Kenneth G. Langone and
Michael Milken | 
Ron Insana and Richard Rose | 
Lori Grasso greets Don and
Deirdre Imus | 
Dick Grasso, Geraldine Ferraro and
Drew Nieporent | 
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and
wife Veronica (left) with
Kathryn Swintek and Michael Milken | CANCER RESEARCH & TREATMENT
Milken And Nieporent
Honored At Grand Hyatt Text and Photos by Tim Boxer  ICHAEL MILKEN had cancer and was given one year to live. He defied the odds, and for 13 years he helped fight the scourge through the Milken Family Foundation. "It’s been a fantastic journey for 24 years," he said.
Home Depot founder Frank Langone inducted Milken into the Cancer Survivors Hall Fame at the Cancer Research & Treatment Fund dinner at the Grand Hyatt in New York. "Mike made one of the greatest contributions to our economy in the last hundred years," Langone said. Milken predicted that cancer would be eliminated in 2015. In fact he’s booked a cruise ship at that time to take 2,000 friends around the world "to celebrate that no one will be dying of cancer." Dick Grasso presented a humanitarian award to master chef Drew Nieporent, owner of the Myriad Restaurant Group which includes several of the most distinguished eating places in New York, such as Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Montrachet, Centrico, Pulse, and Crush. "On 9/11, during that evil act of insanity," Grasso said, "Drew kept his Tribeca Grill open to feed and shelter the police, firemen and rescue personnel." Dinner chairman Frank Pellegrino, co-owner of the famed Rao’s, sang the praises of his competitor: "If the rest of us restaurateurs have a problem we can always go to Drew Nieporent and he will help us." Ron Insana, anchor of CNBC’s Street Signs, served as emcee. Among the speakers were president Richard J. Rose, vice president and medical director Richard T. Silver, and capital chairman Henry Amoroso. Amoroso said he took his children to a Mets game and told them to get Tommy Lasordo’s autograph on a baseball. Amoroso looked at the ball with Lasordo’s autograph, then turned it around and saw Michael Milken’s name. "Why did you get Michael Milken’s signature?" he asked his kids. "His signature is only good on a check!" | 
