Hello classmates. 

We now have more details about our weekend in New York September 12-14, 2025, as you will see below.  We have heard from a number of you, but would like to get an updated count for these events, especially for those of you who are not staying at the Yale Club of New York. (Reminder – room block under “YLS ’78 Reunion” available through July 25.  Cancellable through September 9.)

Friday September 12, approx. 5-9 pm, New York City Bar Association, 42 W 44^th Street, program and dinner.  The program will have two parts:  first, a discussion about the unique and complex issues around the legal status of Puerto Rico, and then a conversation about current Constitutional issues. We are fortunate to have two distinguished speakers,  Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale, and Christina Ponsa-Kraus, YLS ‘98, Murray Professor of Legal History at Columbia Law School and a noted scholar about Puerto Rico’s legal issues.  We are also honored to have as our guests the Hon. Jose Cabranes, Senior Judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Kate Stith, Lafayette Foster Professor of Law at Yale. Judge Cabranes will open with remarks about the legal status of Puerto Rico; the session will be moderated by our classmate Jaime El Koury.  The discussion of current issues will be moderated by our classmate Bill Eskridge, who we thank for assembling this remarkable group of experts.  The discussion will continue with a light, informal dinner at the same location, the historic New York City Bar Association.   Our host at the Association, Albert Feuer, will lead a tour of the 1896 building before the program begins.  A more detailed schedule will be provided later.

Saturday morning – Yale Law Rule of Law Clinic.  Many  of you may have heard about this great organization at the Law School headed by Prof. Harold Koh.  Details are still being worked out, but we expect to hear from both student leaders and faculty/staff about the work they are doing.  Venue will be a law firm office near the Yale Club.

Saturday evening, 6 pm – Dinner at the Upper West Side townhouse of Jack Mayberry and Francesca Kress, 47 W. 92^nd Street.

We will also have some cultural options available, including the New-York Historical Society Museum on Saturday afternoon.  It is a fascinating museum on Central Park West.  We are planning a private tour at 3 pm if there is interest.  Weather permitting, a visit to the museum could be followed by a walk to Jack and Francesca’s home.  For Sunday morning, we can arrange a behind-the-scenes tour of Grand Central station, across the street from the Yale Club, with a guide from the Municipal Art Society, an organization that was instrumental in saving Grand Central from demolition during the 1980s.  We can also arrange a Saturday lunch at the Yale Club.  These options will be scheduled later this summer.

For now, we would like to get a sense of how many people plan to attend the three main events listed above.  Please let me know (Carl.Reisner@gmail.com) if you (and a guest) plan to attend.  This is not a binding commitment, just a way to help helping us to get a sense of the size of the group.

1. Friday night at the City Bar Association (food and beverage $50 per person)
2. Saturday morning Rule of Law Clinic
3. Saturday evening dinner chez Mayberry (food $50 per person; beverages compliments of the planning committee)

Many thanks

Carl