As a proud resident of the greatest city in the world, Newmark Knight Frank is doing its part to keep New York City beautiful by making a contribution to Citizens Committee for New York City, a nonprofit group that stimulates and supports self-help and civic action to improve the quality of life in New York City and its neighborhoods.

"We believe everyone can make a difference in their neighborhoods and continue to support efforts to promote civic responsibility," said Jeffrey Gural, chairman of Newmark Knight Frank. "Keeping the city robust, and clean, is really important. Residents can take action through Citizens Committee for New York City."

Newmark Knight Frank's gift to Citizens Committee for New York City will help fund scores of neighborhood cleanup and revitalization projects in every corner of New York City. This contribution will fund Love Your (NYC) Block, a project that is coordinated in partnership with NYC Service - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's comprehensive program to engage more New Yorkers in volunteer service and target those volunteers towards the city greatest areas of need. The Love Your (NYC) Block campaign will pair neighborhood community groups with city agencies -- including the parks, sanitation and transportation departments -- to beautify 100 city blocks.

Sixty neighborhood volunteer teams selected for Love Your (NYC) Block campaign will receive a $500 grant each to cover the cost of the block beautification projects. In addition, city agencies will remove graffiti, repair damaged or missing street signage and streetlights, ticket illegal dumping sites, and replace worn-out or missing litter baskets. 

"Jeff Gural and Newmark Knight Frank are pitching in to clean up the city, neighborhood by neighborhood and block by block," said Peter H. Kostmayer, CEO of Citizens Committee for New York City.  

The Love Your (NYC) Block campaign follows the success of a pilot project this summer. Twelve volunteer-led neighborhood groups from all five boroughs mobilized more than 740 volunteers - who put in 3,293 hours - to transform their blocks. Groups held clean-up and beautification days, painted a mural on a commercial corridor, planted community gardens and created art installations. City agencies cleaned up vacant lots, conducted surveys for future tree planting and speed bumps, removed dead street trees, supplied mulch for gardening projects and provided additional trash collection services for the block clean-up projects. 

About Citizens Committee for New York City

Citizens Committee for New York City fosters self-help and civic action. Founded in 1975 during the city's fiscal crisis, Citizens Committee for New York City mobilizes volunteer groups to take civic action to improve life in the city's neighborhoods. In addition to small grants, we offer one-on-one project implementation assistance, skills-building workshops, relevant publications, and a resource center that offers community groups access to computers and an equipment loan library. For more information, visit www.citizensnyc.org.

About NYC Service

NYC Service was launched by Mayor Bloomberg in April 2009 to meet his State of the City pledge for New York City to lead the nation in answering President Obama's national call to service. The program has three core goals: channel the power of volunteers to address the impacts of the current economic downturn, make New York City the easiest city in America in which to serve, and ensure every young person in New York City is taught about civic engagement and has an opportunity to serve. NYC Service aims to drive volunteer resources to six impacts areas where New York City's needs are greatest: strengthening communities, helping neighbors in need, education, health, emergency preparedness and the environment. New Yorkers can find opportunities to serve their communities by visiting www.nyc.gov or by calling 311.

About Newmark Knight Frank

Newmark Knight Frank is one of the largest independent real estate service firms in the world. Headquartered in New York, Newmark Knight Frank and London-based partner Knight Frank operate from over 200 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents. Last year, transactions were valued at more than $32 billion with annual revenues of over $811 million. With a combined staff of more than 6,300, this major force in real estate is meeting the local and global needs of owners, tenants, investors and developers worldwide. For further information, visit www.newmarkkf.com.