And I could not take them over and rebuild them in good conscience with elephants, rhinos and hippos, and proposed a number of options. And that required an awful lot of negotiation. Eventually we came to an agreement and this city agreed to pay for the renovation of the Queens… Read More
We managed to do it by changing the collection, refocusing it, focusing on a series of geo-ecological areas like the Antarctic penguin exhibit and the tropical exhibit and so on and so on. It was a complex difficult project. On August the eighth, 1988, we reopened the Central Park Zoo… Read More
Oh yes. Give me one. You don’t have to name. I had a hope of getting five million dollars and got a lot more than that in one particular case. At one point in time, all the zoos merged. Can you tell us about the series of events and years… Read More
There were complaints, there were humane organizations, (indistinct) against them. And everybody was saying that the New York Zoological Society should take them over. And we explored various prospects. We said, look, we’ll take over the Central Park Zoo because its position assures its attendance. The other two zoos do… Read More
(William chuckles) So there have been a few wonderful surprises of that kind. Generosity of people like Laila Wallace, Brooke Astor, and Robert Goulet, Howard Phipps, it’s just been outstanding. Read More
Did you ever walk into a meeting with one number in your mind with large donors and be surprised to come out with more?… Read More
Were there any surprise donations that just wowed you?… Read More
All of a sudden I got a letter from a man in San Diego named Elmer Otto. Mr. Otto lived in Bronxville, just north of the zoo in Westchester. And he was leaving us well over a million dollars. He’d retired, he died there, he’d maintained his membership. He was… Read More
Was it difficult to get money from the city for large programs?… Read More
And the answer is yes, it was very difficult because the city is constantly watching its budget and others who wish its funds are constantly watching them. So any effort wherein you’re seeking money from the city or any of the political bodies is likely to be a difficult one. Read More
How difficult was it to secure city money for your larger projects?… Read More
The city has to be very careful of its dollars, so it was always very difficult. Was that dependent then on your as opposed to– Let me rephrase that for your tape. Read More
And did that involve, again, the board getting to the political people or decision makers, or?… Read More
Generally speaking the director in the kind of institution that the New York Zoological Society, Wildlife Conservation Society is, you wish to protect your board from politics. You don’t want to put your trustees in the position of being solicited by politicians seeking election. So generally speaking, when it comes… Read More
Were you able to use the political process to raise money?… Read More
Yes. Where it came to raising money from the state or the city or the federal government, there’s no other way to raise it except through the political process. Read More
Did I become more involved as time went on?… Read More
My involvement depended on the nature of the project, it’s timing, whether it appeared my particular connections, abilities, or presentation would make a difference or not, and I don’t think there’s anything of great interests that I can add to that. Read More
As time went on, did your involvement as a fundraiser, as opposed to a zoologist change?… Read More
Did you become more and more and more involved?… Read More