Joseph Chetrit, the Most Mysterious Big Shot in New York Real Estate
One summer Friday in 1994, Ron Cohen, one of the top commercial brokers in New York City, picked up the phone in his office at the old Insignia/ESG, a precursor to today’s mega-brokerage CB Richard Ellis. A man named Joseph Chetrit was cold-calling him about a 16-story office building at 19 West 44th Street that Mr. Cohen’s client was selling.
“Sorry,” Mr. Cohen said. “We don’t work with people we don’t know.”
He hung up and went back to work.
Minutes later, three men walked into Mr. Cohen’s office. They were Joseph Chetrit, his father Simon, and his brother Jacques.
“Well, now you know us,” Joseph said matter-of-factly. Read More
