LI Business News articles from July 2008

LI Business News archives from July 2008

This spud's for you: Long Island Spirits converts potatoes to premium vodka called LIV.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy It didn't smell like potato soup. But there was no denying that a ton of mashed-up potatoes were boiling away in Long Island's largest soup pot located in a converted horse barn in Baiting Hollow. The local root...

North Fork exec jumps into bank fray on Long Island.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Another startup is headed to Long Island, this one powered by an ex-North Fork executive who flew the coop after Capital One closed its deal on what was once the region's biggest bank. Daniel Healy, a member of...

The dean of Albany: Long Islander Dean Skelos is new majority leader of N.Y. Senate.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels In less than four months, the state's leadership went from ignoring Long Island to hailing from there. New Gov. David Paterson, who replaced Eliot Spitzer in March, grew up in Hempstead. And Dean Skelos, born...

Southampton puts hold on condo deals.
July 4, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg As Southampton morphs from a vacation haven for summering Manhattanites into a year-round community, town officials are grappling with how to handle growth without burdening its schools and clogging its streets....

Commentary: Good friendships manage to withstand all the fireworks.
July 4, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama struggle with their post-primary discord - mainly, what to do with Bill - they would be well-served by an Independence Day peek at history. I refer to the remarkable...

The Albany Primer: How Long Island's main issues fared during 2008 session.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels This year's legislative session, which ended June 23, included the resignation of the governor, the end of the line for the Senate majority leader and no decision on how to control property taxes. Eliot...

Food for thought: New York Times columnist critiques Long Island eateries.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy When Richard Scholem called for a restaurant reservation, the person taking the call was vague and put him on hold so long he was ready to hang up before someone came back to him. Once at the restaurant, he and...

Rough times lead to a big rise in fraud on Long Island.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Jeff Sklar uncovers business fraud on Long Island all of the time, though it rarely makes headlines. The managing director of SHC Consulting Group in Bellmore unearthed a $300,000 embezzling scam at a local...

Canon will build bigger, greener HQ in Melville.
July 4, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Imaging giant Canon U.S.A. has filed site plans with the Town of Huntington for a new, five-story, 690,000-square-foot headquarters in Melville. The company bought the site, a 52-acre former pumpkin farm, from...

Long Island Business News Briefcase: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Drive-ins are back Get a vanilla milkshake and popcorn with extra butter because Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi is bringing drive-ins back. So bust out those poodle skirts and watch out for the cars with...

Two minutes with Ron Edelson, co-owner of Long Island advertising and PR agency.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Back in 1990, Edelson teamed with Robert Zimmerman to create what would become one of Long Island's best known advertising and public relations agencies. In his Great Neck firm, Edelson discussed the state of...

Commentary: First half success.
July 4, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Editorial Late last year a survey by California's Milken Institute drilled home the obvious: New York is undesirable for businesses. According to the study, the Empire State is the second most expensive state in the...

Commentary: For Skelos, a well-earned chance.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Richard Kessel The 2008 session of the New York State Legislature ended with a bang as Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno announced he would not seek re-election and handed his leadership gavel over to Dean Skelos. That means...

Commentary: Missing Russert.
July 4, 2008... Byline: John R. Durso This July 4th finds working families throughout the country and on Long Island more worried and insecure than they have been in decades. A housing meltdown, soaring gas and food prices, stagnant wages and disappearing...

Commentary: This July 4, let's talk about energy independence.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato I remain a proud and loyal Republican, so it is easy for me to propose a new national political party. It will be called the Energy Independence Party and it will closely match many of the principles, ideals and...

Commentary: Real nurses would never abandon their patients.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Pamela McFarland The state Appellate Division is currently reviewing legal papers that ask whether it was right for a Suffolk County grand jury to indict nurses for walking off the job, thereby endangering the safety of bedridden...

