Inducted in 2025
Real Estate Executive
Attorney
Member, Prep Board of Trustees (2014-2017)
Chair, Prep Board of Trustees (2017-2020)
Father of a Prep Graduate

“You’re called to become your best self every day.”

These are the words that Paul Brusco continues to reflect on, live by and refine each day. They were never slogans or borrowed lines from a book. They are an iteration of the words from an immigrant father to his son — said straight, without polish, but with every ounce of love, pride, and hope he had.

Nicola Brusco’s great wisdom lay in the meaning behind those words. He was not telling his son to seek his father’s approval, or anyone else’s for that matter. Instead, he was reminding Paul that the only ones you ever have to prove yourself to are God and yourself. And that has been Paul’s roadmap through life. The road has been full of twists, turns, and the occasional speed bump, yet with each passing day, the destination becomes a little clearer.

Paul A. Brusco was born in New York City in 1964, the son of Nicola, a contractor, and Maria Bisceglia Brusco, a teacher and Hunter College alumna who was passionate about making sure her family received the best Catholic education available. Paul was raised in a working class family in Yonkers, New York, with his siblings Joseph, Nicholas, John, and Cristina. Paul attended Saint Denis and then Saint Bartholomew’s grammar schools before joining his older brother Nicholas, Prep Class of ’79, on the daily ride down to Rose Hill.

During his Shea Hall years, Paul excelled both in the classroom and out. An honors student, he earned commendations in Latin — thanks, in no small part, to his mother’s encouragement. He was also recognized as an outstanding student-athlete for his contributions on the gridiron and was a loyal member of the Prep’s Italian Club all four years.

Outside the classroom and off the playing field, Paul juggled two jobs plus the Prep’s academic expectations. Summers and weekends were spent either with his father at construction sites, learning the value of long days and hard work, or in Co-op City, performing auto repair work as a part-time mechanic’s assistant on Conner Street. And still, he made time to coach grammar school baseball, living the Prep’s call to service long before he ever knew it by name.

After the Prep, he continued his studies at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, earning a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics in 1986. Throughout college, he faced the program’s rigor head-on while remaining active in the family enterprise.

Not content to rest on his laurels, after graduation Paul worked during the day and attended law school at night, earning a degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1990 and graduating with honors. He was admitted to practice in New York State and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of the United States District Court. Following law school, he worked as an associate attorney at Windels, Marx, Davies & Ives, where he practiced in the firm’s real estate and litigation departments before returning to a business career.

Brusco’s career is a study in versatility and expertise. As vice president and principal of West Side Management and related entities, he has worked with his group on complex real estate operations for decades, participating in acquisitions, leasing, management, construction, and facilities projects with precision and integrity.

He has remained committed to lifelong learning, completing postgraduate courses at NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and earning a master’s degree in construction administration from Columbia University in 2018: the very sort of intellectual curiosity that drives Paul and defines the best of the Prep’s graduates.

Degrees on the wall, hard hat in hand, Paul Brusco has proven himself a loyal son and true of Fordham, generous with his time and talent, and driven by a passion to support his alma mater. A former trustee and chair, he has overseen campus facilities and capital improvements, ensuring the school maintains its historic buildings while providing a vibrant environment for generations of students. Paul has also served on the President’s Council at the University, shaping initiatives that benefit the broader Fordham community.

Last — and most important to Paul — is his role as husband and father. He considers family his greatest calling and the truest measure of his success. His gratitude to God shines through his love for Michelle Prevete Brusco, his partner in every sense, and their children, Sophia and Paul Jr., Fordham Prep Class of 2018.

His advice to his twins: “You’re called to become your best self every day.”

While Paul has never sought, needed, or expected recognition, we can proudly say that he has put forth his best self again and again—in his life, in his work, in his service to the Prep and beyond, and in his faith. And for this, the Fordham Prep Board of Trustees and the wider school community are proud to induct Paul A. Brusco into the Hall of Honor.