Honoring Tom Robbins, a Great New Yorker

Like so many others, Revson mourns the loss of Tom Robbins, and we honor his exceptional impact on New York City and at the Revson Foundation. Many Revson-funded initiatives are better off because of Tom’s involvement. For several years, the Foundation supported Tom and Errol Louis (currently Chair of Revson’s Board of Trustees) to organize a series of ‘salons’ bringing together local reporters with community leaders in specific fields, such as housing and criminal justice. These salons enabled journalists to dive more deeply into those areas. The events also offered grist for stories that were later published about key issues of the day. Revson also was proud to support Tom’s investigative reporting class at the Newmark J-School, including one year when Tom partnered with WNYC to have student stories aired there. In other years, Tom’s students visited New York prisons to gather stories needed to further clemency requests to the Governor. In that process, Tom provided unique training to future reporters while helping people who had atoned and deserved a second chance after decades in prison. Tom also served as a member of the original Editorial Advisory Committee of THE CITY, where Revson was a founding donor, and later as an investigative reporter, breaking prize-winning stories and mentoring a new cadre of investigative journalists. Tom generously served as an informal advisor to the Foundation on many other matters, and numerous Revson trustees and staff were fortunate to call him an advisor and friend. He never sought credit. Quite the opposite, it was hard to convince him to accept funding for his efforts, which always accomplished more than we anticipated.

Tom’s journalism continues to inspire Revson’s commitment to local news. Tom’s approach—finding the untold stories of New York City, listening to people who often go unheard, holding power to account, redressing wrongdoing, and training the next generation of journalists—deeply informs why and how Revson supports journalism. His impact as a reporter and mentor reinforces our belief in the power and essential role of local news, and Tom’s unmatched compassion, generosity, humility, and integrity are qualities toward which we will continue to strive.

In our book, Tom was the appropriate judge of who was a “great New Yorker,” and he kept a list. Coming from him, it was the highest compliment. May his memory be a blessing.

To learn more about Tom Robbins’ remarkable legacy, please explore these tributes from Revson Trustees and current and former grantees.

Remembering Tom Robbins, Journalist Who Crusaded for New Yorkers in Need, THE CITY

In Memoriam: Tom Robbins (1949-2025), The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism

Remembering Tom Robbins, The Marshall Project

Remembering Tom Robbins, Who Bore Witness to Everyday New Yorkers’ Battles and Tom Robbins and the Truth, City Limits

Tom Robbins and the Slow Death of Common Civic Culture, Vital City