Manuel Greer

Manny Greer (Nee Greenberg), 100, the wise elder of Soho, died peacefully on July 3 in the Wooster Street loft where he had lived for 50 years, most of them with his loving wife, the late artist Jane Greer.

He leaves behind his cherished step-children, Sharon, Jonathan and Michael Greenberg, his grandchildren Susanna, Rebecca, Matthew, Mateo, Gabriel, Sahai and Akira, his great-grandchildren Willow, Ethan and Adam, his son-in-law Rob, his daughter-in-law Heather, his nieces Nan and Paula, and his great-nephew Scott Stevenson.

Manny was a pioneering modern art dealer who, with his older brother David, owned Greer Gallery from 1953 to 1978. While most commercial galleries were on 57th Street, the brothers located Greer Gallery at 35 West 53rd Street, making it the only gallery near the Museum of Modern Art, which was located two doors to the east. They hosted important openings for artists like Fernando Botero and Diego Rivera, as well as less established artists from around the world.

Manny met the love of his life, Jane Greer, in 1967, when she wandered into the gallery after visiting the museum. They married the following year, and he became a loving step-father to her three children, Sharon, Jonathan and Michael.

In October 1975, the family moved from midtown to a former industrial loft building at 81 Wooster Street, becoming one of the first families to move to the Soho district of Lower Manhattan. When the Museum of Modern Art bought the 35 West 53rd Street building for its expansion, Manny moved Greer Gallery to his loft. He continued working as an international art dealer until the end of his life, selling his last work, a major Zatkin sculpture, to a Belgian dealer three months ago. He spoke six languages: English, Yiddish, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian.

Manny was widely respected in the art world. He was an influential early member of the American Appraisers Association, and served on its board from 1984 until 2003. When he received the association's Belmont Society Award for distinguished service in 2017, a former board colleague recalled him as the group's "rational, sensible fun voice of reason during heated discussions."

Manny frequently provided trusted, wise counsel to many fortunate family members and friends because he listened with a deep, soulful attentiveness. His patience and modest wisdom flowed from a warm, curious nature, a kind heart, and a deep acceptance of others.

Manny began his 65-year spiritual journey practicing silent retreats at the New York Zendo, and by reading May Benzenberg Mayer (MBM) a teacher whose work he often cited. In 1981, he and Jane took their first of twenty annual five-week long trips to India, to stay at the Pune ashram of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later known as Osho), and then Papaji.

More cafe society than high society, Manny and Jane had a vibrant social life, hosting lively casual dinner salons frequently, with friends, family, artists, dealers and collectors. For 40 years, they spent weekends with their family at a rustic rural home on Quaker Hill in Pawling, New York.

Manny loved baking, and for decades, brought tarts, cookies and macaroons he made to delighted workers at shops in his SoHo community. He began volunteering at the non-profit God's Love We Deliver a few years after they opened their SoHo headquarters in 1995, and continued taking weekly shifts right up until a few weeks before he died. He was honored as the oldest regular of the organization's 23,000 annual volunteers.

Manny was born to newly-arrived Polish immigrants in a tenement on the Lower East side on December 29, 1924. He was the youngest of five children. His father Nathan worked as a cobbler at a shoe factory on Canal Street, and his mother plucked chickens to help pay the bills. He started roaming the Lower East Side streets on his own and working, running errands, at the age of four. His family moved to Seagate, Brooklyn, a few years later, and shared an apartment with their extended family.

He grew up attending public schools and although only five foot eight, played competitive basketball in middle school, high school, in the military, and as a starter for the City University of New York team in 1947 and 1948.

In 1943, soon after finishing high school, Manny volunteered for World War II. He was trained as a bombardier flight officer. He was injured in a deadly plane crash during training in Texas. He was offered an honorable discharge but chose to return to active duty the next year. He served on a "Flying Fortress" B-29 on numerous missions and earned the Air Medal as part of the 869 bomb squadron of the 497th bomb group, 73rd wing of the 20th Air Force.

Never a drinker, smoker or gambler, Manny sent his military pay checks home every month to help support his mother. He was astonished when he returned home, in 1946, to discover that she had not spent a dime of it. He used his savings to support himself, with the help of the G.I. bill, to earn a bachelors degree from the City University of New York. He also worked every summer as a waiter at the Berkshire Country Club in the Adirondacks, where he met his lifetime friend, Mort Sternberg, and defended his fellow staffers against bad tippers.

After graduating CUNY with a business degree, Manny used the G.I. bill to study clothing design in Paris in 1949. He stayed in France for two years, working for a small design firm as a fashion illustrator. An eligible and active bachelor, he became part of the emerging post-war French fashion scene.

In 1950, while in France, Manny invested in his first work of art, a piece that caught his eye in a gallery window. He purchased it for $50 over the course of six months on a weekly layaway plan, and brought it home when he returned to the United States.

He sold it at an art auction in Hong Kong 70 years later, for $400,000.

Manny maintained extraordinary health and a positive, grateful mental attitude during his final years. He lived at home, on his own terms, socializing daily. When asked how he was feeling, he would almost always say, "Everything is wonderful!" He delighted in his 100th birthday with more than 60 friends and family members, who came to the loft from far and wide to celebrate the great New Yorker who inspired and uplifted so many.