Mayor de Blasio refused to say on Thursday whether or not he backs the City Council’s unprecedented campaign to keep Walmart’s philanthropic dollars from flowing to local nonprofits.
More than half the chamber’s 51 members signed a letter this week telling the firm — which donated $3 million to area charities last year and provided assistance after Hurricane Sandy — to stop giving.
When asked, de Blasio would only reiterate his long-stated condemnation of the company and its labor practices, but punted on the question of blocking its charitable work.
“Each charity has to make their own decision if they want to accept that money,” he said.
A number of nonprofits that received donations from the Walmart Foundation last year have said that they rely on corporate giving to serve needy New Yorkers and that they have no intention of rejecting — or returning — vital dollars.