THE fiscal crisis has done nothing to slow down New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's philanthropy, the New York Post reported today.

The billionaire mayor donated $US254 million ($291 million) to 1,358 organisations last year, the most he has given in his eight years in office.

Bloomberg, 67, was America's fourth most generous person in 2009, according to a ranking of donors released Monday by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Chronicle identified only five beneficiaries of the mayor's largesse, classifying them as groups that "are working to reduce and prevent deaths and injuries from automobile crashes."

They were the Association for Safe International Road Travel, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organisation and the World Resources Institute for Sustainable Transport.

"The remaining 1,353 groups support the arts, human services, public affairs and other causes," the Chronicle said.

In 2008, Bloomberg gave $US235 million ($269 million) to 1,221 groups, eclipsing the $26.6 million ($30.48 million) he donated in 1997, four years before running for office.





Originally published as Mayor donates $291m to good causes