Good guys, wise guys, and putting up buildings

By Samuel C. Florman

Subjects: Construction industry, Biography, Civil engineers, Construction industry -- New York (State) -- New York -- History, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, Contractors -- United States -- Biography, Contractors, Buildings, structures, New York (N.Y.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- History, History, Civil engineers -- United States -- Biography

Description: "Starting in the Navy Seabees at the end of WWII, Samuel C. Florman made his way as a general contractor in New York City through the period of explosive development, private exuberance and the historic growth of publicly supported housing--all amidst the rise of the notorious Mafia families, and evolution of the Civil Rights Movement. His storied career brought him into contact with a variety of personalities: politicians and civil servants, developers and technocrats, saintly do-gooders, and corrupt rapscallions. Along with the rousing adventures there were satisfactions of a different sort: the enchantment of seeing architecture made real; the pride of creating housing, hospitals, schools, places of worship--shelter for the body and nourishment for the spirit"--