It will forever be emblazoned in our minds how Robin Hood Foundation's "Rise Up New York!" telethon raised $115 MM for nonprofits from among 100,000 donors to help New Yorkers whose lives have been dramatically impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
COVID-19's epicenter, New York City, shows the world what it means to "rise up" New York style!
@RobinHood Tweeted: "THANK YOU to all who came together tonight to rise up for NYC. You raised $115M for nonprofits working on the front lines of our city's #COVID19 crisis."
The Robin Hood Foundation might be familiar to you. It was conceived by Paul Tudor Jones who many describe as an "angel" and who co-founded the organization in 1998 along with Peter Borish and Glenn Dubin. This is the same organization, that on behalf of New Yorkers presented "The Concert for New York City" in 2001 and "The Concert for Sandy" in 2012 -- both benefits brought much-needed disaster relief for 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy, respectively.
In a similar fashion, the special benefit was an enormous success -- not just in terms of the monetary success which was astronomical -- but also in terms of the strength and inspiration it brought to the world. The telethon exemplified what New Yorkers do best: they come together with their fellow New Yorkers when it really matters, and they do it in their inimitable New York style!
The special event "Rise Up New York!" was spectacular! It was emotional. It was quintessential New York on full display with the iconic Empire State Building beaming out with colorful lights while Billy Joel, the Piano Man himself, simultaneously twinkled the ivories from jumbo-sized marquis screens splashed throughout Times Square to perform "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway)." The combination of the "New York State of Mind" master musician choreographed with the Empire State Building light show brought a whole new meaning to the phrase: "Empire State of Mind."
For those of you who missed it, the only way to convey the magic of this epic moment is to show you:
New York powerhouses who are an integral part of the fabric that makes up New York such as Barbara Streisand reminisced about the electricity on Broadway when she first arrived there in the 60's to star in Funny Girl and how she can't wait for its return when this is behind us. Streisand commented: "When all the Broadway theaters went dark, it was another shock in the midst of many these days," said Streisand. "It was painful to think of all that creative energy suddenly shut down."
Other Broadway Super Stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Rannells, Ben Platt, Chris Jackson, Cynthia Erivo, Idina Menzel and Karen Olivo came together to sing an impassioned "New York, New York."
Bette Middler talked about the 2008 crash, Sandy, 9/11 and how resilient New Yorkers are and how they continually rise up and emerge stronger than before. Jake Gyllenhaal shared similar sentiments.
Interspersed among the stars were stories from various NYC neighborhoods and people in need along with the real-life front line workers who are bringing support their way.
Here are some highlight performances:
Sting
When Sting sings the lyrics "Sending out an S.O.S. to the world" from his famous song "Message in a Bottle" it's very poignant. Little did he know when he wrote the song how relevant his lyrics would be today:
"Another lonely day, no one here but me, oh
More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh
I'll send an SOS to the world…
I hope that someone gets my…message in a bottle
At the end, when Sting sings: "I don't believe what I saw. A hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore." Did he know that those bottles would be filled with $100 million dollars as a result of this rockin' benefit?
Jon Bon Jovi recently took the lead for the state of New Jersey with Jersey4Jersey. He and his band sang: "It's My Life" for Rise Up New York!
Alicia Keys "Good Job"
Alicia Keys and JayZ's "Empire State of Mind" reached number one in 2007 and has been adopted by New Yorkers as yet another one of their beloved theme songs. For Rise Up New York!, Keys dressed in white and playing a white piano, showcased her new song of encouragement called "Good Job."
Other appearances included Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, New York Giants Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, and Phil Simms, Michael Strahan, Karlie Kloss, Angie Mar, Chris Rock, David Chang, Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Fallon, Julianne Moore, Robert De Niro, Spike Lee, Sutton Foster, and Trevor Noah to name a few.
The benefit was hosted by Tina Fey, who when she saw the final tally of donations at the end asked: "Is this real?" The collective efforts which exceeded the goal of $100 million dollars left her in disbelief and in tears. The generosity was real and the exhilarating feelings of strength, humility, gratefulness, and inspiration that we all felt were also very real.
Rise Up New York! showed the world that while the lights are out on Broadway, the spirit of New York will never dim.
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