Fifteen years ago, Andrew (Drew) Ertman, a Morgan Stanley employee, decided to use comedy as a means of garnering support for the excellent pediatric care at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, part of the Children’s Hospital of New York.
So in 2010, the Morgan Stanley Comedy Night at Gotham Comedy Club, benefitting Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, was created. With help from Drew and his Morgan Stanley colleagues every year, this annual stand-up event raises funds for pediatric care by presenting upcoming and established comedians. Though Comedy Night was a single night 15 years ago, it has since grown to a four-night slate of shows, paired with the Morgan Stanley Online Auction. First organized in 2017 by Morgan Stanley employee Aly Kerr, the Morgan Stanley Online Auction enables the firm’s employees to generously support complex neonatal and pediatric care.
Drew Ertman addresses the audience at the 2025 Morgan Stanley Comedy Night
This year, the Morgan Stanley Online Auction and Morgan Stanley Comedy Night raised a record-breaking $1.1 million. These funds will support the new neurological neonatal intensive care unit (neuro-NICU), a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to delivering life-saving care to preterm infants diagnosed with congenital neurological conditions. The neuro-NICU will integrate supportive wraparound services for children and their families, utilizing the Hyperfine Swoop portable MRI machine, made possible by the generosity of Morgan Stanley. This leading-edge device infuses an advanced brain imaging system with perceptive artificial intelligence.
NewYork-Presbyterian’s relationship with Morgan Stanley goes back to the 1970s, and in 1998, employees rallied behind a $4 million campaign to build a new pediatric intensive care unit. Guided by the visionary leadership of John J. Mack, Morgan Stanley raised more than $60 million for the NYP Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital building campaign over the next five years. In November 2003, the ‘new’ NYP Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital officially opened to the public. Now, thousands of parents throughout the tri-state area, across the country, and beyond bring their children to the hospital for the expertise, compassion, and medical leadership that have defined the institution for more than a century.