Dark Blue Suits! Fist Pumps! 'Cyclical Markets!' It's a CBRE Party!

“You see they got oysters over there?” a financial type said as he extended a closed fist to a coworker in celebration.

The wine flowed as CBRE brokers and their clients prepped for the evening’s main event: getting down with Booker T. and the M.G.’s. The concert was part of the River to River festival, a series of summer events set up after Sept. 11 to revitalize lower Manhattan.

However, much of the conversation at the cocktail reception revolved around business.

“You got to have something put away these days,” CBRE broker Jim Searl told The Observer in between bites of a mini-cheeseburger. “Things are really good right now, but the market is cyclical.”

A Wall Streeter nearby chimed in with some outdated investment advice.

“Buy Apple,” he said with a straight face.

CBRE C.O.O. and River to River organizer Cherrie Nanninga was one of the few who dared stray from the somber dress code as she was decked out in a fetching pink blazer.

“These concerts have done wonders for downtown,” Ms. Nanninga told The Observer. “Also, I am going on vacation tomorrow, so it’s a nice send-off.”

“See you in six months!” a coworker added when he heard Ms. Nanninga’s plans.

As the skies darkened, CBRE managing director Sheldon Cohen came around and ushered people toward the concert. But no one wanted to move away from the food just yet.

“You think we can take some of these burgers with us to the concert?” a well-dressed young woman asked her friend.