Bruce Hendler

Bruce Stuart Hendler was born in Baltimore, MD on October 25th, 1945 to Albert Hendler and Winifred Siff Hendler. He took immense pride in his family’s legacy, particularly the story of his grandfather, L. Manuel Hendler, founder of Hendler’s Ice Cream. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BS in Landscape Architecture and later earned a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University. During his time at Cornell, he authored Caring for the Land , which earned him the American Society of Landscape Architecture Merit Award in 1979.

Bruce worked for some of the top architectural firms in the United States and taught landscape architecture at prestigious institutions such as Harvard and Columbia. His career culminated in his role as Chief Landscape Architect for the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC). At DDC, he was instrumental in organizing the DDC Talks, where he brought in cutting edge professionals to educate the staff and wrote numerous publications on behalf of the department.

Beyond his professional achievements, he had a passion for cars and an avid interest in collecting license plates. He was one of the first members of the American License Plate Collector Association, amassing an extensive collection spanning across every US state and several foreign counties. To him, these plates were not just something to put on your car, but a geography and history lesson.

Bruce was a multi-talented individual. He enjoyed completing the New York Times crossword puzzle every day, often in record time. In this same publication, he had a story featured about Coney Island included in the Metropolitan Diary. A talented artist, Bruce excelled in drawing and illustrated several books related to landscape architecture and urban design. He was a lifelong learner who never ceased his pursuit for knowledge and learning new languages. One of the qualities he was most notorious for was his sense of humor and his love for low-brow jokes which never failed to make him laugh.

Bruce was a completely unique person with a great sense of humor, extraordinary wit, and intelligence. Anyone that knew him understood how truly extraordinary he was. His presence is irreplaceable and will be profoundly missed by his family and friends. Bruce is survived by his wife of 40 years, Lisa; his sons, Jonathan and Elliot; and his daughters, Clara and Willa; and his grandchildren, Sophia, Carl, Jackson, Nora, and Penelope, who carry forward his legacy.

Services for Bruce Will Be Held Prvately