He and his wife, Dorothy, turned a walk-up store in Westchester, N.Y., into a 100-outlet behemoth that reached $1 billion in annual sales. Source: New York Times
Posts published in “Deaths (Obituaries)”
Dan Reilly, the Original Mr. Met, Is Dead at 83
By Gotham Rex on January 7, 2022
For four seasons at Shea Stadium, when the Mets were dreadful but beloved, he donned a giant head and roamed the stands greeting fans as the team’s mascot. Source: New York Times
Ben McFall, ‘the Heart of the Strand,’ Is Dead at 73
By Gotham Rex on December 30, 2021
He was the longest-tenured bookseller in the history of New York’s most storied bookstore, and he perpetuated its bohemian character. Source: New York Times
Deaths in 2021: Headline Names Against the Backdrop of Pandemic
By Gotham Rex on December 30, 2021
Aaron, Sondheim, Dole and Didion. But the loss of Colin Powell from the virus spoke most directly to the moment the world is in. Source: New York Times
Donald H. Elliott, Innovative Urban Planner, Dies at 89
By Gotham Rex on December 27, 2021
He preserved landmarks in New York through creative zoning, involved communities in decision-making and insisted on aesthetic standards for urban design. Source: New York Times
Anne Emerman, Champion of Disability Rights in New York City, Dead at 84
By Gotham Rex on December 22, 2021
Insisting that buildings be wheelchair accessible, she never backed down, not even to Mother Teresa. She also founded a musical group called Disabled in Action. Source: New York Times
Darby Penney, Who Crusaded for Better Psychiatric Care, Dies at 68
By Gotham Rex on December 22, 2021
She shed light on marginalized people’s lives by examining the contents of suitcases left in the attic of a psychiatric hospital. She went on to become a prominent activist. Source: New York Times
Roman Kaplan, Restaurateur and Host for Soviet Exiles, Dies at 83
By Gotham Rex on December 20, 2021
The Russian Samovar in Manhattan became a hub for artists and writers far from home, drawing eminent regulars like Joseph Brodsky and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Source: New York Times
Alexander Garvin, Visionary City Planner, Is Dead at 80
By Gotham Rex on December 20, 2021
Architect, author, Yale academic and City Hall official, he directed the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and helped plan a New York City Olympics. Source: New York Times
Nai-Ni Chen, Whose Dances Merged East and West, Dies at 62
By Gotham Rex on December 13, 2021
Ms. Chen, who founded the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in 1988, died while swimming in Hawaii, where she was vacationing. Source: New York Times
Mikio Shinagawa, Who Ran a Fashionable SoHo Haunt, Dies at 66
By Gotham Rex on December 12, 2021
His earthy Japanese restaurant, Omen, became a downtown canteen for well-known patrons like Patti Smith, Yoko Ono and Richard Gere. Source: New York Times
Margaret Giannini, Champion of People With Disabilities, Dies at 100
By Gotham Rex on December 11, 2021
After meeting the parents of children with a range of disabilities, she decided almost on the spot to start a clinic to treat such children exclusively. Source: New York Times
Rev. C. Herbert Oliver, Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 96
By Gotham Rex on December 11, 2021
He helped focus the nation on bombings and police abuse in Alabama in the 1960s and, later, on problems with the education of Black students in Brooklyn. Source: New York Times
Ernesta Procope, Pioneering Black Insurance Broker, Dies at 98
By Gotham Rex on December 9, 2021
She broke ground in the business as a woman, too, and also in transplanting her firm from Brooklyn to Wall Street. Source: New York Times
Ralph E. Ablon, Pioneer of Corporate Conglomerates, Dies at 105
By Gotham Rex on December 4, 2021
After expanding a family scrap metal business into a hodgepodge of some 55 companies, he then successfully focused on the service economy. Source: New York Times