A gift to New York University of a building, equivalent to at least $1,900,0000 in endowment, by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Brown, was announced by Percy S. Straus, chairman of the University’s Centennial Fund. Mr. Brown, one of New York’s leading real estate operators, is widely known for his philanthropies, having contributed $1,000,000 to the New York Federation for the Support of Philanthropic Societies in 1925.
The building, known as the Greenwich Building is at the northwest corner of Washington Place and Greene Street and becomes a part of the Washington Square center of the university. It has been tenanted by the university for about ten years at an annual rental of $92,000 and is equipped with chemistry laboratories.
This is the tenth building to be acquired in the district, where 27,000 students attended classes last year.
The Greenwich Building was owned by Mr. Brown prior to the war. About ten years ago a firm, of which Aaron Rabinowitz, of Spear & Co, was president, purchased the structure and leased it to the university. The equipping was made possible through an anonymous gift. The contracts for the resale of the building to Mr. and Mrs. Drown were signed yesterday. The purchase price was $700,000. The University will take title on February 28.
The building is 102 feet by 100 feet with a total floor area of 68,200 square feet. It has twelve stories and is connected on all floors with the eleven-story main university building, which faces Washington Square. Commenting on the gift, Mr. Strans said:
“Mr and Mrs. Brown responded in the spirit of fine generosity to the picture of New York University’s needs and opportunities. Theirs is one of the notable donations in the history of the university. Speaking for the Centennial Fund, I may say that their gift has a (##) purpose.
“It finishes one of several projects on the building program and completes our plans as regards this particular block; and secondly, it has the same effect as if approximately $1,900,000 had been added to the university’s free on-dowment. It is pleasant to know that the work of the institution has won their interest and support.”
Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, chancellor of the university, expressed himself as delighted with the acquisition of this building. He said that the university has put into it a magnificent laboratory “which is serving the purpose both of instruction and of research.”
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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.
