LI Business News articles from July 2003

LI Business News archives from July 2003

Nuclear plant at Shoreham has been economically devastating to Long Islanders.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn "Mario, you'll never stop it. We're about to load it" with nuclear fuel. That's how former Gov. Mario Cuomo remembers his conversation with President George Bush and his chief of staff, John Sununu, in the late...

President of Lounge Lizard Worldwide loves to fish, write children's books, and paint in oils.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn Five things you didn't know about... Ken Braun, President of Lounge Lizard Worldwide 1. He propels down the cliff by the Montauk Lighthouse, donning rock-climbing gear over a wetsuit, to surf cast for sea bass at...

Acadia Realty Trust relocates HQ from Long Island to White Plains.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Nick Anastasi Acadia Realty Trust, owner of 62 properties with 9 million square feet of space, has moved its headquarters off Long Island to White Plains. The real estate investment trust has signed a sublease for 20,100...

Commentary: GOP's killing Suozzi's sewer and water authority not justifiable.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Martin Cantor You have to wonder why Nassau Republican political strategists gave a nod to Nassau County's state senators, all Republicans, to kill Democratic County Executive Tom Suozzi's sewer and water authority proposal. ...

Accounting gains appeal amid slow job market, post-scandals.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson When Anthony Raffio started at Hofstra University, he was an undecided business major. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I knew that there was decent money in accounting, and I heard that accountants were...

Long Island's Wireless Ink founders poised for big breakthrough.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter On a North Shore street dappled with trendy restaurants and gift shops, two wireless insurgents are plotting a revolution. In modest digs perched atop a Daniel Gale Real Estate office, David Harper and William...

Accounting reform bill passes in NY Senate.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson After four years of lobbying for accounting reform legislation, the New York State Society of CPAs may finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of this year's legislative session, the state...

Minneapolis-based Dolan Media sells data units for $100M-plus.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter In a transaction worth more than $100 million, Dolan Media Co., the parent company of Long Island Business News, has agreed to sell its data units to information provider LexisNexis. James Dolan, president and...

Ernst & Young picks Edgewood-based ADP's Daly as winner in Entrepreneur of Year contest.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson Richard J. Daly, president of Edgewood-based ADP Investor Communication Services, was recently named the Ernst & Young Metropolitan New York 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year for the contest's Business & Consumer Services...

Long Island Financial Briefs July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson Wall Street investment firms rack up lawsuits The winners are in, and there could become a new tradition in Wall Street booby prizes. Among the nation's major retail brokerage firms, Merrill Lynch, Morgan...

Melville-based Fonar Corp.'s Stand-up MRI selling well in soft market.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik Fonar Corp.'s bid to sell Stand-Up MRI machines in a soft market has received a big boost from companies led by Chairman Raymond Damadian or his son Timothy Damadian. Of the 48 Stand-Up MRIs Fonar said it has...

Long Island Power Authority considers building its own gas line.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik The Long Island Power Authority is considering whether to commission a spur off the existing Iroquois natural gas pipeline that would bring fuel to Yaphank and Calverton and possibly other regions in Suffolk County....

Automobile and airplane helped set Long Island apart.
July 4, 2003... Byline: John Kiernan This year marks the 100th anniversary of two historic events that significantly influenced how Long Island developed and helps explain why the Island became one of the most desirable places in the country to live. Much...

Commentary: Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's sewer authority was no easy sell.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Jerry Kremer There are many burning political issues facing the State of New York and Long Island. Any straw poll of the Island's nearly 3 million residents would produce a list of concerns longer than the Great Wall of China. ...

Long Island Power Authority's promise of $1M for a watchdog still on hold.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik More than five years after the Long Island Power Authority agreed to set aside $1 million to fund ratepayer advocates, the authority has doled out $200,000 to a state agency, but hasn't yet set up guidelines to...

Long Island Marketing Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik Facing declining ad revenues in its electronics publications, CMP Media has merged the staffs of its two flagship electronics industry weekly magazines, EE Times and EBN. The Manhasset-based firm said the staffs...

Long Island Non-profit Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak The Nature Conservancy received a $10,000 grant from The Roslyn Savings Foundation and used it to establish the Weed Watcher Volunteer Program. The program provides training and equipment to volunteers whose goal...

