vip in the city

Do well, do GOOD

After the barbecue and scotch tasting in Chelsea, B and I made our way downtown for the GOOD magazine one year anniversary party being held inside the old Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at One Bowling Green.

GOOD is described as “media for people who give a damn.” Through their LA-based magazine (printed on recycled paper, naturally), feature and documentary films, original multimedia content and local events, GOOD encourages and inspires socially conscious global citizens to band together to effect positive change. To do good, as it were.

For all the weightiness of the topics – a recent cover featured Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, “the man who is putting the ‘science’ back in political science” – the clever design, elegant layouts, slick photography and whimsical illustrations keep the magazine accessible without sacrificing its intelligent edge. And the publication doesn’t just advocate for social, environmental, and political responsibility; subscribe through their website and the full $20 annual subscription cost is donated to the non-profit of your choice. No catch: it’s an experiment in building a new subscriber base without resorting to wasteful advertising, generating interest among a self-selecting group of individuals, while raising money for worthy organizations in the process. How can that be anything but good?

Plus, did I mention that they host fantastic parties? What a thrill to be wandering around this stunning century-old Cass Gilbert-designed Beaux Arts building — now the Smithsonian’s New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian — among similarly-motivated guests as DJs piped thumping music on two floors.

Among the tables set up outside the Rotunda: one for Hope Equity, an online community modeled after a financial portfolio, allowing individuals to “invest” in endowment funds for one or more chosen countries or causes.

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