Three Ideas About Fixing Our Freedom of Information Laws

SECOND ROUGH DRAFT—April 27, 2023—Our freedom of information (FOI) laws are among the best tools for enterprise journalism in this country; they have fueled a broad range of excellent stories. But much of the time, the laws don’t work—they may…

Eleven NYC Public High Schools Win Top Prizes at The Newsies

BARUCH COLLEGE—April 3, 2023—The only competition for excellence specifically in NYC public high school journalism – The Newsies at Baruch College – has announced the award program’s 2023 winners[…] Developed at Baruch, The Newsies Best in NYC Public High School…

Identity/Crisis Podcast

SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE—In a frenzied media cycle, Identity/Crisis delves into the big ideas behind the news from a uniquely Jewish perspective. Host Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, talks with leading thinkers to unpack current events effecting…

Caring For Our Kids’ Mental Health, Jewishly [podcast]

SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE—December 21, 2022—What is the responsibility of Jewish leaders to address mental health in the Jewish community? Yehuda Kurtzer talks with Yael Kornfeld, campus social worker at Hunter College Hillel and a Jewish professional on the frontline of the mental health…

Want Your Giving to Make the Most Impact? Donate to Local Media

INSIDE PHILANTHROPY—December 6, 2022—Chances are, you are thinking hard about your choices this giving season. As leaders at two New York City news organizations focused on deep, impactful and useful coverage of local communities and issues, we know that many…

Protect Our Democracy. Support Local News.

NEW YORK TIMES—November 29, 2022—Take Greg Smith, a reporter for a local nonprofit news organization in New York called The City, which I have donated to. At 5 p.m. on the Friday before Labor Day, he got a text from a source at New York’s public housing authority. The drinking water in a large public housing complex in Manhattan had tested positive for arsenic, and city officials had known about it for two weeks. It was only after Smith asked the housing authority and City Hall for comment on his scoop that the city hustled to provide bottled water to the thousands of tenants living in the complex...

Jewish chaplains: Leading where life happens

EJEWISH PHILANTHROPY — October 26, 2022 — The pandemic put chaplains before the public eye as the country’s “spiritual first responders.” Media reports shined light on their important work, more typically unseen, and on chaplaincy’s evolution into a vocation that is…

Settlement Houses GET OUT THE VOTE! 2021 Report

UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES—August 17, 2022—United Neighborhood Houses of New York (UNH) is a policy and social change organization with a mission to promote and strengthen the settlement house movement’s neighborhood-based, multi-service approach to improving the lives of low- and moderate-income…

Eli N. Evans, z’l

The Trustees and staff of the Charles H. Revson Foundation mourn the passing of Eli N. Evans, its founding President. Through his great generosity of spirit, love of Israel and the Jewish People, profound belief in the promise of American…

Shaun Donovan Interview

ROTHSCHILD CADETS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT— March 31, 2022 — Shaun Donovan shares his experience developing affordable housing with students and practitioners in Israel.

Richard Kim talks about the Importance of Nonprofit Newsrooms

THE TAKEAWAY — March 23, 2022 — How do non profit newsrooms thrive? Richard Kim, the new Editor-in-chief of TheCity.nyc joins us to discuss his new position, the world of nonprofit newsrooms and how they can compete with their big money…

Let’s strengthen local reporting by 50,000 new journalists.

COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW — February 28, 2022 — In 2004, the number of newspaper newsroom staff topped 71,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since then, it has declined by more than half. If we want to make up that…

Combating Hate in Our Midst

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL — January 19, 2022 — When the Sabbath ended this week, I turned on my phone after a 25 hour pause in notifications and news updates. The first message that appeared was from Imam Abdullah Antepli…

Building the Open Newsroom: A Q&A with The City’s Nic Dawes

COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW— December 22, 2021 — In 2019, New York City saw the launch of THE CITY, a local nonprofit news platform built with considerable foundation and donor funding; one of the publication’s goals has been to engage with New York communities…

Harness NYC’s libraries to spread equity

DAILY NEWS — December 01, 2021 — Although many other entities will be pivotal to creating a more equitable city — including schools and hundreds of community-based nonprofits — libraries are uniquely equipped to help in so many critical areas, from expanding access to early education and closing the digital divide to strengthening minority-owned businesses and bolstering the language, literacy and technology skills needed to access the good jobs of tomorrow.

