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Bernard Spitzer (born 1924) is a real estate developer and philanthropist
Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable organization....
 in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 who built several landmark buildings around the city including The Corinthian
The Corinthian (New York)

The Corinthian is a 55-story apartment building that was New York City's largest apartment building when it opened in 1988.At it is the biggest project of Bernard Spitzer, father of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer....
 which was the largest individual apartment building in New York City when it was built. Spitzer is father of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an United States lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party . He served as Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring....
. In 2008 he has an estimated net worth of $500 million.

zer's parents moved from Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
 to New York's Lower East Side after World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
.






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Bernard Spitzer (born 1924) is a real estate developer and philanthropist
Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable organization....
 in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 who built several landmark buildings around the city including The Corinthian
The Corinthian (New York)

The Corinthian is a 55-story apartment building that was New York City's largest apartment building when it opened in 1988.At it is the biggest project of Bernard Spitzer, father of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer....
 which was the largest individual apartment building in New York City when it was built. Spitzer is father of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an United States lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party . He served as Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring....
. In 2008 he has an estimated net worth of $500 million.

Early life

Spitzer's parents moved from Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
 to New York's Lower East Side after World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. They operated a print shop. Bernard received an engineering degree from City College of New York
City College of New York

The City College of The City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York, in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning....
 in 1943 at the age of 18. He successfully competed with Jerry Stiller
Jerry Stiller

Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an United States of America Emmy Award-nominated comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara....
 for the hand of Anne Goldhaber, whom they courted in the Catskills.

Spitzer initially tried his hand at civil engineering but turned instead to real estate development.

Real estate developer

Among the buildings Bernard has built are:

  • 3131 Grand Concourse (1958), a 12-story building in the Bedford Park area of the Bronx
  • 1020 Park Avenue (1962), 20 floors
  • 1050 Fifth Avenue (1963)
  • 200 Central Park South (1963) - A 35 story building at Seventh Avenue and Central Park that is noted for its curved walls and a drive way that angles across the front of the building (other buildings along Central Park South are square)
  • 210 Central Park South (1966), a 24 story building next door
  • 985 Fifth Avenue (1968), a 25-story building on the site of the Isaac Vail Brokaw Mansion
  • 220 East 72nd Street (1974), a 28-story building -- the first seven of which are occupied by Marymount Manhattan College
    Marymount Manhattan College

    Marymount Manhattan College is a small, coeducational liberal arts college located in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Marymount Manhattan's campus is located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan....
     (where Anne taught)
  • 800 Fifth Avenue (1978), a 34 story building at 61st Street
  • The Corinthian (1988), a 57 story, building occupying an entire block between 37th and 38th on First Avenue
  • 150 East 57th Street (2000), a 34-story building


Additionally, Spitzer has purchased several buildings over the years, including:

  • William P. Rogers
    William P. Rogers

    William Pierce Rogers was an United States politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century....
     Building (2000), an 11-story building in Washington, DC.


Philanthropies

  • Bernard and Anne Spitzer Hall of Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History
    American Museum of Natural History

    The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world....
  • Bernard and Anne Spitzer Chair in Political Science at City University of New York


Father of the governor

Spitzer played a major role in the life of his son Eliot, the future New York Governor, both as a child and during his rise to power.

According to biographers during a game of Monopoly
Monopoly (game)

Monopoly is a board game published by Parker Brothers, a subsidiary of Hasbro. Players compete to acquire wealth through stylized economics activity involving the buying, renting, and trading of property using play money, as players take turns moving around the board according to the roll of the dice....
 between father and son when the future governor was seven or eight, the elder Spitzer ordered the future governor to sell him a piece of property. When Eliot later landed on the property, he couldn't afford the rent and thus been taught "Never defer to authority."

Spitzer provided an apartment to Eliot rent free at 985 Fifth Avenue (which Bernard built). Bernard paid a gift tax. Rent from the apartment buildings in the Spitzer empire provides most of the more than $1 million income that Spitzer had reported in 2006.

Bernard was to bankroll Eliot's foray into politics loaning him $5 million in the first two campaigns and paying him $200,000 a year. The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust has donated at least $140,000 to organizations led by political allies.

In 2007 Governor Spitzer appointed Dale Hemmerdinger to be president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S. state of New York, serving 12 counties in southeastern New York, along with 2 counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on a...
. Before being confirmed, Hemmerdinger had to resign from the all-white, mostly Jewish Harmonie Club
Harmonie Club

The Harmonie Club is a social club in New York City. It was founded in 1852 as a singing and dining association for New Yorkers of German Jews descent....
. It was then revealed that Bernard had been a member of the club for more than 30 years.

Also in August 2007, Republican strategist Roger Stone
Roger Stone

Roger Stone is an American political consultant and lobbyist who specializes in opposition research for the Republican National Committee in the United States....
 was accused of leaving this message on Bernard's office answering machine during the "Troopergate" scandal in which Eliot was accused of using state troopers to spy on Joseph Bruno
Joseph Bruno

Joseph L. Bruno is an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was the Temporary President of the New York State Senate and its majority leader....
:

This is a message for Bernard Spitzer. You will be subpoenaed to testify before the Senate committee on investigations on your shady campaign loans. You will be compelled by the Senate sergeant at arms. If you resist this subpoena, you will be arrested and brought to Albany.


And there‘s not a goddamn thing your phony, psycho, piece-of-shit son can do about it.


Bernie, your phony loans are about to catch up with you. You will be forced to tell the truth. And the fact that your son's a pathological liar will be known to all.


Stone initially denied involvement but eventually resigned as a consultant to the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee, at the request of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.