No matter your issues with our billionaire mayor from Boston—where to start?—you have to give the man credit: He sure gives away a lot of dough. Hot on the heels of his quarter-million matching donation to Planned Parenthood the Chronicle of Philanthropy has declared Mike Bloomberg the fifth most generous person in all the land. According to their count hizzoner gave $311,276,000 away last year! more ›

Charity has always been important to billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg—in 2009, he handed out $254 million in donations, making him the country's fourth biggest giver. And he greatly exceeded that amount in 2010: Bloomberg gave more than $553 million in donations last year. His charitable organization, The Bloomberg Family Foundation, now has more than $2.7 billion in assets, and according to IRS filings, will donate all of it by Dec. 21, 2026...unless they don't. “That was the date picked by the mayor, [but he has] the absolute discretion at any time” to either extend the date or shut down earlier, spokesman Mike Marinello told the Post. more ›

Occupy Wall Street protesters ensconced in Zuccotti Park are gearing up for winter with a little help from their friends: the Firedoglake Membership Program has raised over $50,000 to start a supply chain of union-manufactured goods—including hats, scarves, blankets, jackets, base layer underwear and extreme weather socks—to help occupiers get through the cold. But might this really just be another ACORN-led George Soros conspiracy in disguise? more ›

Just how "leaderless" is Occupy Wall Street? According to Fox News, the thousands of Communists, anarchists, eco-feminists, malingerers, and professional protesters taking part in OWS are actually being guided by a reconstructed ACORN. The "fair and balanced" news organization alleges that OWS is being funded and controlled by former ACORN activists under new names who are using shady practices to collect money for OWS under false pretenses. Will this turn out like that time that a certain prominent news organization alleged George Soros was funding OWS? more ›

Goldman Sachs, the "vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity," gave its largest donation ever to the Harlem Children’s Zone yesterday. Goldman Sachs Gives, a fund supported by the investment company and its partners, gave $20 million to the charter school operators, toward the creation of a new school and community center at Harlem’s St. Nicholas Houses. Their massive donation (some perspective: $20 million is approximately what Goldman earns in 1/2 a day) comes on the heels of a major gender bias lawsuit, which the more cynical among us may say is convenient timing for such an announcement. more ›

Adam Clayton Powell IV, who is trying to unseat embattled Rep. Charles Rangel, was caught taking thousands of dollars of campaign donations from the owner of Bronx strip club Sin City. The Daily News confronted and browbeat Powell into promising to return the money yesterday, telling him about owner Konstantine (Gus) Drakopoulos, who pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2002 and was recently slapped with a racial and sexual harassment suit by dancers at his club. more ›

Fed up with name-calling and increased restrictions from the Obama administration, bankers are shifting financial support to Democratic opponents in the Republican party. Bank officials say Wall Street is sending a message: “The expectation in Washington is that ‘We can kick you around, and you are still going to give us money,’ ” one top official at a major Wall Street firm tells the Times. “We are not going to play that game anymore.” more ›

There is good news and no news today for New Yorkers with relatives still missing in Haiti following Tuesday's devastating earthquake. Two NYU doctoral students who arrived just a day before the earthquake have been located, following several tense days of waiting. Nathalie Pierre, 24, of Brooklyn and Greg Childs, from South Carolina, were found safe, and flown from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic by the US Coast Guard. And Brooklyn cab driver Pierre Coimin, who had been agonizing over the fate of his 4-year-old daughter, finally heard word from his daughter through the NY Post, which sent a reporter to Coimin with a photo of the girl, her mother, and the message, "Tell Daddy I love him." Others were not so lucky. more ›

Wherever Leona Helmsley is now, we imagine she's throwing a fit. Even though the late, famously mean hotelier's will had a two-page mission statement outlining that her $5-8 billion estate go to the care and welfare of dogs, a judge ruled in February that the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Trust could give the money to other non-canine charities. The first round of donations, totaling $136 million, was announced today: $115 million to medical research (including $40 million to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center for a digestive diseases center, $25-million to Mount Sinai Medical Center a electrophysiology center, and $10-million to Mount Sinai School of Medicine an inflammatory bowel disease center) while "just" $1 million went to ten animal-related charities (the ASPCA got $100,000). The trust said, "Throughout their lives, the Helmsleys were committed to helping others, through the innovations of medical research, responding to those in need during critical times and in other areas. We now have the privilege of continuing their good works by providing support where it will make a difference." more ›

