The Kagan Family: Left-Leaning and Outspoken

ON a crowded train somewhere in Pennsylvania in the aftermath of World War II, Robert Kagan gave up his seat to Gloria Gittelman, a fellow student from Pennsylvania State University, on a trip home during a school holiday. He was bound for Brooklyn, she for South Philadelphia.

That chance meeting led to a courtship and then marriage in 1950, after Mr. Kagan had begun studying at Yale Law School. The couple settled in Manhattan and had three children: Marc, Elena and Irving.

Elena grew up to become dean of Harvard Law School and President Obama’s solicitor general, and if the Senate confirms her after hearings that begin on June 28, she would be the 112th justice of the United States Supreme Court. But before all that, she was the middle child in a New York family whose intellectual dynamism and embrace of liberal causes provide a window onto the social milieu and culture that shaped her.

The three Kagans came of age during the social and political ferment of the 1970s, when community groups were absorbing the lessons of the civil rights and antiwar movements, and Bella Abzug won a seat representing the Upper West Side in Congress after she declared, “This woman’s place is in the House — the House of Representatives.”

Robert Kagan, their father, carved out a law practice representing tenants in the wave of co-op conversions that swept the city. He also volunteered his skills on a number of land-use issues roiling their Upper West Side neighborhood, once roping himself to a tree that was about to be cut down. Their mother, Gloria, taught for 20 years at Hunter College Elementary School, where she was legendary for challenging her students to challenge themselves, sometimes to the point of making them tremble.

Robert Kagan..also volunteered his skills on a number of land-use issues roiling their Upper West Side neighborhood, once roping himself to a tree that was about to be cut down. Their mother, Gloria, taught for 20 years at Hunter College Elementary School, where she was legendary for challenging her students to challenge themselves, sometimes to the point of making them tremble.

For many, it would turn out to be the investment of a lifetime: the Kagan children sold their family’s 1,700-square-foot apartment, 3B — a “classic 6,” with two bedrooms and a maid’s room — last year for $1.325 million.

But Mr. Kagan, now 53, had misgivings about the 2002 contract that he had helped negotiate, said Alan Saly, director of publications for the local, and he let some of his former co-workers know it. Among other issues, he objected to the fact that the contract relied on a bonus of $1,000 in the third year, rather than a raise, so it would not count toward workers’ pensions or future salary increases.

Such a lovely family. I can't imagine my father roping himself to a tree. The mother sounds...scary. Yikes.

The article describes New York liberals perfectly. So kind, compassionate and altruistic. For people so concerned about others, they sure know their way around money and finances. They think they're above wealth and capitalism, yet they know how to turn a handsome profit on real estate, and how to negotiate a contract. And how clever an attempt to equate the NYC Schools Chancellor's desire to end teacher seniority - to Goldman Sach's. Public sector jobs like teaching, are taxpayer-funded. Private sector jobs are not. Makes a big difference. Apple meet orange.

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