Melvyn Kaufman, 1924–2012

The ‘oddball’ whose buildings shaped New York

Manhattan developer Melvyn Kaufman’s quirky sense of humor was evident in the playful installations he half-hid in the office towers he built. A sculpture of a nude woman, for example, graces a slim space between twin revolving doors at the entrance to 747 Third Avenue, visible only to those entering or leaving. His rivals considered Kaufman “something of an oddball,” said architecture writer Carter B. Horsley, “but they also respected the quality of his buildings.”

Kaufman grew up in New York City and Long Island, said the Mamaroneck, N.Y., Daily Mamaroneck, and got his first taste of building as a day laborer for his father’s property management firm. He and his brother, Robert, took over the business after World War II, developing shopping malls before turning “their sights to bigger things” in Manhattan.

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