Howard J. Rubenstein

Howard J. Rubenstein
Rubenstein at the 2010 Time 100 Gala
Occupation Lawyer
Known for Public relations
Website www.rubenstein.com/bio_hr.html

Howard J. Rubenstein (born 1932 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn) is an American lawyer and public relations expert. He has been called "the dean of damage control" by Rudolph Giuliani.[1]

Early life

Rubenstein grew up in a Jewish-American household in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, on 74th St. near Bay Parkway with an older sister, June.[2] His mother, Ada, an immigrant from Russia when she was nine, was a homemaker, and his father, Sam, was a Jewish[3] crime reporter for the Herald Tribune.[4][2] He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Phi Beta Kappa in 1953 with a degree in economics.[4] He then attended Harvard Law School, but dropped out partway through the first semester.[4]

Career

He then began writing press releases for a Brooklyn nursing home, the Menorah Home and Hospital for the Aged and Infirm, after his father had introduced him to some officials at the home.[1][4][5] Initially he worked out of his parents' kitchen, but later moved out after his parents refused to answer the phone saying "Rubenstein Associates".

Business grew quickly; as Rubenstein later said, "I was the only Democratic press agent in Brooklyn, so the politicians started coming to me".[4] He enrolled in St. John's University Law School to take night classes, and graduated in 1959 first in his class.[1][4] He then took a job as an assistant counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, but quit after six months.[4]

He is the president and founder of Rubenstein Associates, which has been described as the most influential public relations organization in New York City.[5] Rubenstein Associates has two affiliates: Rubenstein Public Relations and Rubenstein Communications, Inc.[2] The firm was founded in 1954. Rubenstein's more notable clients include many of New York's iconic organizations including: The New York Yankees,[6] News Corporation,[2] Columbia University,[5] New York Philharmonic,[2] Sarah – Duchess of York, Rupert Murdoch since 1976,[2][7] both Fred Trump and Donald Trump since 1973,[2] and The Metropolitan Opera.[2]

Rubenstein is a founder of NADAP, a private nonprofit social services organization that serves residents of the New York City metropolitan area.

He has been described as "a PR genius", and as "Public Relations royalty".[7][8]

Personal life

In 1959, Rubenstein married Amy Forman, whose family had purchased the Peter Luger Steak House in 1950.[2] They have a daughter, Roni (born 1961), and three sons, David (1962-1971), Richard (born 1965), and Steven (born 1969).[2] Roni is a former district attorney.[2] Richard works for Rubenstein Public Relations and has Donald Trump as one of his clients.[2] Steven heads Rubenstein Communications. Inc. and has Amazon.com as one of his clients.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Blaine Harden (1999-09-30). "Image Spinner at the Center of a Web; Rubenstein, 'Dean of Damage Control' for New York's Powerful". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Ken Auletta (2007-02-12). "The Fixer: Why New Yorkers call Howard Rubenstein when they've got a problem". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  3. ↑ "Paul Bendix Rubenstein's Obituary on Herald Tribune". Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Richard T. Pienciak (1997-06-08). "Howard J. Rubenstein is the Prince of Public Relations Who Rose From His Own Corner Office Knowing That... Image Is Everything". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  5. 1 2 3 William Geist (1990-04-08). "What Really Makes New York Work; Dan Klores: The Man Behind The Images". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  6. ↑ Richard Sandomir (2005-07-01). "BASEBALL; The Voice of the Boss Is Often a Voice of Reason". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  7. 1 2 "Rubenstein PR: Howard, Steven, and Richard - A PR Dynasty". September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ A film clip "The Open Mind - A Further Conversation with a PR Guru (2007)" is available at the Internet Archive
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