The Real Deal New York

Bruce Ratner is the executive chairman of New York City real estate development firm Forest City Ratner, a division of Forest City Enterprises. The firm is known for its Pacific Park project in downtown Brooklyn, formerly known as Atlantic Yards. The project on and around 22 acres of old rail yard includes the Barclays Arena for the NBAs Brooklyn Nets.

Ratner was born in 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio. Before joining the publicly-traded firm founded by his paternal uncles, Ratner worked in New York City Hall and as a law professor at New York University. He headed the citys Consumer Protection Division under Mayor John Lindsay in the early 1970s, and then was commissioner of consumer affairs for four years beginning in 1978 under Mayor Ed Koch.

Under Ratners chairmanship since the early 1990s, Forest City Ratners projects have included the 700,000-square-foot New York Times building at 620 Eighth Avenue, the 929,000-square-foot MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, and the Frank Gehry-designed apartment tower at 8 Spruce Street. He served as company president and chief executive until he ceded the position to Mary Ann Gilmartin in 2013. Ratner graduated from Harvard College in 1967 and received a J.D. from Columbia University in 1970. He has been married twice. His marriage to Julie Ratner, with whom he has two daughters, Lizzy and Rebecca, ended in divorce. He is now married to Pamela Lipkin, a plastic surgeon.