It was a week filled with magical moments, from attending the Xerox Lounge at an Islanders game, to meeting with the future Speaker of the New York City Council, to our magnificent Power Women of Manhattan event, to an impressive gathering of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin – Long Island and Queens (AAPI-QLI).
I believe in a work-play balance, but I’m blessed to find those two mesh into one! Going to the Islanders game was such a moment.
I met the Xerox leadership through Andrew Kiperman and one of his former Xerox colleagues, Theresa O’Rourke, invited me to their box, where abundant food and drinks were served with multiple screens around the room. It was a joy to see our hometown Islanders win in a tight match! What a night it was!
I am closely watching the mayoral transition in NYC, and there are many concerns I have about our new mayor and his stance against Israel’s existence, so I was very grateful that City Councilwoman Julie Menin, my friend of 20 years, is set to become the powerful Speaker of the New York City Council.
Julie and I met when Mayor Bloomberg named us both to the Redistricting Commission that is set up after each 10-year census to redraw the district lines based on the changed demographics. Since then, I’ve followed her successful career in New York City government.
Julie and I met with my PoliticsNY editor Adam Daly to do her profile.
What makes my fear of the new mayor less worrisome is that Julie is the daughter and granddaughter of Hungarian Holocaust survivors. She understands in her soul the importance of Israel’s existence as a safe haven for Jews.
Hopefully, we can put a stop to the lies about Israel and the curtailment of antisemitism in our city.
Time will tell…
The next day was our Power Women of Manhattan, where an extraordinary group of women walked the red carpet and got their “Vicki” award from our emcee, PIX11’s marvelous Monica Morales. Earlier in the day, I was on her podcast “Monica Makes it Happen.”
Joy, excitement and cheering filled the room that was packed with over 350 people.
Juanita Scarlett was an honoree, and her husband, highly esteemed NY1 broadcaster Errol Lewis, who is one of my broadcast heroes, was with her!
But each of the women are my heroes because they lead impactful organizations making people’s lives better; they use their power for good!
Talking about “good,” I watched with my grandchildren the movie “Wicked: For Good.” It’s deeper than a children’s tale of good and evil; it’s a study in how “subjects” can be riled up to hate.
The “good” witch says to the “wicked” witch, “Who can say if I’ve been transformed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good!” Think what a double entendre “good” is.
At dinner, we talked about the impact of the movie beyond just entertainment. As always, it was great spending time with my fabulous grandchildren!
To close out the week, I was delighted to have been invited to attend the AAPI-QLI annual gala and expo.
It was wonderful seeing old friend Michael Rosenbluth, President and CEO of Parker Jewish Institute, being one of the honorees.
But the show-stopping moment of the night for me was when I entered the VIP room at the Hilton Huntington and a young man, Dev Mehta, startled me and said, “Are you Vicki Schneps, from Life’s WORC?”
He shared with me that he is now a computer programmer for day trading, but as a high school student playing tennis, he met at a tournament some of the folks who live in Life’s WORC group homes and were on an excursion. The people impressed him so much that he soon became a volunteer.
Fast forward to today and he is working part-time in one of Life’s WORC’s homes in Suffolk County. He was there because his dad was an organizer of the impressive recognition networking expo event.
What a week it was!
See more photos on QNS.com, DansPapers.com and LongIslandPress.com.
