Jehiel R. Elyachar
Encyclopedia
Jehiel R. Elyachar was an engineer
, real estate developer
and philanthropist
who contributed to American and Israeli causes. He distinguished himself during World War II as a colonel
in charge of military intelligence
for the United States Army
, earning the Bronze Star Medal
, the Legion of Merit
, and the Légion d'honneur
.
and educated as an engineer in Paris
before emigrating to the United States in 1928. He established the Straight Construction Corporation and built his business by managing foreclosed properties he had bought from banks during the Great Depression
.
Elyachar enlisted in the United States Army during World War II
as a private, advancing to the rank of colonel in charge of military intelligence for General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His engineering skills came into play in the construction of vital railroad bridges that helped clear the way for General George S. Patton
's Third Army
tanks to advance into Nazi Germany
. For his service, Elyachar earned the Bronze Star Medal and the Legion of Merit in recognition of his building "the foundation of modern military intelligence" during the war. He was also awarded the Légion d'honneur from the French government. He later served as an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower
. After the war, he insisted that others continue to call him "Colonel", even his children.
. Eventually he built a portfolio that was worth as much as $100 million.
A five-story residential building which he owned at 33 West 63rd Street, a tenement constructed in the 1890s, became the target of an effort by Paul Milstein
to assemble a group of properties that would become the site of 1 Lincoln Plaza, a 43-story building that had both offices and apartments. After lengthy haggling, Milstein and Elyachar had agreed to a deal in which Milstein would acquire the property for cash, and then agreed to an exchange for a building on the Upper East Side
. Though a verbal agreement had been reached, Elyachar insisted that a donation of $100,000 be made to one of the charitable organizations he supported, at which point Milstein walked away, saying, "You know what, you're going to keep your building". Howard Milstein
, Paul's son, called the negotiations as being "among the most glaring examples of someone who overplayed their hand". The surrounding buildings on the site were demolished and 1 Lincoln Plaza was constructed around Elyachar's building at 33 West 63rd Street. A resident of 33 West 63rd said that the building "sticks out like a sore thumb, or a finger — which is probably what the colonel had in mind".
Elyachar was a founder and president of the American Society for Technion, an organization created to assist the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the largest technical education university in Israel
. He endowed a chair in Sephardic studies at Yeshiva University
and donated to the school his collection of Judaica in the Spanish language
and Ladino
, the largest such collection in the United States. He was also one of the founders of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
of Yeshiva University.
By 1987, Elyachar and his twin sons were not on speaking terms. He came into conflict with his sons over the disposition of a group of four properties that he owned in Manhattan, where Elyachar had variously given and retracted partial ownership of the buildings to his sons and daughter. Elyachar insisted that he retained ownership of the properties and sought to donate the buildings to the charitable causes he supported, while his sons claimed that they were part owners of the buildings, which they wanted to redevelop or convert to cooperatives. At that time, the properties were fully depreciated and earned more than $3 million in revenue, with annual profits of at least $1.5 million, according to documents filed in state and Federal courts.
A resident of Manhattan
, Elyachar died of a heart attack
at the age 90 on March 29, 1989, at Bellevue Hospital Center
. He was survived by his second wife, Anna Tulin. He was also survived by a daughter and two sons from his first marriage, along with 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
By 2010, three of the properties owned by Elyachar since 1929 were managed by GTR Properties, a company in which the colonel's grandchildren play a major role. The properties are: Gerel at 1100 Madison Avenue, Ruradan at 8 East 48th Street, and Timston at 250 East 39th Street.
