LI Business News articles from April 2009

LI Business News archives from April 2009

Commentary: Powerful planning.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Ernie Fazio John Donne wrote No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main and then in the same piece never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Long Island...

Banks grow a new breed of deposit account.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Health savings accounts, all of five years old, represent a very small but growing area for banks and credit unions. According to a 2009 report by Celent, a Boston-based financial research firm, HSA balances...

Banks face a bigger risk than robbery in high-tech heists.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Bank customers know that if their ATM card is stolen, thieves could sneak money out of their accounts. But millions of dollars? In at least one case, bank robbers committed a massive global bank robbery with...

Commentary: Border security must be a top priority.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato Right now, this country is losing a war at our borders. Violence along the U.S.-Mexican border, spurred by drug cartels, has reached an alarming level and is spiraling out of control. Attorney General Eric Holder...

Rechler Equity Partners halves Calverton bid.
April 1, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg After winning a three-way bidding war for 300 industrial acres in Calverton, Rechler Equity Partners is now offering about half of its original $35 million price. Rechler Equity now wants to pay $18 million for...

Ones to watch in Long Island's banking industry.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik James J. Carpenter Senior Executive Vice President New York Community Bancorp Carpenter has been senior executive vice president at Westbury-based New York Community since 2006. He previously served the company...

New York state politicians talking sports.
April 1, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Members of the state's assembly committees on tourism, arts, sports, racing and wagering will hold a roundtable discussion Saturday on the Lighthouse project, and other potential proposals--like bringing slots to...

For the Long Island GOP, another election, another loss.
April 1, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale No matter how bad it is for Republicans in once conservative Long Island, and no matter how irrelevant the party is in towns like Babylon, the GOP always thought it could fall back on Brookhaven. Well, after...

Another Long Islander accused of Ponzi scheme.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser 2009 is quickly becoming the year of the Ponzi scheme, especially for Long Island. Another local investment adviser has been accused of running one of these scams, this time through a firm in Roslyn. Edward...

Commentary: A by-the-numbers look at the budget and the economy.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Raymond Keating I'm a numbers guy. After all, I'm an economist who has written three books with by the numbers in each title. Those books served up statistics, trends, tables, charts and graphs offering information about taxes,...

New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli: Budget not a long-term solution.
April 1, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli today said the budget agreed to by Albany lawmakers last weekend doesn't do enough to "respond to today's economic realities." Here is the note, straight from DiNapoli: The...

As opening day approaches, Long Island's Boston fans come clean.
April 2, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale At least Cassandra Camp has an excuse. Kevin Law, on the other hand, not so much. They are the few, the proud, the outed... they are Long Island's Boston Red Sox fans. I'm relatively new to the area,...

Kathy Ahearn brings Albany expertise to Long Island law firm.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Kathy Ahearn is leaving the State Department of Education after 20 years, 16 of which she spent as counsel to the Board of Regents and Education Department. She could've gone anywhere, but she chose Farmingdale's...

Commentary: Ways to reach the zone of hope - and stay there.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Stuart Levine During the last several weeks there hasn't been much good economic news. But the time has come for us to move forward and be hopeful that things will improve, and they will. I start every day on a positive note. I...

Pharmacy push part of the new look at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik The Island's biggest nonprofit is going into the retail business. In an attempt to increase revenue and offer new services, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System plans to open pharmacies, sell products...

Commentary: Delivered.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Ken Hale In January, Postmaster General John Potter appeared before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management to present the state of the business at the U.S. Postal Service. Since the Postal Service serves every...

Bethpage-based Cablevision's Optimum Wi-Fi hits the 1 million mark.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser Cablevision's Wi-Fi service, less than one year old, has been used more than 1 million times to access the Internet by customers on Long Island and in metro New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, the company said...

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi keeps beating the reform drum.
April 2, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale A new day, a new op-ed from Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who penned an opinion piece for today's New York Post about, what else, tax reform. Suozzi wrote that property tax relief, as well as education...