Barbara Alesi joins Long Island Chapter of Nat. Assn. of Women Business Owners.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Barbara Shaheen Alesi, a partner at the law firm of Forchelli, Curto, Schwartz, Mineo, Carlino & Cohn, was elected secretary and installed as a member of the Long Island Chapter of the National Association of Women...

New York Mercantile Exchange preparing its $12M backup site.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson A $12 million, high-tech ghost-town crucial to the world's financial markets is nearly finished in a 40,000-square-foot office space at i.park. While the clandestine emergency backup site to New York Mercantile...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Nick Anastasi The sale of existing single family homes on Long Island continued at a strong pace in May, according to the Albany-based New York State Association of Realtors. In Nassau, the median sales price jumped to $378,500...

SEC closes loophole on stock options.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson All employee stock compensation plans at companies listed on the largest U.S. exchanges are now subject to shareholder approval, closing a loophole that contributed to several recent accounting scandals. Under...

Commentary: Federal Office of Management and Budget should reverse decision about LI's MSA.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF The Long Island congressional delegation is right to raise a red flag about the federal government's move last month to strip the Nassau-Suffolk region of its status as an independent metropolitan statistical area, or...

Mineola-based East Coast Orthotic & Prosthetic succeeds by offering personal service.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn Abandoning the restaurant business for a career with regular weekday hours, Vincent Benenati found a job in pharmaceutical and home health care sales. He enjoyed working with hospitals, doctors and patients, but there...

Long Island Medical Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik Every day thousands of patients leave doctors' offices with a diagnosis that would typically require certain medications. But what happens if the patient never fills the prescription, or if, for some reason, the...

Long Island Legal Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini Quest Diagnostics, the nation's largest provider laboratory testing services, has agreed to reform its billing practices and provide restitution to consumers who were billed for services covered or already paid by...

Long Island leaders gear up for fight with federal government.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini Local government and business leaders pledged this week to keep fighting federal officials until Long Island's designation as a separate metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, is restored. Fearing that...

Long Island's Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation strives in search of a cure.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Remember when you were a child and mom took you to the doctor to get your annual checkup and vaccinations? It was one day, one needle, one doctor visit, but you cried the whole time. You begged and pleaded to avoid...

Long Island artist achieves goal of being an official artist for USGA.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini Elaine Thompson is one of those go-getter types, resourceful and resilient. When the U.S. Golf Association passed over her painting for the 2002 U.S. Open for one by acclaimed artist LeRoy Neiman, it only...

Long Island Entrepreneurial Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn In May, Rita Porwick, a geriatric care manager, opened Bayport-based Living by Design in an effort to remedy what she sees as a disconnect between the needs of the elderly living on Long Island and the available housing...

Long Island-based St. Francis Heart Center plans $190M expansion.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik St. Francis-The Heart Center is looking to pump new life into its operations with a $190 million renovation and expansion that would swell its patient beds by 30 percent and build upon a host of services. The...

Denver-based First Data Corp. plans to consolidate LI operations at new $47 million facility.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Nick Anastasi First Data Corp. is planning to consolidate three Long Island operations under one roof at a new $47 million facility on Walt Whitman Road. Representatives of First Data and Reckson Associates Realty Corp. held a...

Jets QB Vinny Testaverde invests in Hauppauge-based CF Group.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter Vincent Frank "Vinny" Testaverde, the Elmont native whose passing accuracy earned him a Heisman Trophy and almost 40,000 yards during a 17-year pro career, is huddling with an old friend as he makes a game plan for...

Long Island Technology Briefs: July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter Med e-Manager, which provides billing and accounts receivable services for doctors, has acquired MDeverywhere, a vendor of point-of-care charge-card services. Terms of the deal between the two closely held...

Newsday Editor Marro to retire.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF After 16 years as editor of Newsday, Anthony J. Marro plans to retire next month, the paper announced July 2. Marro, 61, who also served as managing editor and as an investigative reporter at the tabloid, will be...

NY Community Bancorp acquires Roslyn Bancorp for $1.6B.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF After several days of speculation, New York Community Bancorp. announced last week that it would buy Jericho-based Roslyn Bancorp. for about $1.6 billion in stock. The deal would create the largest savings and loan...

