LI Business News articles from December 2008

LI Business News archives from December 2008

2008 was a good year to start a bank on Long Island.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Douglas Manditch, a veteran banker, knew he had a good idea when he decided to start Empire National Bank. Apparently, others agreed. He raised $37 million from August to October of 2007, bringing in more than $10...

Forecast: Recession won't stop LI banks.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser The doom and gloom that crushed the banking industry in 2008 won't likely ease up in 2009, local bankers say, but they're not exactly complaining. With turmoil on Wall Street and at the nation's largest banks,...

Bank fees separate big banks from the local guys.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that large banks are raising fees in an attempt to generate revenue amid the economic crisis. For instance, Citibank recently began charging customers a $10...

Suozzi commission pitches final report on capping New York property taxes.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Gov. David Paterson on Monday renewed his call to cap New York's property taxes, which are the highest in the country at 79 percent above the national average. The governor accepted the final report of the...

Commentary: Now is the time for good managers.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Stuart Levine The last few weeks have brought even more uncertainty to a shaky world economy. The U.S. government agreed to rescue Citigroup, while the chief executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler sought $25 billion in...

Winter Bros. CEO joins Bank of Smithtown board.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser The former chief executive of Winters Brothers Waste Management in West Babylon was elected to the boards of Hauppauge-based Bank of Smithtown and its parent company, Smithtown Bancorp. Joseph Winters sold his...

Garden City-based Esquire Bank opens Manhattan office.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Garden City-based Esquire Bank is opening its third location in Manhattan on Dec. 10. The branch is strictly a service office for working with clients and won't take or distribute any cash. Earlier this year,...

Commentary: Media needs help, but not this.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato We American taxpayers now own a very big insurance company. And a bunch of banks. Along with a whole lot of toxic mortgages and maybe most of Detroit by the time the end of the year rolls around. And...

Being a juror in New York ain't so bad.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Few things in public service have a reputation as unpleasant as jury duty. Jurors have become used to waiting for as long as two weeks without serving, sitting on benches in unpleasant rooms. Thousands who have...

Forecast: Rosy outlook for L.I. legal specialties.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The economy and the new presidential administration will have the biggest effects on Long Island's law practices in 2009. Lawyers throughout the Island say that for the next year and for many to come, they...

Nassau eyes a business boom.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Taking a page from The Great Depression's playbook, Nassau County on Tuesday unveiled its "New Deal for Nassau," a program designed to boost government efficiency by cutting down on delays caused by bureaucracy...

Commentary: A brighter economic future ahead.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Martin Cantor It's frustrating during these waning days of the Bush administration as we all stand on the sidelines unable to do anything as the financial system drifts, waiting for the next economic shock wave to hit. With...

Two minutes with Doug Manditch, founder of Islandia-based Empire National Bank.(Interview)
December 2, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale About one year after Doug Manditch launched Empire National Bank, the economy is in near ruins and some of the biggest banks in the United States are begging the federal government for money. Not Manditch, who...

Survey: LI business owners' confidence plummets.
December 2, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Long Island business owners have very little faith in their local economy, according to a recent survey. The region scored a confidence rating of 4.9 out of a possible 10, the lowest rating in the history of the...

L.I. developers make density plea.
December 3, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Mocking local governments' propensity to deny, the Long Island Real Estate Organization and the Hofstra University Institute of Real Estate held a conference Wednesday to press for increased density in residential...

Debt collectors are calling, but borrowers aren't picking up.
December 3, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Last year the credit crisis seemed like a debt collector's dream. Desperate banks flooded collection firms with business as more and more borrowers fell behind on loan payments. Collectors padded their pockets...

Lending tightens, but most Rochester projects are OK.
December 3, 2008... Byline: Colleen M. Farrell With nearly $800 million in development planned for downtown Rochester alone, some are cautious about how much will be built -- and when. Some developers have told the Rochester Downtown Development Corp. that...

