Foundation honors Jeff Gural as its 2006 Man of the Year.

Eric Gural, executive managing director at Newmark Knight Frank, paid touching tribute to his father, Jeff Gural, at the annual Realty Foundation Man of the Year luncheon recently.

"My dad gets recognized for lots of things, but never really by his own family," admitted Gural Jr. "How do you stand here and tell people how much you love your dad and what he does? He speaks out against what is wrong, looks out for the little guy and always has an open door. Being his son is not about the value the grounding brings, it's about the values the grounding brings."

Indeed, Gural Sr., chairman of Newmark Knight Frank, has done more than most to demonstrate the power of giving, having helped ease the plight of literally thousands of men, women and children suffering illness, depravation or just plain bad luck during his nearly 40-year career in real estate. "Jeff Gural is a unique person for a multitude of reasons," developer Larry Silverstein, chairman of the Realty Foundation told the over 500 guests at the lunch held in the Waldorf-Astoria.

"We know him as leader in the industry and chairman of Newmark Knight Frank, we also know him as vice president of the Realty Foundation for 13 years, succeeding his father Aaron in this capacity. His generosity of soul is of particular note."

Silverstein--a long-time friend and former partner of Aaron Gural--joked about Gural's passion for breeding and racing horses, but he said the real estate luminary had never gambled with the lives of the people he helped in some way virtually every day of his life.

"He has a great concern for people in need, in particular children and those suffering terminal illness," said Silverstein. "For his profoundly deep commitment to the needs of children, he has given 30 years service to the Starlight Starbright Foundation."

A past winner of REBNY's Humanitarian Award, Gural's many charitable affiliations include groups as varied as the United Services Organization, a non-profit that provides morale, welfare and recreational services to service men and women and their families, to Settlement Housing Fund, which develops housing for the elderly, people living with AIDS and for various homeless populations.

A huge supporter of the arts, Gural has been credited with helping raise the profile of the non-profit chashama group and for having the vision to inspire the group Accessing Real Estate for the Arts (AREA).

He is a member of the board of directors of the UJA-Federation, Eldridge Street Synagogue, The Cooper Union, Times Square Business Improvement District and 14th Street Union Square Management Association, to name just a few.

Most recently, through the I Have A Dream Foundation, Gural along with philanthropist Howard Kaye and three of like-minded New Yorkers offered 90 first graders at the Chelsea Elliot Houses in Manhattan free after-school programming, tutoring and mentoring through the 12th grade with the promise of a free college education. It is the second group of students Gural and Kaye have made this commitment to through the foundation. Eighty-one percent of the original students in the 1993 program are now freshmen and sophomores in college.

Under Gural's leadership, Newmark Knight Frank matches employee contributions to various charities and has raised over $1 million for various 9/11 charities and $150,000 for both the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina victims.

Speaking at the luncheon, Tishman Speyer's Jerry Cohen, president of the Realty Foundation, paid tribute to Gural's dedication to the Realty Foundation, founded in 1954 by a group of industry leaders that included Jack Weiler, William Zeckendorf, Charles Benenson, Harry Helmsely and Charles Noyes to help those in the industry whose lives had hit a bump.

Cohen said that while these are the best of times for many brokers enjoying the fruits of a superheated market, for a few it is the worst of times. He said that Gural set a tremendous philanthropic example to those young people now entering the industry on the importance of giving back.

Accepting the award, Gural said the moment was made all the more poignant knowing that his father had also been honored in the same way. "He would be proud to see me standing here today," said Gural, whose father was unable to attend the ceremony due to poor health.

"I am proud to accept the award knowing that my father pointed me in the right direction," said the NKF chairman citing many of real estate's old guard whom his father would hold up as examples of the industry's big heart. "You don't see their names in the headlines every day connected with some tax scandal or obscene bonus--our industry is one you can be proud of."

He encouraged younger members of the audience to get involved in charitable work, saying, "You have been very blessed and the industry is doing very well right now, but that could all change very quickly, as any of the old timers will tell you.

"Get involved with non profits and you will find that a lot of people in this industry--Rose, Tishman, Benenson, Weiler, Rudin--all of them are all as well know for their civic and charitable work as they are for their real estate endeavors."

The Realty Foundation's membership si 75-strong and includes many of the real estate community's most prominent members. Since its inception, the Foundation has disbursed over $2 million in financial aid and over $2 million in scholarship awards.