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, real estate developer
Real estate development
Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...
and philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
who contributed to American and Israeli causes. He distinguished himself during World War II as a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in charge of military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
for the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, earning the Bronze Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
, the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
, and the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Biography
Elyachar was born in 1898 in Jerusalem, PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and educated as an engineer in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
before emigrating to the United States in 1928. He established the Straight Construction Corporation and built his business by managing foreclosed properties he had bought from banks during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Elyachar enlisted in the United States Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a private, advancing to the rank of colonel in charge of military intelligence for General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His engineering skills came into play in the construction of vital railroad bridges that helped clear the way for General George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
's Third Army
United States Army Central
United States Army Central is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and is also dual-hatted as the "United States Third Army". It is the Army Component of U.S...
tanks to advance into Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. For his service, Elyachar earned the Bronze Star Medal and the Legion of Merit in recognition of his building "the foundation of modern military intelligence" during the war. He was also awarded the Légion d'honneur from the French government. He later served as an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
. After the war, he insisted that others continue to call him "Colonel", even his children.
Real estate
He resumed his real estate business after completing his military service, buying and building commercial and residential buildings, primarily in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Eventually he built a portfolio that was worth as much as $100 million.
A five-story residential building which he owned at 33 West 63rd Street, a tenement constructed in the 1890s, became the target of an effort by Paul Milstein
Paul Milstein
Paul Milstein was a real estate developer and philanthropist.Born in New York City he attended DeWitt Clinton High School and the New York University School of Architecture. The family enterprises began with Morris Milstein, who emigrated to the United States from Russia and founded Circle Floor...
to assemble a group of properties that would become the site of 1 Lincoln Plaza, a 43-story building that had both offices and apartments. After lengthy haggling, Milstein and Elyachar had agreed to a deal in which Milstein would acquire the property for cash, and then agreed to an exchange for a building on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
. Though a verbal agreement had been reached, Elyachar insisted that a donation of $100,000 be made to one of the charitable organizations he supported, at which point Milstein walked away, saying, "You know what, you're going to keep your building". Howard Milstein
Howard Milstein
Howard Philip Milstein represents the third generation of one of New York's leading real estate, financial and philanthropic families. His entrepreneurial ventures include real estate, banking, hotels, marketing, and finance. Milstein is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of New York...
, Paul's son, called the negotiations as being "among the most glaring examples of someone who overplayed their hand". The surrounding buildings on the site were demolished and 1 Lincoln Plaza was constructed around Elyachar's building at 33 West 63rd Street. A resident of 33 West 63rd said that the building "sticks out like a sore thumb, or a finger — which is probably what the colonel had in mind".
Elyachar was a founder and president of the American Society for Technion, an organization created to assist the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the largest technical education university in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He endowed a chair in Sephardic studies at Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
and donated to the school his collection of Judaica in the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Ladino
Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...
, the largest such collection in the United States. He was also one of the founders of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a graduate school of Yeshiva University. It is a not-for-profit, private, nonsectarian medical school located on the Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus in the Morris Park neighborhood of the borough of the Bronx of New York City...
of Yeshiva University.
Family
Eyachar had twin sons, Ralph and Daniel, and a daughter, Ruth, by his first wife, Jean, who died in 1972. He remarried to Anna Tulin.By 1987, Elyachar and his twin sons were not on speaking terms. He came into conflict with his sons over the disposition of a group of four properties that he owned in Manhattan, where Elyachar had variously given and retracted partial ownership of the buildings to his sons and daughter. Elyachar insisted that he retained ownership of the properties and sought to donate the buildings to the charitable causes he supported, while his sons claimed that they were part owners of the buildings, which they wanted to redevelop or convert to cooperatives. At that time, the properties were fully depreciated and earned more than $3 million in revenue, with annual profits of at least $1.5 million, according to documents filed in state and Federal courts.
A resident of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Elyachar died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age 90 on March 29, 1989, at Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...
. He was survived by his second wife, Anna Tulin. He was also survived by a daughter and two sons from his first marriage, along with 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
By 2010, three of the properties owned by Elyachar since 1929 were managed by GTR Properties, a company in which the colonel's grandchildren play a major role. The properties are: Gerel at 1100 Madison Avenue, Ruradan at 8 East 48th Street, and Timston at 250 East 39th Street.