The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy will hold its annual Summer Solstice Sunset Soirée on Wednesday, June 19 at Untermyer Park and Gardens in Yonkers. The gala will honor Martin Ginsburg, who has played a leading role in the revitalization of the Yonkers waterfront and other communities along the Hudson.
Co-chaired by Diana Boodell and Lee Michel, the event will take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Walled Garden. The theme is Flower Power, in celebration of extensive new plantings under way, and guests are encouraged to dress colorfully and take inspiration from the garden.
Acclaimed chef Peter Kelly and X2O will cater a menu of cocktails, lavish hors-d’oeuvres, and dessert. Music will be provided by the Blue Vibes, led by Fritz Michel. Also, a brief live auction and paddle raise will take place in the historic outdoor amphitheater.
A generous supporter of the Conservancy, Ginsburg is the founder and principal of GDC and an architect whose work has won numerous design and community planning awards. Under his leadership, GDC has become the Hudson Valley region’s leading developer of resort-style luxury rentals. Ginsburg, who is passionate about the Hudson River as a tourist destination, has located several of his major residential developments along the Hudson River, including River Tides at Greystone and 1177@greystone in Yonkers; Harbor Square in Ossining; Fort Hill Apartments at The Abbey Inn in Peekskill; and Riverside at Harbors-at-Haverstraw. These GDC developments have helped revitalize these Hudson River communities.
The soirée is the major fundraising event of the year for the conservancy, which was founded in 2011 to revitalize and care for Untermyer Park and Gardens, a City of Yonkers municipal park that sits on 43 acres with spectacular views of the Hudson River, 30 minutes north of Manhattan. The gardens were built a century ago by Samuel Untermyer, a pioneering lawyer, reformer and human rights advocate, and designed by famed architect William Welles Bosworth, who earlier designed Kykuit. One of the only great public gardens in the country that is free to the public, Untermyer Park and Gardens welcomes 75,000 visitors a year.
The soirée will be centered in the Walled Garden, the finest Indo-Persian garden in the Western Hemisphere. Enclosed by crenellated walls with octagonal corner towers and crisscrossed by canals symbolizing the four rivers of Paradise, the garden features an amphitheater flanked by two sphinxes sculpted by Paul Manship and set on cipollino marble columns. To the west, the Temple of the Sky stands above the once-grand Persian pool and lower terrace.
The conservancy is dedicated to showcasing exuberant horticulture in the magnificent landscape and working strategically to restore architectural and structural elements of the gardens. In addition, the conservancy delivers educational outreach programs that teach the public about horticulture and environmental principles and interpret the rich history of the property, its architecture, and Samuel and Minnie Untermyer, who were significant figures in American history.
