LI Business News articles from January 2009

LI Business News archives from January 2009

Two minutes with Justin Sullivan of Regent Jet.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Owning a private jet can be a pricey proposition, even when the economy's strong. So it's no surprise that in these turbulent times some people are investigating other ways of flying high while lowering costs:...

Long Island City-based American Security Systems creates virtual doorman.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy You're waiting for that special package to be delivered to your apartment house. You and your spouse work nine to five and both of you are fed up coming home only to see that you missed your package from UPS because...

Horror-scope: Hopes and fears for the new year.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy The local economy is a four-car pile-up at the side of the Expressway, with flashing lights and sirens closing from a distance. Everyone is slowing to a crawl to stare at the smoking, twisted-metal catastrophe. ...

Commentary: Get ready for another famous senator.
January 2, 2009... Byline: LIBN Staff Perhaps he will have a last-second change of heart. Or maybe Gov. David Paterson is offering up one of the great head fakes in recent New York politics. Either seem unlikely, which is why in the coming weeks, Caroline...

Commentary: The curious case of one animal disease center.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Jeff Miller Today's pop quiz: For East Enders, was the decision to close Plum Island (a) a Hobson's choice, (b) a Buridan's ass or (c) Morton's fork? Answer: Hmm. Hobson's choice. A stable owner in 16th century Cambridge,...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: January 2, 2009.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Free therapy for a volunteer Beth Miller Krause, a clinical social worker and certified life coach with the Center for Self Growth in East Setauket, has come up with an innovative way to give back to the...

Commentary: Getting to know Abilities!
January 2, 2009... Byline: Kenneth Cerini In 1952, in a small garage in West Hempstead, five individuals led by Henry Viscardi Jr. started what would become one of the most influential nonprofits on Long Island. What makes this story unique is that all of...

Eun C. Jo named associate at Lake Success-based Capell Vishnick.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Eun C. Jo was recently named an associate in the litigation practice group at Capell Vishnick, a Lake Success-based law firm. A 2008 graduate of St. John's University School of Law, Jo, who goes by E.J.,...

Long Islanders on the Move: January 2, 2009.
January 2, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Health care Maureen Homenick has been appointed client services manager of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip. Previously, Homenick was an application analyst for five Catholic Heath...

Commentary: Exhibit A: Long Island.
January 2, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale In its first editorial of 2009, the New York Times is placing the spotlight on Long Island. The reason? Times are tough and you don't have to look any further than the national symbol for the single-family home....

The bumpy road to partnership for Long Island attorneys.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee In the legal world, the road to partnership is paved with hard work, professional excellence and the ability to bring in business for the firm. But the process by which associates become partners has undergone...

When the economy falters, tax attorneys get busy.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik While the soft economy may mean hard times for many businesses, a virtual army of tax attorneys expect bad times to be good for business. When the going gets tough, tax attorneys say they typically see their business...

Get to know these top Long Island law partners.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik David N. Altman Partner Brown & Altman Altman isn't only one of the newest partners at his firm; he's at one of Long Island's newest firms. He teamed with fellow attorney Keith P. Brown in 2008 to found this law...

Settlement reached in Suffolk County, North Star Concrete case.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Turns out, Suffolk County's 2006 hunt to find contractors who hire illegal immigrants didn't find one illegal employee, it found none. Last week, North Star Concrete and Suffolk County reached a settlement...

Commentary: Optimisim in '09, once Obama takes office.
January 5, 2009... Byline: John R. Durso From an economic standpoint, 2008 started poorly, gradually got worse and then accelerated into the dumpster. But the year ends with a sense of optimism generated by the yes we can attitude and pronouncements of...

New lobbying firm to focus on Long Island.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Fearing that New York City-based leadership in the state Legislature will ignore Long Island altogether, a new lobbying group has emerged to make sure local voices are heard. On Wednesday, Tom Garry, a...

