The Bowling Green is a small park in Manhattan's Financial District...and the restoration of the Park was done in honor of George T. Delacorte, the founder of the Dell Publishing Company.
A plaque at the site reads:
"IN MEMORY OF
GEORGE T. DELACORTE
JUNE 20, 1893 - MAY 4, 1991
Publsiher & Philanthropist
Whose Many Gofts Beautify
New York City
The Restoration of this Historic Park and Fountain
Is an Illustraion of his Generosity
Bowling Green was Restored by the City of New York
In 1977, with his (obstructed) the Administration of
Abraham Beame, Mayor
Joseph P. (obstructed), Commissioner"
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"George T. Delacorte, Jr. (20 June 1894 – 4 May 1991) founded the Dell Publishing Company in 1921. His goal was to entertain readers who were not satisfied with the genteel publications available at the time. The company was one of the largest publishers of books, magazines, and comics during its heyday. His most successful innovation was the puzzle magazine, a genre that continues to grow in popularity to this day.
An alumnus of Columbia University (1913), he donated money to the university which established the Delacorte Professorship in the Humanities and helped found the George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism and the creation of the Delacorte Professorship in Magazine Journalism in 1984. The university recognized him with an honorary doctorate in 1982.
In 1962, he donated money to establish the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, New York City. He also donated money for the George Delacorte Musical Clock in the park, a sculpture of Alice in Wonderland, sculptures of The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet, and a fountain in City Hall Plaza.
He died in Manhattan in 1991 at the age of 97, survived by his second wife Valerie Delacorte (whose first husband was the Hungarian producer Gabriel Pascal), two sons, three daughters, 18 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. His siblings included Eugene Tonkonogy."