By Chelsea Bagley, USCM Intern
May 26, 2003

The aftermath of 9/11 as well as the downturn of New York's economy has created financial hardship for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. New York is experiencing its worst financial crisis since the 1970's and now has a 9 percent unemployment rate and a $3.8 billion deficit that just won't go away.

Since taking office in January 2002, Bloomberg has faced many challenges and has tried to maintain his top priorities: keeping taxes down and unemployment to a minimum. According to the New York City Office of the Mayor website, Bloomberg said that "Times are tough, and we will find ways to stretch what resources we have. We must remember the lessons of the past — New York City must not be permitted to deteriorate as it did in the late 1970s."

With the current financial crisis, it has been difficult for Bloomberg and his staff to preserve city funded programs such as keeping libraries fully stocked with books and project HEAL, (Health Emergency Assistance Link) a plan to improve the services to victims of domestic violence. In an effort to try to save these programs, Bloomberg and his staff have searched for untapped resources that the city might be able to rely on to keep existing programs and essential services operating. The result has been an effort to try to gain support from the private sector, both in donations or other resources.

The Bloomberg administration has targeted corporations and foundations to donate money that will fund city programs. Bloomberg hired a marketing officer to help his efforts to persuade corporations to sponsor and support city events. A special session of Congress to New York last year on Sept. 9, was one of the events that took place last year because of private funding. The purpose of the event was to pay tribute to the victims of 9/11. The event was the second time in the history of Congress to have a session in New York since the Nation was a Republic and George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. Bloomberg also solicited friends to donate money to the city and raised $9 million for the commemoration ceremonies for the first anniversary of 9/11.

According to a New York Times article on April 30 "In Fiscal Pain, New York Leans on Private Sector," companies like Verizon and the Paul and Klara Porzel Foundation have also donated to education programs and historic restoration of the City Council chamber. That same article said city donors and other private corporations get the chance to do everything from underwriting festivals from the Parks Department to participating in the effort to build a $1.2 million counterterrorism center and a mobile chemical and biological detection lab.

Bloomberg has recently jumpstarted a moribund city controlled non-profit organization set up by former New York Mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani called the New York City Public Private Initiatives. The organization's goal is to persuade wealthy individuals and foundation to help come up with certain services that the city can no longer provide.

According to the article listed above "In Fiscal PainÉ," because of the economic downturn, not a lot of corporations have enough or any money that they can use to contribute to the city. In that case, donations of expertise, extra people, office space or other resources are also given and received in lieu of money. Recently a pharmaceutical company donated smoking-cessation patches to encourage potential quitters to take the first step. In another situation, a group of nonprofits had their workers scour the city to find low-income residents who were eligible for earned-income tax credit and helped them fill out the forms.

In the upcoming weeks, Bloomberg will be working toward funding for parks, water security and improvements in public education.

(This article was compiled from various media and press reports.)