Opinion: Raiding Endowment Fueled N.Y. City Opera’s Demise

The fate of New York City Opera’s endowment, established to ensure the arts group’s long-term financial stability, starkly charts the management failure that led to the company’s bankruptcy, a New York Times business columnist writes.

The endowment, which stood at $51.6-million in 2001, had shrunk to $5.2 million by June 2013. James Stewart cites the City Opera board’s repeated raiding of the fund for operating cash, and also notes investment losses that followed a disastrous decision in the wake of the 2008 crash to sell all equities when the stock market was at its lowest.

Those steps were taken with court approval and the tacit or explicit imprimatur of city and state officials, yet without consulting the main source of the endowment’s funds, the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for Lincoln Center, Mr. Stewart writes.