Commentary: We don't want your stinkin' investment.
April 2, 2009... Byline: George Marlin The long-running attempt by Taubman Malls to invest hundreds of millions in a luxury mall in the Town of Oyster Bay has hit another roadblock and the courts have now told Taubman to go back to square one. Taubman,...

Where to go when banks say no.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser When Glen Norman needed a loan to start up his small business this year, he didn't even bother calling the bank. With the recession raging and banks keeping their purse strings tight, Norman knew it would be...

Commentary: Reading this column might give you a reaction.(Column)
April 3, 2009... Byline: John Kominicki One of the tyrannies of column writing is that once you start, readers actually expect you to keep it up. Neither sleet nor flu nor visit to the house in France to find out why the roof is sagging are allowed to keep...

Commentary: Small banks are the key.
April 3, 2009... Byline: LIBN Staff The long-raging battle between banks and credit unions heated up when Sen. Charles Schumer said he planned to introduce a bill that would erase a decade-long cap on business at credit unions. His reasoning: Credit...

Long Island loan broker accused of aiding Agape.
April 3, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Developers are accusing a Long Island loan broker with connections to Agape World of keeping tens of thousands of dollars in upfront fees on projects that were never funded. The wannabe borrowers from across...

Commentary: Bad times, but big opportunity for Long Island's leaders to lead.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Scott Rechler The Great Depression churned out an entire generation of great leaders. From Franklin Delano Roosevelt and members of his cabinet to New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, there is a broad range of New Yorkers who...

President of Assn for a Better Long Island calls for real estate industry to shut open space support.
April 3, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg The president of the Association for a Better Long Island has called on members of the real estate industry to stop sending contributions to groups that support buying private property with public money. ...

Theresa Regnante replaces Christopher Hahn at United Way of Long Island.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser Theresa Regnante, vice president of the Education and Assistance Corp., has been appointed as the new chief executive of the United Way of Long Island. Regnante replaces Christopher Hahn as CEO, who left the...

Assn. for a Better Long Island-Commercial Industrial Brokers Society honors three.
April 3, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Nearly 400 members of the Association for a Better Long Island and the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society honored three of their own at a gala dinner last week. The ubiquitous Ed Blumenfeld of Blumenfeld...

New York-based Signature Bank, 4 others pay back bailout.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser Signature Bank is one of the first five institutions to pay back bailout money to the U.S. government. Signature, which is based in Manhattan but has six branches on Long Island, received $120 million in December...

Commentary: The GOP needs a huge overhaul.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Jerry Kremer During the past six months the media has been fixated on the issue of which American dynasty should be flushed down the drain. Do we get rid of General Motors, Chrysler, Ford or AIG? Is everything in America too big to...

Long Islanders on the Move: April 3, 2009.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Accounting Gettry Marcus Stern & Lehrer in Woodbury announced that Steven Oppenheim and Paul Bella have been named partners. Oppenheim and Bella were most recently senior managers. ERE Accountants &...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: April 3, 2009.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Long Island's famous flyers The Long Island Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City has created the Long Island Air & Space Hall of Fame, in commemoration of the centennial of flight on Long Island. In...

Westbury-based Nathan's Famous signs 10-year deal with Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Both the Yankees and the Mets have signed the same Long Island icon: Westbury-based Nathan's Famous. The hot dog retailer has closed two 10-year deals to be the house brand for franks at both new stadiums, Citi...

New York Governor Paterson: $154M to Long Island from stimulus.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Long Island will receive $154 million from the massive federal stimulus bill in order to fund a handful of shovel-ready infrastructure projects, Gov. David Paterson said on Monday. Speaking at the state's...

Time running out for New York Governor David Paterson.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale This time it's the Daily News reporting that Democratic leaders are running out of patience with Gov. David Paterson. The tabloid reports that operatives have told the governor he has until November to improve...

