New York City - The New York Chapter of The ChairScholars Foundation held its Fourth Annual Comedy Night at the spectacular Hudson Terrace overlooking - what else - the Hudson River on October 13 with a ripping performance by "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star - the very outrageous Susie Essman.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Susie Essman performed.

The evening began with cocktails while guests took in the breathtaking views from the enclosed garden. Guests also had an opportunity to bid on a dazzling assortment of luxury items with all proceeds going to the fund the college tutition of disabled students.

The ChairScholars Foundation, Inc. is a Florida-based charity whose sole mission is to transform the lives of financially challenged young people with serious physical disabilities by providing scholarships for college or vocational school.

One of the evening's hosts Andrew Fox the CEO of Track Entertainment and President of the New York Chapter of ChairScholars Foundation stated, "We believe higher education is the most vital link to economic stability and self-sufficiency. Yet, an astonishing three out of every four children with a physical disability can't go to college or vocational school due to the financial burden of their disability."

The results of this are frightening: four out of every five working-age Americans with a disability are unemployed; 28 percent of working-age Americans with a disability live below poverty level, compared to nine percent of their non-disabled peers. On average, the household income of working-age Americans with a disability is 53 percent lower than that of their non-disabled peers.

The ChairScholars Foundation is one of just a few organizations to recognize the educational needs of this forgotten minority, specifically their need for viable workforce skills.

Poster of some of the disabled students helped by the ChairScholars Foundation.

Sharon Grelsamer, Vice President noted proudly, "In just 17 years ChairScholars Foundation has closed this achievement gap for 641 American students with disabilities."

ChairScholars Foundation was founded by former Chief of Spinal Surgery at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Hugo A. Keim, M.D. who witnessed the struggles of many disabled youngsters. Dr. Keim and his wife Alicia, having both overcome physical challenges of their own, wanted to help. They strongly believed that "no physical impairment should deter a motivated mind." So, in 1992, they began by sending two students who were in wheelchairs to college. From this act of kindness, the ChairScholars Foundation emerged. The Foundation began with the National Program.

Scholarships are available to students from Maine to Hawaii - and everywhere in between - providing up to $20,000 for tuition at the college of their choice. One of the lucky and very grateful recipients, Quemeul Arroyo, is now a sophomore at NYU School of Arts & Sciences, and was on hand to speak about his personal story. The 20-year-old Arroyo is a native New Yorker of Dominican heritage, and told how he had sustained the crippling injury that left him wheelchair bound with a damaged spinal cord. The young man was on scholarship at a prestigious New England preparatory school when he was seriously injured when mountain biking in the hills.

Far from being despondent or self-pitying the one-time lifeguard at McBurney YMCA in Chelsea was remarkably cheerful and truly thankful for a lucky meeting while he was in the hospital. "Andrew Fox was visiting the Rusk program and I happened to meet him. We talked for about a half-hour and he encouraged me to try out for the scholarship," said the smiling young man. Arroyo scored high and was admitted to NYU which he acknowledges might not have been his first choice had he not been confined to a wheelchair. "It's a lot easier to navigate around New York - and someone in a wheelchair isn't an oddity," he noted.

ChairScholars supporters packed Hudson Terrace for the Fourth Annual Comedy Night.

Now housed in a dormitory built on the site of the former Palladium Nightclub, Arroyo said, "Andrew (Fox) has become a great friend and mentor to me. He helped me adjust which was not all that hard. I love it at NYU. It's everything you could ask for - they even have a pool", he said excitedly. Quemeul is studying Urban Planning and hopes one day to visit South and Central America to study how his fellow Latinos handle urban problems.

At 8 p.m. promptly, the lights dimmed and the show began. The very irreverent Donny Deutsch was the evening's emcee and lest anyone not know who was running things on stage Deutsch opened with what is starting to become his signature welcome to large crowds at charity benefits, "Shut the f__ up," he bellowed over the mic. Well, at least it gets the audience's attention. He introduced Susie Essman who that day had released her new book,"What Would Susie Say? Bullsh*t Wisdom About Love, Life and Comedy."

The always raunchy Essman stepped to the stage and said "I'm doomed. You're all talking about such serious important stuff and all I'm ragging on is my menopause." Then the comedienne launched into a quintessential Susie riff on modern romance and mores - none of which can be written here. The audience howled nonetheless. Among those holding their sides were Katlean de Monchy and husband David Post, Vanity Fair's Wendy Diamond, Anastasia Kozlova, Alex Greenberg, Justin Estill, Lilli Santiago, Christina Alexander and race car driver and literary enthusiast Alex Roy who heads up the storytelling series "The Moth" which has featured such leading literary lights as the late George Plimpton, Lewis Lapham, and Anna Deveare Smith.

The evening could not have been possible without the support of Scholarship Sponsors Deborah Diane Bailey and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Koffler; the Event Committee steered by Andrew and Christine Fox and Sharon Grelsamer, including Lisa Berlin Heiman, Amanda Lederman, Lauren Melkus, Stacy Pillersdorf, Michael Sinensky and "Real Housewives of New York" star Jill Zarin and In Kind Sponsors Michael C. Fina, Jennifer Zeuner Jewelry, Armanda Corral Salon and Stephanie Hill Designs.

No surprise that ChairScholars pulls in such strong support as they are clearly one of the best managed charity operations in the country. The ChairScholars Foundation, primarily a volunteer organization has only one paid employee. ChairScholars received a four-star rating for sound fiscal management from Charity Navigator, the charity "watch-dog" group, for the last two years. Their most recent audit last year verified that 99 percent of every dollar donated to the scholarship fund is used for scholarships and student support programs. Only one percent of these donations are used for administrative expenses. Additional operational costs are supported through grants and donations by the Board of Trustees. Truly fiscal responsibility at its most shining!