Manhattan: Abe Hirschfeld, who made millions on NY parking lots, dies at 85
Photo: AP
Eccentric millionaire Abe Hirschfeld dies
'Who could have foretold that an obscure Jewish boy in a remote town in southern Poland would eventually become a wealthy and influential New York real estate tycoon?' Hirschfeld asked in his self-published 1986 autobiography
NEW YORK - Eccentric multimillionaire Abe Hirschfeld, a Jewish immigrant from Poland and Israel who lived the American dream until his increasingly bizarre behavior led him into politics, publishing and prison, died Tuesday. He was 85.
Hirschfeld, who made his fortune building parking lots and health clubs after emigrating from Israel, died at Mount Sinai Hospital of cardiac arrest after suffering from cancer, his family said.
The self-made magnate amassed a real estate empire, earning a reputation among his colleagues as a bit off-center. Time magazine listed him among the 20th century's top builders and business titans, beneath the headline "Crazy and in Charge."
He attempted to purchase the New York Post in 1993, setting off a staff revolt that produced a Post front-page headline asking "WHO IS THIS NUT?"
He ran unsuccessfully for New York lieutenant governor, Manhattan borough president, state comptroller and U.S. Senate the latter against Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2000 and Charles Schumer in 2004.
'I'm crazy maybe'
Hirschfeld also spent 22 months in prison for plotting to kill a business partner and got out just months before his 83rd birthday.
"I'm crazy, maybe," Hirschfeld said in a February 2001 jailhouse interview.
He was born in Turnow, Poland, but his family moved to what is now Israel in 1935. He later moved to the United States with his wife, Zipora, and their two children.
"Who could have foretold that an obscure Jewish boy in a remote town in southern Poland would eventually become a wealthy and influential New York real estate tycoon?" Hirschfeld asked in his self-published 1986 autobiography, "An Accidental Wedding."
For decades, Hirschfeld quietly earned his millions and stayed out of the headlines.
Change came in 1986 with his unsuccessful, self-financed campaign for lieutenant governor. Three years later, he won a term as commissioner in Miami Beach.
In 1993, Hirschfeld ran the financially failing New York Post for 16 tumultuous days while trying to buy it.
He later founded his own paper, Open Air, which folded after five months.