Citigroup chief Vikram Pandit to avoid Citi Field opener.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale So here is a short list of people who are probably not welcome on April 13, when the New York Mets play their first regular season home game at Citi Field: 1) John Rocker - He is the former Atlanta Braves...

Stony Brook Hospital on Long Island to recycle drugs.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Sure, the above headline could mean something completely horrid, but, trust us, this is a good thing. Stony Brook University and Stony Brook University Medical Center will hold a pharmaceutical recycling...

New York Senator Charles Schumer sticks behind credit unions.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Sen. Charles Schumer fired back at an LIBN editorial that sided against his pitch to allow credit unions to lend more to small businesses because the senator's bill didn't adequately lift up community banks. ...

Saint James-based real estate investment trust Gyrodyne Co. of America buys Virginia medical center.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Saint James-based real estate investment trust Gyrodyne Co. of America said Tuesday it has purchased the the Fairfax Medical Center in Fairfax, Va. for $12.9 million. That amounts to $222 per square foot....

Former President Bill Clinton packs fundraiser given by Nassau Democrats.
April 7, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Former President Bill Clinton can still pack rooms - and raise money. With Clinton headlining, Nassau Democrats were able to bring in about $1 million at a huge political dinner at Crest Hollow Country Club...

Is $150 million enough for Long Island?
April 7, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The federal government dished out $787 billion to stimulate the national economy through tax breaks and job-creating programs. Long Island got $150 million of it. Yesterday, Gov. David Paterson announced...

Smile, you just ran a red light: N.Y. Senate passes red light bill.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Sure, it's tempting. The delay from the time your light turns red to the time the intersecting light turns green can often be long enough to squeeze a few more cars through. But it's against the law, and way...

Commentary: A new "American Motors" isn't the answer.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Raymond Keating When I was a young kid, my family drove a white Rambler station wagon. Ramblers were made by the American Motors Corp.. Some might ask: Who? American Motors ceased to exist when it was absorbed by Chrysler in...

For solar power, tax breaks drive a surge in demand on Long Island.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Increased incentives from the Long Island Power Authority and the state and federal government are driving a surge in demand for solar power. And Marc Clejan, co-founder of Southampton-based GreenLogic Energy,...

Long Island's alternative energy supporters learn to think big.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik After years in which alternative energy grew one solar roof at a time and through small wind turbines set up in a few backyards, Long Island may be on the verge of building big renewable energy projects. The Long...

21st Annual Hauppauge Industrial Association Business Trade Show set for May.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Ed Camp On Thursday, May 21, 2009, the Hauppauge Industrial Association, a 30 year young business organization with a membership of over 1000 Long Island companies, in partnership with the Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT),...

Long Island companies join the war against global warming.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Nixon Peabody wants to leave a smaller mark on the world. More precisely, the law firm is trying to lessen its impact on the environment. The 1,600-employee firm has launched a program to reduce energy use,...

For businesses, recycling not so easy.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee In September, Adelphi University in Garden City officially launched a program to recycle paper and other items. The program was met with much enthusiasm. When we announced it to our incoming freshmen, they...

Westbury two-story sold for $1.4M.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg A two-story mixed-use building on Post Avenue in Westbury has been sold for $1.4 million. Mitchell Friedman, vice president of investment sales at Pliskin Realty & Development in Carle Place, brokered the sale...

Long Island housing rebounds in March.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg More sales at higher prices may be the beginning of a turnaround for the Long Island housing market. Closed sales of single-family homes in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens counties jumped 21 percent from February,...

New York Sen. Charles Schumer on the stimulus.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Sen. Charles Schumer was one of many elected officials on hand when Gov. David Paterson announced stimulus grants at a press conference at the Melville office of the Department of Transportation. Long Island...

YES again, again and again: Verizon FiOS subscribers get access to YES-On-Demand.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Did you miss C.C. Sabathia's implosion on opening day? What about Xavier Nady's baserunning blunder in the sixth inning of the Yankees 10-5 opening day loss to the mighty Orioles? Good news, Yankees fans,...