Long Island-based T. Weiss Realty leases to two companies.
January 5, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg T. Weiss Realty leased a total of 5,600 square feet to RISCO Group, an international manufacturer of security management systems, and to a newly formed company, Redwood Collaborative Media at 105 Maxess Rd. in...

Zere Real Estate Services leases nearly 100,000 sq. ft. of space on Long Island.
January 5, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Michael Zere, executive vice president of Zere Real Estate Services, leased nearly 100,000 square feet of industrial and office space in recent weeks. And although most of the deals involved companies looking to...

Long Island's James Simons to waive management fees related to Renaissance Institutional Futures.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Long Island's richest man, James Simons, has decided to waive management fees related to Renaissance Institutional Futures, a $3 billion hedge fund that is part of his broader fund, Renaissance Technologies....

Lee Zeldin opens his own law practice in Smithtown.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Republican Lee Zeldin, who lost his fight to unseat Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop this past Election Day, is getting back to work, just not on the political side of things. Zeldin, who served in U.S Army for...

Long Island foodies launch new site.
January 5, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Kicking off the new year is a Web site that will help you navigate past the corner eatery where you're liable to be poisoned or another neighborhood place where the food, ambiance and service is superb. Mark and...

Village of Port Jefferson wrestles with building moratorium.
January 6, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Four months after the Village of Port Jefferson's board of trustees suspended its senior planner, the village is eyeing a year-long moratorium. William Rau was suspended - with pay - in September because the...

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi names new county assessor.
January 6, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi named Thaddeus (Ted) J. Jankowski Jr. as the new County Assessor today. Jankowski becomes the county's first appointed assessor, replacing Harvey Levinson, who has retired....

New York-based Heritage National Bank changes to Herald National Bank.
January 6, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser The organizers of Heritage National Bank, a de novo opened in November in New York City, Melville and Brooklyn, followed all the right steps for opening a bank. They raised capital, $62 million, actually, the...

Corporate boards face scrutiny.
January 6, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels As the economy worsens, board members of corporations that go belly-up should be prepared to see their names on lawsuits from frustrated, bankrupt investors. But Long Island's corporate attorneys say that...

Hauppauge-based Globecomm Systems Corp. scores Peace Corps contract.
January 6, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Hauppauge-based Globecomm Systems Corp. on Tuesday said it has signed a $2.4 million contract with the Peace Corps to provide communications equipment. The maker of satellite communications technology said...

Commentary: New wishes for all that move LI, the nation.
January 6, 2009... Byline: Jerry Kremer The holiday season has just passed, but it's worth spreading some good cheer and warm wishes, so here's a few toasts and good wishes to the people who make the news, who make things happen or who just make our little...

Carle Place-based Excel Bradshaw grabs Mineola condo.
January 6, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Carle Place-based Excel Bradshaw Management Group just assumed management of a 35-unit condominium at 142 Main Street in Mineola. The condo called Harrison House follows two more recent additions to the EBMG...

New York Governor David Paterson probing Senate candidates.
January 6, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Even though Gov. David Paterson has said time and again that he won't choose a replacement to fill Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat until after the former first lady is confirmed as President-elect Barack...

Commentary: 2008 was the year of the great rip-off.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato Bernard Madoff, also known by some as Made-off, bamboozled his closest friends, prominent Long Islanders, some of the world's great banking institutions and unfortunately, a number of charitable foundations, schools...

Michigan-based Pulte Homes exits Long Island.
January 7, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg After a relatively brief foray into the Long Island home building market, Pulte Homes is leaving the area. The Michigan-based home builder sold its six communities to Don Eversoll's Timber Ridge Organization...

Paterson: New York in 'perilous' state.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Reiterating the hard fiscal realities that New York State will face in the year to come, Gov. David Paterson, in his state of the state address on Wednesday, called for a balanced budget, expanded health care and...

Long Island housing flat in December.
January 7, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Prices of Long Island homes in contract remained steady in December from the month before, according to the latest numbers from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. The median price held firm at...

Real estate mogul in apparent suicide.(Obituary)
January 7, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Steve Good, who heads the country's most successful real estate auction house, Chicago-based Sheldon Good & Company, was found dead in his car Monday, according to a report by CNN. According to friends who...

