Inside the Jackie Robinson Foundation Awards Gala

Audry Quock and Russell Simmons on the red carpet before the awards gala.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

The Jackie Robinson Foundation held its annual awards gala Monday night at the Waldorf Astoria in Midtown. The group paid tribute to Sean "Diddy" Combs, Ingrid Saunders Jones, and Joseph R. Parella for their humanitarian ideals. Check out the photo gallery I created from the red carpet for NBCNewYork.

Stars Salute Alec Baldwin

Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin share a laugh on the red carpet.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

The Museum of the Moving Image Salute to Alec Baldwin was held at the Cipriani in midtown Monday night, honoring him for his work in films and television - including his roles in It's Complicated, 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live, and Along Came Polly. Baldwin is the 26th Honoree of this award.

What an evening. I met Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Amy Ryan, Jimmy Fallon, Ben Stiller, Richard Gere, Bob Balaban and many others. Check out the photo gallery I created from the night for NBCNewYork.

Inside the Ladies-Only Casino Night at the Empire State Building

Photo by Brooke Niemeyer

Urban Girl Squad, a ladies-only social networking group, held a casino cocktail party at the Empire Room inside the Empire State Building Thursday night. The women enjoyed a night of socializing, gaming and cocktails at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City brought in some of their tables and game dealers for the evening. Check out the NBCNewYork photo gallery I created from the evening.

Super Bowl XLV Party at BlackFinn

Sarah, one of the bartenders at BlackFinn, pouring a stack of shots.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

The Green Bay Packers beat out the Pittsburgh Stealers, 31 - 25 in the Super Bowl. Check out my NBC photo gallery showing how fans of both teams celebrated the game at a midtown sports bar. Go Packers!

The New York City Snowpocalypse of 2011

Hello loyal blog readers,

As you may have heard, New York City had a bold reminder this week that it is still winter. Some areas of the city had around 20 inches of snow fall in 24 hours and we ended up with about 19 inches where I live.

The snow went all the way up to the park benches even after being walked on.

The snow up to the fence in Union Square Park.

To those of you who are in Utah, this doesn't seem like much compared to what we're used to, but NYC rarely gets this much snow at one time, so it's a mighty big deal around here.

Snow covering Union Square Park - 

taken Thursday afternoon from my living room window.

My work event was canceled Wednesday night due to the storm, so I just watched the snowfall from my warm apartment. The snow was pretty much all I could see because my view of the city was blocked out by the clouds and the wind was blowing pretty hard so the snow was creating blizzard-like conditions.

My stormy view Wednesday night.

My usual view (how could anyone not love this city?!)

The storm stopped late Thursday morning and the sun came out for a little bit. I went out to the park by my place (Union Square Park) and took some photos. Schools were closed city-wide, so kids were out enjoying the snow. Most of them had never seen this much snow at one time so they were having a blast.

I loved this little girl all bundled up in her pink coat and boots. This was so me as a kid!

There's just something great about making snow angels and snowmen after a huge storm. Plus, if it's going to snow, I much prefer it to do something like this than just little skiffs of snow that don't amount to much.

This man built up a snow-home. The closest item is a "flat screen TV" and the one in the back
is a chair, complete with leg rest and a drink on the chair arm.  (click on the photo to enlarge)

I hope you enjoy the photos. And just click on "comments" below to leave any feedback you may have. Thanks! :)

All photos copyright Brooke Niemeyer. You may not reuse, republish, or reproduce without photographers written permission.

Ladies-Only Social Club Shows How To Do Hair Right

Last night, I attended the Urban Girl Squad's hair styling event at Aveda where hair stylists gave women tips, hand and back massages, and everyone went away with a gift bag of styling products. I took some photos and created this NBC gallery. Check it out!

"Unsilent Night": Boombox-Toting Parade-Goers Carol Through the Village

The procession began at Washington Square Park near the Christmas tree.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

This was one of the most unique events I have attended and I am so glad I got the chance to cover it. We have all heard of groups Christmas caroling and singing their favorite seasonal songs. But how many of us have ever seen or even heard about groups serenading their city by caroling with instrumental music? That's exactly what this is and it was a really neat experience.

Phil Kline started this event in 1992 with a few friends and a song he composed and now thousands of people turn out with their boom boxes, iPods, and all other types of speakers to electronically carol around the Village - from Washington Square Park down to Thompkins Square Park.

If you ever are in New York (or any of the other cities participating in this event) I highly reccomend you go!

Check out my NBC photo gallery from the event.

O.A.R. Bass Guitaris Benj Gershman Wants to Relay Messages With His Photos

me and O.A.R. guitarist Benj Gershman at the Morrison Hotel Gallery.

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
O.A.R. bass guitarist Benj Gershman is also involved in photography and he told NiteSide that besides snapping pictures of people and bands, he wants to use his photography to relay messages to the world.

"I want to have a whole other side of photography that is just social messaging," Gershman said. "I'll have a lot of them revolve around my passion for our environment and a lot of them with my view on America and telling the story about the world we live in right now."

Gershman premiered his "Rock Cause (O.A.R.)" photography exhibit last night at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Manhattan. This exhibit profiled experiences of O.A.R., and he said there are other types of bands he would like to create a similar project about.

"What intrigues me is a lot of the bands that look like they're from the 70s and the people that have that style that they're not in this modern era, like Kings of Leon or Edward Sharp and the Magnificent Zeros," Gershman said. "Those kinds of bands have such a magnificent style."

Gershman, who has shot a Dave Matthews concert, said photography started out as a hobby for him but eventually became a passion.

"I just sort of found it and fell in love with it," he said.

Gershman got his first camera from his father about a year after leaving college. He experimented with it while he was on tour with the band and realized photography wasn't as easy as he expected.

"I wasn't good at it at first and that pissed me off," Gershman said. "I had to really work at it and figure it out. I can't tell you how frustrating it is for me as a person to not get something right. Mistakes for me are hard to swallow."

He kept taking photos, not only to get better at it but also just to capture what he and the other band members were experiencing during that time in their lives.

"I realized that our band was going through things that wouldn't last forever," Gershman said. "We were changing and our music was changing. I wanted to capture it and savor it a little bit."

After developing a better understanding of photography, Gershman says it comes more naturally for him than it used to.

"When I look at things now, I don't just see the whole thing," Gershman said. "I'm looking at tones and I'm looking at the back lighting. Those things happen much more instinctually than they did early on."

Gershman says that his band mates used to tease him about always having a camera with him, but always encouraged him and even later asked for his advice.

"They've gotten some cool cameras and I've been fortunate enough to lend some tips their way," Gershman said. "They're the most supportive guys in the world and I'm lucky to have them get it like that."

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.