PROFILE: SAM LEFRAK >>>

-Profile Sam Lefrak-

'The guy with the gold makes the rules'

Every great city has its great characters and New York produces more than most. In the financial metropolis of America, Sam LeFrak lives up to his golden rule. "The golden rule is: the guy with the gold makes the rules," says the doughty 83-year-old chairman of one of New York's largest real estate developers.

His most visible achievement is Newport City, still under construction across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, facing the skyscrapers of Manhattan. But his influence reaches far beyond his building sites. For his cultural and philanthropical as well as his economic contribution to New York, Mr LeFrak has been honoured by many institutions and governments around the world. He has had the opportunity to bend the ear of presidents, mix with the movers and shakers on both sides of the Atlantic, and amass an impressive and valuable art collection.

He could have retired comfortably years ago, but he is a workaholic whose family motto is Work Conquers All. "That's the code - that's what our family is," he says. The family includes his wife Ethel, with whom he celebrates their diamond wedding in May, son and company president Richard, and grandsons Harrison and James, both managing directors. It was Mr LeFrak's father, Harry, who started the family firm, which became The Lefrak Organization, in 1905. He built tenements for the thousands of immigrants who were flooding into the city in the early 20th century. The young Sam began learning the family business at his father's side at the tender age of eight. After World War II the business took off, Sam took over the helm, and the company began building mass low-cost housing.

In the 1950s, he built more than 2,000 flats on untouched coastal land in Brooklyn. A decade later, he began work on LeFrak City: a 5,000 apartment development on 40 acres of Queens. Other big schemes include 2,200 apartments in Battery Park, and a variety of commercial and retail properties throughout the city. The Lefrak Organization is one of New York's largest private landlords, with around 61,000 apartments in NYC and New Jersey, and a further 30,000 under management. Its subsidiaries are involved in entertainment and oil and gas exploration. Mr LeFrak's son, Richard, became increasingly involved in the business in the 1980s as the company began its most ambitious project - the 4,000-acre Newport City scheme, which has some 10,000 apartments, 36-storey tower blocks, plus retail and commercial premises. Development has continued ever since. Newport is a planned community, with homes, retail, office, leisure and entertainment facilities.

Since construction began on the $10 billion project in 1986, over 11 million sq ft of property has been built. The latest tower block, comprising 409 apartments, opened last year. Four completed office blocks will soon be joined by two more, totalling more than 1.2 million sq ft. Newport River School is the first on the Jersey City waterfront, while the Newport Café offers diners panoramic views of New York Harbour and Manhattan. Last year, a 189-room hotel was opened. When complete, the Newport community will provide housing for around 30,000 residents who will be able to enjoy a six-mile esplanade on the Hudson River.

On first sight, Mr LeFrak saw the Newport site as a "God-given" vision to put into practice on a grand scale both his business acumen - a freehold site with river frontage in one of the greatest cities in the world was not to be overlooked - and the family tradition of providing good housing at an affordable price or rent for people on low incomes. "These buildings shine as they reflect the sun rising in the east. And the people living there can see the facade of Manhattan. The river is much cleaner too. We have helped to clean it up and there is now sailing and kayaking, and we also have a pier for fishing, a marina and restaurants.

"There is great joy in being able to fulfil something like this. When I first saw this land it was desolate and had deteriorated. It was just a mess. Here was a site on the harbour of New York City, on the west bank of the Hudson, facing that marvellous skyline - the sun rising in the east reflecting on the buildings, the sun setting and that whole silhouette washing against them. And I said to myself: how could they let this land lie idle?"