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Donor Gives Manhattan College $10 Million for Complex Named After Ray Kelly

By Jeanmarie Evelly | September 26, 2012 5:04pm
A Manhattan College alumnus gifted the north Bronx school with a $10 million donation for the construction of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, a multipurpose student center named for the New York City police commissioner, who graduated from the school in 1963.
A Manhattan College alumnus gifted the north Bronx school with a $10 million donation for the construction of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, a multipurpose student center named for the New York City police commissioner, who graduated from the school in 1963.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

RIVERDALE — A Manhattan College alumnus gifted the north Bronx school with a $10 million donation for the construction of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, a multipurpose student center named for the New York City police commissioner, who graduated from the school in 1963. 

Thomas D. O’Malley, also a 1963 graduate and a former chairman of the school's board of trustees, made the donation — the largest gift in the college's history. O'Malley is the executive chairman of PBF Energy Company LLC, a petroleum supply company. The school's renovated Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library is named after O'Malley and his wife. 

A rendering of  Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, a multipurpose student center planned for Manhattan College and named for the New York City police commissioner, who graduated from the school in 1963.
A rendering of Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, a multipurpose student center planned for Manhattan College and named for the New York City police commissioner, who graduated from the school in 1963.
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Edward I. Mills & Associates and Perkins Eastman Architects PC, A Joint Venture

"Police Commissioner Ray Kelly does, in our view, reflect all that Manhattan College teaches," O'Malley said in a statement sent out earlier this week announcing the donation. "His success, service and unblemished reputation provides the model that we ask our students to aspire to.”

The donation brought Manhattan College's fundraising campaign for the project up to $29 million so far, according to a spokeswoman. The entire project is expected to cost roughly $48 million.

The Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, planned to open sometime in 2014, will be a five-story, 67,000-square-foot facility housing a fitness center, campus book store, cafe, dining hall, wireless study lounges and a multipurpose ballroom.

"I am honored beyond measure to have the new student center named after me, which I recognize as a tribute also to the life-saving work of the entire New York City Police Department, and to the many outstanding Manhattan alumni who have served in its ranks,” Kelly said in a press release. 

The student commons, expected to break ground by the end of this year, will be the first new building on the Manhattan College campus since new dorms were constructed in 2008, according to a spokeswoman.