Long Island-based Cablevision regains full control of 3 networks for $500M.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Cablevision Systems Corp. has agreed to buy back Metro-Goldwin-Mayer's 20 percent stake in three of its majority-owned cable networks for $500 million in a move seen as boosting its bid for Vivendi's entertainment...

Long Island-based Aeroflex to acquire Ann Arbor, Mich.-based MCE Technologies.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Aeroflex Inc. will acquire MCE Technologies for about 5.9 million shares of Aeroflex common stock, the company announced. As part of the deal, Aeroflex will retire about $25 million in debt for Ann Arbor,...

Long Island-based One Liberty Properties acquires Airborne Express building.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF One Liberty Properties Inc. said this week it had bought a 51,000-square-foot distribution facility in Melville for $3.85 million in cash. The real estate investment trust acquired the property at 55 Marcus Drive...

Melville-based Nu Horizons Electronics takes loss.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Melville-based Nu Horizons Electronics Corp., a distributor of electronic components, Wednesday said it slipped into the red with a $831,371 first-quarter loss. For the quarter ended May 31, the company reported...

Hauppauge-based Orbit International unit gets $260,000 in new orders.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Orbit International Corp.'s Behlman Electronics unit Inc., has received two new orders worth about $260,000, the company announced. Behlman received a $165,000 order for power supplies on test stations for the...

Federal Office of Management and Budget to reconsider LI's statistical area designation.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF The federal Office of Management and Budget will reconsider its decision to merge Long Island into New York City's statistical area, Rep. Steve Israel, D-Huntington, said today. "It's good news and we are pleased...

Connecticut extends ban on cross-Sound gas and electric lines.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF The war between the states has heated up. Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland Thursday signed into law a moratorium banning the construction of new gas and electric lines across the Long Island Sound until June 3,...

Hauppauge-based Audiovox Corp. acquires building for $3.5M.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Audiovox Corp. (Nasdaq: VOXX) said Friday it acquired a 40,000-square-foot building adjacent to its headquarters in Hauppauge for $3.48 million. The firm said it bought the building at 180 Marcus Blvd. from Maple...

Long Island-based Cablevision to offer Anime Network on Demand.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) is launching the Anime Network on Demand as the company's seventh subscription video-on-demand service for iO customers. Anime is a Japanese animation style that has become...

Bethpage-based Northrop Grumman gets $92M Prowler contract.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) has landed a $91.8 million U.S. Navy contract for its ICAP III electronic attack system to be installed in EA-6B Prowler aircraft. The Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare...

Comforce signs new revolving credit pact with PNC Business.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Staffing and consulting provider Comforce Corp. (Amex: CFS) has negotiated a four-year, $75 million revolving credit agreement with PNC Business Credit. The company's previous facility was due to expire in August....

Globecomm scores $8.3M contract.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Globecomm Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: GCOM) has won an $8.3 million contract, with up to $26.7 million in follow-on options, for satellite earth station terminals, the company announced. The order for fixed and...

Weightwatchers stock dips on downgrade.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF Owners and watchers of Weightwatchers stock as of mid-day lost a bit of weight in their wallets. Shares of Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW) slipped $1.30 or 2.80 percent in mid-day trading to $45.17, after investment...

Port Washington-based National Medical Health Card opens mail order unit.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF National Medical Health Card Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: NMHC), a pharmacy benefits manager doing business as NMHC(RX), said Tuesday it had opened a mail-order-pharmacy division based in Miramar, Fla. The Port Washington...

Long Island-based KeySpan renews $1.3B credit facility.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF KeySpan Corp. (NYSE:KSE) announced late Monday that it had renewed its $1.3 billion credit facility, including $450 million through July 2004 and the remaining $850 million for three years. In a written statement,...

Edgewood-based CPI Aerostructures names D'Agostino chief financial officer.
July 4, 2003... Byline: LIBN STAFF CPI Aerostructures Inc. (Amex: CVU) has appointed Anthony D'Agostino, 45, as chief financial officer. D'Agostino, who joined the company in April as director of finance, succeeds President and Chief Executive...

