12-06-2013 - PWC to hold 33rd annual Holiday Dinner Dance gala

On Friday, December 6th, Professional Women in Construction (PWC) will celebrate its 33rd anniversary at its annual Black Tie Holiday Dinner Dance gala at The Yale Club Ballroom, 50 Vanderbilt Ave. from 7 p.m. until midnight. The event will pay tribute to guests of honor Clarelle DeGraffe, Port Authority of NY & NJ, program director, World Trade Center Construction (WTCC) site, and Jill Lerner, FAIA, principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) and president of the N.Y.C. chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). It will also feature a PWC first, a "construction-inspired" fashion show introducing Anthony Manfredonia: Fashion Engineer, former head designer for Isaac Mizrahi's Haute Couture collection, currently developing his own luxury brand. The event features the legendary crown prince of swing, Stan Rubin and his Orchestra. A 24-year PANYNJ veteran, DeGraffe currently directs a team of project managers and design and construction professionals for the $1.2 billion WTC Vehicle Security Center (VSC) which will provide secure underground vehicular access to the four towers for cars, delivery trucks and buses. She previously managed such major projects as PATH's Accessible Station Program, Goethals Bridge Project and Newark Airport's AirTrain Extension Program. Clarelle is a graduate in civil engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Lerner has played a major role in putting KPF on the map for its design of numerous award-winning academic and institutional research facilities. Her completed projects include Huntsman Hall, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business; a multi-use facility for NYU's School of Law; Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; a mixed-use complex at CUNY's Baruch College; and the expansion of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A graduate and former trustee of Cornell University, she taught architecture in Cornell's NYC program and was active with New York New Visions after 9/11. Parsons School of Design graduate Anthony Manfredonia, raised in a construction environment and trained in general contracting, dubbed himself "fashion engineer" because "a true craftsman understands the art in construction...for a building or a garment." Construction and fashion merge in much of his work where "interfacings are my sheetrock... fusing [is] my mortar." He has worked on the Donna Karan Collection and for fashion designer Tracy Reese. Tickets to the PWC gala are $385, including cocktails, dinner and dancing (open bar). For reservations, call 212.486.7745 or email [email protected]. Visit www.pwcusa.org/ny.