Artist Jeanne-Claude, who died in November at the age of 74, was honored at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a massive memorial service on Monday.

"As we waited to unfurl the first Gates, the anticipation was palpable," Mayor Bloomberg recalled of the famous saffron-hued Jeanne-Claude and Christo installation in Central Park. "When the moment arrived, I had the honor of pulling the cord, and a brilliant saffron panel fell to the ground along with a giant cardboard [tube] that promptly whacked me on the head."