Here’s what the press is
saying about Big
Apple Greeter.
Big Apple Greeter has
been featured in thousands
of stories – in print, on television and radio, and on the Internet –
bringing the message of a friendly and accessible New York City to
millions of potential visitors all around the world. Here are a few
stories to enjoy!
24 May 2011 The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal -
Print and Online CTGWSJA24 English (Copyright (c) 2011, Dow
Jones & Company, Inc.)
The nonprofit Big Apple
Greeter helps to personalize a
visit to New York City for thousands of visitors annually.
Philanthropist Ariadne Getty wants to keep the greeters going.
Through her Fuserna
Foundation, the oil heiress is
giving the organization $400,000 to help take it through 2012. The
nonprofit received $200,000 from the foundation last year.
Ms. Getty, 48 years old,
is the granddaughter of J. Paul
Getty. She says her Los Angeles and London- based foundation provides
grants to help get existing charities through lean times. Often, says
Ms. Getty, the organizations are "unpopular causes that need time to
learn how to fund-raise or apply for grants."
The foundation focuses
on programs related to children
and the elderly. Recent grants include a gift to the 9th Ward Field of
Dreams, an organization that is building a community space, track and
football field in New Orleans. In the case of Big Apple Greeter, Ms.
Getty simply called the nonprofit to introduce herself and her
foundation, extending an offer to help.
Her first grant to Big
Apple Greeter last summer, which
came shortly after Ms. Getty's call and a period of research by her
foundation, kept the organization in business, says Lynn Brooks,
founder of Big Apple Greeter. Financially, the organization is
"definitely healthier but we are not out of the woods," she says. The
organization's priorities are to rebuild its reserve fund and develop a
five-year strategy.
Big Apple Greeter, in existence for nearly 20 years, welcomes about
7,000 visitors to the city each year, offering each a free and unique
tour of a city neighborhood. Visitors come from all 50 states and
countries ranging from Latvia to Malaysia. On average, they donate
about $25 to the organization for the service.
Tourists are met by one
of the organization's "real New
Yorkers," a team of roughly 350 volunteers who come from all five
boroughs and range from college age to 80 years old. The greeters take
visitors to either a favorite, locals-only spot or accompany tourists
to major sites, spending on average four hours with visitors.
Ms. Brooks says that the
majority of visitors who use
the service like it because it helps to humanize the city and make it
more comfortable." New York is perceived as way too big, way too busy,
way too unfriendly and way too dangerous, even today," says Ms. Brooks.
At the same time,
greeters love the organization because
they are giving back to the city. Many of the greeters are retirees and
enjoy taking tourists to oft-forgotten neighborhoods in the city.
The organization says
that many greeters stay in touch with the tourists.
It was the greeters who
show their community spirit --
not the service to visitors -- that enchanted Ms. Getty. "I loved the
fact that it was a community-based program," she says.
Of course, tourists
could pay a professional to see the
city, says Ms. Getty, but she feels that the real value of the
organization's service is in seeing a neighborhood that means something
to the greeter. "It's much more about the greeter than the person being
greeted," she says.
For
the Greeter Good The Broadsheet Daily June 2, 2011 (follow the link and
scroll down for story)
Crain’s New York Business August 16, 2010 Nonprofit greeted by Getty surprise Donation keeps Big Apple Greeter alive By Lisa Fickenscher
Buck Ennis
GIFT
KEEPS GIVING: A $200,000 donation
from Ariadne Getty enabled Lynn
Brooks (right) and Alicia Pierro to keep Big Apple Greeter running. Dire pleas for donations
from worthy organizations are so common these
days, they sound like background noise. So it's remarkable when one
succeeds in attracting a large donor. That's exactly what
happened to Big Apple Greeter, the tiny nonprofit
that matches tourists with volunteer guides. It was on the brink of
extinction when a wealthy Californian picked up the phone to offer help
after watching a TV news segment about the group's financial woes
(first reported in Crain's on June 21).
Getty
gives Oil heiress Ariadne Getty
recently wired the nonprofit a check for
$200,000, buying the group another six months in which to raise more
funds. “We really, really needed
this money,” says Lynn Brooks , founder of
Big Apple Greeter, adding that her board of directors had instructed
her to start shutting down operations by September. The 18-year-old
organization offers unique tours of the city, taking
visitors on hours-long trips to neighborhoods off the beaten path. But
when corporate donors scaled back last year, Big Apple Greeter hit a
wall and had to cut its operating costs to the bone. In June, the group
launched a Save Big Apple Greeter campaign, appealing to its 300
volunteers, past and future visitors, and corporate sponsors to help. The campaign netted
nearly $100,000, including $35,000 from the city
and many smaller donations from individuals giving as little as $5 to
$2,500. But that wasn't enough to keep Big Apple Greeter afloat. Enter Ms. Getty, one of
five children of J. Paul Getty Jr. She runs
Fuserna Foundation, which, according to its website, supports charities
that have financial constraints and lack exposure—an eclectic group
including the Sierra Leone War Trust for Children and the Santa Monica
Mountains & Seashore Foundation. Ms. Getty could not be
reached for comment.
More
funds needed Others clearly share Ms.
