Mayor Bypasses Funding Middleman

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who plans to cut city aid to museums, theaters and other cultural institutions, quietly dipped into his personal fortune to help them out, donating $10 million just before he took office.

The billionaire media executive gave the money to the Carnegie Corp. in December, a source knowledgeable with the contribution said Friday. The story was first reported by the New York Post.

A Bloomberg spokesman declined to comment.

When the Carnegie Corp. announced awards Feb. 11 created by the donation, it said an anonymous benefactor had specified that the money help institutions “struggling in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.”

Carnegie President Vartan Gregorian selected 137 arts and cultural organizations in the city for gifts. The awards ranged from $25,000 to $100,000.

Bloomberg, who speaks frequently about the importance of arts and cultural institutions, amassed his estimated $4-billion fortune from a media and financial information company that bears his name.

The donation was made after Bloomberg won election but before he took office Jan. 1.

Publicly, Bloomberg has insisted that he would not dip into his personal fortune to bail out the city, which is facing its worst fiscal crisis in years.

To help bridge the city’s $4.76-billion budget deficit, Bloomberg has proposed deep cuts in aid to cultural institutions and has delayed projects, including a major refurbishment of Lincoln Center.

The budget for the cultural affairs department would see cuts of $9.7 million next fiscal year and as much as $19 million in ensuing years.

Arts and cultural organizations are suffering their worst economic woes in 30 years, as attendance and private contributions dropped in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in Manhattan.

Bloomberg’s $10 million has gone to an array of organizations.