Ratner Family Lore

Bruce Ratner’s buddy Norman Oder tells a story about (apparently) Charles Ratner telling a story about Al Ratner telling a story about himself (they are all in the family real estate business):

So Albert tells this story. In 1950s, he was in the office, putting his coat on, he was going out of the building. His father, Uncle Leonard, said, “Al, where are you going?”

“I’m going to meet the Ohio Department of Transportation.”

“How come?”

“Dad, you know the land we have on Mayfield Road. They’re going to take that and put a highway right through that land.”

And Uncle Leonard looked at Albert and said, “That’s going to be terrific for our land. How much do we have to pay them for that?”

Albert said, “No, Dad, you have it mixed up. We don’t pay them, they pay us.”

At this point, Uncle Leonard said, “What a country.”

Having a highway put through your living room, on the other hand, is a little different.

-Matthew Schuerman