Photo Flash: Chita Rivera, Harry Belafonte & More Turn Out for New Jewish Home's EIGHTY OVER EIGHTY Benefit

At its third annual Eight Over Eighty benefit gala last night, The New Jewish Home(formerly, Jewish Home Lifecare), one of the country's largest and most diversified nonprofit eldercare systems, honored eight trailblazing New Yorkers over 80. The event, at the Mandarin Oriental New York,attracted 440 guests and raised $1.2 million for The New Jewish Home's rehabilitation, skilled nursing, and home health care programs, which together serve 12,000 older New Yorkers each year. BroadwayWorld brings you coverage below!

The honorees, each of whom was celebrated in a video vignette created by filmmaker Nick Davis, were financier and chairman of Jazz at Lincoln Center Bob Appel, singer and humanitarian Harry Belafonte, ballet great Jacques d'Amboise, philanthropist Joy Henshel, Broadway superstar Chita Rivera, legendary ad man Keith Reinhard, gossip queen Liz Smith, and Sesame Street's Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, Caroll Spinney. These accomplished men and women, still going strong in their 80s and 90s, prove that trailblazing is ageless. For more information about the honorees and for photos, please visitwww.8over80.org.

"Who better to teach us what it means to 'age like a New Yorker' than tonight's extraordinary honorees?," said Audrey Weiner, President and CEO of The New Jewish Home, quoting the organization's new tag line. Addressing the honorees she added, "If you represent what aging like a New Yorker is all about, sign me up."

Among those on hand were Soledad O'Brien, the evening's mistress of ceremonies; Wynton Marsalis; Rex Reed; Valerie and Charles Diker; Carol and Dick Eisner; Francis L. "Shorty" Fraenkel; Eric Goldstein, CEO, UJA-Federation; Elizabeth Grayer, Chairman, The New Jewish Home; event co-chair Nancy Hirschtritt and Joel Hirschtritt; Rose and Richard Kalikow; Ruth and Sid Lapidus; Morris Offit; Amanda and Ned Offit; Dr. David Reich, CEO, The Mount Sinai Hospital; Marcia Riklis; event co-chairTami Schneider; Sofia and Mike Segal; Jeffrey Solomon, President, Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies; Susie Stern; and Harold Tanner, President, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Photos by A. Hoyer