Douglas Elliman broker Tom Cooper dies at 56

A 56-year-old broker with Douglas Elliman died by suicide on Tuesday morning, the New York Post reported. 

Police believe Tom Cooper jumped from the top floor of his four-story building on East 67th Street. Cooper, who left a suicide note, was found at 7:19 a.m. and brought by emergency responders to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our dear friend and colleague,” Elliman’s president and CEO Scott Durkin said in a statement. 

Durkin described Cooper as the embodiment of “grace and style” and added that the firm will “miss him terribly and cherish his memory.”

Before starting his real estate career, Cooper was the director of marketing for a financial technology company. He joined Douglas Elliman in 2002 and later moved to Sotheby’s International, Corcoran and Compass. 

Cooper returned to Douglas Elliman in November 2022. The broker ranked second among Elliman agents in New York City sales in October, according to a post on his Instagram account. 

Among the most notable deals where Cooper represented the seller were the 2016 sale of a three-bedroom condo at 10 Sullivan Street for just under $10 million and the 2018 sale of a 2,400-square-foot co-op at 580 Park Avenue for $5 million, according to StreetEasy. 

Cooper also represented the buyer in a $18.5 million deal for a Greenwich Village townhouse in November and in a $12.8 million deal for a West Chelsea condo in March 2022. 

The agent’s active listings on StreetEasy include two apartments in the Police Building at 240 Centre Street, combined with an asking price of $7.2 million. Cooper also represented the one-bedroom, top-floor apartment of Meghan Ellison — the filmmaker and daughter of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison — last asking $3.7 million. 

Cooper, a California native and longtime Manhattan resident, also served on the board of trustees for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health or suicide crisis or emotional distress, reach out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at 988lifeline.org to connect to a trained crisis counselor. You can also get crisis text support through the National Alliance on Mental Illness by texting NAMI to 741741.

— Sheridan Wall

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