Jump on the Train
A Dyslexic Entrepreneur's 50-Year Ride from the Leisure Suit to the Bowery Hotel and a New York Solar Farm
Gerald Rosengarten figured out early on that when the right train reaches the station, jump on it!
Discover the magic that happens when the doors open and unexpected opportunities are revealed in the big city. In fifty years of innovative ventures, the outspoken New York native never let dyslexia slow his busy mind and interest in making deals, even though he was functionally unable to read until he was in middle age. See how he conceived of the biggest men’s fashion development of the time—the leisure suit—and how the fad just as quickly subsided.
Rosengarten followed that adventure by transforming loft living in his hometown. He confronted interminable and frustrating bureaucracies, competitors, and even colleagues. Whether his timing was on the mark or awry, Rosengarten has always taken on new challenges and is still creating; his newest design is The Slide Watchband for the Apple Watch.
Jump on the Train is your ticket to embrace life lessons of a one-of-a-kind entrepreneur who has gotten results despite not always knowing what he was getting himself into. Relying on intuition and street smarts, Rosengarten often responds to stranger-than-fiction moments, and in the process has made a lasting imprint on the culture and physical identity of the greatest city in the world.
This book is for those not sure which train to take, as well as to those already on board but not sure what station to disembark. Enjoy the ride.
Gerald Rosengarten
Gerald Rosengarten is a Brooklyn-born serial entrepreneur whose greatest skill is an extraordinary ability to perceive form and structure–and opportunity–from within disorder, including developing products to deal with dyslexia, reimagining real estate, and investing early and heavily in solar energy. Rosengarten’s life of invention has led to substantial commercial success. His first big hit came in the 1970s with the leisure suit, which became a cultural fashion phenomenon that stoked his confidence and staked his growing desire to build landmark New York projects like the Lofts and the A-list destination, The Bowery Hotel. Today, Rosengarten owns one of the largest private solar farms in the Northeast, located on Long Island’s eastern tip, and his creative passions are focused on environmental stewardship and active advocacy for those suffering from learning disabilities.