Taylor Swift is donating proceeds from her song Welcome to New York to the city’s public schools.
The Shake It Off hitmaker pays homage to her adopted city in the first track of her new album, 1989.
And the star announced on US chat show The View Wednesday she will be donating all proceeds from the song to kids in need, according to TIME magazine.
‘Taylor JUST ANNOUNCED that she’s donating ALL of her proceeds from #WelcomeToNewYork to New York City Public Schools!!! #TaylorOnTheView,’ the outlet reports one Twitter fan wrote.
The announcement follows shortly after Taylor was named Global Welcome Ambassador by New York City’s Tourism Department.
‘Join Taylor Swift and the 55 million other visitors who come to New York City every year. Get inspired. Be transformed. Plan your visit now,’ reads a promo on a city government page touting the singer’s new post.
‘What makes New York City New York City is that it is unlike anywhere else in the world,’ the star says in an accompanying video.
‘It’s almost like the city has its own heartbeat. You can find fashion that inspires you, art that inspires you, humanity inspires you everywhere you look. It’s impossible not to fall in love or be affected by something in New York City.’
The campaign was met with chagrin by many New Yorkers, with critics eager to point out the singer had only moved to the metropolitan a few months prior, without having to ‘make it’ against all odds as many struggling artists attempt to do.
But Taylor has insisted in the past she’s already developed a deep connection to the city, which she credits with accelerating her personal growth and helping her to develop a thick skin.
“At this point in my life at 24, I have a very solid grasp on my identity – I know exactly who I am, but I know exactly what [the media] say I am,” she recently told SunHerald.com. “I feel very comfortable joining in on the social commentary and joining in on the joke because I know exactly what it is – a joke.”