Long Island Univ. professor receives "Faculty of the Year Award".
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Sally A. Wahrmann, a professor of accountancy at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville, was recently honored by the campus' professional experience and career planning office with its 2003...

NY magazine names Dr. Louis Avvento one of best doctors in metro area.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Dr. Louis Avvento, a hematologist/oncologist at Central Suffolk Hospital and in private practice in Riverhead, was named one of the best doctors in the New York metro area by New York magazine. Avvento was one of...

Bethpage-based Cablevision promotes Kristin Dolan to senior vice pres. of digital product management.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Cablevision Systems Corp., of Bethpage, promoted Kristin Dolan, a 14-year company veteran, to senior vice president of digital product management. Dolan will be responsible for overseeing all video products,...

Garden City law firm of Scully, Scott, Murphy & Presser hires Harry Hild as patent attorney.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Scully, Scott, Murphy & Presser of Garden City hired Harry Hild as a patent attorney. Prior to joining Scully Scott, Hild was a research specialist at Saxon Glass Research Facility. Prior to that, he was an...

Farmingdale-based Seal-It names new vice president of operations.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Seal-It of Farmingdale named Alan Wolk as vice president of operations. Wolk has 19 years of experience in the package printing business. Wolk will be responsible for Seal-It's manufacturing and print...

Uniondale-based OnlineBenefits appoints vice president of product strategy.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Siegfried C. Adler was appointed vice president of product strategy at OnlineBenefits in Uniondale. Adler, of Long Beach, will be responsible for overseeing all phases of product development. He will also oversee...

Long Island Non-profits announce staff changes for July 4, 2003.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak Bruce Nuzie, of Plainview, was elected president of the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center in Plainview at the agency's annual board of directors meeting. An active member of the Mid-Island Y JCC since 1989,...

Macy's seeks to end contract with Brookhaven-based Fireworks by Grucci.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter Macy's is using July 4 to declare its independence from Fireworks by Grucci, prompting some verbal pyrotechnics from the East Coast's "first family of fireworks." Macy's since 1999 has used both Fireworks by...

Globecomm settles with Middle East customer, NetSat Express.
July 4, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter Satellite service provider Globecomm Systems has settled with a "major Middle East customer" of its Internet provider, NetSat Express, after a nasty spat that sent the company's stock price reeling last summer. ...

Long Island developers navigate rough waters of 1990's by diversifying in order to survive.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn "Stay alive 'till '95." That was the slogan commercial real estate developers repeated while navigating through the early 1990s. Recession, overbuilding in the 1980s, increased commercial property taxes and a...

Long Island generic drug makers see increased sales.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik While pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Merck hunt for breakthrough cures and race to develop the next blockbuster drug, Hi-Tech Pharmacal has discovered a profitable shortcut. Instead of spending years...

Long Island attorneys comply with new fiduciary rules, which some feel are unfair.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini Early this year, Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Mondello was forced to sever ties with a group of people he considered his second family - his colleagues at East Meadow-based Certilman Balin Adler...

Hauppauge-based computer consulting firm's stock soars after announcing dividend.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson After announcing a one-time $2-per-share dividend as well as a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share on June 23, TSR Inc., a Hauppauge computer consulting firm, has seen its stock rise by as much as $4.25, or 68...

Long Island Financial Briefs: July 11, 2003.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson As in other industries, the `90s are catching up with the nation's property and casualty insurers. In 2002, the industry increased reserves for prior-year paid and unpaid claims by $22.1 billion, according to Weiss...

Glass safety firm in Smithtown, Long Island experiences growth after terrorists bombings.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn When Carol Borow and Dan Venet learned about a multi-ply window film to protect against shattering glass, the market possibilities seemed limitless. Though the film was already installed primarily on automobile glass,...

Long Island Medical Briefs: July 11, 2003.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik In its first such teaming with an eastern Long Island hospital, Stony Book University Hospital and Medical Center has started an ob-gyn residency program at Central Suffolk Hospital in Riverhead. The program lets...

Commack-based computer company's replaced by Hauppauge generic drug maker, shares rocket.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter In an elaborate deal choreographed in part by the American Stock Exchange, a Commack-based computer company has vanished from the public marketplace and been replaced by a Hauppauge generic drug maker whose shares...