Rich tax to drill Long Island.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Albany's tax increase on wealthier New Yorkers will disproportionately hit residents in the city and Long Island, according to the city's independent budget office. The budget office said $2.7 billion of the $4...

Grass-roots housing advocates New York ACORN to protest Elmont eviction.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Grass-roots housing advocates New York ACORN HOme defenders will be at 147 Evans Ave. in Elmont to protest the pending eviction of Marie Elie. According to ACORN, her story is a classic one in this...

Suffolk Legislator Jon Cooper's marriage vow.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale In the same week Vermont became the fourth state in the United States to approve gay marriages, Suffolk Legis. Jon Cooper headed to another New England state to pick up his marriage license. The majority leader...

Commentary: GM demise good for the nation.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Jerry Kremer Back in 1953 Charles Wilson, President of General Motors told the U.S.Congress that as GM goes so goes the nation and vice versa. It's now 2009 and GM is definitely going to where it belongs and that's good for the...

School deal in Port Washington.
April 8, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Geoffrey Gordon, the superintendent of the Port Washington School District and candidate to replace Richard Mills as State Education Commissioner, has pulled off a deal that could lift his stature. Gordon, a...

Commentary: Albany needs to back local produce.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Joseph Gergela One of the greatest attributes of Long Island's agriculture industry and our farmers is resiliency. Through our history and its ups and downs, the industry is still alive and well. Considering the crisis in the...

Software marketed by Melville company lets wannabe rockers jam to their favorite tunes.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Start tuning your axes, aspiring guitar gods. You can now step out to the footlights, fronting the best musicians in the world, and blow the doors off the arena with searing solos. That's even possible for...

Commentary: Route 58 plans ignore the lessons of the past.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Jeff Miller When fluids flow into tight spaces, they speed up and their pressure drops. This is known as the Venturi effect, for Giovanni Venturi, who figured it out a couple hundred years ago. It's too bad old Giovanni isn't...

Commentary: Ramirez's rhetoric divides the community.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Steve Levy In the wake of the press conference by various activists after the brutal beating of an African American by four Hispanics in Nassau County, I was asked whether these activists provided a useful voice to our public...

Punishing economy grounds Long Island's aviation industry.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Takeoff was a little rough at Brookhaven airport but the first-timer at the controls was complimented by Vincent Ciulla, director of flight operations at Dowling College, sitting in the co-pilot's seat. Landing...

Michigan-based Taubman Centers weighing options on mall.
April 9, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Two days after an appeals court upheld a January ruling against it, Michigan-based Taubman Centers may be reconsidering its 15-year quest to build a shopping mall in Syosset. The appellate decision ruled that...

Commentary: Border security must be our country's top priority.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato Right now, this country is losing a war at our borders. It has been estimated that as many as 3 million immigrants enter our country illegally every year. While the nation faces an unprecedented meltdown of the...

Commentary: Albany disaster.
April 10, 2009... Byline: LIBN Staff It's hard to tell how Albany's leaders came up with this year's budget since all the open government pitched by Gov. David Paterson turned out to be nothing more than a sham. In a year of disasters that led our...

Commentary: Turns out this one idea wasn't a flash in the pan.
April 10, 2009... Byline: John Kominicki This week marked the seventh birthday of the Flash Report, the daily e-news bulletin that helped transform LIBN from a tiny, barely known business weekly into - we like to think, anyway - a player to be reckoned with...

Long Island startups ignore the odds, gamble in bad economy.
April 10, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Fortune favors the brave. That's what intrepid souls starting businesses during perilous times count on. History records many failures during the decade of 1929-1939, but also some victories. Iconic brands...

Brookhaven to seize land from builder.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg After developer Anthony Kaywood outbid the Town of Brookhaven for 39 acres of Manorville farmland in 2004, he planned to build 19 single-family homes on the site. But five years and a couple of court battles...

