"This program was held shortly after Donald Trump was elected President. After AIA National issued a statement that took all of us by surprise, including the executive directors of every AIA chapter, the board of AIANY issued a letter in response. Michael Murphy and Michael Sorkin got in touch with me and said they wanted to be critical and raise some issues. This Cocktails and Conversations provided a forum to discuss architecture and politics and the election results in 2016." - Ben Prosky, Assoc. AIA, Executive Director, AIANY