Lake Success-based DealerTrack to cut more jobs.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser Lake Success-based DealerTrack, which just announced the closing of its Ohio facility and displacement of its 32 workers, is making more job cuts to deal with plummeting auto sales and drop in lending. The...

Black suit optional: Long Island funeral home provides Webcasting for funerals.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy It's your bowling date, you've got tickets to a Knicks game or you've caught a cold. What to do when you get word that your presence is requested at a funeral? No worries. Smithtown's Branch Funeral Home will...

Suffolk County and the Long Island Power Authority agree on rails-to-trails project.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Suffolk County and the Long Island Power Authority have agreed to create a 12-mile hiking and biking trail on the North Shore. The trail, which will be built with $2 million in federal money previously...

Take the house, but the kidney is mine: Long Island surgeon wants donated kidney back.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Divorce is an ugly business. A bloody one... even. Proving that point: For Ronkonkoma surgeon Richard Batista, the cars and the kids may not be enough. He wants the kidney he donated to his wife... back....

Where to find good food cheap on Long Island.
January 7, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Next thing you know they'll be paying you to eat. With restaurant revenues off by 30 percent or more during the peak seasons of 2008 J. Kings, the Holtsville food services giant, has organized more than 100 Long...

Long Island lawyer Joseph Milizio is on asset watch.
January 8, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels From Capell Vishnick's law offices in Lake Success, Joseph Milizio sees the effects of the economy on Long Islanders. The managing partner warns them to be cautious with their investments, and tells them now more...

Low rates get loans moving again.
January 8, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser The storm clouds that have hovered over the mortgage industry for almost two years are starting to roll away, now that interest rates are at 30-year lows. Local mortgage brokers, bankers and lenders saw a surge in...

Commentary: Which direction on trade for Obama administration?
January 8, 2009... Byline: Raymond Keating Will the real President-elect Barack Obama please stand up when it comes to international trade? Well, apparently, not just yet. Unfortunately, trade policy presents another uncertainty for entrepreneurs,...

Campus camera: Tour schools from home.
January 8, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Port Washington resident Glen Pere didn't want his golfing safari to Ireland with some buddies spoiled when one of his best friends threatened to cancel. His pal began begging off, saying the long weekend in...

Universal Design Long Island initiative introduces design that sustains all ages.
January 8, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Homeowners can learn how their homes can accommodate everyone from infants to seniors at next week's National Association of Remodelers Institute trade show. The initiative by the Suffolk Community Council is...

Golf on Long Island's Web site seeks to help local hackers.
January 8, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy If you have one eye on the golf bag in the garage and the other on the thermometer waiting for the right weather to grip it and rip it, Phil Carlucci has a Web site for you. Launched in August, Carlucci presides...

Blue Point Brewery's Cask Ale Festival in Patchogue, New York, warms up winter.
January 8, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy You've seen the January rites of strangely ecstatic people in brief bathing suits racing across a beach to throw themselves into freezing ocean waves, right? Nuts, right? What about close to a thousand people...

The recession survival guide.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Hempstead's Sentinel Printing has been in business since 1858 and Glen Boehmer is doing everything he can to keep the streak going. The president of Sentinel and a third-generation printer knows how to survive,...

Commentary: East End eateries fight on.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Jeff Miller Restaurants come and go like tides on the East End, and there are good reasons for the frequent ebbs. Among them are expensive rents, scarce labor, plentiful competition and a couple of desolate winter months. Many...

Commentary: Not a happy new year.
January 9, 2009... Byline: LIBN Staff Make your resolution yet? Many Americans have and, well, the good news is this: Losing weight and smoking remain the top responses, according to the latest end-of-year,...

Commentary: It will require special resolve to get through 2009.
January 9, 2009... Byline: John Kominicki Buddhist monks celebrate the new year by banging a gong 108 times, with each bang driving away one of the 108 forms of human weakness. By the end of it, they've created No. 109: gong elbow. The Buddhist...

