$20 million gift to promote tolerance on WNET

ARTSBEAT | NYTIMES

Before the dentist Simon B. Poyta, of Forest Hills, Queens, died in 2006, he expressed a wish that programming on WNET, New York’s flagship public television station, could help combat the anti-Semitism he witnessed while serving in the army during World War II. On Thursday, WNET... [announced] a $20 million gift from the estate of Mr. Poyta and his wife, Sylvia — a comptroller, who died in 2012 — the largest bequest in its 53-year history. With the donation, the station has established the Sylvia and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Anti-Semitism, the proceeds of which will be used for on-air and online programming on anti-Semitism and tolerance. [link]