In His Own Words: Real Estate Mogul & Philanthropist Bradley Fishel Balances Life, Love & Loss

We’ll let Bradley Fishel tell this story himself:

Living this life would have no meaning without dealing with adversity, it builds character. I have had many people inspire me throughout my life, however none so much as my grandfather. As a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot during WWII, my grandfather flew 33 missions over Germany. At the age of 19, I became a single-engine private pilot, which required me to balance my time more effectively.

My grandfather’s other passion was real estate. Now his passion has become mine because of my early and multifaceted exposure to real estate. Being named vice president of our family-owned company, Renaissance Properties, at the age of 25 was a formidable task. Supervising employees double my age without appearing arrogant or disrespectful was a challenge and a goal.

Following college, I wanted to expand my knowledge of real estate. Within the year, I received a certificate in Real Estate Development from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and went on to get a Masters — graduating cum laude two years later while working full time.

Operating my family business in the heart of Manhattan and foregoing many opportunities to invest in growing businesses, as well as witnessing businesses fail due to mismanagement of funds or misguaged demand, I realized that there are many similarities between investing in distressed properties and acquiring fledgling or struggling businesses.

I always make time for something very dear to my heart. On Memorial Day of 2014, my best friend Avi passed away after a yearlong battle with a rare form of brain cancer. Witnessing someone with his whole life ahead of him lose everything showed me that life is fragile and is not without adversity. With the help of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF), we revived the Millennials, a group of young professionals who have also been affected by the disease. All our proceeds from each fundraising event go toward leading scientists supported by the SWCRF.

While cognizant that tragedy can strike when least expected I was wholly unprepared for October 4, 2018, the day my only sibling, Melissa Fishel, passed away. Losing my 29-year-old sister while in her final semester of medical school was gut-wrenching. She was my best friend, my role model and my other half. The trajectory of my life has completely shifted as my desire to make Melissa proud has become my foremost objective.

Outside of my real estate responsibilities, I am the chairman of the NoHo Business Improvement District, working to improve NoHo’s quality of life and promote its economic and cultural vitality. The NoHo BID also provides the business community with resources and guidance for reopening and activating their business in the post-lockdown era. Additionally, we host social mixers at local businesses, which has resulted in many successful collaborations between local businesses.

Today, my biggest motivation is making my parents, Maria and Kenneth Fishel, my new wife Alexandra Fishel, and her parents, Bernard and Jeanne Schayes, proud. Alexandra, a capital introduction associate at Clear Street in the World Trade Center and fellow NYU alum, is my inspiration. With Alex, I could not be more excited for the family we plan on building together.

I feel like there is still a lifetime of learning in order to achieve our goals. My father always taught me from a young age that nothing comes without hard work and everything must be earned. He also taught me to give back which has lead me to participate in recurring philanthropic activities not just related to cancer but also with religious organizations that helped me and many others in times of spiritual need including the Center for Jewish Life in Sag Harbor and the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.

Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.