John Paulson, Queens native, gives $100-million gift to Central Park Conservancy

Image source: Ad Meskens

This week the fundraising world learned of a very large gift given by John Paulson to the Central Park Conservancy. The NY Daily News reports that the gift, at $100 million, is the largest in the history to a public park. The gift will fund a variety of things, including a restoration the North Woods, improve and renovate some of the playgrounds, and some other major improvement projects.

Paulson, a hedge manager that “predicted the housing bubble would burst in 2007,” is a Queens native. During his youth in Queens, he grew up in the Le Havre apartment complex in College Point, and in a private home in Beechhurst, a wealthy neighborhood adjacent to Whitestone.

Donors often fund projects they feel an emotional connection to, and regarding Central Park, Paulson said, “It’s simply impossible to imagine what New York would be without Central Park.” Doug Blonsky, CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, sees Paulson’s gift as an investment both financially and culturally, “John is a man who knows a good investment when he sees one. Central Park is fundamental to the economic and cultural health of New York City and the quality of life of its residents.”

The NY Times mentions Paulson’s connection to Central Park, “As an infant he was pushed around in a baby carriage in the park and that he later remembered going to Bethesda Fountain as a teenager and seeing it covered in graffiti, with no water flowing.” He feels that Central Park is “the most deserving of all of New York’s cultural institutions.”

Queens-born mogul donates $100 million to Central Park Conservancy, the biggest gift ever to the city [NYDN]
Hedge Fund Manager Donates $100 Million for Central Park [NYT]