ARTHUR CORNFELD
May 2, 1935-April 10, 2020
Arthur Cornfeld passed away on the evening of Friday, April 10. He was 84 years old. His death was caused by complications from COVID-19. Arthur lived his life on his own terms, enjoyed great love from family and friends, and had many life experiences and successes. He was genuinely curious and interested in people and delighted in their stories. Arthur was a big thinker with passions for social justice, business, politics and family. He was an avid reader, tennis player, poker player, motorcycle rider and golfer. He was (ridiculously!) humble about his accomplishments and attributed his success to mere luck and good timing. He was also incredibly generous and always made charitable contributions anonymously. Arthur was adored for his dry humor, thoughtful intelligence, empathetic heart, and fierce loyalty. Everyone who was lucky to know Arthur appreciated him. He had many close and meaningful friendships from all periods of his life. He was a complicated person and a true character- really a bit larger than life. Arthur was born on May 2, 1935 in Tel Aviv, Palestine and moved with his mother, father and brother to the Bronx in 1940. He attended the University of Michigan and majored in philosophy. He then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1959. He became a copyright lawyer by day and concert promoter on the side, running the summer concert series at Forest Hills, promoting the Beatles' first New York performances and the first closed-circuit sporting event: the Sonny Liston - Cassius Clay fight. He then formed Visual Information Systems (VIS) which produced videos of new surgical techniques. He also was a co-creator of the NBA's 1972 one-on-one tournament. He founded ABC properties in 1976. Arthur and ABC Properties have been a fixture in New York City real estate for over 40 years. He was involved in hundreds of deals of every sort and was one of the best contract lawyers-deal makers around. He loved the industry but it was never about name recognition or headlines. It was all about the work and the satisfaction of bringing the trickiest deals across the finish line. His son Alex worked with him full time starting in 2007 and together they were among the four founding partners of Brooklyn Bowl. Arthur loved and was deeply loved by his entire family and family of friends. He is survived by his beloved Adina Cohen, his son, Alex Cornfeld and Alex's wife Shira, his daughter Jessica Cornfeld, his grandchildren Anais, August, Anika and Amalia, his brother Robert M. Cornfeld and Robert's wife Judy, his nieces and nephew, Leslie Cornfeld, Susanne Hurowitz, Jeffrey Cornfeld and other family members with whom he was extremely close. Arthur is profoundly missed. We will honor his life by remembering him with love and gratitude and aspiring to live by his ideals.
