I THE INFLUENTTALs ]
oneacademictutoringisa flxture of contemporary New Yor\ and Alagappan is the fatherofthe businessT. wenty yearsago,Alagappan,a P r i n c e t o np h i l o s o p h ym a j o r a n d Harvard Law grad, ieft the white-shoelaw firm Sullivanand Cromwell to found Advantage Testing,aboutiquetutoring s e r v i c ef o r c o l l e g e - b o u n dh i g h - schooikids.Today,Alagappan and too fellow tutors work with up to 2,ooo kids eachyearin s u b j e c t sr a n g i n g f r o m c o r e academicsand essaywriting to S A T p r e p . D e s p i t el a w - p a r t n e r rates(Alagappancharges$685 for a So-minutehour,although stafftutors chargeless),ayear's wait is not uncommonfor Alagappan'sservices.Alagappan
youirgson,shesetaboutfinding it for herself,then shalingit with the restof NewYork. Today,her Website,InsideSchools.org, offersan educationalmix of information aboutNewYork's 1,5oopublicschools.The Website's choolplofilesdetail testscores,ofcourse,but they alsodescribethe cultureofeach school,givingprospective familiesinsightson teaching s t y l e s ,h o m e w o r k , a n d d i s c i p l i n e . Therearealsopolicypapers, parentalerts,andnuts-and-bolts guidesto schooladmissions, testing,and other education essentialsI.nsideSchools.org d o e s n ' tp u l l p u n c h e s ;y o u ' r e a s aptto readaboutbarrenscience l a b s a t a g i v e n s c h o o la sy o u a r e to readabouta greatprincipd. ArunAlagappan Fountle4 Acluant age Testin.g I nc. Like it or not, high-end,one-on-
on an eLeven-acrecampus in Canarsie, it would look more at home in Houston or LA.-now has a congregation ofmore than 25,ooo(with anotherSoo,ooo tuning in to hearBernardon WMCA-AM). Vocalconvertslike JasonKidd and StarJoneshave helpedspreadBernardsversion of the prosperity gospel: taking p e r s o n a lr e s p o n s i b i l i t yl,i v i n g b y bibjical standards,and finding successin all parts oflife. And
and flirted with petty crime, but a teachertookthetimeto sethim
on the right track, and he eventually graduated fr om
Bowdoinandearneda master's in educationfrom Harvard.He started the Zone with the help of Soros'sQuantumFundmanager and fellow Bowdoin alumnus StanDruckenmiller(who,along rvith other private, corporate,and go!€rnmentsourcesf,undsthe p r o g r a m ) .T h e P r o m i s eA c a d e m y hasproducedremarkableresults. In September2OO4,o,nly1l p e r c e n to f t h e k i n d e r g a r t e nh i d s , dl chosenby lottery testedabove gradelevel.ByJune'o5,that numberhadrisento 80 percent. ClaraHemphill Foun daa I nsi.tleScItoo ls.org Empowering parents. When Hemphill couldnt find the information she needed to choose a oubiic school for her
Bemard hasleveragedhis ministry into considerable
power-politicians like Spitzer andBloomberghavecourtedhim avidly,ashasdeveloperBruce Ratner. Disney flew Bernard to Burbankto showhim an early rough-cut of}/orniq then held a marketing eventat the CCCfor 7 O ON e w Y o r k r e l i g i o u sl e a d e r s . CharleBsronfman Jwish plilanth.ropist The largesseof Bronfman-and
insistshe doesnt track test scores; regardless,Advantage hasinspireddozensofhigh- pricedimitators,and,for betteror worse,transformedthe precollegelandscape. (nruum) his iate wife, Andrea-is r e s h a p i n gt h e w a y t h a t thousandsofyoung, urban, secular-leaningJewsconnect with their faith. Everyyear, Bronfmanawards$15million to
BISHOP CATHERINtr ROSKAM
$2o million-and leverages another$2O0million from other lbundations-to innovative,media-sawy,youth- focusedJewishprograms. Birthright Israelis sendingits IoO,OOOthJewto Israelthis summer,andthe artsnonprofit R e b o o tp u t s o u t 2 o , o O Oc o p i e s of the bi-monthly Guilt and
RevT.imothKyeller Redcdilet Prcshyterian Keller hasbecomethe most successfIuChristianEvangelist in the city by recognizingwhat marketershaveknown for decades:that young professionalsand artistsare "disproportionatelyinfluential" in creatingthe country'sculture andthat you haveto meetthis coveteddemographicon its own terms.With inteliectua.l, brimstone-freesermonsthar manageto citeWoodyAllen alongsideMatthew,Marli, Luke, andJohn,Keller drawssome 5,ooo youngfollowersevery Sunday.Churchleadersseehim as a model ofhow to evangeiize urban centersacrossthe country,and Kellerhashelped "plant" so gospel-based ChristianchurchesaroundNew York plus another 5o from San Franciscoto London. RevA, .R.Bernard NewYork'smegachurchman.His ChristianCulturalCenter-built
Pleu,suremagazineandsponsors informal salonsfrom ParkSlope to MorningsideHeights. $9"*g*;T!y.u.n Asidefrom the Dalai Lama himself, no one has done more to spreadinternational a w a r e n e s sa n d a p p r e c i a t i o nf o r Tibetan Buddhism than
Thurman, a former monk and current Columbiaprofessor.His translations made key texts availableto Englishspeakers, and his charismaticspeaking tours haveinspiredthousands aroundthe country.Yes,he's Uma's father, and remarkably Hollywood-sawy-in 1982he and RichardGerefounded Tibet House,a nonprofit organizationfavoredby celeblitiesthat hostsevents rangingfrom yogaretreatsto mind transformation.
tl l, t: :lr li l,
86 NEw YoRK I MAY 15, 2oO6
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