Commentary: Let writers vote Rose into Hall of Fame.
July 11, 2003... Byline: John Kiernan As we approach the middle of July and look forward to baseball's All-Star Game, it is time for Major League Baseball's leadership to recognize that Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Check that, Pete Rose...

Commentary: For now, spammers have the upper hand.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Jerry Kremer All of us value our privacy. To protect it, we do countless little things. Sometimes we ignore a telephone call and let the answering machine handle it. In the wintertime, we develop a sudden flu attack and beg off...

Long Island Legal Briefs: July 11, 2003.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini FTC, DOJ won't take action against lawyers on privacy law The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have agreed not to take action against lawyers who do not take steps to notify clients...

Long Island Marketing Briefs: July 11, 2003.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik ***** CORRECTION: A recent marketing brief item ("Atlantis Marine World's latest catch: 7-Eleven" LIBN, July 11, 2003) incorrectly identified the headquarters of Debbie Nigro's Out of the Box Deals. The firm is...

Great Neck-based CoActive Marketing Group specializes in promotional giveaways.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik At a time when advertising budgets are still facing tough scrutiny from executives looking to keep costs low in a soft economy, CoActive Marketing Group is finding its footing. The company, which specializes in...

Five things you didn't know about Desmond Ryan, director of Assn. for a Better Long Island.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Adina Genn Desmond Ryan, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island. 1. He actually enjoys the sporadic dead phone cell zones between here and Albany. It allows him to commune with the beauty of the New...

Lynbrook-based Doar Communications plans to open high-tech court facility in D.C. next year.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini In a bid to expand its presence outside of the New York area, Doar Communications Inc., a maker of high tech court rooms, plans to open a new digital court facility in Washington, D.C. next year. Paul Neale,...

Commentary: Death of a fad; Microsoft stops issuing stock options.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Ben Abelson Microsoft's stunning decision this week to stop issuing stock options and instead begin rewarding its employees - all of them - with restricted stock signals the end of an era of excess. In the late 1990s, it was...

Hauppauge Digital launches product that links PC with TV.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Ken Schachter As the computer industry seeks a foothold in the living room, Hauppauge Digital Inc. is launching a product for the high-tech crowd that funnels a hard drive's entertainment content through a network and into a...

Nassau County to spend $100 million for information technology over next four years.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini Nassau County plans to spend $100 million on information technology initiatives over the next four years to modernize what it describes as outdated and inefficient systems. The county's department of...

Service Employees Inter. holds "Justice for Janitors" rally to unionize LI's commercial workers.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik After unionizing thousands of janitors in New Jersey and New York City, Service Employees International Union last week launched a renewed organizing drive for janitors on Long Island. The union, which dubs its...

Mass. Attorney General pursues antitrust investigation of Long Island Health Network.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Claude Solnik State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is investigating whether the Long Island Health Network, a loosely affiliated group of 11 hospitals, violates antitrust laws by negotiating collectively with insurers. A...

Long Island's Sisters United in Health provides breast and cervical cancer resources.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Kenneth Cerini Putting women's health first Address: 540 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead 11550 Program Coordinator: Karen Villeda Telephone: (516) 750-2625 Founded: 2001 Annual Budget: $98,500 Program Services:...

Nassau County American Red Cross names Dalrymple as chief executive.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Lisa Josefak The American Red Cross in Nassau County, based in Mineola, named Richard (Dick) W. Dalrymple as its chief executive. Prior to joining ARC/Nassau, Dalrymple was chief operating officer at the National Center for...

Former Hauppauge-based real estate developers start their own brokerage in Smithtown.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Nick Anastasi Bucking a trend toward real estate brokerage consolidation, veteran brokers John O'Hara and Leo Farrell have left BHS Commercial Services to start their own boutique brokerage. The new company, Corporate Realty...

Brookhaven Town Board calls for moratorium on new multi-family developments.
July 11, 2003... Byline: Nick Anastasi With no end in sight to the stream of luxury housing projects proposed by developers, the Brookhaven Town Board is calling for six-month moratorium on new multi-family developments unless they incorporate affordable...