Jay Akselrud
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Jay Akselrud is a balloon artist and entertainer who performed at Staten Island sporting events during the late 1990s through 2005, before he immigrated to Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel as part of the Nefesh B'Nefesh program.
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[edit] Staten Island
In addition to working games for the Staten Island Yankees, Jay entertained fans at games of some of Staten Island's other sports franchises, including the minor league soccer Staten Island Xtreme, and was one of the few to don the costume of the Staten Island Vipers' mascot, the "Hyper Viper."
As reported in the Staten Island Advance, (July 29, 2005,) in recognition of Jay's contributions to Staten Island sports, he was honored with the "Pride of the Town" award, and the throwing of the first pitch at a Staten Island Yankees game at the end of team's 2005 championship season. Josh Getzler, chief executive officer for the Staten Island Yankees, said, "Akselrud's leaving represents a 'big loss' to the team... He's been a fixture at our games since we started."
[edit] Ballooning
Akselrud's first known foray into twisting balloons for fans at sporting events was at Yankee Stadium at a late season game during the New York Yankees World Championsip run of the late 1990s. Wearing a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (then a minor league franchise of the Philadelphia Phillies) jersey, Jay handed out balloon flowers and other sculptures to the joy of many and jeers of a few.
When Staten Island teams were on the road, Jay took his balloon-twisting act on the road as well and was a fixture at Brooklyn Cyclones and Newark Bears games for a number of seasons. Temporary stints found Akselrud called up to the major leagues, providing entertainment for the New York Mets, and at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
Preceding his first visit to the Holy Land, Akselrud sent balloons to his hotel in Israel via Federal Express in order to ensure that upon arrival he would be armed and ready to entertain the infirm and victims of terror in Jerusalem's hospitals. Using the stage name U.D. Balloony, Akselrud continues entertaining at orphanages, hospitals and health care facilities throughout Israel (and the United States when assigned there long term), teaching groups of children to twist balloons to bring smiles to others that are less fortunate.
[edit] Other venues
Outside of the world of balloons, Akselrud holds an MBA in Information Technology, and has hands on experience with companies such as IBM, JPMorgan Chase, and First Chicago Trust.
As an educator, Akselrud has taught classes in various facets of information technology and mathematics at the university level for New York University, St. Peter's College (Jersey City, N.J.), and Kingsborough Community College (CUNY). He has also taught computer science at two of New York City's oldest yeshiva day schools, the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School in Staten Island, New York, and Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem, based in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood.
In 2001, Jay developed a curicullum and taught balloon sculpture to tens of New Yorkers for a number of semesters at The Learning Annex (an organization whose lecturers have recently included Donald Trump, and countless other celebrities and politicians in the past).
Jay has recently taking to running. In training for a potential run in the Mexico City marathon during the summer of 2007, Jay has run a few smaller events. To date, Jay has placed 2,906th (2:14:41) in the 2007 ING Miami Half Marathon, his first official event, and showed a marked improvement cutting more than twenty minutes off his pace (1:53:53) coming in an impressive 142nd, in the 18th Annual ORRRC Half Marathon in Dayton, Ohio, March 25, 2007.
[edit] Motivation
Although he received an occasional gratuity from the fans, Akselrud, a father of four, was not salaried for his appearances at games. He reportedly took great pride in being able to bring smiles to the faces of the fans, children and adults. Israeli newspaper Hamodia, (December 14, 2005,) quoted Akselrud as saying "I want to show kids, including my own, that with some air and a little latex, you can bring smiles and really make someone’s day." Akselrud continues to twist balloons in Israel's hospitals and orphanages for Arab and Jewish children alike.