Commentary: The economy's failure must be an option.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Raymond Keating Failure is not an option. Actor Ed Harris spoke that line while portraying NASA flight director Gene Kranz in the movie Apollo 13. Of course, when it came to rescuing three astronauts during the 1970 aborted...

Recession sparks interest in Long Island biz schools.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Alexa D'Onofrio, 17, has always been certain of one thing she wanted to do in college. The Patchogue-Medford High School student with a wicked heater wants to play college softball. But she's changed her mind...

Commentary: Out East: December 4, 2008.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller This is not Motel 6. So said the attorney representing Shizen Hotel Wellness Center and Spa recently, in what might be the understatement of the year. Quite the contrary, Shizen is more than 100,000 square feet...

Commentary: After a long, great run, a GOP lion is silent.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer Long Island is famous for a lot of things. Mention the Island, and people will volunteer such things as the Montauk Lighthouse, Jones Beach, the birthplace of President Teddy Roosevelt and being home to Robert Moses....

Dix Hills rink plan frozen as labor group fights builder.
December 4, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Plainview-based L.D. Wenger is ready to begin building a $14 million skating rink in Dix Hills, but a dispute with a local union over other projects has put its construction on ice. The Town of Huntington hired...

Long Island debt collectors are calling, but borrowers aren't picking up.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Last year the credit crisis seemed like a debt collector's dream. Desperate banks flooded collection firms with business as more and more borrowers fell behind on loan payments. Collectors padded their pockets...

Erasing a hard drive, or recycling one, is not as easy as you think.
December 4, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik The Environmental Protection Agency regulates the disposal of e-waste, banning the deposit in landfills of cathode ray tube or CRT monitors used with computers In an era when computers go out of style faster than the...

Commentary: The folks in the bread line appear very well-heeled.
December 5, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki Now that this bail-out business has become a free-for-all, it's only fair that everyone gets a chance to wet their beaks. It's the socialist way! Sure we've blown through a quick $8 trillion, but when it comes...

Commentary: Citi rewarded for failure.
December 5, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff A big bank and an insurer agree to an illegal merger and then point their collective guns at Capitol Hill and say change the law. We dare you not to. Reps and senators blink, the president signs on, and everyone...

In Nassau County, volunteer lawyers work to ease foreclosure pain.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The second floor of the Nassau County District Courthouse in Hempstead is ground zero for the mortgage and foreclosure crisis on Long Island. That's where Judge Scott Fargrieve presides over landlord/tenant...

United Way of Long Island CEO Christopher Hahn to leave.
December 5, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale United Way of Long Island President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Hahn has agreed to join Mineola-based law firm Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, where he will head the practice's government group....

New York-based Newsday to fire 5 percent of its staff.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II New ownership hasn't stopped the bloodletting at Newsday. The daily newspaper on Friday announced plans to lay off 5 percent of its staff, or 100 workers, which includes a handful of workers in its...

Tim Mazzei to run for Brookhaven supervisor.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Tim Mazzei, head of the Republican Party in the Town of Brookhaven, said he plans on running for the town's top post after Supervisor Brian Foley leaves for Albany in January. Mazzei, 54, has served on the...

Nassau Health Care Corp. plans $1B expansion.
December 5, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg The Nassau Health Care Corp. is planning a $1 billion expansion of its facilities, a dramatic indication of Long Island's increasing demand for medical services. The NHCC, which operates the Nassau County...

Long Islanders On the Move: December 5, 2008.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Aerospace CPI Aerostructures Inc. in Edgewood announced the promotion of Douglas McCrosson to the position of senior vice president of operations. McCrosson, who joined CPI in 2003, was most recently vice...

Maria Kalamidas joins State Bank of Long Island as Jericho branch manager.
December 5, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Maria Kalamidas recently joined State Bank of Long Island as the Jericho branch manager. In her new role, Kalamidas will focus on building business by expanding the largely commercial branch's current market in...

