Irwin Schneiderman, Friend of New York Public Radio, Dies

Irwin Schneiderman, attorney, reproductive rights advocate, supporter of the arts and father of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman passed early Wednesday morning of complications from a stroke. He was 88-years-old.

[Audio: Irwin Schneiderman confirms sale of WNYC from the City to the Foundation in 1995]

Attorney General Schneiderman’s office said in a brief statement, “Irwin acknowledged that everything he accomplished was because of what he got from the people and institutions of New York and he did everything he could to give it back.”

Born in Brooklyn, Irwin Schneiderman called himself a “kid from the Jewish ghetto.” He graduated from Brooklyn College before going into the Navy and serving in World War 2. At the end of the war, with help from the G.I. Bill, he entered Harvard Law School, graduating in 1948. He went on to become a senior counsel at the law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

In 2002, he told the Harvard Law Bulletin that the practice of law should not take up all of one’s time. “You should develop other interests as you go along. Obviously when you're young you have less time for volunteer work, but I still think it's a good idea to find these other interests.”

Schneiderman’s other interests involved several local causes, including WNYC Radio, where he helped arrange the purchase of the stations from the city in 1995 while he was chair of the WNYC Board from 1993 to 1996.

“We will miss his common sense and his uncommon acuity, his courtly charm and his bracing candor, his warmth and wit, and his unrelenting dedication to New York Public Radio and the people who work here,” read a statement from current chair Herb Scannell and New York Public Radio President and CEO Laura Walker.

Aside from serving as a trustee of WNYC Radio, Inc, he was a trustee for the Central Park Conservancy and was directors emeriti of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

He had also previously served as City Opera chairman and was on the board of NARAL pro-Choice New York for many years. Attorney General Schneiderman had to recuse himself from an investigation into the former head of the group due to his father’s involvement with the group. He was also a director of Contel Cellular Inc.

He is survived by his wife, Roberta, son, Eric, granddaughter, Catherine, and two brothers.