Local Foundations Need Solid Local Journalism if They Hope to Advance Their Missions

THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY — November 16, 2021 — In New York City, the Charles H. Revson Foundation supported an effort that resulted in the city delivering $9.9 million — more than 80 percent of the city’s ad budget — to community news organizations. This helped ensure that publications such as the Haitian Times and the South Asian Times, which were struggling with ad-revenue losses, could continue to deliver critical Covid-19 safety information to readers.

Reform New York City’s Board of Elections Now

THE NEW YORK TIMES — October 30, 2021 — If you built a laboratory solely to concoct the most inept, opaque and self-dealing election board imaginable, you would have a hard time outdoing the real-life specimen currently functioning — or…

New York’s Next Mayor and a Failure of Local Reporting

SECOND ROUGH DRAFT — October 7, 2021 — Two weeks before the June 22 Democratic primary that everyone knew would be tantamount to the election of the next mayor of New York City, Politico New York published a story raising doubts about…

How to Fix the New York City Board of Elections

THE BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE — September 9, 2021 —“A national embarrassment.” “A disaster.” “Wins at screwing up.” These were just a few assessments of the New York City Board of Elections (NYC BOE) after its most recent in a long…

How New York City Is Saving Its Local News Outlets

Revson President, Julie Sandorf's and Dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, Sarah Bartlett's piece "How New York City Is Saving Its Local News Outlets" was published in The New York Times on May 20, 2021.

A Diverse Sisterhood of Strangers Showed Me How Pluralism Works

CENTER FOR INCLUSION AND BELONGING — April 25, 2021 — Two years ago, I joined a Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom local chapter in Manhattan. The Sisterhood brings together equal numbers of Jewish and Muslim women in intimate chapters of between 10-20 members,…

The Gate of Healing

Revson Program Officer, Elizabeth Leiman Kraiem piece "The Gate of Healing" was published in eJewish Philanthropy on September 22, 2020.

6 Ways Local News Makes a Crucial Impact Covering COVID-19

MEDIUM — April 20, 2020 — During the pandemic, local news publishers and journalists have become essential sources of trusted information The horrific spread of the novel coronavirus across America has prompted an outpouring of questions from confused citizens in…

13 Local News Stories and Series That Made a Difference in 2019

MEDIUM — December 16, 2019 — These pieces highlight the best of collaborative journalism, community engagement and national-local partnerships This selection of 13 local stories that made a difference in 2019 highlight the strategies that can help local journalism both…

Revson grantee, The City, wins multiple awards

The Revson Foundation is proud to support THE CITY, a new nonprofit news organization, who won three EPPY awards and whose reporter Christine Chung won Newswomen's Club of New York Front Page Award.

5 Ways Place-Based Foundations Can Support Local News

MEDIUM — November 5, 2019 — Local foundations are known for directing grants to nonprofits in their towns, but not as much for supporting local news. That equation is changing, as more place-based foundations see watchdog journalism faltering. Many times…

Stemming the Loss of Local Journalism

Revson president, Julie Sandorf, writes in the New York Times, on the important role philanthropy should play on helping to finance the reinvention of local news as a public service.

Libraries’ Culture Pass Signs Up 70,000 in First Year

THE NEW YORK TIMES — August 13, 2019 — It’s been one year since public library cardholders in New York’s five boroughs were given expanded — and free — access to the arts through the citywide Culture Pass initiative. Since the…

A terrible time for de Blasio to cut library funding

Julie Sandorf, President of the Revson Foundation, writes in Crain's New York on the critical need to protect NYC public libraries' funding, and the important role our libraries will play in helping all New Yorkers participate in the 2020 Census.