Getty's admiration for Big Apple Greeter. A
Canadian couple, Frank and Margy Slater, who visited the city in July
and toured the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan with two volunteers,
gave $50 and say they will give the organization a second donation next
year if it's needed. But it will take another
large gift like Ms. Getty's to save Big Apple
Greeter once and for all. With corporate supporters still struggling,
reaching the group's $600,000 annual budget is no slam dunk. “Without a new infusion
of cash,” says Executive Director Alicia Pierro, “we won't be around
next year.”
Newser Lisa Colangelo
(leaning on fence) shows
Netherlands tourists (l. to r.) Pascual and Roelyke Gallego the sights
at Gantry Plaza State Park, aided by Big Apple Greeter Suzanne
Paliotta.
The assignment seemed
simple enough - the Daily
News wanted me to serve as a Big Apple Greeter for a day and take some
visitors off the beaten tourism path.
I was a natural for at
least part of the task. I'm
a native New Yorker, having lived, worked and gone to school here for
all but 10 years of my life.
The tour guide part? Not
so much.
Gail
Morse of Big Apple Greeter set me straight. They are not, she
repeated, not a tour company.
"A greeter shows a
visitor around the way a friend
or a family member would show someone around," said Morse.
Founder Lynn Brooks
started the program in 1992,
matching up volunteer greeters with visitors to show them that New York
can indeed be friendly and manageable.
After digging through
some requests, Morse paired
me up with Pascual and Roelyke Gallego, a couple from Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
The easygoing pair spoke English and were excited to explore Queens.
I was a little
skeptical. Was there anything there
they would want to see? Most of my school-aged years were spent in that
area. It seemed a tad too familiar - even boring.
But I was wrong.
Roelyke, a 35-year-old teacher,
and Pascual, a 35-year-old tax inspector, soaked in everything from the
busy Austin St. shopping strip to the manicured gardens and mansions a
few blocks away.
"People don't think they
will see architecture
like this in New
York City," said Paliotta.
After checking out the
West Side Tennis Club -
former site of the U.S. Open - we walked carefully across Queens
Blvd., explaining the "Boulevard of Death" moniker, and
hopped a bus into the heart of Corona.
There was no way I was
taking a visitor into
Queens without visiting two borough food landmarks: the Lemon Ice King
of Corona and Leo's Latticini (a.k.a. Mama's).
Roelyke followed my lead
and got a peanut butter
ice, while Pascual went with sour green apple.
"We would never have
known to come here if you
didn't bring us," Pascual said. My smug smile disappeared when he
looked over at the nearby bocce courts and asked me to explain the game
to him.
"Something where you
roll balls but it's not
bowling," I tried, looking at Suzanne for help.
Ugh. Some
Italian-American I am. Then again, my
family was more likely to bowl at Hollywood
Lanes than play bocce.
Recharged by the ices,
we walked several blocks to
Mama's, where sisters Irene, Marie and Carmela fussed over Pascual and
Roelyke as if they were family.
The couple happily
wolfed down Mama's special
sandwiches: mozzarella, salami and peppered ham on semolina bread with
peppers and mushrooms.
It was a welcome break
from the fast food that had
dominated their meals since arriving in the city.
As we walked to
Roosevelt Ave. to catch the 7
train to Long
Island City, Roelyke and Pascual stopped to take pictures of
the trucks lined up under the el. I wasn't sure why, but they seemed
interested and happy.
We walked through Long
Island City, showing them
the new shiny towers that are replacing factories and warehouses.
"This is lovely," said
Roelyke, as she enjoyed the
breeze at Gantry
Plaza State Park. "We probably would have never gone here. We
probably would have just walked over the Brooklyn
Bridge and walked back."
Big Apple
Greeter Rings Closing Bell at NASDAQ
Tourism and
finance generate top dollar for New
York City. On November
29, 2008, representatives of both sectors met on the trading floor when
founder Lynn Brooks, board chair Thomas Lewis and a team of volunteers
rang the closing bell at NASDAQ, the famed global exchange located in
Manhattan’s Time Square. The successful event was hosted by NASDAQ
Managing Director and volunteer Greeter Gregg Hernandez.
“Big Apple Greeter
is a great reflection on the city with very tangible
benefits. The financial industry faces challenges right now and since
the current recession is global in nature, the tourism industry in New
York has to deliver good value to travelers because people’s disposable
income is challenged right know,” says Mr. Hernandez.
Good value indeed.
With an army of over 300 volunteer Greeters
welcoming visitors and promoting the city as friendly and accessible,
Big Apple Greeter has been referred to as the most effective public
relations arm of the city, capturing the attention of media and
journalists across the globe. In FY08, the organization welcomed
journalists from 97 domestic and international media outlets, resulting
in approximately 94 story placements globally.
“I think when you
can humanize tourism in NY, it can create so much new
energy and I really think that’s fantastic,” says Hernandez.
The NASDAQ event
received extensive media coverage. Business
publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CNBC Fast Money Show,
CNBC Squawk Box, CNNMoney.com, Forbes, Fox News, the BBC and many other
business publications from Asia, Latin America and the Middle East all
covered the BAG event.—Janet Alicea
Big
Apple Greeter was the first “welcome visitor” program of its
kind in the United States. For further assistance,
please contact Gail Morse at (212) 669-8198 or pr@bigapplegreeter.org.
