Queens Group Teaches Formerly Incarcerated Men How To Tie Ties

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — A Queens nonprofit is helping formerly incarcerated men reenter the workforce by teaching them a foundational skill: how to put on a tie.

The Fortune Society hosted a workshop Wednesday to teach 50 men returning from prison how to tie a necktie. Each participant took home a tie, donated by J. Crew and Fortune Society staff and volunteers.

"I can tell you what it meant for me when I came home from prison and tied my first tie," Stanley Richards, executive vice president of the Fortune Society, said. "It meant there was an acknowledgment of my humanity and my participation in society."

The Long Island City-based organization provides such reentry services to about 7,000 people each year, according to its website.

The Fortune Society's Andre Ward said the nonprofit's beneficiaries often leave prison without basic skills like how to use a computer or a smartphone, or, in this case, how to put on a tie.

“Gaining employment is one of the most important steps of successful reentry," said Ward, the nonprofit's associate vice president of education and employment services.

"We do our best to equip our clients with the skills and tools that they need to land a job, which includes, at the most basic level, learning how to tie a necktie."