Stuyvesant or Else

The NY Times's Public Lives column interviews Jameson Gong (pictured; photo from Librado Romero for the Times), one of the torchbearers tomorrow of the Olympic flame. An immigrant from Hong Kong who has never lived outside of Chinatown (except for his time at Syracuse), the Times describes his time at Stuyvesant:

All six excelled at their studies, creating a Gong dynasty of sorts at the highly selective Stuyvesant High School. "My mom gave us two choices," he said. "Go to Stuyvesant or go back to Hong Kong."

That's so funny, because that's what Jake's parents said to him, too! Gong, who has varied interests (he's a "Chinese-American activist, Internet entrepreneur, cable show producer, and stand-up comedian."), also had to buy his own Olympic torch - apparently the babies retail for $400. While he's worried he's going to put out the flame ("I'm going to bring matches just in case"), Gothamist thinks we remember that the Olympic flame is usually also kept in a special box.

Gong will be running tomorrow afternoon through the streets of downtown. See him and more torchbearers, like the Diddy, Chuck Close, Sarah Hughes, and Brian Stokes Mitchell tomorrow at during the Olympic Torch Relay. More on the Olympic Torch route and other torchbearers.