Funeral services were held today in Great Neck for William Kaufman, a leading New York realtor, builder and philanthropist who died in Manhasset, L.I. yesterday at the age of 80. Mr. Kaufman, who founded and headed the William Kaufman Organization, began his career in 1924 and is credited with a leading role in changing the New York City skyline.
In addition to the skyscrapers built by his firm in lower and mid-town Manhattan, Mr. Kaufman built the United Jewish Appeal Building at 220 West 58th St. and did the major renovation work on the building at 515 Park Ave. which became the headquarters of the American Section of the Jewish Agency in the 1950s.
He was president of the advisory council of the New York Board of Rabbis, a founder of the Albert Einstein Medical College of Yeshiva University and honorary chairman of the real estate divisions of the UJA and the Israel Bond Organization. His other philanthropic activities included the establishment of the William and Esther Kaufman Vocational Training Center at the Vocation School for the Retarded in Hempstead, L.I.
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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.