{"id":256383,"date":"2026-06-05T14:23:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/256383\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:23:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:23:50","slug":"queens-botanical-garden-hosts-2026-rambling-rose-gala-fundraising-event-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/256383\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens Botanical Garden hosts 2026 Rambling Rose Gala fundraising event \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"rambling\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Numerous community members were on hand for the Queens Botanical Garden\u2019s biggest fundraising event, the Rambling Rose Gala.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n

The Queens Botanical Garden<\/a> held its annual Rambling Rose Gala, which is its biggest fundraising event, on Monday, June 1, under the terrace of the Visitor and Administration building in Flushing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo credit: Sean Chee
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n

A total of $205,653.15 was raised from this year\u2019s Rambling Rose Gala. This funding will go towards supporting the Queens Botanical Garden\u2019s educational programming and cultural events, as well as to enhance the botanical collections, under the guidance of new Queens Botanical Garden Horticulture Director Andi Pettis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo credit: Sean Chee
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n

Attendees were able to take in the beauty of peak rose season, experience guided tours of the rose garden and dine on a seasonally focused and locally sourced meal. There was also live jazz and a silent auction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a silent auction. Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n

Honorees Howard Freilich and Yanny \u201cMama\u201d Lie were also recognized at this year\u2019s Rumbling Rose Gala. Freilich, who began his career as an intern at Queens Botanical Garden, is the founder of the horticulture services company Blondie\u2019s Treehouse<\/a>. Freilich also made a pledge at the event to support internships in the Queens Botanical Garden\u2019s horticulture department over the next five years. Lie is a key figure in the Flushing community and a member of Queens Botanical Garden\u2019s Tai Chi group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were thrilled to honor Howard Freilich and the life of Yanny \u2018Mama\u2019 Lie with so many supporters and friends,\u201d Queens Botanical Garden Executive Director Evie Hantzopoulos said. \u201cThe Garden brings joy to so many people, and this event ensures we can continue to provide a beautiful and engaging space for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Queens Botanical Garden Executive Director Evie Hantzopoulos (right), alongside Board Chair Raymond D. Jasen (left), presents the 2026 Rose Gala Award to Blondie\u2019s Treehouse Founder Howard Freilich (middle). Photo credit: Sean Chee
\n\"\"<\/a>Hantzopoulos (right) and Jasen (left) present the 2026 Rose Gala Award to Yanny Lie (middle). Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n

Among those on hand for this year\u2019s event were Queens Botanical Garden Board Chair Raymond D. Jasen, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Diya Vij, New York City Council Member Sandra Ung and\u00a0 Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Queens Botanical Garden Executive Director Evie Hantzopoulos and New York City Council Member Sandra Ung. Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I love about this Garden is that it is open and accessible to everyone, no matter your socio-economic status, your religion or your orientation,\u201d Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. \u201cThat\u2019s what democracy looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Queens Borough President Donovan Richards speaks at the 2026 Rambling Rose Gala. Photo credit: Sean Chee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Numerous community members were on hand for the Queens Botanical Garden\u2019s biggest fundraising event, the Rambling Rose Gala.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[35876,9,24,63,122,17693,124,123,99878],"class_list":["post-256383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-fundraiser","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-botanical-garden","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rumbling-rose-gala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}