Long Island credit unions, banks get lift from mortgage business.
April 10, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser Historically low interest rates are fueling a refinancing boom, allowing homeowners to get out of risky high-interest mortgages and helping lenders make money in the midst of a credit drought. Local lenders say...

Q&A with Hamptons real estate broker Diane Saatchi.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg A 15-year real estate veteran, Diane Saatchi is one of the most prescient brokers on Long Island. Few know the Hamptons market better. After boosting Dayton-Halstead to $133 million in sales, Saatchi left the...

Shuttered New York-based Liberty Title sued for embezzling funds.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg One of Long Island's largest and most well-connected title companies has been sued by its insurers for allegedly embezzling money from escrow accounts. Liberty Title, which had $50 billion in closings and about...

Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg, labor push Lighthouse plan.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg, John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor and Jim Castellane, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties...

East End housing slumps.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg The housing market throughout five East End towns registered fewer sales for fewer dollars in the first three months of 2009. The 256 single family homes sold on the East End in the first quarter represents a...

Jim Morgo is head of Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko's transition team.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Jim Morgo, who quit as Steve Levy's chief deputy county executive at the beginning of this month has a new role, the head of Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko's transition team. In a press release, Lesko...

Commentary: Gov. Paterson is drowning.
April 10, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale A good day for Gov. Paterson? Being invisible. Today it's the Daily News's turn to trash the governor, calling his decision to close down beaches and pools on Long Island and New York further proof of the...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: April 10, 2009.
April 10, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Slant/Fin helps LRF find a new home The Lymphatic Research Foundation has moved its administrative offices from East Hills to an office suite in Glen Cove that was donated by Slant/Fin Corp. Slant/Fin...

Teresa Ward named 2009 New York State Small Business Person of the Year.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Teresa Ward, founder of Teresa's Family Cleaning Inc. in Rocky Point, has been named the 2009 New York State Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Ward was recognized...

New stadiums for Yankees and Mets raise stakes with restaurants.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Besides comfortable seats and better sightlines, the new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets are bringing a new brand of dining to the ballparks. For example, the Yankees opened a high-end steak house in their...

Commentary: Senate affects Stevens case.
April 13, 2009... Byline: John Kiernan After the scandal with the prosecution of the Duke lacrosse players, you might think nothing would surprise you in a high-profile case. So I was shocked when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder concluded prosecutors had...

Ones to watch in Long Island's green industry.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Steve Boston Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer CA Boston is responsible for Islandia-based CA's worldwide sustainability efforts, using information technology to manage energy and help solve...

Broadwater Energy's proposed liquid natural gas terminal in Long Island Sound rejected by Feds.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The U.S. Department of Commerce has rejected Broadwater Energy's proposed liquid natural gas terminal in the Long Island Sound. The decision backs Gov. David Paterson, who last year turned down the LNG, a...

Buy a condo, get a cool car: Miami Beach condo developer gives Lamborghini to buyers.
April 13, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Talk about a sales incentive. A Miami Beach condominium developer is giving a $260,000 Lamborghini to buyers of the last seven units available in the oceanfront building. Developer Michael Samuel will...

Now you can recycle that old Dell: Suffolk County signs contract with electronics recycler.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy tomorrow will sign a contract with an electronics recycler, a move that will give Suffolk residents options to unload unwanted gadgets in a more environmentally responsible...

Web sites make scouting colleges easier, cheaper.
April 14, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee First the price of gas spiked; then the recession deepened. While most businesses buckled under the strain of increased costs and shrinking sales, the double whammy grew the market for Web sites offering virtual...

Long Island nonprofit execs turn to training on how to get federal funds in hard times.
April 14, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik It wasn't your typical field trip to Washington, D.C., but then these aren't typical times. Bethpage Federal Credit Union and National Grid flew 20 nonprofit executives down to the nation's capital in October...