The New York Times Company Foundation Convenes Second Immigrant Family Literacy Summit with New York City's Department of Youth and Community Development, the Altman Foundation and the Literacy Assistance Center.

NEW YORK -- The New York Times Company Foundation today announced that it will host a second immigrant family literacy summit with the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), the Altman Foundation and the Literacy Assistance Center on Wednesday, March 9. The Summit will include officials and authorities specializing in immigrant issues and family literacy. The Summit will be held at The Times building on 43rd Street from 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Expected participants include Dennis Walcott, Deputy Mayor; Carmen Farina, Deputy Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education; Commissioner Jeanne B. Mullgrav of DYCD; Nina Mogilnik, senior program officer, the Altman Foundation; Guillermo Linares, New York City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs; Joe Salvo, director, Population Division of the Department of City Planning; Richard Fish, special advisor to the commissioner, DYCD; David Ramirez, Dean of Long Island University School of Education; Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, executive director, Safe Space; Karen Proctor, vice president of Community Affairs & Government Relations, Scholastic, Inc.

"There are now 1.5 million immigrants in the city who have little or no English, the City Planning Commission tells us," said Jack Rosenthal, president, The New York Times Company Foundation. "This new alliance, joining different arms of New York City government with the private sector, can bring essential help to thousands of children and parents."

"The City of New York is committed to supporting our youth, families and their communities by connecting and leveraging the expertise and resources of the public and private sectors," said DYCD Commissioner Mullgrav. "This literacy alliance provides a unique opportunity to encourage learning in the classroom, and beyond, by engaging families in the process. Promoting literacy among immigrant families is a key component to helping newcomers fully take advantage of New York's economic and educational opportunities."

"Literacy is an underlying concern in all of our program areas," said Nina Mogilnik, senior program officer, the Altman Foundation. "Being literate is the key to opening many doors - be they in education, employment, housing, health care, or the cultural world. For immigrants, being literate in the language of their new country is essential to acclimating, and to being able to realize the many dreams that brought them to this country in the first place."

"Immigration has always been one of the major forces behind this city's vitality, but the days when a newcomer could get by with a few words of English are long since gone," said Elyse Barbell Rudolph, executive director, Literacy Assistance Center. "Our immigrant family literacy alliance aims to bring public and private resources together to support programs that give immigrants the tools they need to succeed in 21st-century America."

The Immigrant Family Literacy Alliance aims to improve the quality of literacy courses by sharing of best practices and the quantity of service available by advocating for more public and private resources.

The New York Times Company Foundation is a private foundation funded by the Company.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), a leading media company with 2004 revenues of $3.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other newspapers, eight network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. For the fifth consecutive year, the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's 2005 list of America's Most Admired Companies. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

About The Department of Youth and Community Development

The Department of Youth and Community Development facilitates youth development and community development by awarding contracts to a broad network of community-based organizations throughout New York City. These contracts support a variety of youth services, including afterschool programs, workforce development, runaway and homeless programs, cultural enrichment and delinquency prevention, that provide positive reinforcement for young people and encourages them to stimulate their cognitive, creative, social and physical abilities. DYCD also administers contracts to support programs that address the unique needs and assessments of each community, including the conditions of poverty, helps to establish routes for youth, families and neighborhoods to become more self-sufficient and creates an opportunity to fully participate in community and enjoy productive lives.

About The Altman Foundation

The Altman Foundation was established in 1913 under Benjamin Altman's will "for the benefit of such charitable and educational institutions in the City of New York as said directors shall approve." His will bequeathed all his capital stock in B. Altman & Co. to the Altman Foundation. In 2004 the Foundation awarded grants in excess of $11 million to organizations in New York City meeting the needs of constituents in all of its priority funding areas: education, health, strengthening communities, and arts and culture.

About The Literacy Assistance Center

The Literacy Assistance Center (LAC) is in its third decade of providing free professional development and other services to New York City programs offering adult literacy, family literacy, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and GED preparation. The LAC also operates New York State's Literacy Referral Hotline, which assists learners and volunteers in identifying the most appropriate nearby free adult education program. For more information, visit www.lacnyc.org.

This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com and www.nytco.com/community