BED BATH & BOWERY.(new headquarters of the New Museum of Contemporary Art)

Last Tuesday morning, the empty lot at 235 Bowery (the former site of Bowery Parking, LLC) looked, despite a vestigial chain-link fence, fit for a garden party. To protect guests from the rain, a tent had been erected; beneath it were rows of white, scallop-backed chairs. The occasion was a groundbreaking ceremony for the new headquarters of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. "I'm honored today to be joined by many of our most generous supporters," Saul Dennison, the president of the board of trustees, said in his opening remarks. "I'd like to take a moment to thank Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg, and Susan and Leonard Feinstein, who sit behind me." The two couples, the museum's principal benefactors, could be seen on either side of the dais.

"Which one is Mitzi, and which one is Susan?" a museum staffer, wearing a headset, whispered to a colleague.

"Oh, my God. I'm going to do the same embarrassing thing. I can never remember."

Mitzi was the one on the left, a convivial grandmother with eyeglasses and short gray hair. She is an art collector from Short Hills, New Jersey. Susan, on the right, had a swingy silver bob and held her chin very high. She was wearing a cherry-red duster, with the cuffs turned out to reveal Burberry plaid. She is also an art collector, and lives on Long Island. Both women had nice nails and large diamond studs in their ears. A couple of years ago, they joined the museum's board.

In 1971, their husbands, who (along with Mitzi) grew up together in New Bedford, Massachusetts, started the housewares chain Bed Bath & Beyond. Warren was in charge of real estate and finance, and Leonard handled merchandising; the arrangement has stood up ever since. They and their families keep a low profile (although Liz Smith once noted that Mitzi, "a charming lady from New Jersey," had, at a charity auction, bid fifteen thousand dollars for a luncheon with Bette Midler) and like to travel and dine together; the men, the executors of each other's will, are known for wearing sweaters to the office. Earlier this year, the four friends made a joint gift, in the range of ten million dollars, to the New Museum's building campaign. The facility, which will be ...