John Eugene Zuccotti (; June 23, 1937 – November 19, 2015) was an Italian-American businessman active in real estate and development in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He is best known as the namesake of

Zuccotti Park Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Plaza Park) is a publicly accessible park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is located in a privately owned public space (POPS) controlled by Brookfield Properties and Goldman Sachs. ...

Early life

John Zuccotti was born in 1937 to Angelo and Gemma Zuccotti. He had one brother, Andrew. His father was an Italian immigrant to the United States who had become well known in New York's high society as the longtime maitre d' of

El Morocco El Morocco (sometimes nicknamed Elmo or Elmer) was a 20th-century Manhattan nightclub frequented by the rich and famous from the 1930s until the decline of café society in the late 1950s. It was famous for its blue zebra-stripe motif (designed ...

, a nightclub frequented by the rich and famous. Zuccotti graduated in 1959 from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

with a bachelor's degree. He earned a JD degree from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1963.

Career

Zuccotti served in a number of governmental and civic positions including member of the

New York City Planning Commission The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...

starting in 1971, of which he became chairman in 1973. In mid-November 1975, he was named first deputy mayor of the city by Mayor

Abraham D. Beame Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy. ...

, serving until 1977Roberts, Sam
"City Room: A Public Servant Whose Name Is Now on Protesters’ Lips"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' (October 5, 2011) Zuccotti practiced law from 1977 until 1990. Zuccotti served as assistant to the secretary of

Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

and as chairman of the

Real Estate Board of New York The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is "the leading trade group advocating on policy changes in the real estate industry," a trade association for the real estate industry in New York City. Formed in 1896, its current president is James W ...

. He was also a member of the boards of groups as diverse as World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the

Visiting Nurse Service of New York Founded in 1893 by nursing pioneer Lillian D. Wald and Mary M. Brewster, VNS Health is one of the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organizations in the United States, serving the five boroughs of New York City; Nassau ...

. As a businessman, Zuccotti was active in the development of New York City, as a partner in a number of real estate firms including Olympia & York, and law firms such as Brown & Wood, Tufo & Zuccotti, and

Weil, Gotshal & Manges Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is an American international law firm with approximately 1,100 attorneys, headquartered in New York City. With a gross annual revenue in excess of $1.8 billion, it is among the world's largest law firms according to ' ...

, and as the U.S. chairman of

Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...

. Politically, Zuccotti was active in both Democratic and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politics on both the local and national level, serving at various times on the National Republican Congressional Committee and Joe Biden's presidential campaign. Zuccotti was married to Susan Sessions Zuccotti, the author of a number of books relating to

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. He died of a heart attack on November 19, 2015. aged 78.

References

External links

* Th
John Zuccotti Papers
at the

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuccotti, John Eugene 1937 births 2015 deaths American lawyers and judges of Italian descent Princeton University alumni Yale Law School alumni American real estate businesspeople Deputy mayors of New York City 20th-century American lawyers