Friends of Duane Park is throwing its annual Groundhog Day fundraiser on Feb. 2, which is the absolute best time of year for a party because there is nothing else going on. The party will migrate from an “oh-mercy-Maude loft in North Tribeca that is on the market for $20 million” to a “definitely closed to the public commercial space of considerable architectural stature.” (Locations cannot be revealed in advance for insurance and security reasons.) I recommend grabbing a group of tickets (they are only selling 100) and taking the friends who always host you for parties but you never reciprocate because you hate hosting parties. Tickets ($100 per, or $550 for six — and almost all funds will go directly to the park) are here. Oh, and there’s live ice sculpting, a phrase I only get to type once a year. That’s free theater from 4 to 5p, with hot chocolate and cookies for the kiddies who come by.

A few notes on Duane Park and its worthiness: the city does not maintain it; its neighbors do. They rescued it from the dump that it was in the ‘90s and brought it back to life 20 years ago this year, with a restoration to its 1887 Calvert Vaux design by Duane Park neighbor and landscape architect Signe Nielsen. It is also the first public park acquired by the City of New York (in 1797), so it deserves the love.