Longtime Gold Coast Arts Center board member Jay Furman died on Jan. 4 due to complications from lung cancer, said Regina Gill, the center’s executive director. He was 72.
Furman, a real estate developer and Manhattan resident who acquired the building that houses the center in the 1990s, left behind a legacy of philanthropy that extended from Manhattan to Great Neck, Gil said,
“He was always there to advise and he was here for the conversations back in the day when we were trying to figure out how to get out of the church,” she said.
Gil said she was told that someone had bought the only movie theater in town and that she and Furman should get in touch with each other. Before the center moved into its current location at 113 Middle Neck Road, it was housed in a church.
“So we set up a meeting that took place in 1996,” Gil said. “In September of that year we were able to move into that space. He was a board member from that year on.”
Gil said Furman had been involved heavily in the arts center since it started.
Furman’s funeral was held Jan. 6 at Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Condolences can be sent to Furman’s family at 1060 Fifth Ave., Apt. 11A, New York, N.Y.
Furman was the sponsor of the Furman Film Series, a part of the arts center that previews independent and large studio films, which are followed by questions and answer sessions with film industry professionals, according to the center’s website. The series was founded in 1995.
Gil said the film series was already going on, but eventually acquired his namesake after Gil realized Furman had come to the series so frequently.
“Jay Furman was one of a kind. It was one of the things emphasized by just about every speaker at his funeral,” Gil said. “His depth of knowledge was staggering, there was nothing he couldn’t talk about it.”
Gil also said Furman was heavily involved with New York University, his alma mater. He was on NYU Law’s board of trustees, and backed the Furman Public Policy Scholarship Program.
“He wasn’t just about giving kids the money,” Gil said. “If he gave you a scholarship, he invited you to dinner, he followed you throughout your college career. He wanted to see what you could do.”
Gil said that all the inspiring adjectives one could use to describe him cannot adequately describe the unique person Furman was.
“I lost a personal friend,” Gil said. “We lost a great champion.”
