MBA '99

P.S. We welcome alumni of all ages from Yale College and the graduate/professional schools to participate. Alumni who have already signed up include those from Yale College,the School of Management, the Divinity School, and the School of Architecture. We also encourage you to consult a physician before starting any new exercise regimen as there might be potential risks depending on your health, for which YAAMNY holds no responsibility. 

I. Introduction of New Co-Chairs

II. Overview of Yale Day Of Service 2009 and Preparing for Day of Service - May 15, 2010

III. Selecting June, July and August Projects

IV. Status on Juvenile Justice Project with Mayor Corey Booker's Office (Newark, NJ)

V. Final Comments