J. W. Mays can get you space in Brooklyn, as long as you're interested in offices and not bridges. The company owns and leases about 10 properties in and around New York City -- mostly former MAYS department stores -- and a warehouse in central Ohio. It leases its properties to retail, restaurant, commercial, and other tenants. The MAYS department store chain, founded in 1924 by Russian immigrant Joe Weinstein, closed in 1989 when management realized the New York real estate it occupied was worth more than the struggling discount retail business. Weinstein's descendants, including CEO Lloyd Shulman, control more than half of the company, although relations among the heirs have not always been harmonious.