Commentary: Social disorder.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Frank Seabrook Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy recently presented a scaled-down version of his Downstate Suburban Workforce Housing for Economic Sustainability Act. The new bill focuses just on Nassau and Suffolk counties and...

Commentary: Out East: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller Suffolk Life had a great run, but fell short out east Suffolk Life is dead, as the headlines inevitably put it. But it's not the first nor will it be the last publication to fall. Back in 1868 or so, my...

Long Island Financial Briefs: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Assistance comes to those crunched by subprimes New York's housing counselors have a new network to share resources and ideas, and to help negate the housing, subprime and foreclosure crises. The New York...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Aquarium wants its guests to sleep with the fishes The owners of Riverhead's Atlantis Marine World are looking to expand their aquarium and build a 126-room hotel. Riverhead Supervisor Phil Cardinale said...

Long Island Medical Briefs: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder The Nassau Health Care Corp. is in the planning stages of its NuCare program, which will provide basic and ongoing medical care to patients regardless of immigration status, finances, pre-existing medical conditions...

Taking further Advantage: The continuing growth of Long Island-based title insurance company.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy On Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, stock markets around the world crashed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average melting down 508 points. Two months later, 25-year-old Joseph Willen opened Advantage Title, a title insurance...

High-energy researcher: Physicist Ilan Ben-Zvi with Brookhaven National Laboratory.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder NAME: Ilan Ben-Zvi POSITION: Associate Chair For Superconducting Accelerator Research And Development ORGANIZATION: Brookhaven National Laboratory AWARD: 2008 IEEE Nuclear And Plasma Society Merit Award Physicist...

Long Islanders on the Move: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Banking Community National Bank hired Roland D. Jimenez to serve as vice president and branch manager for its Woodbury branch. He is responsible for managing the daily operations of the branch as well as business...

Long Island Environmental Briefs: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee In search of groundwater protectors Are you doing something to protect Suffolk County's groundwater? If so, the Suffolk County Water Authority wants to hear about it. On June 19, the SCWA, together with...

Commentary: Taxpayers still waiting for politicians to fix the AMT.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Raymond Keating Whenever politicians talk about taxing the rich, no one's wallet is safe. The most glaring example of this fiscal fact of life is the alternative minimum tax. When imposed nearly 40 years ago, the AMT targeted a...

Commentary: Grant-giver to Long Island's NFPs.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Kenneth R. Cerini While thousands of nonprofit organizations all over Long Island are trying to meet the needs of our community, they are also struggling to obtain the support needed to run their own agencies, and, in turn,...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: July 4, 2008.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder LI author, artist create book for nonprofit A Long Island author and artist have teamed up to create a book for children at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. The book Welcome to the Ronald McDonald...

Golden opportunities: Bidding adieu to eBay drop-off stores.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Online auction franchises prove risky endeavors It sounded like an ideal business, an easy, efficient entre into the eBay economy. QuikDrop, an eBay drop-off store franchise, promised to train you to become an...

Healthy bodies, healthy profits: Owners of FeelGoods Healthy Family Cafe find health sells.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Nicole Lawrence and Kathy Gerdes know - and their menu at the FeelGoods Healthy Family Cafe in St James reminds customers - that there's no such thing as a free lunch. But the two business partners provide a...

Not quite ready to hang it up: Long Island retirees-turned-entrepreneurs.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee John Harrison retired from Harrison Leifer DiMarco Inc., a Rockville Centre-based public relations/advertising agency in which he was a partner, two years ago. But he wasn't ready to leave the business...

Ones To Watch: Long Island entrepreneurs and small business owners.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Lynne Christensen Co-owner Chateau des Paws Christensen runs what you might call the Paws that refreshes. She and co-owners Drs. Gal Vatash and Richard Rothman in June opened Chateau des Paws in Riverhead, a...

Making David look like Goliath: Elaborate Web sites help small companies compete with big ones.(Website overview)
July 4, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Visitors to Groovecar's Web site, a portal for people shopping for cars, find just about everything they might want to know about an automobile in one place. And that's the idea behind Groovecar.com. The national...

