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Real Estate Organization Adopts Mario's Kids April 2002
The Young Men's and Women's Real Estate Association's
(YM/WREA) collaboration with the Salvadori Center grows

By Emily Weinstein

Erasmus High School students tour some of the less-traveled areas of the Chrysler Building.

April 2002 - When most visitors come to landmarks like the Chrysler Building, pipes and boiler rooms are not generally what they have in mind. But when the visitors are Salvadori students, a look at the inner workings of a building is definitely an attraction.

The Chrysler Building is just one of the landmark buildings the YM/WREA makes available to Salvadori students. Photo courtesy of Jeffery Howe, Boston College

Like all VIP tours, getting a few dozen teenagers into the off-limits areas of famous buildings requires a special connection. In this case, the connection is Mitch Arkin, a Salvadori board member who is a former chairman of the Young Men's and Women's Real Estate Association (YM/WREA), a federation of New York real estate professionals. After two years of nurturing the relationship between these organizations, he has seen it grow from a great idea into a thriving partnership. The tours are one very popular way the YM/WREA has found to put its professional connections to use in the community.

"Our students are totally captivated by the sweep and details of the tours," says Salvadori staff member Pat Shuford , who took her Erasmus High School students on a tour of the Chrysler Building in the fall of 2000. Their learning experiences were sparked by key people, like the building's chief engineer, Anthony Castiglia, and building manager, James Brady, who showed the students around. "These specialists have the inside track on unusual occurrences and historical facts that most people never find out about," Pat says.

Mr. Arkin sees enormous potential for his organization to provide venues for Salvadori's hands-on programs. The Woolworth Building became a living curriculum for teachers attending Salvadori's Summer Institute last August. "We talked about the structure, how it was built, how it is run. [Their students are] studying structure and weight loads in class. Now we can show them firsthand: Here's a raised floor. Here's the mechanical equipment, and there's the steel that supports it." Rockefeller Center, he thinks, would be another great tour destination for kids.

"What's Meant to Be Takes a Visionary to See"

Mitch Arkin, Salvadori board member and former YM/WREA chairman, is the force behind the partnership between the two.

Sometimes, what is meant to be takes a visionary to see," says Lorraine Whitman, our executive director, speaking about our current collaboration with YM/WREA. While Salvadori's earlier professional collaborations involved the design and build fields, the real estate community offers real live, flesh and blood (well, concrete and steel) experiences of buildings to our students.

Mr. Arkin, a director at the real estate firm of Cushman and Wakefield, saw this from the moment he attended his first Salvadori Benefit, at the suggestion of colleagues Roxanne Donovan, a Salvadori board member, and Ellen Israel, of the Y/MWREA. He also recognized what Salvadori could offer YM/WREA. "There are a lot of people in the real estate industry looking for the opportunity to support an educational charity that's related to what we do, especially one that targets New York City's students," he said. "Clearly, this is the one!"

The Woolworth Building became part of Salvadori's Summer Institute for teachers, bringing to life principles of the built environment. Photo courtesy of Jeffery Howe, Boston College

Professionals Helping Each Other, Helping Kids

Mr. Arkin is currently serving as chair of the benefit committee. Other YM/WREA members are also getting involved. "We are proud to support the educational pursuits of the future leaders of our industry," says Vincent Terranova, chairman of YM/WREA's board. He will award the Young Men's and Women's Real Estate Association 2002 Mario's Kids Scholarships to four students at the benefit.

Like Salvadori, the YM/WREA is an organization with a rich history. Formed in 1948 by war veterans to help further their careers in real estate, YM/WREA today has more than 400 members, including many of the top people in the field.

It is this network that makes the tours possible. Calvin Farley, Vice President of Leasing at Tishman Speyer Properties, helped set up the Chrysler Building tour, while Todd Korren, then of the Witkoff Group, arranged the tour of the Woolworth Building.

YM/WREA is a very special organization, says Arkin, because "it's rare to see real estate people really supporting each other." Now, they are helping kids as well.

"Already, there's a genuine synergy between the real estate community and Salvadori," he says. "And it's only going to get better."

Comments? Questions? Email emily@salvadori.org