John Zuccotti Dead at 78

Zuccotti Park. Photo via Wikimedia

John Zuccotti, a former NYC deputy mayor and, most recently, chairman of global operations for Brookfield Asset Management Inc., has died at age 78, according to city officials.

“John was a kind, generous and tremendously dedicated man who believed in strengthening the promise of New York,” New York Stater Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday.

In particular, Cuomo credited Zuccotti with “helping guide New York City through the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.”

NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio added that “after the tragic terror attacks on September 11, 2001, John was a powerful voice for the revitalization of downtown Manhattan, overseeing the regrowth of Liberty Park.”

The mayor said:

“I turned to John often for advice, and he would often share his stories of guiding the city in tough times. He was widely admired for being an honest broker, and was equally respected in the public and private sectors. The park’s renaming to Zuccotti Park in 2006 is a fitting and lasting memorial for John’s compassionate and tireless efforts to rebuild and fortify our city in its gravest time of need. He will be remembered by New Yorkers for his spirit and his unwavering commitment to the city he loved.”

Zuccotti’s name was on thousands of New Yorkers’ lips in 2011, when the Occupy Wall Street movement chose his namesake Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan as their headquarters.

Zuccotti was reportedly worried about how the movement would affect his legacy.

“According to what I read, the nature of the protest has been a little vague,” Zuccotti told the New York Times in 2011. He reportedly said the protest had gotten ”a little messy,” and added: “Sooner or later we’re going to have to get in to clean it. With gas generators and other things there, we don’t want anybody to get hurt.”

According to the New York Post, Zuccotti and his wife Susan, a prominent Holocaust historian, have lived in the same home in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, for decades.

Below, a video tribute for Zuccotti, prepared by the National September 11 Memorial and Musum.