July 20, 2009
Jerome ('48L, '80HON) and Maxine Belson '98HON have enhanced
thousands of lives through a wide array of good works. From a
stadium on the Queens campus of St. John’s University to housing
developments all throughout New York City and a bakery that employs
the disabled in Maine, the couple has created a legacy designed to
improve the lives of others. They are unified, not only in their
commitment to philanthropy, but also in their principles and their
devotion to each other, to family and to friends.
Theirs
is a story which began with a young man in Brooklyn who grew up the
proud son of a labor union official. Jerome Belson’s father,
Joseph, was the president of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and
Butcher Workmen of America and it was he who helped to shape the
future of his eldest son. Jerome, or “Jerry,” as he was to become
known to his many, many friends, was drawn to the St. John’s School
of Law partly due to his desire to practice with an uncle who was
also an attorney and partly because the campus was then located in
Brooklyn and the School was affordable. Following graduation, Jerry
served as a prosecutor before entering into private practice, but
it was at the behest of his father that he would find himself in
the field where he remains today — real estate. “Some of my clients
were labor unions and my dad was the head of the Hebrew Butcher
Workers Union and that was 1950,” he reminisces. “That meant the
union members were coming back from the service and they had
difficulty finding appropriate housing so my dad assigned me to
create non-profit cooperative housing for the union. That put me
into real estate.”
His first housing development was in Brooklyn in 1952 and he
went on to create six more totaling 5,000 apartments throughout the
city, all of which were non-profit co-ops.
“Creating the housing was exciting — seeing how it developed from a
concept into the reality,” he now says. Jerry then became more
involved in real estate management and, from 1955 to 2005, he was
overseeing 50,000 apartments through his company, Jerome Belson
Associates. His relationships with members of federal, state and
city agencies led to his involvement in such noteworthy projects as
Roosevelt Island in Queens. Because of his friendship with
President John F. Kennedy, Jerry conducted five mission trips with
the American Institute for Free Labor Development to Mexico,
Nicaragua, Brazil and Columbia to create non-profit housing there
during Kennedy’s administration.
He has witnessed the explosion in the New York City real estate
market and can remember when rent for a one bedroom apartment in
one of his first developments was $52 a month including gas and
electric. He sees hope for New York with the recent pledge by city
and state officials that $1 billion will be provided for the
construction of subsidized housing, but is realistic in knowing
that property in the area has always been, and will continue to be,
a major expense for the average person. “[New Yorkers have] never
had enough affordable housing,” he says. “It’s very tough right
now. The average person starting out has to pay 30 percent of his
gross income for rent and people can’t survive on that basis. The
affordable housing is based upon the subsidies that come from the
federal government where the individual goes in and is committed to
paying 25 percent of his gross income for rent and the additional
rent is paid by the federal government.”
More than 35 years ago he began working with Associated Builders
and Owners of Greater New York, Inc., whose members are industry
professionals seeking to maintain effective communication and
networking between those in real estate and local, state and
federal governments, and today he serves as its president. “They
were dedicated to the development of housing and are an effective
lobbyist at the city, state and federal level,” he says of his
motivation to become involved. He is so well respected in the
industry that he received the Fred C. Trump Award for lifetime
achievement, named for the father of real estate mogul Donald
Trump, and was the first person from New York City to be inducted
into the New York State Builders Association Hall of Fame. Standing
proudly beside him for every recognition is his devoted wife,
Maxine.
Jerry met the former Maxine Rogg, a Bronx native and daughter of
a fashion designer, on a blind date in 1950 and they enjoyed a five
year courtship before marrying. Their joking and easy manner with
each other speaks of a solid comfort built over more than a half
century of marriage. They speak lovingly of their three children:
son, Michael, a prosecutor who passed away in 1985; daughter,
Brianne; and son, Tad, who has special needs. And they proudly show
off photos of their six grandchildren and first great
grandchild.
