Tisch to Match, and Raise, Revoked Gift to Children's Zoo

Early this month, Henry and Edith Everett roiled the high-stakes, image-conscious world of New York philanthropy when they denounced the choice of James S. Tisch as the new head of the UJA-Federation of New York, arguing that his interests in a big cigarette company made him unfit to head the giant charity.

Last week, the Everetts found themselves at the center of another philanthropic contretemps when it was disclosed that they had withdrawn their gift of $3 million to the new Children's Zoo in Central Park in a dispute over, among other things, how their gift would be acknowledged.

Yesterday came chapter three in the saga of good intentions and bad feelings. The Children's Zoo said it had found a replacement donor for the Everetts' gift: Laurence A. Tisch, the father of James Tisch and co-chairman of the Loews Corporation, which owns the Lorillard Tobacco Company.

Alison Power, a spokeswoman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, said the Tisch Foundation, headed by Laurence Tisch and his brother, Preston Robert Tisch, had agreed in April after the Everetts withdrew their gift to replace the donation and add up to $1.5 million more. As a result, she said, the new zoo will be called the Tisch Children's Zoo, not the Everett Children's Zoo.

Laurence Tisch said yesterday that his donation to the zoo had nothing to do with the Everetts or the controversy over his son's role at the UJA, and that he and his family had agreed to replace the gift without knowing the identity of the donors who had revoked their pledge.

''My brother and I agreed to replace the gift several weeks ago,'' Mr. Tisch said in an interview. ''I laughed when I found out who had reneged on the gift. In a way, I wish it hadn't turned out this way, because people will misinterpret our motivation. In fact, it had zero input into our decision.''

Mr. Everett would not comment directly on the Tisches' motivation, but he said others had told him they saw it as an ''act of vengeance'' over the UJA battle. In interviews last night, the Everetts also said they were appalled that a name associated with the tobacco industry would now be linked to a project for children.

''It is deeply distressing that any venue that is dedicated to children should be supported by people who work in an industry that tries to induce children to smoke,'' said Mrs. Everett. Mr. Everett agreed, calling the zoo's decision ''intolerable.''

The Tisches' involvement is just the latest disappointment for the Everetts arising from the zoo project. In an April 24 letter informing Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of their decision to withdraw their gift, the Everetts had expressed concern over the grueling approval process that the project had been subjected to. And they specifically complained that their agreement with the Wildlife Conservation Society over how their gift would be acknowledged had been overturned by the New York City Art Commission, which reviews architecture on city-owned property.

The Art Commission decided that a plaque commemorating the Everetts' gift would be placed on the center of a gateway, while plaques on either side of the gate would honor former Gov. Herbert H. Lehman and his wife, Edith, whose $500,000 gift built the original zoo that is now being replaced.

''You can imagine our chagrin when the Arts Commission overturned our agreement by deciding that for our $3 million gift a plaque with two-inch letters on the center member of a marble double entrance was sufficient acknowledgment,'' they wrote.

For his part, Mr. Tisch said he and his wife had a longstanding interest in zoos and had contributed more than $7 million to the zoo in Jerusalem. When officials of the Wildlife Conservation Society ''explained that a major donor had withdrawn a gift and asked for my help, I said, 'Oh, wouldn't it be nice to do something here,' '' he said.

Asked what kind of acknowledgment he wanted for his latest gift, Mr. Tisch replied, ''I couldn't care less what they do.''

Only after he made the pledge of up to $4.5 million did he learn the identity of the family that had withdrawn its gift, he said. ''We were delighted to do it, and our gift had absolutely nothing to do with Henry Everett.'' To suggest anything else would be sheer ''chutzpah,'' he said.

But Mr. Tisch expressed anger at Mr. Everett's campaign against his son, the president of Loews, who he said was superbly qualified to head the UJA-Federation of New York. ''You couldn't get a better person than Jimmy,'' he said, ''and I'm not saying that because he's my son. He's just one of those good people whom everyone respects and loves.''

As for Mr. Everett, Mr. Tisch said that he barely knew him, having met him only two or three times. ''If he's against smoking, that's his business,'' Mr. Tisch said.

In a letter in April opposing James Tisch's nomination as head of the UJA, Mr. Everett wrote, ''Morality, ethics, Jewish law against self-destruction and common sense mandate that it would be repugnant for a tobacco executive to be cast as the president and role model for any Jewish federation.''

Ms. Power of the wildlife society said officials had learned as early as 1995 of the Tisches' interest in the zoo. ''But because we were already in serious negotiations with the Everett family about a naming gift,'' she said, ''we didn't need to pursue the Tisches' interest at that time.''

''We bear the Everetts no ill will,'' she added.

But the Everetts were upset both about the dispute with the zoo and about the publicity surrounding their decision to withdraw the gift.

In a letter to The New York Times, the Everetts wrote that they did not do so because of the size of the plaque acknowledging their gift, but rather because ''the Wildlife Conservation Society was unable to carry out the contract we had signed.'' They did not specify how the society had violated the contract.

Ms. Power said the wildlife society was ''thrilled'' to have the Tisch family as major donors. The gate honoring the Lehmans will be maintained, she said.

Both the Everett and the Tisch families have been generous donors to New York institutions. The Everetts have given huge gifts, among others, to the UJA-Federation, as well as to the Dance Theater of Harlem, whose headquarters is now known as the Everett Center for the Performing Arts, and to the New York Botanical Garden for the Everett Children's Adventure Garden.

Mr. Tisch has given New York University Medical Center $30 million and another $7.5 million gift helped found N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts.