John E. Zuccotti, the real estate investor, civic leader and park namesake who championed the revival of lower Manhattan after 9/11, has died at the age of 78.
Zuccotti, the chairman of global operations with Brookfield, had also been a partner in Olympia & York, which developed what is now Brookfield Place.
In 2006, a private park owned by Brookfield that had been damaged in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks was restored and renamed in honor of Zuccotti.
“Everyone who cares about Lower Manhattan owes him a great deal for what he did to help the neighborhood recover in the aftermath of 9/11,” said Larry Silverstein, chairman of Silverstein Properties, which developed much of the new World Trade Center.
His namesake green space later became the center of the Occupy Wall Street protesters in 2011 before the NYPD stormed the park in mid-November.
Renaming the park in his honor also marked his years of public service. A former planning commission chairman, Zuccotti became the first deputy mayor under Abe D. Beame, playing a key role in saving the city from financial collapse during the 1970s crisis.
“John was a great inspiration, friend and mentor to all who he touched at Brookfield just as he was with countless New Yorkers throughout his long and storied career,” said Ric Clark, chairman of Brookfield Property Group.
Zuccotti chaired the board of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center and was a board member of the National September 11th Memorial Museum.
He was previously a partner in the law firms Brown & Wood, Tufo & Zuccotti and more recently was of counsel with Weil Gotshal & Manges.
The son of an Italian immigrant, Zuccotti graduated from Princeton University before attending Yale Law School and serving as an officer in the Army.
He later held posts in federal government, including assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and was an assistant to Sen. Jacob K. Javits.
He was also active in urban planning and was a prior governor and chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York.
Zuccotti is survived by his wife, Susan, an author and historian specializing in Holocaust studies, three children and eight grandchildren.
