New York’s civic leaders and arts administrators have spoken for two decades of the importance of building a haven of artistic creation on a site that had become synonymous with tragedy and death.
“Here, on this very site, where so much loss and devastation took place,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor who is chairman of the institution’s board, “the arts will bring a special sense of hope for the future.”Various ideas for the space percolated and fizzled for years, until Ronald O. Perelman, the billionaire businessman whom the building is named after, jump-started the project with a $75 million donation.
It was Mr. Bloomberg who brought the project to fruition, contributing the largest portion of money: $130 million.
Although it is Mr. Perelman’s name on the building, Mr. Bloomberg was at the center of much attention Thursday night, posing with benefactors and celebrities like Michael Douglas and Liev Schreiber on a red carpet at a cocktail hour before the performance, where guests sipped champagne and ate miniature cheeseburgers and pigs in blankets.
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”, Michael R, Ronald O, Perelman, Bloomberg, Michael Douglas, Liev Schreiber
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Bloomberg