Bernard H. Mendik

Mendik was born to a Jewish family in Glasgow, Scotland and emigrated to the United States as a child.[1] His father was a handyman.[2] He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science.[2] In 1954, he graduated from City College of New York and in 1959, he received a J.D. from New York Law School[1] where he met Larry Silverstein.[3] After school, he married Silverstein's sister and joined her father's real estate business, Harry G. Silverstein & Sons. In 1966, Harry Silverstein died and Mendik and Larry Silverstein formed Silverstein & Mendik.[4] The partnership was quite successful until Mendik divorced his wife in the late 1970s and the partnership ended.[3] Mendik also cited disagreements over real estate strategies, with Mendik wanting to buy buildings while Silverstein wanted to build.[5] They hired Jerry Speyer to assist in dividing the assets.[3] Mendik then founded the Mendik Company.

In 1982, he joined the Real Estate Board of New York and in 1992, he served as its chairman[1] until his death.[1] Under his stewardship, the Real Estate Board persuaded the State Legislature to end or reduce real estate-related capital gains and transfer taxes; he also successfully promoted legislation legalizating of real estate investment trusts in New York.[1] In April 1997, Mendik folded his company into Vornado Realty Trust becoming Vornado's co-chairman[1] for $654 million in stock and assumption of debt.[2] The combination of the Mendik Company's seven midtown office buildings with four million square feet transformed Vornado, then primarily a holder of suburban malls, into a major player in New York City's office market.[1] In October 1998, he resigned from Vornado.[6]

Mendik taught at New York University from 1960 to 1987[1] and received the Fiorello La Guardia Award for civic achievement presented by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.[1]

He endowed a library in his name at the New York Law School; a professorship in otolaryngology at New York University Medical Center; and supported research centers there and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.[1] He served as chairman of the Grand Central Partnership, as a trustee of the Citizens Budget Committee, as vice chairman of the Fifth Avenue Association, and on the board of regents of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.[1]

Mendik divorced his first wife, Annette Silverstein, sister of Larry Silverstein; they had three children: Laurie J. Mendik, Kevin R. Mendik, and Todd L. Mendik. Mendik's second wife was Susan Batkin; they had one child, Alexander M. Mendik.[1] He was a member of Congregation Emanu-El of New York.[1]