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  September 28, 2003
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Thanking Private Citizens & Corporations for Helping New York City
By Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

Last Wednesday night, some 85,000 music fans filled Central Park to hear a great free concert by the world’s most popular touring group, the Dave Matthews Band. It was the first rock concert on the Great Lawn in more than a decade—a wonderful evening of live music, and a true New York experience. But it was more than that; it was also a big night for the 1.1 million public school children of New York City. Because the sponsor of the concert, America Online, committed to ensuring that $1 million will go to support music education in our schools, and also donated another $1 million to support City parks.

Under the banner of “Children First,” our Administration has begun a major transformation of the public schools. By eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy, we’ve directed more resources where they belong: to the classrooms. A new citywide curriculum stresses the basics of reading, writing and math. We’ve made the schools safer and slashed the costs of building and repairing schools, while improving construction quality. And we’re involving parents as full partners in their children’s education.

These changes will shape the city’s future. That’s a big job, and there’s a role for everyone in making it happen. In addition to corporate citizens like AOL, that also includes major non-profit foundations. For example, less than two weeks ago, we announced a $51.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch 67 small, innovative and academically challenging high schools around the city. The Department of Education's Office of Strategic Partnerships also has obtained more than $39 million in donations to support the Department’s Leadership Academy, where the next generation of public school principals will be recruited and trained. That includes last week’s commitment of $4 million over the next three years from the Broad Foundation.

We’re also working hard to secure private contributions to support our parks and cultural institutions, jobs for young people, and other City services. Not all of these are big-ticket donations. When newspaper columnist Liz Smith celebrated her 80th birthday earlier this year, she asked her readers to send money to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, which handles such donations. The result: we received more than $200,000, most of it in checks of $100 or less.

Contributing money isn’t the only way to give back to our city; far from it. Thousands of New Yorkers donate their free time to cleaning up neighborhood parks and playgrounds, or helping out in schools, senior centers, and after-school programs. Call the citizen service helpline at 3-1-1 to find out what you can do. Our city can use your help—and besides, one of the secrets to getting the most out of life is giving to others.

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