On the roof of the famed Flatiron Building.
some 150 buildings, owning about 40 of them. Worldwide, Newmark Knight Frank employs over 7,000. A world-class multi-tasker, Gural deftly juggles business, philanthropy, politics and — more than anything else in his inbox these days — harness racing. His schedule would make many younger men cry “no mas.” But he couldn’t do it without Theresa Marino and Marianne Marcucci, his two personal assistants a short bellow away from his open office door or in constant communication via cell phone when he’s on the move. Beyond virtually scheduling Gural’s every move, Marino and Marcucci print out the emails and steadily place them on Gural’s desk throughout the day. Despite the deluge, he’s a stickler for trying to return every phone call and answer every email by either jotting down a quick response on each printout, or dictating longer ones to be fired back. In the midst of a moderately-hectic day of meetings, appointments, phone calls and fires to put out — Marino insists it’s “a slow day” — Gural has the presence of mind to dictate a frank message to the industry. The point of the memo is to encourage horsepeople to make their Feb. 15 stakes payments despite also mentioning the sobering fact the Meadowlands handle was off 20 per cent at that point (it’s been much better, of late). The docket on this day includes: meeting with a group wishing to be hired to help Gural lobby the New York State legislature, a meeting with representatives of a tote company Gural is hoping will invest in the Meadowlands, a brief meeting with a real estate partner, playing peacemaker in an intraoffice squabble over which employee gets which office and a number of phone calls, including one with a U.S. Senator from Florida. For lunch, Gural dashes off to a restaurant in a swanky New York hotel to meet with Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the House. Until the Republicans regained control of the House in the November 2010 elections, Pelosi was the Speaker of the House, second in line to the presidency and the highest ranking female politician in U.S. history. After lunch, Pelosi, a Baltimore native, even spends a moment spinning warm memories of her father’s fondness for going to Rosecroft and Ocean Downs in his later years despite deploring gambling as a younger man. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was a U.S. Congressman and then mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. Gural, a Democrat, is something of a political junkie. In his office are pictures of him with Pelosi, him with President Barrack Obama, him with former President Bill Clinton. A photo of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is one of a few indications Gural is a friend, making the idea of hiring lobbyists to work the government halls in Albany seem unnecessary. “This is my favourite picture in the whole office,” Gural said with a glint in his eye, beckoning his visitor to look closely at a small frame on the wall near his desk. It’s a shot of Gural seated behind the desk in the Oval Office. Such photos are a big no-no, Gural said. “Which administration?” he’s asked. “Clinton.” Until very recently, Gural was much less connected in New Jersey. When he contacted Governor Chris Christie’s office in hopes of helping the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey (SBOANJ) secure the rights to the Meadowlands, Gural was told he could indeed talk about a possible deal, so long as he could get to Trenton, NJ immediately with a cheque for $3 million to cover potential losses at the track until March 31. Otherwise, he was told, the closure of the track would be announced that night. A short time later, an embarrassed staffer who obviously checked into Gural’s background, called back to apologize and tell Gural that Governor Christie would be delighted to meet with him the next morning. No cheque was necessary. The next day, not long after they met, Gural and Christie held a joint press conference to announce Gural’s intention to work with the SBOANJ to secure the rights to the track. Just like that, Jeff Gural became what he calls “an accidental saviour.” His son, Eric Gural, the executive managing director at Newmark Knight Frank, said his father’s interest in politics has a practical and noble goal. “He wants to help the world... He wants to be bigger than his one vote,” Eric said. “He has a lot of contact with people who aren’t as fortunate as him. He understands their lives are harder than his. He tries his best to help them. I think that’s how he sees it.” When Jeff Gural was asked to be the vice-president of the Starlight Foundation of New York, he was told the president was fully entrenched as the head of the charity that aids seriously ill children. Fine by Jeff. He was happy to help, but he had plenty on his plate already. A few months later, the president resigned. “I think that’s over 20 years ago,” Eric Gural said. Jeff has been president ever since. “Starlight has really become a passion for him... That organization has grown substantially and their mission has developed even further. The scope of what they do is much better. It’s really been incredibly successful. I remember when there used to be maybe 20 tables or 40 tables (at fundraisers). Now, you’re talking about 1,000 people in the room. It’s really an amazing event.” Many of the photos in Jeff’s office are of him with children from the Starlight Foundation. “It’s not just financial. He personally gets involved in a lot of charity work that he does. That really says a lot about him,” Eric said. Through the I Have A Dream Foundation, Jeff has sponsored not one, but two groups of underprivileged children — mentoring, tutoring, counseling and supporting them from elementary school through college. Beyond contributing nearly half of the $3.2 million needed to help steer the current crop of some 80 Grade 7 and 8 students to a college education, Jeff gets personally involved with the kids’ lives. He’s involved with about 20 other philanthropic efforts, including The Broadway Association — Jeff’s a theatre lover — and The New School, a liberal arts university in New York. On the day he’s being shadowed by a reporter, Jeff attends a board of governor’s meeting at the university located in Greenwich Village. The mandate of the school is to bring “positive change to the world,” which is in line with Jeff’s thinking. Walking out of the school, stepping over snow banks on the way to his car as dusk envelops the city, Jeff speaks passionately of the responsibility and moral obligation people with wealth have to help others. Eric said his father has established an incredible climate of giving at Newmark Knight Frank. “He gets right into it,” Eric said. “He shows up and gives back. I think that’s something that’s very important. He’s instilled that in a lot of the people here. We continue to rent space to charities and participate in some of their fundraising. That’s very important to him.” Philanthropy is a running theme in Jeff’s life that also speaks to his other passions. “A lot of it has to do with kids and education and helping kids. I think that’s a very important thing to him,” Eric said. “He certainly doesn’t do it to be well known. That’s not his goal. You’ll never see him hiring a PR agency to do any kind of promotions on him personally, obviously, outside of promoting harness racing. He certainly does that, but he doesn’t really do anything to promote himself.” 24 T H E C A N A D I A N S P O R T S M A N MARCH 17, 2011
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