Commentary: Some find Suozzi property tax cap plan hard to swallow.
July 11, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki Nassau County Exec Tom Suozzi is out working the chicken-sandwich circuit this summer, trying to drum up support for his plan to cap property-tax increases in New York at 4 percent annually. There are those who...

They don't know Jack Kerouac in Northport, Long Island.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Jack Kerouac, an American Ulysses who traveled relentlessly as an avatar of freedom and foe of the bourgeois life, always returned home to his mother in Northport. But unlike other famous writers or artists who...

Westbury eyes share in Lighthouse project.
July 11, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg A Village of Westbury trustee is going after a share of the $40 million in tax revenue the Uniondale School District expects from the Lighthouse Group's redevelopment of Nassau Coliseum. Since the $2 billion...

The play's the thing: Performing arts alive and expanding on Long Island.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Talk to people involved in live theater and the performing arts on Long Island and be prepared for a string of bravos. While many industries are suffering, theater professionals are giving rave reviews for...

State of New York puts pharmacists in a crunch.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Independent pharmacies are reeling from a new round of Medicaid cuts that may force some to close and others to reject the benefit altogether. New York, however, argues the cuts were needed to help bring this...

Long Island Business News Briefcase: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Report Peddle away It seems like a natural next step: High gas prices are leading Long Islanders to keep their gas guzzlers at home and are riding their bikes from place to place instead. According to All...

Town of Brookhaven's intermodal project awaits approvals, reviews.
July 11, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Permit ChaseFrustrated developers know how long it can take to get approvals for commercial projects on Long Island. Each year, construction delays result in millions of dollars in lost revenue. In this occasional...

Commentary: Everyone's responsibility.
July 11, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Editorial You see it everywhere. Car dealerships now pitch miles-per-gallon as the No. 1 selling point of an automobile. Radio stations, instead of luring listeners with concert tickets, are giving away...

Commentary: No environmental leadership.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Martin Cantor This was a big week for the environment, locally, regionally and internationally. Locally, the Town of Huntington wants to use taxpayer money to purchase and preserve as open space land that a developer submitted...

Commentary: The lost customer.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Randi Busse Dear Business Owner, I am in need of the product or service that you offer. I already know that. I called you or came into your business because I know you have what I want. I don't have to be sold. But I can change...

Commentary: The Island has a real champion in Skelos.
July 11, 2008... Byline: John Kiernan Long Island acquired a new asset with the election of state Sen. Dean G. Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, as majority leader. Skelos now becomes the most powerful Republican in the state and has a seat at the table when...

Commentary: When it comes to 2008, watch out for No. 2.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer Being No. 2 usually doesn't count for much. If you own a baseball team and it finishes second, you aren't very happy. If you own a horse that finishes second, you can be satisfied but not overjoyed. The Avis...

Commentary: The wrong direction.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Nancy Rauch Douzinas In the annals of Long Island folly, here's a trend that stands out: We're actually recycling less than we used to. Recycling rates peaked in 1997 and have declined ever since. From 2002 to 2004 they plummeted...

Commentary: Out East: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller Artists, writers prepare for battle in East End rivalry Some things are known and many other things must be fought over in the next Artists & Writers Softball Game, which will be waged at Herrick Park in East...

Long Island Financial Briefs: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Empire National plans its third Long Island branch Empire National Bank has a third branch in the works, besides its Islandia headquarters and a branch in Shirley. Architects are currently working on the empty...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Blumenfeld brings Whole Foods to Lake Grove mall Construction will begin this fall on a 48,000-square-foot Whole Foods supermarket at a new 140,000-square-foot shopping center in Lake Grove that replaces Sports...

Long Island Medical Briefs: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Physical rehabilitation gets a boost from Nintendo A couple of Long Island health care facilities, with a nod to technology, are incorporating Nintendo's latest video game system into their patients' routines. ...

