‘I was first and foremost Jewish,’ said Wesley LePatner, killed in NYC shooting
LePatner was an active member in New York’s Jewish community
Left to right: Brian Friedman of Jefferies Capital Partners, Wesley LePatner of Blackstone, Eric S. Goldstein of UJA-Federation of New York at a December 2023 gala event. Courtesy of Michael Priest Photography/UJA-NY
By Benyamin Cohen and Hannah FeuerJuly 29, 2025
Wesley LePatner, an executive at Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and a Jewish communal leader, was among the victims of a shooting in Midtown Manhattan on Monday.
Police say the suspect, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, opened fire at a Park Avenue office building that was home to Blackstone’s headquarters, killing four people and then himself. His motive is under investigation.
LePatner, 43, was part of the New York Jewish community as a synagogue member, parent and board member.
She was a member of the board of the UJA-Federation of New York, which awarded her the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award at their annual Wall Street Dinner in December 2023.
“She pays it forward from generation to generation,” said Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, in his introduction of her at the event. “People like Wesley, who succeed while not forgetting what really matters, including practicing the Jewish faith and a strong commitment to the Jewish community.”
“UJA has many superpowers,” LePatner said in her acceptance speech. “But it’s most important, in my view, is its power to create a sense of community and belonging. As one of the only female analysts in my investment banking group at Goldman Sachs and as a liberal arts major who studied the Ming and Qing dynasties of China in college and Pre-Raphaelite art in Great Britain, rather than complex accounting and excel models like the rest of my adult class, I felt different and alone in the early months of my career.”
“UJA stepped in early and fixed my feeling out of place by connecting me with senior Goldman Sachs women who were further along in their careers and personal lives, but equally committed to their Jewish community and identity.”
She added: “I was an American, but I was first and foremost Jewish.”
AUDIO: Listen to Wesley LePatner’s remarks I recorded at the UJA Federation of NY's Wall Street Dinner in 2023 after receiving the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership award. 🕯️ pic.twitter.com/h7zyg70jRQ
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) July 29, 2025
“We are devastated by the tragic loss,” UJA said in a statement. “In the wake of October 7, Wesley led a solidarity mission with UJA to Israel, demonstrating her enduring commitment in Israel’s moment of heartache. She lived with courage and conviction, instilling in her two children a deep love for Judaism and the Jewish people.”
LePatner, the daughter of two attorneys, grew up in New York City. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University, where she met her husband, Evan, on their first day of college in 1999. Rabbi Mychal Springer officiated their wedding in 2006, according to a wedding announcement published in The New York Times. The couple has two children, Emerson and Jonathan.
Her children attend the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, a pluralistic Jewish day school in New York City, where LePatner served as a board member.
“There are no right words for this unfathomable moment of pain and loss,” school representatives wrote in an email. “It was a rare z’chut, a rare privilege, to know Wesley and to learn from her. She was a uniquely brilliant and modest leader and parent, filled with wisdom, empathy, vision, and appreciation.”
“She was the most loving wife, mother, daughter, sister and relative, who enriched our lives in every way imaginable,” her family said in a statement. “To so many others, she was a beloved, fiercely loyal and caring friend, and a driven and extraordinarily talented professional and colleague. At this unbearably painful time, we are experiencing an enormous, gaping hole in our hearts that will never be filled, yet we will carry on the remarkable legacy Wesley created.”
Bruce Feiler, the bestselling author, served with LePatner on the board of the Yale University Library Council. “I howled when I heard the news and haven’t stopped shaking since,” he posted to Facebook.
After graduating from Yale with a degree in history, LePatner worked in banking at Goldman Sachs for a decade before joining Blackstone in 2014 to run the firm’s $53 billion real estate fund.
The Park East Synagogue in New York City awarded the LePatners the Youth Enrichment Center Award in 2019. Benny Rogosnitzky, cantor at Park East Synagogue, recalled in an interview that she was “a very active, very involved parent” when her children attended the school affiliated with his congregation. LePatner was also involved with the Altneu congregation on the Upper East Side.
Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, who with her husband leads Altneu, remembered LePatner as a “dear friend, mentor, community member and builder,” she posted to social media, adding that LePatner was “the kindest and sharpest human being.”
“Just a few weeks ago, we sat for lunch and spoke about the future, our children, women’s leadership, Torah, our love for Israel, and all of the uncertainty of this moment in time,” she wrote.
David Greenfield, CEO of the Met Council, a Jewish nonprofit that fights poverty, posted to X that LePatner was an “amazing person” and “tremendously talented leader” who volunteered with the nonprofit to feed those in need.
Jacob Kornbluh contributed reporting.
JTA contributed to this report.
