Bloomberg to provide $200m to US cities

New York, June 26: Former New York mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg announced on Monday a $200 million plan aiming to back inventive policies in American cities despite political tumult in Washington.

Under its “American Cities Initiative,” Bloomberg Philanthropies will invest the money over the the next three years in a bid to “incentivise and support the innovative efforts” of cities.

“We are in the middle of a political era defined by partisan paralysis, and nowhere is it worse than in Washington,” Mr Bloomberg, the world’s tenth richest person, told a meeting of US mayors in Florida.

“Compared to any other era in modern American politics, our nation’s capital has been unable to address the great challenges we face.”

The United States Conference of Mayors met in Miami Beach as American cities have taken a growing role in areas where they see the President Donald Trump’s policies as lacking.