Search called off for N.Y. developer, wife after plane crash near Jamaica
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Version 0 of 1. A developer presumed to have died with his wife in a private-plane crash off Jamaica had an “uncanny instinct” for revitalizing properties and an “incalculable” impact on his western New York home town’s resurgence from crumbling industrial center to trendy destination for young professionals, friends and colleagues said. Laurence Glazer bought up dozens of properties in Rochester, on the shores of Lake Ontario, including landmark buildings belonging to the manufacturing giants Xerox and Bausch & Lomb. He converted abandoned factories into loft apartments and turned a shuttered hospital into offices. Officials said Glazer and his wife, Jane, the founder of household-products catalogue company QCI Direct, were on a single-engine turboprop Socata TBM700 that flew on its own for 1,700 miles before running out of fuel and crashing into the sea off Jamaica’s northeast coast Friday. They apparently were incapacitated. The Coast Guard said Sunday morning that it had ended its search, which it said covered about 3,750 square miles. On Sunday afternoon, the Jamaica Defense Force said its decision was made based on a reassessment of the situation, noting a highly reduced probability of finding any survivors or floating debris. Thunderstorms were churning up waves, and a military spokesman said early Sunday morning that searchers were losing hope of having any success. The next steps, if any, for locating the couple’s bodies or plane debris are not immediately clear. The Glazers were both experienced pilots. They were flying to Naples, Fla., near where Glazer’s development firm, Buckingham Properties, also has interests. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy and Sen. Charles E. Schumer were among the officials who expressed sorrow for the couple’s loss. |