The pressure's on now, Nerd Herd! Following all the press the talented troupe of teens got regarding the monetary deficiency keeping them from taking their rightful place at the Robotic World Festival in Atlanta next month, the donations have been piling up. Most notably, the giant $5K check presented to the little robotic engineers on Good Day New York this morning. The signature on it was that of British vacuum cleaner exec James Dyson, who told the Daily News, "These kids represent the future of engineering. They've demonstrated the essential traits: an inventive spirit and a healthy dose of perseverance." On top of that big chunk of change, reportedly over 40 people made donations by calling the school yesterday. The principal of their Sheepshead Bay school said, "Kids actually think being a nerd is cool now." more ›

After what had been a scandal-plagued year for House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, the local congressman must have been looking to turn over a new leaf in 2009. But it only took three days into the new year to find his name making headlines for murky dealings—this time with a potential conflict of interest in soliciting charitable donations from the recently bailed out insurance giant AIG. And this time it's not even the Post breathing down Rangel's neck as usual, but an investigative cover story in today's New York Times. more ›

Did you know that donations to politicians can be used to pay off their parking tickets? Apparently embattled Rep. Charles Rangel has paid off some 2007 parking violations (with his PT Cruiser!) in D.C. by using campaign money. A Rangel spokesman said there's "nothing unethical" about that, especially, as the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington points out, "if [the tickets] were incurred during campaign activities or in relation to Rangel’s position as an officeholder." His office told CREW, "Given the holidays and the press of business in preparation for the new administration, we have not reconstructed the circumstances behind each ticket. However, Congressman Rangel is confident that the National Leadership PAC and Rangel for Congress complied with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with these expenses, which were fully reported consistent with FEC requirements.” In NYC, Rangel rides around in a Cadillac DeVille. more ›

The NY Times has a feature on billionaire Robert Wood Johnson IV's loyalty to the Republican party and his willingness to fork over millions. In fact, a hospitality suite at the RNC was named after him ("Woody Johnson Minneapolis-St. Paul 2008 Host Committee Private Lounge"). Apparently Johnson has a "willingness to engage in the hard slog of making hundreds of calls" to ask people like billionaire David Koch and Donald Trump, "to persuade [them] raise $100,000 each, or failing that, $25,000, marking his progress after each call." And do you want to know how committed he is to McCain's cause? He even called Cablevision's Charles Dolan--who did donate. Gang Green indeed. more ›

On March 22nd Lola Staar opened up her Dreamland Roller Rink inside the historic Childs Building on the Coney Island Boardwalk. The temporary rink was paid for by Glamour and Tommy Hilfiger, who sponsored a contest Staar won. more ›

Charitable food banks are also suffering from the recent increases in the cost of food. Last year food banks were being squeezed by the increased demand from the city's hungry, who were finding that rising rents, fuel costs, and transportation costs were limiting the income they had to devote to food. More and more people were turning to New York's charitable food organizations to make ends meet. more ›

A lawsuit filed Monday against the City Campaign Finance Board seeks to overturn a recently enacted funding law that opponents assert will just make the City Council richer - and whiter. The recently-enacted campaign finance restrictions reduces the contributions from companies who do business with the city by a whopping 92%. Translation: In a mayoral race, the individual limit on giving is now $400, versus $4,950; in City Council races, it's $250, down from $2,950. more ›

Now that you've torn through your presents and are making room for new gifts and purchases -- why not give a little back? Green Brooklyn reminds us that we have until December 31st to make tax-deductible donations (to claim on 2007 income taxes). They were particularly moved by the amount of work Habitat for Humanity has been doing for Brooklyn, they just completed their 9th home in the area -- all "constructed using state-of-the-art, eco-friendly building materials, like cabinets partially made of sunflower seeds and counter tops made of recycled glass." more ›