How to choose a public relations firm.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee A public relations firm can help you put your best face forward and effectively communicate the message that you want to get across about your company. But to get the most out of your public relations efforts,...

On Long Island, there's a little hiring going on.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Although the economy is officially in recession, some industries seem to be hiring despite financial troubles making headlines. Long Island's health care, hospitality, accounting and a handful of other industries...

Commentary: New York Metro Transportation Authority proposals viable, but not new.
December 9, 2008... Byline: John Kiernan There is a saying that "everything old is new again." There is also a saying that "history repeats itself." It is true in fashion and in politics. It also is true when it comes to proposals on how to fund the...

Amityville-based High Tech Pharmacal swings to profit.(Financial report)
December 9, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Amityville-based High Tech Pharmacal said Tuesday it turned a profit in its fiscal second quarter on a more than 50 percent increase in sales. For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the pharmaceutical company posted...

Gov. Paterson reminds LI of coming cuts.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday said the drastic cuts in the state budget are the only way the state can rein in its combined $15 billion deficit for this year and next. The governor, speaking to the Long...

Stony Brook University Center for Wine, Food, and Culture offers seminar.
December 9, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy On a single day in January you can learn all things vinous, take an exam and be accredited by an international organization as an expert. Jan. 24, The Stony Brook University Center for Wine, Food, and Culture is...

Former Empire State Development Corp. head Patrick Foye joins Rivkin Radler.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Patrick Foye, the former chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., is joining the law firm of Rivkin Radler as partner. Foye, 51, who left his ESDC post shortly after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned,...

Commentary: It's not a fun time to be the governor.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer Being governor of a populous state is a tough job. A budget deficit of $15 billion could turn any mortal into a basket case. Add the unwanted task of finding a new U.S. senator and how to stop the Senate Democrats from...

Index puts Long Island's problems on a map.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II For years, the Long Island Index has been telling the public about the region's troubling trends. Now they've got a visual aid. The Index on Wednesday launched an interactive map that gives users an...

Supima Association turns to Applied DNA Sciences of Stony Brook to find counterfeit cloth.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik The Supima Association had a problem with its cotton. The Phoenix-based trade group suspected certain scofflaws of mixing in inferior threads with the premium Supima cotton, which, when pure, is 50 percent stronger...

Garden City-based Treiber Insurance Group acquired by international brokerage.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Garden City-based Treiber Insurance Group said it's been sold to international insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher for an undisclosed amount. Treiber's wholesale division, the Treiber Agency Group, was also...

Commentary: Homeowners still battling the banks.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Sal Pane Jr. For all the talk in Washington, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair needs more support in pushing for the mandated loan modifications necessary to halt the self-perpetuating spiral of foreclosures and house price declines here...

As revenue falls in this recessionary environment, companies rein in benefits costs.
December 10, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee As revenue falls in this recessionary environment, companies are looking to cut costs. The area of employee benefits is receiving attention as a potential place to scale back. However, with the desire to retain...

Illness doesn't stop debut of Long Island music studio.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy The moment of truth in launching a business comes when dreams are shattered by the cruel reality of problems you never saw coming. But for one couple, the challenges of nurturing a fledgling enterprise had...

Commentary: Big government strangles businesses.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Raymond Keating The current economic mess presents big challenges. Families are tightening budgets. Businesses are reining in costs. But what about government? At the federal level, after years of rapid spending increases,...

Q&A with Steve Eisman, partner at Lake Success firm Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman.
December 11, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale Steve Eisman asks, When the repo man comes to take the BMW from the driveway, does he take the marriage with him? On Long Island, at least, the answer is increasingly, yes. LIBN talked to Eisman, a partner at...

Big banks go shopping with bailout money.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser The bailout money keeping many big banks afloat is also spurring another round of takeovers. Capital One, which scored $3.6 billion in taxpayer money, has purchased Maryland's Chevy Chase Bank for $520 million....

