Mike Bloomberg Is the Second Most Philanthropic American

This year our own New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg gave away $279.2 million in charitable donations to 970 nonprofit groups, more than two-thirds of which were in New York. This beats the $254 million he donated last year. (Each year he gives away a bit more.) In doing so, Bloomberg moves from the #4 spot on the list of Americans who gave the most to #2, just behind George Soros, who gave $332 million to his Open Society Foundations, in New York.

Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg moves to #10 on the list, pledging $100 million to Startup: Education, which will support programs to improve public schools in Newark, New Jersey.

So much money! And, yet, total giving in 2010 was less than recent years before, a mere $3.36 billion in total. Slate has more about the 60 people who gave the most money toward doing good things last year.

Now, if Bloomberg would just kiss and make up with Staten Island Chuck -- groundhogs have feelings, too!

[JDoll]