Irwin Chanin

Irwin Chanin was born to a Jewish family, the son of an immigrant from Poland and an immigrant from Poltava, Ukraine.[1] In 1915, he graduated from Cooper Union with a degree in civil engineering.[1] In 1919, he and his brother Henry founded the Chanin Construction Company.[1] In 1925, they built the 46th Street Theater, the first of six theaters they built on Broadway.[1] In 1930, they built a twin-towered housing cooperative skyscraper named The Majestic and in 1931 The Century,[1] both on Central Park West. Other notable buildings include the Chanin Building, Richard Rodgers Theatre, Biltmore Theatre, Bernard Jacobs Theatre, the Lincoln Hotel (now Row NYC Hotel), the Beacon Hotel and Theater, and the World Apparel Center.[1]

Chanin was also known for developing the "Green Acres" section of Valley Stream, New York. Ground broke in 1936 but only Phase I (known as the "old section") was completed before World War II. After the war construction resumed and the "new section" was completed by 1959. This section included the balance of the residential homes, the Forest Road Elementary School, the Green Acres Mall, and the Green Acres Garden Apartments.[2]

He was President of Chanin Theatres Corporation, and his brother Henry I. Chanin was Treasurer. In 1981, Cooper Union renamed its school of architecture after him.[1]

In 1921, Chanin married Sylvia Schofler; she died in 1976. Their children included sons Paul Richard Chanin (died 2009) and Marcy Chanin (died 1997), and daughters Doris Chanin Freedman (died 1981) and Joan Chanin Schwartz.[1][3][4] Irwin Chanin died on February 24, 1988. His funeral was held at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan.[1]

• Orosz, and Di Luccio (2014). "Green Acres: The Greatest Planned Neighborhood You've Never Heard Of". American Planning Assn. Special Feature — Practicing Planner (Winter 2014).

• Irwin Chanin at the Internet Broadway Database