Long Island Expressway hosts dump truck parade.
January 9, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg Upset over the lack of economic stimulus funding earmarked for Long Island, a construction trade group is taking its beef on the road. An estimated 50 heavy equipment vehicles, driven by members of the Long...

Commentary: Meet the Kent Animal Center.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Kenneth Cerini Kent Animal Shelter places between 600 and 700 animals a year in new homes. Considered Long Island's quiet giant, Kent's reputation and outreach has no boundaries when it comes to their efforts to protect animals...

Nassau County sees a third less in sales tax.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Sales tax revenue in Nassau County during the period of Sept. 15 to Nov. 30, which includes Black Friday, dropped 34 percent compared to last year, County Executive Tom Suozzi said Friday. The drop means that...

Long Islanders on the Move: January 9, 2009.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Education William H. Frohlich has joined Nassau BOCES in Garden City as executive manager of the department of communications and agency planning. Frohlich most recently served as president and chief...

Commentary: Make business decisions from a position of strength.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Susan Pechman In these unsettling times, it's more critical than ever to make the right and best-informed business decisions. This means you simply cannot be without credible, insightful information that helps you back those...

New York exodus continues.
January 9, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg More people are leaving New York State than moving here, according to the latest migration study from Missouri-based United Van Lines. The states bleeding population are led by Michigan, where 67 percent of...

Bridgehampton approved for bailout money.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser Almost every public Long Island bank has now applied for and been approved for participation in the government's $700 billion bailout. The latest is Bridgehampton National Bank, which said today it was approved...

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy delivers training cash.
January 9, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II With the job market this tight, it makes sense employers want the most skilled employees they can find. Unfortunately, the cash needed to train workers might be a bit tight. Luckily, Suffolk County...

Despite layoffs, accounting shortages continue.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Bernadette Starzee An increasing number of accountants are chasing a shrinking amount of jobs. This simple example of supply and demand has eased recruiting at Long Island's public accounting firms, which traditionally have had...

How companies can hold on to their cash in a tough economy.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik When a Long Island-based cooking equipment maker found itself short on cash, the firm wanted to make some quick sales. So the company did what any manufacturer might do: It offered deep discounts and extended payment...

Obamanomics a boon to Long Island businesses.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik As President-elect Obama puts together a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package, Obamanomics, an approach to economics targeting the middle class, is now not just about numbers, but about real dollars. And his policy...

Ones to watch in Long Island accounting.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik Mark S. Davis Managing Partner, Jericho office Deloitte & Touche Davis late last year took the helm of Deloitte's Long Island operations, making him a key player not only at the firm, but in the profession on...

Taxpayer beware, as the IRS steps up scrutiny.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Claude Solnik It sounded like a great way to do good in Africa and get tax benefits in the United States. A man marketing a tax shelter to investors promised deductions to people who invested in commodities in the Ivory Coast. He...

Long Island wilderness or indoor ski mountain?
January 12, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II As the plan goes, Riverhead Resorts will eventually build a resort at Enterprise Park at Calverton, one featuring horseback riding, a man-made creek and an artificial, indoor ski mountain as the main...

New York Senator Brian Foley encourages district residents to call him with their problems.
January 12, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels New State Sen. Brian X. Foley, D-Brookhaven, is calling on anyone in the district who previously contacted the office of former Sen. Caesar Trunzo to resolve and issue that still hasn't been worked out, to give...

Commentary: Schumer gets last laugh.
January 13, 2009... Byline: Martin Cantor It is fascinating to watch the powerful fall to the rule of the people. No better example is Citigroup Inc.'s capitulation to Sen. Charles Schumer regarding his initiative to revise the U.S. bankruptcy law as a...

Woodbury pull-out couch maker Jennifer Convertibles posts larger loss.(Financial report)
January 13, 2009... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Woodbury pull-out couch maker Jennifer Convertibles on Tuesday said its fiscal first quarter loss more than tripled on soft sales attributed to the rocky economy. For the quarter ended Nov. 29, Jennifer...

