What they’re reading now

Real estate pros share picks for books on the Dakota, Israel and the legal system

Bess Freedman
Executive Vice President, Brown Harris Stevens

What are you reading right now?

I just finished “Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address” by Stephen Birmingham.

What spurred you to read that book?

I saw it at my mom’s apartment and had to grab it. The building has great architecture and has had so many notable residents since it was completed in 1884.

Has anything you read in it stuck with you?

I found the history fascinating. Edward Clark amassed his fortune from the Singer Sewing machine. This allowed him to pursue real estate. He was partners with Isaac Singer and turned the sewing machine into a household item. The book begins with a broad overview of late 1800s NYC and the intriguing interweaving of social hierarchies and geographical differences within the city. The discussion about the differences between the East and West Sides alone makes this well worth the read. The book was written in 1979, so thankfully we are spared reading about John Lennon’s murder, but he and Yoko are in it, along with Lauren Bacall, Rex Reed and many other notable New Yorkers.

 

Jeffrey Levine
Chairman, Douglaston Development

What are you reading right now?

I am currently reading “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World” by Seth Siegel.

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What spurred you to read that book?

I had the good fortune of meeting the author, Seth Siegel, at the AIPAC National Conference in Washington D.C. during the period he was researching for the book. The subject matter of the proposed book — Israel and the global water crisis — was of particular interest to me. Seth was incredibly informative. As president of the Jewish National Fund USA, I have been involved in the organization’s partnership with Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael in the development of over 250 reservoirs in Israel in connection with an initiative spearheaded by Ron Lauder, current president of the World Jewish Congress, when he was the president of the Jewish National Fund. This effort added over 12 percent to the water supply of the State of Israel.

Has anything you read in it stuck with you? Would you recommend it to others?

The book tells the story of how the world has a water problem and how Israel, through technology, preservation, recycling and desalination, has a solution! Israel provides a template for the rest of the world to follow in connection with utilization of drip irrigation for agriculture using recycled water. In Israel over 85% of the nation’s sewage is recycled. These efforts have turned a potential crisis into an opportunity.


Peter Denby

Broker, Halstead Property

What are you reading right now?

I am close to finishing “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson. In the book, Stevenson, who is the founder of the Montgomery Alabama Equal Justice League, shares incredible stories of his fights for men, women and children who have been unjustly convicted or treated by our justice system.

What spurred you to read that book?

I heard an interview with Mr. Stevenson on the radio last year and finally got around to reading his book this summer. I’ve always been interested in how our legal system treats children, and this book was incredibly eye opening, as it is one horrifying personal story after another of a child or someone wrongfully accused.

Has anything you read in it stuck with you? Would you recommend it to others?

The stories of these kids will haunt you. It was shocking to hear about circumstances and the cases that have condemned children as young as 13 or 14 years of age to life without parole and their brutal experiences in adult prisons.