Long Island commercial lawyer Anthony Curto gets personal.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Anthony Curto has been called a pirate by Time magazine and has been under surveillance by both the CIA and the KGB. But that hasn't stopped him from becoming one of Long Island's most successful attorneys....

How To...Hire an environmental consultant.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Environmental consulting firms provide a wide range of services to help businesses create a healthy work site for their employees, comply with codes and regulations, and reduce their environmental footprint. ...

The Stone Age: Mark Stone, president of N.Y. State Society of CPAs-Nassau Chapter.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder NAME: Mark Stone TITLE: President ORGANIZATION: New York State Society of Ceritified Public Accountants - Nassau Chapter PASSION: Touring the Nation Certified public accountant and financial planner Mark Stone...

Long Islanders on the Move: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Accounting Peter J. Avellino has joined Holtz Rubenstein Reminick as the firm's director of health care services. He will spearhead the firm's expansion of services to health care clients. Banking HSBC...

Commentary: Here's a worthy project: protect private property.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Raymond Keating People disagree about the role of government, and often quite passionately. Liberals usually favor activist government trying to solve problems, while conservatives point out that government causes many of those...

Commentary: Saving the arts in hard times.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Kenneth R. Cerini German novelist Berthold Auerbach once said, Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. With today's economy and cuts made to jobs and activities across the board, it is easy to lose the importance...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: July 11, 2008.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder LI builders hammer for charity Long Island home builders have teamed up to do what they do best, with a twist: building homes for charity. Long Island Builders Care, a nonprofit group formed by the Long...

Interrogation room with a view: Video recording interrogations can prevent wrongful convictions.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Last week, the New York State Attorney General's office determined it would not retry Martin Tankleff, who was freed last December after serving 17 years in prison for the murder of his parents. His conviction was...

Bar none: Law careers accommodate the family-minded.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Not every attorney wants a job with a sun-up to sun-down commitment. Many Long Island attorneys looking for an alternative to the full-time grind are able to find professional opportunities that fit their needs....

Ones to Watch: Long Island attorneys.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Annmarie Giblin Associate Goldberg Segalla Giblin is among this Buffalo-based firm's newest employees at its Mineola office. A graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, she earned her juris doctorate...

Paralegals see scope of job, responsibilities increase.
July 11, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Charles Cox has worked on some interesting cases over the years at Scully, Scott, Murphy & Presser in Garden City. He was part of the team representing Kodak in a patent infringement suit filed against Polaroid,...

Islandia horse farm to become condo development.
July 15, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Hicksville-based Pinewood Development Corp. will get a public hearing Tuesday on its plan to turn a 10-acre Islandia horse farm into 72 condominiums. The project, called the Preserves at Islandia, would replace...

Long Island's luxury hotels start summer with lower occupancy.
July 15, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik The sluggish economy has hurt occupancy at Long Island's luxury hotels, while cheaper hotels are packing house, according to the most recent industry statistics. Luxury hotel occupancy in May on Long Island...

Marcum & Kliegman merges with New York-based RosenfarbWinters.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Marcum & Kliegman has merged with RosenfarbWinters, the largest forsenic accounting firm in the New York metropolitan area. The new entity is now changing its name to M&K Rosenfarb, and will have...

New York associations announce staffing changes: July 18, 2008.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff The New York Society of Certified Public Accountants has installed Anthony Cassella as director-at-large of the organization. Cassella is president and chief operating officer of Croscill Inc., a home...

John Aldebot joins Long Island Financial Group.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Long Island Financial Group has welcomed John Aldebot as a member of its financial services team. Aldebot is a graduate of Hofstra University.

Long Island health care facilities announce staffing changes: July 18, 2008.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Laura Kyrillidis has been elected chair of the advisory board of the Nassau County Perinatal Services Network. She is director of perinatal and pediatric services at Nassau University Medical Center....

