D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A C A N C E R R E S E A R C H I N ST I T U T E P R E S E N T E D I TS A W A R D S AT T H E M E T R O P O L I TA N C L U B
Ira and Nicki Harris
ther’s $500,000 fortune (which is approximately $15 million in today’s currency). As a young man, he was a member of Tammany Hall, the Democratic party’s organization that was the power in city politics. In 1883, at age 25 he was elected Sheriff of New York County. And in 1889, he became mayor. He served two (two-year) terms, though in 1890, a probe into political corruption in the City of New York by the New York State Senate exposed the mayor to, among other things, some questionable exchanges of a very large amount of cash ($25,000, which is approximately $150,000 in today’s currency) from the mayor to the daughter of the head of Tammany Hall. 40 QUEST
Beth and Ronald Dozoretz with Cynthia Yorkin
Christine Castle and Christoph Huber
The probe damaged his reputation and he did not run for reelection. His administration was denounced from the (protestant) pulpits. One fiery critic declared that Grant and his political colleagues were “a lying, perjured, rum-soaked, and libidinous lot” of “polluted harpies.” Another sunny day in little ole New York! Nevertheless, Grant prevailed. In the following election cycle, he ran again, but was defeated. That same year, in 1894, he married Julia Murphy, daughter of Senator Edward Murphy, a wealthy businessman from Albany. As a wedding gift he bought his bride 20 East 72nd Street. Five stories, 11,000-square-feet. The Grants had three children
Hilary Geary and Jim Zirin
to occupy the mansion. Only 15 years later, in 1910, Grant died suddenly of a heart at age 52. He left an estate to his wife estimated between $9 and $13 million (which is $250 million in today’s currency). It had been acquired from extensive real-estate investments enhanced by his father’s legacy. Julia was a devout Roman Catholic. The house at number 20 contained many religious objects and, four years after her husband died, she had a private chapel built in the residence. She named it the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. Shortly after Grant died, Julia attended a Midnight Mass at the Loyola Chapel on Park Avenue and 84th Street. Just before the service, she met with
Ken Langone and Lauren Veronis
Perri Ruttenberg and Lynne Harmer
Father David Hearn, S.J., presenting to him a sealed enveloped containing a certificate on the Central Trust Company for $500,000, (which is $30 million in today’s dollars)— the amount her husband left for her own absolute disposal. The gift was delivered with a request to start a school to educate Catholic boys. She stipulated that it be a Jesuit high school with free education for those boys who could not afford a Catholic private school education. Regis was established in 1914 on East 84th Street next door to the Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue. Julia’s identity was kept “secret” for many years, although a portrait of her hung
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
John Vernois and Jane Veronis