New York-based real estate builder, developer and owner, Sherman Cohen, who co-founded Cohen Brothers Realty & Construction Corp. with his two brothers in 1959 passed away on Tuesay, January 22nd at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was 91.
Born in Suffolk, Virginia, and raised in Newport News, Sherman worked in his family’s haberdashery stores before relocating to New York City in the late 1940’s with his older brothers, Mortimer and Edward.
The Cohen brothers were the youngest Oldsmobile dealers in America after World War II before they formed Cohen Brothers Realty & Construction Corp. in 1959, which built, developed and managed many high-rise residential buildings on Manhattan’s East Side.
Beginning in the late 1960’s, the firm also started developing Class A office towers in Manhattan. Under the leadership of Sherman’s son, Charles, the company’s national portfolio has expanded to 12 million square feet of commercial Class A buildings in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Southeast Florida.
In the 1970’s Sherman Cohen also served on Governor Carey’s task force committee for the disposition of the World Trade Center.
Cohen was also known for philanthropy with his wife of 61 years, Gloria. Together they supported many charitable causes including Lenox Hill Hospital and The Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Sherman and Gloria H. Cohen Dialysis Center at the Rogosin Institute of New York Presbyterian Hospital. They were also active in many causes in support of the state of Israel.
A resident of Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, Cohen was is survived by his devoted son of Charles (Clo) and daughter Robin (Kenneth), and their children, Brooke, Alexis, Ross, Austin, Rex and Blake.