‘There is nobody who will cover this’

COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW —  April 29, 2019 — Last September, during a heavy downpour in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, Luis Sánchez Almonte was buried alive. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Sánchez Almonte, who was 47, had been living in northern…

Making Space Launches at the Flashbush Branch Library

Commissioned by the BPL, SITU created a kit-of-parts that realigns century-old library spaces with 21st-century programming. Made up of adjustable infrastructure and furniture systems, the system creates flexible spaces to support the huge range of programs hosted by each branch. Across BPL’s 59 libraries, these spaces host close to 70,000 programs annually. Modular and scalable by design, the system is a pathway to revitalize community spaces in neighborhoods across Brooklyn.

Local News in America is Dying. Charity Might Save It

BLOOMBERG —  April 25, 2019 — The City, a website covering local news in America’s biggest metropolis, debuted this month with a bank account some of its nonprofit peers could only dream of. Backed by almost $10 million from philanthropies and individuals,…

Muslims must combat anti-Semitism in our midst

THE SEATTLE TIMES —  November 19, 2018 — In a story most Muslims believe authentic, the Prophet Muhammad stands up as a Jewish funeral procession goes by. His companions wonder why he shows such respect. “It is only a Jew,” they…

Key to the city: Kudos to the brains behind Culture Pass

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS — July 22, 2018 — It’s hard to believe nobody thought of it sooner: A New York City library card can now get you into 33 museums free. The Brooklyn, New York and Queens libraries launched Culture Pass,…

NYC’s Public Library Systems Launch Culture Pass

With support from the Revson Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the New York Community Trust, NYC’s three public library systems  have joined together to launch Culture Pass, a city-wide initiative providing free access to 33 cultural institutions across the five boroughs to the millions of library card holders.

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Julie Sandorf Accept J-School Honors

On April 11, 2018, Julie Sandorf, President of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, accepted the 2018 Distinguished Service to New York Award alongside Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Correspondent for The Atlantic, who accepted the 2018 Journalistic Achievement Award. Click here to watch both…

Literary Treasure

METROFOCUS —  December 7, 2017  — Two New York organizations have teamed up to honor one of the Big Apple’s biggest treasures, our libraries. We’re joined by Julie Sandorf, president, Charles H. Revson Foundation, and Manuel Martinez, branch manager, Allerton Library,…

Libraries Can Be More Than Just Books

THE NEW YORK TIMES —  September 18, 2017  — For all of Sunset Park’s celebrated taquerias, dim sum parlors and picturesque piers, the most popular destination in that neighborhood might just be the local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Despite…

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 4TH ANNUAL NYC NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY AWARDS

Ten Library Finalists Announced in Annual “Oscars of Libraries,” Vying for Top Honors and $20,000 Prize Record-Breaking 24,000 New Yorkers Nominated their Beloved Branches for This Year’s NYC Neighborhood Library Awards  New Perennial Excellence Award Launched, Recognizing Consistently Outstanding Branches…

New Publications Feature Launched!

The Revson Foundation is proud to present a new feature on our website: the Publications page. Here, you can view and download reports and articles that the Foundation has funded from 2009 onward. We hope these publications will be of interest…

REAL-ESTATE COSTS DOUBLE WHEN ONE NYC AGENCY GETS INVOLVED

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL —  April 9, 2017  — A study shows that the price and time frame for these jobs skyrocketed when the Department of Design and Construction was involved. New York City’s libraries and other cultural organizations looking to…

LIBRARIES OFTEN SEE DELAYS AND HIGH COSTS, REPORT FINDS

TIMES LEDGER  —  April 14, 2017  — Capital construction projects for libraries and other cultural institutions often rack up outsized financial and time investments, according to a new analysis from the Center for an Urban Future. The center worked with the…

NYC LIBRARIES AWAIT FIXES FOR FOUR YEARS ON AVERAGE, REPORT FINDS

CURBED NEW YORK —  April 10, 2017  — New York City’s process of managing capital construction projects for cultural institutions and libraries is marred by bureaucratic setbacks, a new report by the Center for an Urban Future finds. Under the leadership…

HOW SLOW CAN YOU GO?