Long-time Long Island radio veteran John Caracciolo preps Party, La Fiesta buy.
January 13, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale Long-time Long Island radio veteran John Caracciolo has agreed to pay $4 million for two Suffolk County radio stations from The Morey Organization. Caracciolo, through a new venture called JVC Broadcasting,...

Maxwell and Dunne's Steakhouse in Plainview shut down.
January 13, 2009... Byline: David Reich-Hale So much for betting the trifecta, walking downstairs and chewing on high-end beef. Maxwell and Dunne's Steakhouse, based inside of a Nassau Off-Track Betting location in Plainview and owned by The Morey...

New York state judge OKs Amazon tax.
January 13, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The so-called "Amazon Tax" proposed by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer and continued by now-Gov. David Paterson, has been upheld by a New York State judge. Supreme Court Judge Eileen Bransten dismissed lawsuits by...

Suffolk County to videotape investigations.
January 13, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Suffolk County is looking for requests for proposals from companies willing to help videotape custodial investigations in county homicide cases. The county is seeking the installation of a digital...

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Commentary: On the economy, history will give Bush a mixed review.
January 14, 2009... Byline: Raymond Keating It's common to hear that history provides the final verdict on how well a U.S. president performed. But that's not really true. Time certainly offers additional perspective. However, to say that history will...

Town of North Hempstead to promote downtown business.
January 14, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg The Town of North Hempstead and its Business and Tourism Development Corporation will give business owners tools to help their downtown areas to flourish. North Hempstead is offering a free seminar on Thursday,...

New York Governor David Paterson taps Lippman for Chief Judge.
January 14, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Gov. David Paterson appointed Judge Jonathan Lippman to serve as Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, replacing retiring Chief Judge Judith Kaye. Lippman's appointment is subject to state...

Suffolk County reveals shovel-ready projects.
January 14, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Suffolk County has released a list of 19 shovel-ready wastewater and public works projects awaiting federal funding. The projects listed require $743 million in future planning, construction and repairs,...

Leery lenders limit large development on Long Island.
January 15, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg The infusion of about $350 billion in federal bailout money has done little to get major banks to stop holding onto their cash, frustrating developers caught in the funding freeze. The larger projects are...

Commentary: 2008, the year New York politics changed.
January 15, 2009... Byline: John Kiernan We are in the second week of the New Year, and it is appropriate to look back and see what a difference a year makes in politics. In the last 12 months the changes in the political landscape were huge and mostly...

Long Island Boxing Gym in Lindenhurst wants to corner the market.
January 15, 2009... Byline: Ambrose Clancy He circled his opponent, pawing with a jab to measure distance before closing in a flash, winging a left hook to the body and then another, doubling, tripling on the hook, sending a right to the heart and then...

Jobs are few, but not absent on Long Island.
January 15, 2009... Byline: Laura Glasser While it won't be easy to find a job in 2009, it's doable if you look in the right places, like accounting. Companies worried about falling into the red will increasingly seek out accountants to help them keep watch...

Commentary: Bush's farewell speech a challenge to write.
January 15, 2009... Byline: Jerry Kremer In less than a week, President George W. Bush will leave office. There isn't much left for him to do other than deliver his farewell address. As an old time speechwriter, I thought I would offer some suggestions to the...

Town of Babylon providing free Wi-Fi in parks.
January 15, 2009... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The Town of Babylon has started providing free wireless Internet service in two downtown parks with an eye on expanding the service to the rest of the town's parks, beaches and two of its downtowns. Town...

Long Island hospital leases space in Lake Success.
January 15, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg St. Mary's Hospital for Children re-signed a long-term lease for 25,580 square feet of space at 5 Dakota Drive in Lake Success, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which brokered the deal. The space in Lake...

Long Island school district honored by EPA.
January 15, 2009... Byline: David Winzelberg The Baldwin school district was just honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Radiation and Indoor Air. The district received the 2008 Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Model of...