Financier Pledges $100-Million Gift to Help New York Public Library Expand

Stephen A. Schwarzman, a New York financier, is giving $100-million to the New York Public Library, where he is a member of the library’s Board of Trustees.

The donation kicks off the library’s plan to raise a total of $1-billion in private donations and government funds to renovate its flagship building on Fifth Avenue, build two new libraries in Manhattan and Staten Island, expand the library’s online services, and shore up its endowment.

Mr. Schwarzman’s wealth was pegged in October at $7.8-billion in Forbes magazine’s ranking of the wealthiest Americans. He is a co-founder of the Blackstone Group, which holds interests in corporate debt, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate. Mr. Schwarzman, who in recent years has been criticized for his lavish way of life, made $684-million in cash when Blackstone went public in June.

The gift is the second large one that Mr. Schwarzman, who is 61, announced this month.

He pledged $5-million to Inner-City Scholarship Fund, in New York, to endow scholarships for needy children attending Catholic schools in the city.

Mr. Schwarzman did not place any restrictions on how his donation to the library — which plans to name its Fifth Avenue building after the financier — should be used.

“I have complete confidence in the senior management at the library,” he said, “and I think they should have the maximum flexibility as to where that money goes and when. The board has already approved the general plan and I don’t see why I should make their lives more complicated in terms of executing it.”

Mr. Schwarzman said he considers details about his payment of the pledge to be a confidential matter, but he said that he hired a lawyer to help him draw up a contract, which he has signed.

Influencing Other Donors

One thing Mr. Schwarzman said he hopes his pledge will accomplish is to help the library raise the profile of its reconfiguration plans, so that the public will see what the institution is doing.

He said he also hopes his pledge will inspire other donors to support the library.

Paul LeClerc, the library’s president, said it will take approximately five years to put in place all of the library’s plans to meet the needs of patrons, the number of which has increased by more than two million since 2006.

He also said the institution hopes to double the number of visitors, both in person and online, in the next five years.

Approximately 40 million people have visited the library or its online collections in the past year, said Mr. LeClerc.

“The world of information and ideas has changed profoundly, and the needs of library users have changed in response,” said Mr. LeClerc, in a statement. “In neighborhoods, on the Internet, and at the heart of the city, our new plans provide a framework to deliver future generations of library users with the services that will be essential to their lives and livelihood in this new era.”

Mr. LeClerc said that in addition to the pledge from Mr. Schwarzman, the library has raised $150-million for the expansion plan from other wealthy people and foundations.

He said that the library has not yet decided how Mr. Schwarzman’s donation will be used.