A Hampton Bay mothers' group searches for work.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller If you've ever run a business on the East End, you know finding employees can be as frustrating as a zen koan. There aren't enough workers living here, so you have to import them. But if you pay them starting salaries,...

Suffolk County nabs mortgage scammers.
December 11, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser It seems mortgage fraud was pretty rampant on Long Island during the housing boom, at least in Suffolk County. Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota said he's arrested 27 people on mortgage fraud charges,...

Commentary: With the holidays, never far from the madding crowd.
December 12, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki Holiday retailers everywhere are gnashing their teeth and selling their children into indenture. Some are even doing it the other way around. Except Wal-Mart. Target, Macy's and Kohl's may be in the toilet,...

Commentary: In Suozzi NY trusts.
December 12, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff For Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, handing over the final report on his state Commission on Property Tax Relief had to be bittersweet. He deserves a world of credit for following through on an assignment handed...

Long Island Legal Briefs: December 12, 2008.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Hofstra prof huge in Japan Hofstra Law Professor of Legal Writing Barbara S. Barron is appearing on Japanese television for a second time this month. She is the subject of a one-hour documentary on NHK,...

Commentary: Meet the Cinema Arts Centre.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Kenneth Cerini How do you take on the tremendous challenge of educating, raising awareness, breaking down barriers and inspiring change, all for the admission price of $9? The Cinema Arts Centre does it through a relentless pursuit...

Benefiting from the bailout.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik When Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for troubled banks, many people wondered when their own personal bailout might come. Your bailout - or part of it - might already be here. After the initial bank bailout...

Valentina Janek joins Affiliated Financial Services in Syosset.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Valentina Janek has joined Affiliated Financial Services as chief marketing officer. In her new role, Janek will be responsible for business development, strategic alliances and public relations. Most...

Long Islanders on the Move: December 12, 2008.
December 12, 2008... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Accounting Howard Fine, a partner in the Woodbury office of Gettry Marcus Stern & Lehrer, has earned the Certified in Financial Forensics designation from the American Institute of Certified Public...

Commentary: Land cuts could doom future economic recovery for Long Island.
December 15, 2008... Byline: Richard Amper The natural disposition of politicians to respond to an economic crisis with across-the-board cuts poses grave and permanent environmental and economic problems for Long Island. Such is the case with the proposed New...

Embassy Suites to be built in Port Washington.
December 15, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Long Island's first Embassy Suites hotel is coming to the site of a former racquetball club in a Port Washington business park. RVC Partners purchased the 3-acre property and 77,000-square-foot building for...

November foreclosures fall on Long Island.
December 15, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Foreclosures on Long Island fell 37 percent in November over the previous month, though they remained elevated from a year ago. There were 196 new foreclosures on the Island last month, down from 311 in October,...

NIMBYs take back seat to recession in Long Island.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Lawrence Feldman, a real estate attorney and partner at Uniondale law firm Farrell Fritz, isn't afraid of a fight. With Long Island's history of not-in-my-backyard reactions to many proposals, he expects community...

Long Island developers redefining suburbia.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik For thousands of Long Islanders, home ownership signified the achievement of the American dream. Levittown earned the title of the nation's first suburb, with its cookie-cutter, single-family homes built on small...

Long Island builders see the light in green buildings.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Even as energy costs decline, commercial real estate companies are investing in advanced technologies to cut energy usage throughout their portfolios. While saving money is the primary goal, real estate companies...

Commentary: Already pumping clean energy.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Richard Kessel It was extremely encouraging to see that the massive public works plan set out by President-elect Barack Obama earlier this month included a strong emphasis on energy efficiency and the development of clean new power...

NY Governor Paterson's budget throws out everything but the kitchen sink.
December 16, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Faced with the largest budget deficit in state history, Gov. David Paterson presented a budget proposal on Tuesday that included a $700 million reduction in school funding, tax increases on items such as non-diet...

