IN HIS OWN WORDS:

Humble Beginnings
At the age of 16, I dropped out of school. To be more truthful -- I would have to say I was drop-kicked out of school. As I look back, I realize that it was the best thing that ever happened to me. No, not really. The best thing would have to be the Gambino Twins in 1979. What I mean to say is that if I had stayed in school, I would have had a high school diploma (maybe) and no job. Leaving school in the tenth grade gave me a jump on the other bums I was growing up with.

When I "left" school I went to work at my uncle's dry cleaners in Manhattan. I spent very little time at the cleaners. I spent most of the day and into the night running "errands" for my uncle. I found that I was becoming an expert on the city. I learned fast the best way to get anywhere in the city and how to get around or out of situations. I could have gone a long time headed in this direction.

Community Service
One cold and wet Sunday morning about 6:30 AM I was coming home from working an all night poker game. I had six "C's" in my pocket and I was feeling good. Between the poker games and the "errands," I ran for my Uncle, life was great. I'm walking on Grand between Greene and Mercer and this homeless guy comes up to me and wants money. I'm really fed up with people who hit you up for money. It's not good for any city, and New York has quite a reputation. So I ask this guy, "What do you want with my money?" He tells me, "I want to get something to eat and a warm, dry place to lay down. A drink
would be nice." I told him I could arrange all that.

I walked him over to a liquor store and instructed him on how to break the glass through the security gate and reach in and lift two bottles of Hennessey XO, one for each of us. Then I tell him to sit on the curb, open the XO and have his drink. In about four and a half minutes a car would come by to take him to a place that was warm and dry. I was on my way.

Nobody was hurt and for the next 30 days my friend would have free food and housing. It didn't work out exactly as planned cause the bum fingered me and the cops nabbed me for accessory. I was lucky since it was my first offense. I received 14 days suspended sentence with 120 hours of community service. I also had to write a paper telling younger kids not to grow up like me. My service to the community had begun.

APEN
APEN is an organization made up of New Yorkers from all walks of life, we are a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds, working as one team to enhance New York City's image, by eliminating the negative. And just like the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Chamber of Commerce, we provide visitors to NYC with travel guides. The difference is that we write no-nonsense guides that accentuate the positive aspects of the city, of course, but more importantly, we don't pretend there are no negatives. We tell visitors to the city how to avoid or at least how to deal with the negative should they come face-to-face with it.