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Party on the pier: Hollywood royalty hits the county of Kings for green space’s gala

Party on the pier: Hollywood royalty hits the county of Kings for green space’s gala
Photo by Zoe Freilich

It was a starry night in Brooklyn Bridge Park!

Celebrities flocked to the waterfront green space for its fifth-annual black-tie ball on Thursday, including the dashing actor Jon Hamm, who hosted the festivities. The man of “Mad Men” fame hails from St. Louis and doesn’t even live in Brooklyn, but one park honcho had nothing but praise for the star nonetheless.

“It was fun and exciting to have him as our guest host,” said Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy chief Nancy Webster. “He was very lovely, down to earth, and very funny — just a really sweet guy.”

The conservancy, which stages the gala to raise money for park programming and events, snagged Hamm for the ceremony through the husband of a board member, who went to high school with the actor.

Eight hundred people attended a swanky dinner at Pier 2 as part of the affair and 250 revelers bought tickets to the after-party, raising more than $1.35 million for the meadow, Webster said.

Green-space officials honored developer Douglas Durst of the Durst Organization for his environmental work as well as Hank Gutman, a park board member who helped oversee the lawn’s construction.

And Hamm wasn’t the only big name to walk the red carpet at the event. Other notable guests included Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys — the stars of television’s sexy spy drama “The Americans,” who live in Brooklyn Heights and frequent the park — and actress Michelle Monaghan.

Songstress and Cobble-Hill resident Norah Jones performed to close out the epic evening, ending it on a high note, according to Webster.

“She really brought down the house,’ she said.

Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–2511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill