By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell at 72nd Street will be filled Wednesday night with well-heeled New Yorkers in their floral finery and summer whites.
The Central Park Conservancy's annual "Taste of Summer" benefit event brings out the who's-who of New York. Tickets cost $350 to sample a roster of culinary delights from 40 renowned restaurants, from Asia de Cuba and Le Cirque to Serafina and Serendipity 3.
The event, which is expected to have 1,000 attendees, has a host committee representing high society, including Muffie Potter Aston, wife of a Upper East Side plastic surgeon who nips and tucks the city's jetsetters; financial firm CEO Alexandra Lebenthal; and socialite photographer Patrick McMullan.
Events like this help the conservancy fund 85 percent of the park’s $37.4 million budget, officials said. The conservancy has invested more than $530 million since the nonprofit was founded in 1980.
The organization is largely credited with turning the park around from its days of crime-ridden neglect. But some New Yorkers have criticized the public/private partnership model as being unfair to parks in lower-income zip codes that can’t attract big bucks through such fundraisers.