Family means everything to them and it was thanks to Tad that
Belson Stadium, one of the crown jewels of the Queens campus, was
built. The story goes that the family was traveling to Connecticut
to visit Brianne when Tad made an unusual comment. “We passed
Yankee Stadium,” Maxine explains. “I sat in the back and Tad was up
front with his dad and he poked his father and said, ‘Did you see
my stadium?’ His father said, ‘What are you talking about? That’s
not your stadium, that’s Yankee Stadium.’ He said ‘Didn’t you see
“Tad” in the big word?’ His father said ‘You want a stadium?’ He
said yes, so we got him a stadium.”
The couple are huge soccer fans — having traveled with the 1996
NCAA championship
Red Storm team to Rome when they met with His Holiness, Pope John
Paul II — and are thrilled that games are played in a stadium named
for their family. Their admiration for the University’s mission is
evident in their generosity which extends to Jerome and
Maxine Belson Hall, which houses the School of Law, the Belson Moot
Courtroom, which was dedicated in honor of their parents, and a
collection of unique presidential memorabilia which includes such
treasures as a signed copy of President Richard Nixon’s resignation
letter.
Even outside of New York, their generosity is felt by many. Bro.
Rick Curry, S.J., founder and director of the National Theater
Workshop of the Handicapped (NTWH) in
New York City, says the Belsons are long-time supporters who made
possible the NTWH Belson Bakery located in Belfast, ME. Now in its
10th year, the bakery trains students in the art of baking bread
and the mechanics of operating, managing and marketing a commercial
mail-order bakery. “They are not just generous, but they really
give for practical reasons,” Curry says. “Their giving is so direct
and so is their involvement. They know our students, they know our
staff and they aren’t just benefactors, they are part of our
family. “
Their largesse extends to many other philanthropic activities
including “The Big E for Epilepsy,” which Maxine founded in support
of her work with the Epilepsy Clinic at Columbia Presbyterian
Hospital in New York City, and she has served as a director for the
New York State Special Olympics Committee and the New York State
Epilepsy Association. Each year, she takes 50 disabled people from
the development where their son lives in the Concord/Monticello
area of New York to a nearby dude ranch for a three-day
vacation.
Jerry has served as chairman of the United Cerebral Palsy of New
York City and as a trustee of the National Jewish Fund and
Handicapped Boy Scouts. “Jerry comes from a heritage of giving,”
says Leslie D. Park, chairman and founder of Disabled and
Alone/Life Services for the Handicapped, Inc. where Jerry is a
director. “It’s his nature. And he has a great love for the
University. You don’t have Jerry around a table long without him
bringing up St. John’s.” The esteem is mutual as Jerry, who has
served as a St. John’s trustee for more than 20 years, has been
honored by the University multiple times: he holds the President’s
Medal, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, the Medal of Honor, the
Leon Finley Award, and was inducted into the Heritage Circle.
Maxine holds an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from St. John’s
as well.
Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M. reminisced about his
relationship with the Belsons, noting that he and Jerry joined the
St. John’s Board of Trustees on the same date — January, 1986 —
when Fr. Harrington was still President of Niagara University. “We
served on the Board as trustees together for three years,” Fr.
Harrington continued. “And then, I became President in 1989. For
all of the years since, Jerry has stood next to me, supporting and
sometimes prodding, helping to transform St. John’s in a myriad of
ways. Belson Hall, the Moot Court, and Belson Stadium are all
evidence of how generous Jerry and Maxine have been with their
resources. But Jerry has been equally generous in ways that may be
less obvious. His long service on the Board has provided stability
amidst change and experience that is both broad and deep. He has
given freely of his wisdom and his sound counsel to the Board and
to me personally. I count Jerry and Maxine’s friendship as a
wonderful, wonderful gift.”
The Belsons are especially moved at having been recognized as
affiliates of the Vincentian community, although they themselves
are Jewish. They say the legacy they want to leave is simple: “That
we cared.”