Samuel J. LeFrak (February 12, 1918 – April 16, 2003) was an American real estate tycoon. He was a noted landlord who chaired a private building firm, the LeFrak Organization, which was ranked 45th on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' list of top 500 private companies. The development firm is best known for major development projects in

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...

;

LeFrak City LeFrak City (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced ) is a 4,605-apartment development in the southernmost region of Corona and the easternmost part of Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located between Junct ...

in Queens; and

Newport, Jersey City Newport is a master-planned, mixed-use community in Downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, consisting of retail, residential, office, and entertainment facilities. The neighborhood is situated on the Hudson Waterfront on what had bee ...

. Although the LeFrak organization claims it was founded in 1883 in France, by Samuel J. LeFrak's grandfather, Maurice, passenger arrival index (ref. 4) indicates his grandfather was Aron Lefrak from

Slutsk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...

. Extended family in the 1940s to 1960s knew that Harry Lefrak and family were from Slutsk, and the family never used the spelling "LeFrak". (Personal communication from Lilly Feingold Mogil, niece of Harry Lefrak's wife Sarah Schwartz.)

Biography

LeFrak was born in Manhattan, New York, to Harry (Harris) Lefrak and the former Sarah Schwartz, who had originated in

, near Minsk, in Belarus (then Russia). He grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the north, ...

. He graduated from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, in 1940, with the University's LeFrak Hall named for him. While at Maryland, he was a brother in the

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fraternity. In the early 1970s he was sued by the federal government for housing discrimination; the case was resolved in a January 1971 agreement. In 1975, he co-founded a small recording and publishing company, The Entertainment Company, with his then son-in-law

Martin Bandier Martin N. "Marty" Bandier (born July 21, 1941) is an American music industry executive who was the CEO/Chairman of Sony/ATV Music Publishing for 11 years. Bandier studied at Stuyvesant High School, Syracuse University, and Brooklyn Law School ...

and

Charles Koppelman Charles Koppelman (March 30, 1940 – November 25, 2022) was an American musician, music producer, and businessman. He held executive positions at EMI and Steve Madden, and he was Chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. At the time of his d ...

."Turning Music Into Dollars at Sony/ATV,"
''New York Times'', August 23, 2009. The company recorded "

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" by the Rascals, "

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" by

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, " My Heart Belongs to Me" by

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, Streisand and

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's duet, "

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", "

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" by

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, " Why Do Fools Fall in Love" by

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, "

Love Will Keep Us Together "Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered the song in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain� ...

" by the

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, and the soundtrack album to the television series ''Fame''. In 1984, the relationship was dissolved after Bandier divorced LeFrak's daughter. In 1988, LeFrak was honored by the United Nations, along with former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, for global contributions through Habitat International. After his death, his son, Richard LeFrak, became CEO of the LeFrak Organization.

Personal life

In 1941, LeFrak married Ethel Stone. They had four children:New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths LEFRAK, SAMUEL J."
April 18, 2003 *Denise LeFrak Calicchio, philanthropist formerly married to music industry executive

and the inspiration for the 1963

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

hit " Denise". * Richard LeFrak * Francine LeFrak Friedberg *Jacqueline LeFrak Kosinski LeFrak died at the age of 85 on April 16, 2003. Funeral services were held at Congregation Emanu-El in New York City.

References

External links

The LeFrak Organization
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefrak, Samuel J. 1918 births 2003 deaths American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City Erasmus Hall High School alumni Jewish American philanthropists Tau Epsilon Phi LeFrak family People from Brooklyn University of Maryland, College Park alumni Philanthropists from New York (state) American landlords