Langone And Sorkin Discuss The American Dream At BCNY’s Annual Luncheon

The Boys Club of New York (BCNY) held its 16th annual luncheon Wednesday at 583 Park Avenue. 300 guests came to support the organization, and to watch Andrew Ross Sorkin interview Ken Langone on the subject of mentorship and the American Dream. Co-chaired by Ritchey and David Howe, Tiffany and Claus Moller, Alexandra and Greg Mondre, Betsy and Rob Pitts, Hilary and Lyon Polk, Kathryn and Bill Tyree, and Cynthia and Jan van Eck, the event raised over $900,000 to support BCNY’s innovative approach to youth development and its unique mentorship model programming.

“The core mission of the BCNY to serve the community has always been paramount to our involvement,” said Cynthia van Eck. “It gives the boys role models to see what their future can look like and the opportunity to make it happen.”

A past Women’s Board President, Van Eck was most excited about the new BCNY clubhouse, being built in Mott Haven, in the Bronx, as was BCNY Executive Director Stephen Tosh.

“There is so much need there,” said Tosh. “I worked in Mott Haven for ten years before joining the Boys Club, and we will be filling a big void. We are opening a 30,000 square foot, state-of-the-art clubhouse with an additional 30,000 square feet of outdoor space. The soft opening will take place July 1, the full opening September 1. We expect to be serving about 1,000 boys a year directly, and another 1,000 indirectly who will be participants in our sports leagues and other activities. We are really excited and we feel this is a major step right now for the Boys Club in meeting the needs of boys in New York.”

Board members who have volunteered for years have witnessed first-hand what the power of mentorship can do, and how being part of the Boys Club can change the trajectory of a boy’s life in an incredibly positive way. Each has their own success story to share.

“I will never forget when a young man named Daouda who used to come to the Harriman clubhouse said to me, ‘When I come here, I feel I have come home and I feel safe,’” said board member Anjali Melwani. “He lived in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn and had no friends. When he came to BCNY, he found a family.”

“I think the success stories at BCNY come in all sizes,” said co-chair and board member Ritchey Howe. “Of course there are boys that have gone on to Julliard and Ivy League colleges, but just as important are those of a shy boy becoming more confident and finding a home at the clubhouse, and the comfort that gives his single mother. What is amazing at BCNY is it is for every underserved boy; it meets them where they are and helps them grow and have a better life.”

Board president Bill Tyree, who started volunteering at BCNY in 1985, highlighted the support BCNY gives its members even when they falter. BCNY believes in second chances.

“I was a mentor to a boy who got in to a prestigious prep school,” said Tyree. “He was an academic, and he did very well there. Unfortunately, his senior year, he plagiarized his common application essay. One of the schools found out about it and notified the prep school; the boy was told to withdraw all the college applications that had that essay in it. He called the schools to explain his situation, but none would take him. With the help of Antonio Aponte, our Director of Educational and Career services, BCNY helped him through the process of getting into SUNY Binghamton, where he graduated Cum Laude. He has been a huge success ever since.”

The room was buzzing as guests dined on roasted salmon with couscous and vegetables, curious to hear two titans of finance speak during these uncertain times. After a beautiful introduction by Ritchey Howe – Langone was a friend of her father’s – Sorkin and Langone took the stage, and Sorkin gave an introduction of his own.

“Ken Langone is the personification of the American Dream,” said Sorkin. “He founded Home Depot, creating half a million jobs. One of the most impressive things he has done is he effectively raised five billion dollars, and gave $500 million of his own money, to change the fate of NYU Langone Medical Center. Those medical students do not pay tuition. Also, at a time when a lot of people don’t want to say what they think, Ken Langone is a straight shooter.”

Sorkin then asked Langone, who originally came from a modest background, if he felt the American Dream was still available today.

“The American Dream has never been better than it is right now,” Langone answered. “With all of the mistakes we make in this nation, there is no nation on earth that is better than this country. And the sooner we recognize what we have, as opposed to what we don’t have, the quicker we will come to the realization that a lot of kids like me have a chance to succeed. I never dreamed in a million years that I could do what I did. There isn’t a better place, or a better time, to achieve the American Dream. I wish I was 21 and starting all over again.”