Furst was born on July 15, 1856, in
Brooklyn, New York, the son of Solomon Furst and Bertha Jaffe. His parents were German Jews who immigrated to America in 1851 from
Rawicz,
Prussia. His father was a merchant tailor on
Atlantic Avenue, a veteran of the
New York State Militia who helped quell the 1863
New York City draft riots, and president of
Congregation Baith Israel. Furst attended P.S. No. 6 and the
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. After graduating from there, he went to
Yale College, making him the first Brooklyn Jew to attend college. The only Jew in his class, he spoke at the graduation exercise on "The Modern Jew." He also read law in the office of
Philip S. Crooke and N. H. Clement. He was admitted to the bar in 1878, after which he began practicing law in Brooklyn. He was at one point examining counsel of the Lawyers' Title Insurance Company, as which he certified tracts and farms in old
New Utrecht. He also helped develop the
Van Pelt Manor suburb. He was reappointed to that position by Corporation Counsel Joseph A. Burr in 1896. He served in that position until the
consolidation of New York City in 1898. Furst was considered an authority on real estate matters, especially appraisals. In February 1910, Mayor
William Jay Gaynor appointed him Aqueduct Commissioner, an old commission of nominal importance Gaynor sought to eliminate. The commission ended its own existence in June 1910, transferring its powers to the New York City Department of Water Supply. He was a commissioner in the condemnation proceedings to widen Livingston Street, serving on the commission with
J. Edward Swanstrom and Luke D. Stapleton. The commission saved the city two million dollars. During World War I, he was chairman of the Local Board No. 49. Furst was involved with a number of civic reforms under Mayor Gaynor, a close friend of his. He served on a commission that drafted an ordinance to regulate motion picture theaters. He was also involved in taxicab rate regulations, pushcart peddler rules, theater ticket speculation, and licenses for all-night hotels and restaurants. He was a member of the Tricentenary Commission and chairman of a commission to codify laws governing the Municipal Court. The latter commission prepared a code that went into effect in 1915. He was also an executive committee member of the Brooklyn committee on city plans, an Advisory Commission member on city planning in New York City, and a member of the Board of Child Welfare. Mayor
John Purroy Mitchell appointed him to the latter board. Furst died at home from pneumonia on June 27, 1934. He never married. His funeral at
Union Temple was conducted by the temple's rabbi Sidney Tedesche and rabbi emeritus Simon R. Cohen. His funeral was attended by distinguished legal figures and other notable Brooklynites. He was buried in
Union Field Cemetery. == References ==