Wilbur Fred Breslin, the CEO and chairman of Breslin Realty Development, died Wednesday, April 1, at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola. He was 99.
Breslin spent more than seven decades reshaping commercial real estate across Long Island and beyond, building a company that developed 30 shopping centers and 12 residential communities across five states. For Nassau County families, his work was visible in the parking lots and storefronts they passed every week. Woodbury Plaza in Plainview, Clearmeadow Plaza in East Meadow, and Smith Haven Plaza in Lake Grove all carry his imprint.
“Wilbur Fred Breslin will be deeply missed by all who knew him. His legacy of vision, integrity, and generosity will endure for generations,” the company said in a statement.
Breslin was born November 10, 1926, in the Bronx to Pauline and Harry Breslin, who operated 12 fruit markets based in Hempstead. That family retail background planted an early seed. By 1953, he had opened his first real estate office and was building what would become one of New York State’s most recognized commercial development firms.
His early vision extended well beyond office space and strip malls. In the 1960s, Breslin set out to build Franklin Plaza, the first Long Island shopping center designed with on-site parking. The project eventually opened in 1970, and the concept influenced how developers approached retail construction across the region for years afterward.
Breslin helped bring major national brands to Long Island, including Modell’s, Toys “R” Us, Marshalls, The Gap, and 7-Eleven, giving suburban shoppers access to retailers that had previously concentrated in urban centers.
His impact reached well beyond the commercial. In 1973, Breslin purchased 2,000 acres of vacant land in Yaphank with plans to build a regional mall and residential community. What followed was a 20-year process that ultimately shifted direction entirely. Rather than developing the land, Breslin helped build the groundwork for the 1993 Long Island Pine Barrens Act, which established more than 100,000 acres of state-protected land in Suffolk County. It is among the more unusual chapters in Long Island development history, where a commercial real estate transaction contributed directly to one of the region’s most significant conservation outcomes.
As retail patterns shifted, Breslin adapted. The rise of small strip centers pushed him to expand into larger retail plazas, residential developments, and commercial projects in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
His philanthropic reach was equally broad. Breslin supported schools and institutions across Long Island throughout his life. Hofstra University named Dorothy and Wilbur F. Breslin Hall in his honor. St. Francis Hospital named its Wilbur F. and Dorothy Breslin Catheterization Suites after him and his wife. He donated the Smith Estate manor house and 35 acres to the Town of Brookhaven, along with land and a building for the Suffolk County Jail and Station House.
His charitable giving extended to the Northwell Health Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and multiple scholarship funds. Those donations connected the business success of Breslin Realty to the daily lives of Long Island residents in ways that had nothing to do with retail square footage.
For communities across Nassau and Suffolk, that combination of commercial development and civic investment shaped how people shop, where they live, and which natural spaces remain protected today. Parents taking their kids to a preserved Pine Barrens trail or walking into a plaza that has anchored their neighborhood for decades are moving through spaces Breslin helped create or protect.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; daughter Karen Cooper and son-in-law Steven Hess; son Kenneth Breslin and daughter-in-law Joy Breslin; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.