Charles Abrams
urban planner
Charles Abrams (September 20, 1901 – February 22, 1970) was Polish-born Jewish-American lawyer, author, urbanist, and housing expert, best known for creating New York City's Housing and Development Administration in the 1960s. He is credited with coining the phrase 'Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.'
Early life
Abrams was born in Vilna, Poland as the youngest of four children in an Orthodox Jewish family and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1904. The family settled in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1922 and quickly achieved financial success through his work as a real estate lawyer and speculator. In 1928, he married Ruth Davidson, an artist.
Career in urban development
Throughout his career, Abrams served as a lawyer, public official, activist, author, and educator, leaving a profound impact on public housing and urban studies in the United States and Western Europe. He coauthored the New York Municipal Housing Authorities Law in 1933 and successfully argued the landmark case New York City Housing Authority v. Muller before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1936. This decision affirmed the Authority's right to use eminent domain to clear slums and build public housing, broadening the interpretation of public use and solidifying Abrams' legacy as the Authority's first counsel.
Abrams held academic positions at various universities and was a staunch advocate for public housing and homeownership for the underprivileged, while also critiquing systemic discrimination and the business welfare state.
“Charles Abrams” enters the record as urban planner. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Charles, Abrams and urban can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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