Larocca leaves Long Island Power Authority, joins Public Service Commission.
December 16, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale The state Senate has confirmed former Long Island Power Authority Chairman James Larocca's appointment as a member of the New York State Public Service Commission. The confirmation comes one week after he quit...

Commentary: How you can stop government bailouts.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Raymond J. Keating Annoyed by politicians using your money to bail out big corporations? You're not alone. After all, spending or risking more than a trillion dollars to subsidize money-losing businesses might be expected to...

Nassau County focuses on being builder friendly.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels For years, Long Island's builders and contractors have complained about the blockade that is Nassau County government. In good times, builders took the problems, such as delays in issuing permits,...

Bleak outlook for Long Island's commercial real estate.
December 17, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Clinging to its reputation for being insulated from what's going on anywhere else, the deepening recession is beginning to affect Long Island's commercial real estate market. Tightened credit and weakened...

Commentary: Government still the problem.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Clifford Sondock What most troubles me is the public's misperception that free-market capitalism caused the recent housing bubble and financial crisis. Of course, the prevailing mischaracterization of free-market capitalism...

Long Island Power Authority appoints advisory council.
December 17, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The Long Island Power Authority has created a 19-member advisory panel to examine the power company's finances, legal structure and business model. The panel includes elected officials, energy experts and...

Despite downturn, Long Island pawnbrokers make even trade.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy There's a gold rush on Long Island. Nobody's mining the stuff, but people are rushing to sell it, said Jim Sarno of Patchogue's Budget Buy & Sell. With an economy in trouble, the holiday season slowly gathering...

Fearing regulation, Long Island banks avoid bailout money.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Though many national banks have lined up to take their portion of the $700 billion the government has set aside to keep the industry afloat, most Long Island banks are steering clear of the cash - for now. The...

Long Island officials, civics ready to spend Obama's cash.
December 18, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg When the faucet opens and the billions of economic stimulus dollars promised by President-elect Barack Obama begin to flow to state coffers, only approved infrastructure projects will get to tap the funds. That...

Commentary: The Hamptons need American wheels.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller Everybody knows where U.S. automaking has ended up, but do you know where the troubles began? Buzz Chew has an interesting take on that. The owner of Buzz Chew Chevrolet-Cadillac in Southampton says it all started...

Long Island loses more jobs in November.
December 18, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Long Island continued to lose jobs in November as the recession fueled more layoffs at area businesses. The local job market shrunk by 0.7 percent in the 12 months ended in November, the second consecutive month...

Commentary: Holiday spirit dead at Newsday?(Obituary)
December 18, 2008... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II It seems like Newsday is celebrating the holidays with a good old fashioned family feud. And, like in an all such fights, it's the kids that end up being hurt the most. LIBN has acquired a memo sent by Zack...

The Influentials: 10 leaders who changed Long Island in 2008.
December 19, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff 1. Stuart Rabinowitz, President, Hofstra University Stuart Rabinowitz took 90 minutes of prime time and made it last a year. In scoring the third presidential debate between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain,...

Commentary: We should have saved Hudson, Peerless and Nash.
December 19, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki There is one legitimate reason for bailing out the automakers: Saving Detroit will preserve the legacy of all the tinkerers and draftsmen and dreamers, their names forgotten or soon to be, whose firms were knocked...

Commentary: Big help from DC.
December 19, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff In the coming months, Long Island's layers of government are going to have to get out of one another's way. Otherwise we're going to pay for it for the rest of our lives. President-elect Barack Obama's ambitious plan...

Schumer knows what makes Long Island's economy tick.
December 19, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale Charles Schumer was elected to the senate in 1998 when he upset Long Island's favorite Republican, Al D'Amato. Now in his second term, Schumer's making the case that the region's economy can't survive unless small...

Long Island Nonprofit Spotlight: Hope for Youth, Inc.
December 19, 2008... Byline: Kenneth Cerini After watching numerous children and adolescents be removed from the community and placed into institutional facilities, Nassau County Family Court Judge Elizabeth Bass Golding decided to offer an alternative to...