Crains New York - September 24, 2012 - (Page 25)

HELLUVA TOWN INSIDE Source Lunch A rumrunner raises a glass to fight global poverty P. 26 Out and About Met Opera opens season P. 27 Gabelli gift lifts alma mater This Thursday, Fordham will unveil a new 50,000-squarefoot building for its undergraduate business school. The building, in the heart of the university’s 85-acre campus in the Bronx, cost $38 million to renovate. It will now have the latest technology for education, lounge space on every floor and ample Bloomberg machines—not to mention a Roman fountain. It is only part of the business school’s efforts to boost its standing, however. As part of the institution’s capital campaign, renowned investor Mario Gabelli, chief executive of Gamco Investors Inc. and a Fordham alum, pledged $25 million, the biggest gift the university has ever received. The funds helped push the business school’s donations to $50 million, $10 million over its goal. In honor of his gift, it has been named the Gabelli School of Business. But instead of putting his money into brick and mortar like many philanthropists, Mr. Gabelli—who said this is the biggest single gift he has made yet—wanted his grant to help build the school’s faculty. “My heart and soul is based on education and giving back to help the system,” said Mr. Gabelli, who also contributes to Columbia Business School and Boston College, among others. “And what makes a good university is faculty.” His money will endow six faculty chairs, create a visitingprofessor program and support a new center for global value investing—a highly unusual program for an undergraduate business school. Donna Rapaccioli, dean of the business school, said Mr. Gabelli’s support has already put it on an upward trajectory. This year, the college received more than 7,100 applications for 395 spaces in its freshman class, up from 6,000 applications the previous year. “Mario’s gift certainly added to making Fordham a hot school, and this new facility is adding to that,” Ms. Rapaccioli said. NET GAINS: Since Tarek Pertew (left) co-founded the NYC Footy soccer league four years ago, it has grown to include 325 players, among them Mac Abad (right). Soccer is the new golf A BY MIRIAM KREININ SOUCCAR —miriam kreinin souccar t least once a week, Savannah Tikotsky stays in the office until 10:30 p.m., killing time until her coed soccer game starts at a field on the Lower East Side. ¶ On another night, she heads to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to play a pickup game with a different group from 8 to 10 p.m. ¶ And on yet another weeknight, she practices with a third team—in a competitive women’s league—to get ready for their Sunday game. ¶ “I moved here five years ago from California and looked for a team as a way to get to know people,” said Ms. Tikotsky, a senior account executive at Feintuch Communications. “Since then, more and more leagues keep sprouting up, and there are pickup games everywhere people can find a field.” ¶ Forget softball, and don’t even think about golf. Soccer—long scoffed at by Americans for being a slow-moving, monotonous and low-scoring game—has become the first choice for recreation among many young professionals in New York. With the first generation to take part in the youth soccer boom now in their 20s and 30s, and the success of the U.S. women’s team in the World Cup and Olympics, the sport is enjoying a newfound See SOCCER on Page 26 Number of sports played in NYC recreational leagues managed by ZogSports 13 600+ Number of soccer teams run by Zog September 24, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 25 buck ennis As the once-sleepy game gains in popularity, networking happens on the field

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - September 24, 2012

In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Corporate Ladder
Small Business
Opinion
Greg David
Report: Accounting
The List
Classifieds
Real Estate Deals
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - September 24, 2012