Irwin Cohen (29 September 1933 – 18 December 2023) was an American lawyer, investor and real estate developer known for the creation of the

Chelsea Market Chelsea Market is a food hall, shopping mall, office building and television production facility located in the Chelsea neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The Chelsea Market complex occupies an entire city block with a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The development, which included purchase of the buildings and renting the upper floors to tech companies, is credited with the revitalization and gentrification of the

Chelsea, Manhattan Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side (Manhattan), West Side of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River an ...

neighborhood in the 1990s and after which he consulted on similar projects.

Early life

Irwin Bernard Cohen was born on 29 September 1933, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. His father was a tailor and owned a candy store, where Cohen's mother ran the soda fountain. Cohen graduated from Tilden High School, then earned a business degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1954 and a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

from

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty. ...

in 1958. To pay for his law school tuition, he worked as a photographer.

Career

Cohen had previously developed old warehouses in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

into retail buildings during the 1960s and helped revitalize an area north of Philadelphia City Hall by converting old buildings into mixed-use facilities in the 1970s. Cohen, who is known for his eclectic design in the properties he developed,

Personal

Cohen married Jill Framer in 1957 and lived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The couple had three daughters, 17 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Cohen died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. Cohen was a longtime donor to Brooklyn Law School, which features spaces named for Jill Cohen.

References

External links

Q&A with Irwin Cohen: Learning from Chelsea's Market's Success (2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Irwin 1933 births 2023 deaths American lawyers American businesspeople in real estate Real estate and property developers from Brooklyn