Yes. Families and young adults anywhere in New York State, from Manhattan and Long Island to the Adirondacks and Buffalo, can work with one dedicated Blackburn mentor by video. Sessions are scheduled in Eastern time, three hours ahead of our team in Los Angeles, with text and phone check-ins between them.
Two very different New Yorks
When people outside the state say New York, they usually mean the city. The state itself is much larger and more varied. Downstate is dense, expensive and fast: the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley. Upstate stretches across the Capital Region, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, Western New York, the Southern Tier and the North Country, with small cities, farms, lakes and long winters.
Those differences matter for a family looking for help. In the city, the problem is time and traffic. Upstate, it is often distance. Video handles both.
What drives the economy, region by region
- New York City: finance, media, publishing, fashion, technology and some of the largest hospital systems in the country.
- Long Island and Westchester: commuter suburbs tied to Manhattan, plus health care, research and corporate offices.
- The Capital Region: state government, health care and a growing semiconductor and advanced manufacturing presence.
- Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo: health care, higher education, engineering and a manufacturing heritage that is still part of local identity.
- Rural New York: dairy, apples, vineyards around the Finger Lakes and tourism in the mountains.
The education picture
New York has very large urban school systems, hundreds of suburban and rural districts and a deep bench of independent schools, especially downstate. For college, the state runs two large public systems: a statewide university system with campuses and community colleges in every region, and a separate university system serving New York City. On top of that are many private colleges, from small liberal arts campuses to major research universities.
Students move in both directions. Plenty of New Yorkers leave for college in New England, the mid-Atlantic or farther. Many students from other states and countries move to New York to study. Either way, the first year is often the hardest, and parents are frequently hundreds of miles away when a student starts to struggle.
Who we work with across the state
- High school students carrying heavy course loads, long commutes or a lot of activities, with a parent always involved. See mentoring for high school students.
- College students at campuses in the state or elsewhere who need routines and a steady check-in. See mentoring for college students.
- Young adults who moved to the city for a first job, or moved back home upstate and need a plan. See young adult mentoring.
- Families who want an outside adult to keep goals moving and report back. See mentoring for families.
Pages for areas in New York
- New York City and Manhattan
- Brooklyn
- Long Island
- Westchester
- Hudson Valley
- Albany and the Capital Region
- Syracuse and Central New York
- Buffalo and Rochester
A note on winter and the school calendar
Upstate winters bring lake-effect snow, and a snow day can scramble a week. Downstate, the calendar is shaped by long commutes and packed schedules. Because sessions are online, they keep going in a storm, on a train platform or from a dorm room, and they move easily when a week gets crowded. You can read more about how that works on our online mentoring page, or browse other states on mentoring by state.
Related
- Online mentoring in New York City
- Online mentoring in New Jersey
- Moving back home after college
- All states
Common questions
What time are sessions for clients in New York?
All of New York State is on Eastern time, three hours ahead of Los Angeles. A 5 pm session in Buffalo or Brooklyn is 2 pm for the mentor, so after-school and evening times are easy.
Do you work with families upstate, not just in the city?
Yes. Clients in Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, the North Country and everywhere else in the state work with us by video, the same way as clients in Manhattan.
My child moved to New York for college. Can a mentor help?
Yes. The mentor meets the student by video wherever they live, and with permission keeps parents informed wherever the family is.
Is this the same as tutoring or college counseling?
No. Mentors help with goals, habits and follow-through. They are not tutors or admissions counselors, though they can coordinate with those people.
Get started
Want to talk about someone in New York who could use a mentor? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.