Lane S. Rubin elected to one-year term for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Lane S. Rubin, managing member of Excel Coverage Group, was elected to a one-year term as chair-elect of the board of directors for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York....

Law firm Alan J. Schwartz names Sean T. Quinlan as associate attorney.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Sean T. Quinlan was named an associate attorney at the general practice law firm of Alan J. Schwartz.

Cablevision Systems Corp. promotes Carolyn Dursi to senior vice president of executive recruiting.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Cablevision Systems Corp. has promoted Carolyn Dursi to senior vice president of executive recruiting. She willoversee the recruitment of senior talent in all Cablevision business units, including...

Long Island nonprofits announce staffing changes: July 18, 2008.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Mercy Haven board member John G. Bendick was recognized for working to solve community problems and for making Suffolk County a better place to live. In his honor, Suffolk County Legis. Ed Romaine,...

Hempstead is extending pool hours on this very hot day.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Hempstead is extending pool hours on this very hot day. Also, the brain drain isn't just a Long Island issue. The state is losing young people too. And the Long Island Association calls on...

State report shows Long Island's unemployment rate jumps 1 percent.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Long Island's unemployment rate has jumped more than 1 percent for the year, according to a state report, proving the national economic downturn is taking its toll on the region. The local unemployment rate was...

Future of Port Jefferson power plant has locals worried.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Port Jefferson village and school officials are worried about the future of National Grid's Port Jefferson power plant, which is being studied by the Long Island Power Authority. If the LIPA decides to...

Astoria Financial profit slides, but beats analysts estimates.(Financial report)
July 18, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Lake Success-based Astoria Financial said Wednesday its second-quarter income dropped 2 percent year over year on an increased provision for loan losses. The thrift earned $33.5 million, or 37 cents per share,...

Commentary: Go Green.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Driven by the sun - and a cause A Swiss team touring the globe in a solar-powered car visited Portland, Ore., earlier this month to promote solar energy as a viable solution to oil dependence and climate...

Design for a greener planet.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder NAME: Lauren Spielholz TITLE: Project Manager And Senior Interior Designer ORGANIZATION: Frank G. Relf Architect MOTIVATION FOR GOING GREEN: Her Family Frank G. Relf Architect has hired Lauren Spielholz as a...

On the Move.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Accounting Marcum & Kliegman has merged with RosenfarbWinters, the largest forsenic accounting firm in the New York metropolitan area. The new entity is now changing its name to M&K Rosenfarb, and will have...

Commentary: Think Wal-Mart sinks small businesses? Think again.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Raymond Keating Like millions of other Americans, I stopped in at Wal-Mart one recent Saturday morning. The shopping list included flashlights for camping, batteries, golf gloves, light bulbs, swimming shoes and a shirt. In the...

Commentary: Quality health care for all.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Kenneth R. Cerini In a time when hundreds of Long Island's nonprofits are struggling to survive, it is encouraging to hear of those who retain a strong presence and maintain growth. Planned Parenthood of Nassau County is one that...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: July 18, 2008.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Brothers run marathon to increase hunger awareness Two brothers spent a week running a marathon to raise awareness of hunger and poverty on Long Island. Twin brothers Bryan and Andrew Knipfing ran in the...

Incentives attract tenants to office open houses.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik During a booming economy, brokers flock to open houses for large offices or industrial spaces. But in this sluggish real estate market, when it's tougher to lease and sell property, landlords are offering incentives...

Commentary: From smokestack to desktop.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Metropolitan Realty Associates in Garden City is converting 300 Sunrise Business Center, formerly a Grumman warehouse, into an office building. The Great River site, which will be expanded by 25,000 square feet...

High-rise projects win approvals on Long Island.
July 18, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Things are looking up for Long Island's builders. In the nation's first suburb, after decades in which high rises were anathema, projects that pierce the sky are seeking and sometimes winning approvals. ...