Bruce Ratner: among City & State's 7 over 70, but missing his third act: museum chair, co-author of book on cancer. Plus: some Atlantic Yards synergies.

This was a bit odd.

In a new addition to its suite of "power lists," which, um, seem geared to generate advertising (and sometimes contain nuggets of interest), City & State on 1/30/23 published The 2023 7 Over 70, with the subheading "Honoring aging New Yorkers who are still going strong."

And there, along with Robert Caro, Gloria Steinem, Charles Rangel, and Tim & Nina Zagat, Tonio Burgos, Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, was Bruce Ratner, among those "still going strong well into their eighth decade and beyond, whether it’s running thriving businesses, endorsing policies and politicians or simply imparting the wisdom they’ve gained through years of experience."

What was odd was the description:

Bruce Ratner
Co-Founder and Former Executive Chair, Forest City Ratner

Bruce Ratner formed the Forest City Ratner Cos., an affiliate of his family’s national real estate enterprise Forest City Enterprises, in 1982, following a four-year stint teaching at New York University School of Law and serving as consumer affairs commissioner in New York City under Ed Koch’s administration. Since he began digging his hands into New York City real estate development, Ratner has erected office buildings in Brooklyn and hotels in Manhattan, alongside numerous other projects, and eventually purchased what was then the New Jersey Nets in 2004.

That ignores some of Ratner's lauded projects, such as 8 Spruce Street (aka New York by Gehry) and the Barclays Center, as well as the compromises, hardball tactics, and unfulfilled promises involved.

It also papers over the demise of Forest City New York (formerly Forest City Ratner), when parent Forest City Realty Trust (formerly Forest City Enterprises) was absorbed by the conglomerate Brookfield, arguably in significant part because of losses in New York.

Ratner's third act: Museum Chair

But what's truly odd is that it ignores how Ratner is indeed going strong in his third act as Chairman (since June 2014) of the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. In a 6/19/14 press release, the Museum (aka MJH) stated:

Mr. Ratner explained that he looks forward to working with Mr. Morgenthau and other board members to help further the Museum’s mandate to share the experience of the Jewish people and the Holocaust with as diverse an audience as possible. Mr. Ratner’s family, like many Jewish families, was affected by the Holocaust. “After the war, my mother committed herself to resettling survivors, finding homes and apartments. She, most of all, would remind us, ‘Never Forget.’ In that spirit, and her memory, I’m humbled and excited to take on the role of Chairman of this vital institution.” 

Mr. Ratner has served on the Board of Trustees since October 1996. He was the co-chair of the Building Committee, and his firm provided pro-bono construction project management for the Museum’s expansion, the Robert M. Morgenthau Wing, which opened September 15, 2003. 

About the museum

It's a small world of Jewish machers in New York City, especially in the real estate world, so maybe it's not surprising that the leadership of the MJH includes First Vice Chair Peter S. Kalikow and Trustee H. Dale Hemmerdinger, both developers.

As of 2005, when Kalikow chaired the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board and agreed to re-negotiate only with Forest City, even though the cash portion of its bid for Vanderbilt Yard development rights was less than that of rival Extell (which didn't have a basketball team to move to Brooklyn), he and Ratner were both Trustees of the MJH, and Hemmerdinger was on the Board of Overseers.

As of 2009, when Ratner sought to renegotiate the terms of the deal with the MTA, led by then MTA Chair Hemmerdinger, the same configuration of MJH service continued, and Hemmerdinger was happy to relax the terms.

Ratner's third act: co-author

Ratner's also as co-author of Early Detection: Catching Cancer When It's Curable, forthcoming from OR Books, which was the publisher of two books by Bruce's late brother Michael Ratner, the crusading lawyer, "WHO KILLED CHE?: How the CIA Got Away With Murder" and "MOVING THE BAR: My Life as a Radical Lawyer."

The description:

Catching cancer early remains the single best way to combat a disease that is the second-leading killer in both the US and worldwide. But the vast majority of resources in the fight against cancer are devoted to relatively ineffective late stage treatments. Early Detection examines this important anomaly in an accessible and expertly researched survey.

In a co-authorship that brings together the passion and urgency of someone touched deeply by the experience of cancer with the knowledge of a skilled science writer, Ratner and Bonislawski narrate compelling case studies across a range of screening programs and different forms of cancer. They look at the science underpinning early detection and discuss the organizational and social challenges of widespread screening, a dimension that has been shown to be especially important in the COVID-19 pandemic. And they call for the government and the medical establishment to provide resources for expanding screening, especially in economically disadvantaged communities that have traditionally been underserved.

Photo Colin Robinson/OR Books

Author bio: Ratner

Bruce Ratner (right) has led an eclectic life. After focusing much of his undergraduate coursework on math, biology, and physics, he started his career in law and public service as an assistant professor at New York University Law School and Commissioner of Consumer Affairs under Mayor Ed Koch. In his late 30s, he moved into real estate, becoming one of the city’s largest developers. In 2016, Ratner’s brother, Michael, died of metastatic cancer. Through this tragedy, Ratner came to realize that early detection was the key to reducing cancer mortality. Following his brother’s death, he founded a non-profit, the Michael D. Ratner Center for Early Detection of Cancer, to research and promote better cancer screening. He is on the boards of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medical Center, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Author bio: Bonislawski

Adam Bonislawski is a science writer with more than 10 years of experience covering genomic and proteomic research and diagnostics development with a focus on cancer and early detection. His writing ranges widely over academic research, companies and technologies. The publications he writes for, GenomeWeb and 360Dx, are read by thousands of cancer researchers and doctors as well as a wide range of healthcare entrepreneurs and investors, and he has scientific and media contacts at many of the major cancer and academic research centers in the United States and Europe. In addition to his work as a science writer, Adam writes about business and real estate for the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Commercial Observer.

Authorial synergy

Fun fact: Bonislawski wrote the rather strained 10/10/13 New York Post article, Brooklyn properties win big from Barclays’ success, which might have better been posed as "Barclays Center no drag on rising Brooklyn luxury residential prices."

It quoted some buyers wary of Barclays, saying it wasn't a problem--hey, the arena later had to build a new green roof to tamp down on noise--and increasing prices at the nearby Newswalk condo building

One broker cited the additional entertainment offerings, while others acknowledged complaints about parking.

Of course, there was uncertainty about the future of the project. “I’m willing to be optimistically skeptical about the rest of it," said the buyer featured in the lead of the article.

One summary paragraph:

The arena is just the first element of the larger 22-acre Atlantic Yards site. When completed (which could be as late as 2035), the complex should feature 6,000 housing units. Forest City is now constructing the development’s first residential building, B2, a modular, 363-unit rental scheduled to open next year.

Yes, 2035, which was 22 years away from 2013 and implying ongoing construction.

And no, the modular building, 461 Dean, didn't open in 2014 but, rather, plagued by leaks, was delayed until 2016.