This year, on the eighth anniversary of Sept.
11, kids from the will take the PATH to Wall Street, where they’ll hang out with the likes of Lady Gaga. It’s all to raise money for BGC Partners’ Charity Day. Since 2005, BGC Partners, an inter-dealer brokerage firm spinoff of Cantor Fitzgerald, has held Charity Day, where celebrities like Yogi Berra, Donald Trump and Walt Frazier stop by the firm and raise money for New York City non-profits. “They get on the phone and talk to a trader,” said Roger Campbell, Chief Administrative Officer of BGC. “The trader might want to sell $10 million, but if you put him on the phone with Walt Frazier, the great New York Knick, they’ll sell more.” Cantor Fitzgerald lost more people on Sept. 11 — more than any other company affected by the terrorist attacks. 658 Cantor employees perished that day, and partner firm Euro Brokers lost 62 people, bringing a combined loss of over 700 people to the two financial firms. “Other than people who were on vacation that day, we lost our entire New York City office,” said Campbell. “This is like the pay-it-forward idea — the best way to honor these colleagues that were killed on that day is to do something for people that could use our help now.” And to help loosen wallets, enter the celebrity “traders.” In addition to Lady Gaga, hosts of MSCNB’C “Morning Joe” Joe Scarbourough and Mika Brzezinski and New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck are all confirmed to attend Charity Day this year. In years past, the event has attracted names like Tiki Barber, former hoops star Darryl Dawkins, Tony Sirico, Steve Buscemi, Bernie Williams and former Mets manager and Yankees legend Willie Randolph.
Natalie Morales from NBC’s “The Today Show” will be making calls on behalf of the Jubilee Center. Morales, coincidentally, is a Hoboken resident.