Steiner grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He worked at one point as a gardener during his college years.[1] Initially he wanted to be a novelist but while studying creative writing at Stanford, where he was editor of Stanford's humor magazine, he found writing to be "torture."[4] After graduation, he lived for six months in Paris, supported by his father David S. Steiner, but returned thereafter to work at his father's real estate development firm.[1]
Real estate
At his father's firm, Steiner worked to develop numerous properties, such as office expansions and condominiums. He describes himself as a control freak; for example, he insists that office temperatures be kept at 63 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year.[4] In recent years, his firm is constructing an L-shaped 56-story condominium tower called The Hub, at 333 Schermerhorn Street, which has been predicted to be the tallest building in Brooklyn after completion.[5][6]
Steiner Studios
Exterior of Steiner Studios in 2007.Aerial view of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1965, with the aircraft carrier USSIntrepid. The Navy abandoned the site in 1966.
The father-son team created a film and TV production company called Steiner Studios. In 1999, they won the right to develop the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a film and TV production complex, which opened in 2004.[4] The Yard had been a massive military complex, which closed in 1966, and later became a manufacturing center.[7] Developing the complex had been projected to cost around $400 million and would require twelve years to finish. Plans called for an underwater stage as well as restoration of the Naval hospital, originally built in 1838 using marble.[4] The transformation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard had been forecast to be completed by 2018.[7]
Numerous films and TV shows have been made at the production facility, including the 2006 movie Fur starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr.,[8] the 2005 film The Producers starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane and Uma Thurman,[8] as well as Spider-Man,Sex and the City, and Boardwalk Empire.[1] The Steiner Studios site is 15 acres, according to several reports.[8][9] The site has been expanded numerous times to include a parking lot with 1000 spots and five massive interconnected state-of-the-art soundstages.[3] Development was beset by obstacles such as the September 11 attacks[3] in 2001 as well as cutbacks in a tax-credit program by New York State in 2009.[10] He helped bring in Wegmans supermarkets to the Brooklyn Navy Yard project.[11] In addition, he led efforts to bring academic programs focused on media to the city; for example, he worked with Carnegie Mellon to offer an "integrated media program" consisting of an academic program focused on the arts and technology, in conjunction with Steiner Studios;[12] and he has worked with the City University of New York to have its Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema located at Steiner Studios.[13]
The company benefits from New York's movie production incentive program. Steiner donated $40,000 to incumbent New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2022 campaign. The company spends $10,000 a month on lobbyists.[14]
Personal life
Steiner has three grown children.[1] He collects art by Gary Panter, Suzan Pitt and Jane Dickson, and said he prefers "weird, disturbing or strange art."[1]
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