 In 1993, he made the then-largest private donation to a public park when he promised $17 million if the Conservancy and the municipality did the same.He was also a trustee of the Morgan Library and Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.He was chairman emeritus of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think-tank, and the Club for Growth, a conservative political action committee, to which his ex-wife Virginia James continues to be a major donor.