Attorney Ruben Klein dies at 91

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 20, 2000 by Carol Keenan

Ruben Klein, a real estate lawyer and a former president of the Bronx Real Estate Advisory Board, died last week at 91. A commercial property owner himself, he was known as a fixture in New York real estate.

On Oct. 22, 1984, Klein was the focus of a Real Estate Weekly Profile of The Week under the headline "Commitment, Dedication, Leadership." It is reprinted here.

Ruben Klein scraped together $1,750. His partner, Max L. Luman, dug up a like amount -- and together they bought a small apartment house. The year was 1934. The building on Union Avenue, had tubs in the kitchen, no basins in the bath rooms, and "boasted" red painted floors (which were sanded at $3 a room). Eventually Luman and Klein operated many apartment houses in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Westchester, and became involved with commercial property.

Ruben Klein inherited his desire to own multi-family housing from his father, an immigrant storekeeper, who sensed the importance of acquiring a small building as means of becoming middle class. Klein remembers that the parent's buildings. -- first in Harlem, then in the East Bronx -- were sources of much more than financial stability. The tenants became extended family, supporting each other in time of need, welcoming new arrivals from the old country, and helping them to get a toe hold in this land of opportunity. It was with dual purpose -- pride in ownership and concern for their tenancies -- that both parents participated in the care of their buildings on a daily basis.

Klein attended P.S. 89 on Lenox Ave. and 135th St. Those readers who know him will smile appreciatively on learning that he attended Fordham University and New York Law School simultaneously, while holding down an evening job at Schrafft's.

Following admission to the Bar in 1932, he formed a long-enduring partnership with Max L. Luman -- each contributed $100 to start up their law firm. The Union Avenue building was purchased shortly thereafter.

Over the years, Ruben's ownership and management of apartment houses made him keenly aware of the desperate plight of owners to survive: rent controls, increased regulations, tenant vandalism, and the like. He determined to do all within his power to assist owners in actual building operation and to be "the owner's voice." He has done just that.

Currently, Ruben is president of the Bronx Realty Board (a position he had held for almost 14 years); president of the New York Realty Owners Association; chairman of the executive board and former vice president of the Rent Stabilization Association; chairman of the Housing Council of New York; a member of the advisory council to the Housing Court, member of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Rent Control, the New York Urban Coalition, the Community Council of Greater New York, the Apartment Owners Advisory Council (Westchester and the National Realty Corp.). He is a regular contributor to Real Estate Weekly, with his column "The Owner's Voice;" his articles have appeared in a variety of publications and he is seen frequently on TV -- championing the owner's cause.

Klein's involvement on an industry wide basis spans the years. In 1971, as members of the Mayor's Committee on Rent Control, he and Rex Tompkins participated on behalf of the industry in implementing the nine categories of housing established by George Stemlieb and his comprehensive study of New York City housing (the study was undertaken at the request of the city) within the MBR (Maximum Based Rent). Klein recalls the shock they experienced when financial studies by McKinsey & Company confirmed that operating costs had increased 51% from 1967 to 1971 with no allowances for those increases to owners.

As president of the Bronx Realty Advisory Board, Klein brought the first successful industry law suit requiring the City to immediately issue delayed MBR's. He was also successful through a lawsuit in preventing the Rent Commission from reducing rents to $1 and requiring that all reductions of rents be related to the value of services. He brought a constitutional attack on rent control through the Benson v. Beame case to the United States Supreme Court, in which the Supreme Court ruled that such controls must be temporary in nature. As Justice Holmes states: "...there comes a point at which the police power ceases and leaves only that of eminent domain, (when) it may be conceded that regulations of the present sort (dealing with rent control) pressed to a certain height might amount to a taking without due process of law."

Ruben's activities have not been limited to the real estate field only. "Throughout my life," he says, "I have been aware that in order to have a balance in one's life, one must devote some of his time, energies, and resources for the good of others and be involved in philanthropic work, as well as the improvement of education opportunities."

Klein's dedication to community services has earned his the recognition, respect, and gratitude of many organizations. He serves on the board of the Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester; he is a former acting chairman of the Commission of Human Rights, City of Mount Vernon; he is a former president of YM and YWHA for southern Westchester and Sinai Temple, Mount Vernon; a former vice president of the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues; a member of the executive board of the Anti-Defamation Leagues; and a member of the board of directors of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York. He has chaired two studies for the City of Mount Vernon, one on Rent Control, and one on Self-Insurance for the City. In 1974 he received the distinguished Citizens Award of Mount Vernon.