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS —  April 12, 2017  — It’s not you. Your local library overhaul really is taking forever. A new report reveals exhausting and costly delays of new buildings and renovations overseen by the city’s Department of Design and…

CENTER FOR AN URBAN FUTURE REPORT: SLOW BUILD

CENTER FOR AN URBAN FUTURE —  April 2017  — by Eli Dvorkin, Maria Doulis, and Jonathan Bowles — This report finds significant problems with NYC’s process for managing capital construction projects for libraries and cultural institutions, with the median capital project…

PROPUBLICA, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS WIN PULITZER GOLD MEDAL

PROPUBLICA —  April 10, 2017  — Propublica and the New York Daily News today won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, honoring their joint investigation on abuses in the New York City Police Department’s enforcement of the nuisance abatement law. The…

Muslim Leadership Initiative

November 2016 — The Muslim Leadership Initiative was featured in several articles outlining how alliances between Jews and Muslims are more important now than ever before. Click the following links to read the articles: Jewish Telegraphic Agency — November 14, 2016 — Jews and Muslims…

NY1 Online: A New York Tragedy

INSIDE CITY HALL — October 17, 2016 —Days after her sudden death, Neil Barsky of The Marshall Project joined Errol Louis to remember Venida Browder, the Bronx mother who had vowed to carry on the memory of her son, Kalief Browder. Click…

Monitoring the Vote With Electionland

PROPUBLICA — September 8, 2016 — Today we’re announcing a new project, aimed at monitoring the vote in real-time, nationwide. And you’re invited to join. There is no more essential act in a democracy than voting. But making sure that the balloting is…

6 revealing stats about Jewish nonprofits and the people who work for them

JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY— September 9, 2016 — Jewish nonprofit workers are inspired, respected and challenged. They’re also stretched thin, lack regular feedback from their bosses and are itching to switch agencies. Those are some lessons from “Are Jewish Organizations Great Places…

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 3RD ANNUAL NYC NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY AWARDS ON WNYC’S BRIAN LEHRER SHOW

WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show announced the 10 finalists for the third annual NYC Neighborhood Library Awards, sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Charles H. Revson Foundation. These 10 finalists were selected based on a rigorous review of nearly 19,000 nominations from library users across the City. In June 2016, five of the 10 finalists will win $20,000 each for outstanding service to their communities. This year, there is also a new award from the Heckscher Foundation which will recognize a library for their outstanding children’s programming.

Capturing Human Moments Amid Chaos in Israel and the West Bank

THE NEW YORK TIMES —  February 18, 2016 — In “This Place,” an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, life and photography and art cause sparks to fly. Its more than 600 images have been taken by 12 well-known photographers, and document life on…

For 12 Photographers, an Anxious Gaze on Israel and the West Bank

THE NEW YORK TIMES — February 11, 2016 —For 25 years, Frédéric Brenner traveled the world, finding Jews to photograph. In every place he went, whether it was a singles weekend in the Catskills or an ancient stone dwelling in Yemen, he sought…

Seeing Israel Through The Camera’s Eye

THE JEWISH WEEK — February 10, 2016 — It’s extremely rare for 12 photographers to show their work together. Photographer Frederic Brenner not only convinced 11 of his renowned colleagues from around the world to share in an exhibition, but to first spend…

To address income inequality, start with libraries

CRAIN’S NEW YORK — December 2, 2015 — This week, New York City’s three library systems testified before the City Council about how they are spending the significant increase in operating funds granted in the current budget. The underlying question is:…

The New Fundraising Landscape | Budgets & Funding

LIBRARY JOURNAL — January 6, 2016 — Public libraries in the United States have traditionally relied on local support for the vast majority of their revenue. While this is still largely true, the funding landscape is getting more diverse, and there is a greater…