On Wednesday, Manhattan’s top socialites and a slew of stars put on their fanciest fascinators for the Central Park Conservancy’s Women’s Committee Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon — famously known as the “hat lunch” — which raised $4.3 million for the park.
New York favorite Mariska Hargitay, who plays Detective Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” attended for the first time this year, with author Ali Wentworth.
“Central Park is what gave me freedom and space when I moved to New York and I was overwhelmed by the concrete jungle and the weather and the darkness,” Hargitay told Page Six. “I came in here and got peace and got rejuvenated. It’s a place of so many memories. It’s a sanctuary.”
Hargitay donned a beige hat with a bow, and told us, “I borrowed it from a friend. I don’t have any hats like this. I promise next year I will come and represent.”
Actress and comic Wentworth told us that she and her pal Hargitay often walk together in the park.
“I walk six miles a day every day in Central Park. I could not survive without it during COVID,” Wentworth told us.
She said of picking her flower fascinator, “I built my whole outfit around it… I tried a lot of hats on and [picked one], first of all, that would stay on my head, and that I liked.”
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was spotted mingling amidst the floral table settings and shaking hands with attendees sipping Whispering Angel wine in sky-high bonnets, feathered fascinators and wide-brimmed boaters.
Bloomberg has been a regular at the event for years — and makes a great hype man.
“The park is New York,” Bloomberg told us. “It’s one of the great things we have. It’s what differentiates us from every other place in the world. There is no such thing as a better park. It’s open to everybody and everybody participates.”
Also making the rounds were Katie Couric, ballerina Misty Copeland, Martha Stewart and her power p.r. pal Susan Magrino, plus powerhouse socialites Gillian Miniter, Serena Miniter, Elyse Newhouse, Muffie Potter Aston, Fe Fendi, Alexandra Lebenthal, Lela Rose, Margo Nederlander, Yesim Philip and Jenny Price.
The lunch has been held for 41 years.
CEO of the Central Park Conservancy Elizabeth W. Smith told us, “Every once in a while we think we need to refresh the idea, but actually it’s such a wonderful party and people have such a wonderful time. It’s not broken. Everyone loves to get dressed up.”