Approximately $9,000,000 was bequeathed by Louis J. Horowitz, New York building contractor, to New York University it was revealed here today following Mr. Horowitz’ death yesterday at Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 81. The sum was described by the university as the largest individual gift in its history.
Mr. Horowitz, who received in 1950 a citation from the National Conference of Christians and Jews for promoting better relations among religious groups in this country, was born in Czenstochowa, Poland. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 and started work as a three-dollar-a-week errand boy and for the next five years worked as a parcel wrapper, stock boy and shoe salesman in New York. Later, he turned to real estate and eventually joined the Thompson-Starrot Company, New York building contractors who have put up many of the better known buildings in cities through out the United States.
The $9,000,000 left to New York University represents the residue of Mr. Horowitz estate after bequests providing for his widow, certain members of his family and employees. The money for the university was left with the provision that the income be used for the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the NYU-Bellevue Medical Center.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
