The Ali Forney Center, which provides housing and services to homeless L.G.B.T. youth across New York City, has certainly been getting all the help it needs after the organization’s Chelsea drop-in center was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy’s floodwaters. Executive Director Carl Siciliano announced several weeks ago that, through events and donations, A.F.C. had already met the $400,000 fundraising goal required to move the organization into its new Harlem drop-in center at W. 125th St. and St. Nicholas Ave., which opened on Tuesday. And on Sunday, A.F.C. raised even more funds to bolster its transition from the storm, this time with a benefit concert at XL Nightclub on W. 42nd St. The event, organized by the It Gets Better Project, a fellow L.G.B.T. group, featured performances by former “All My Children” soap star Natalie Hall (top photo); Ari Shapiro, National Public Radio’s White House correspondent (below, left), who’s a surprisingly good singer; and numerous young Broadway stars. The evening was hosted by drag queen comedy duo The Haus of Mimosa (half of whom is below, right), who performed a few of their own spirited songs.
