LI Business News articles from March 2008

LI Business News archives from March 2008

Long Island Rail Road's plan to build third track protested.
March 3, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Floral Park Mayor Phil Guarnieri will lead a rally of civic groups, government officials and local residents against the plan to build a third track on the Long Island Rail Road. The group, called Citizens...

Hauppauge-based Bank of Smithtown offers $20M in securities.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Hauppauge-based Smithtown Bancorp said Monday it issued $20 million in trust-preferred securities in a private placement. The parent of Bank of Smithtown is using the securities, which are a form of debt offering,...

Defense contractor Tactronics Holdings to bring 100 jobs to Long Island.
March 3, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Defense contractor Tactronics Holdings is expanding to a new 24,000-square-foot headquarters in North Bellport. The tactical electronic systems company has signed a 10-year lease and will bring 68 current jobs...

Nassau County names new health commissioner.
March 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi will swear in Tuesday the new Nassau health commissioner and dedicate the county's new department of health building in Uniondale. The new health commissioner, Maria Torroella...

Inclusionary zoning bill in N.Y. expected to pass state Senate.
March 4, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels The state Senate is expected on Wednesday to pass its version of the long awaited affordable housing inclusionary zoning bill. The Long Island Workforce Housing Act, proposed by the Long Island Association...

Suffolk commission proposes consolidating school district functions.
March 4, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels While none of Suffolk County's 69 school districts will go away, some duplicated services could be combined as a cost-savings measure, according to the Suffolk County Commission to Evaluate School District...

New LI director takes charge at SBA.
March 4, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy The Small Business Admistration announced a new honcho for its New York district office. The post has been vacant since October when Jose R. Sinfontes went south to take over the SBA district for Puerto Rico. ...

State of N.Y. snuffs Trump's Jones Beach basement.
March 5, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg The Department of State's review board has denied a variance for Donald Trump and Steve Carl's planned restaurant and catering hall at Jones Beach State Park. After a hearing that lasted most of the day Tuesday,...

Educators in LI oppose property tax cap.
March 5, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels A cap on school taxes is wrong way to fix New York's property tax crisis, a group of Long Island educators told the state Commission on Property Tax Relief on Wednesday afternoon. Superintendents from three Long...

LI home construction slows.
March 5, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg A report released by the Long Island Builders Institute cited 69 percent fewer housing starts here last year than in 2006. The LIBI study also reported that renovations and remodeling in 2007 was off about $4.7...

Efforts underway to restore John Coltrane's home in Dix Hills.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy By the time he got to Dix Hills, for someone not yet 40, he had lived several lives, passing through the fires of physical and spiritual turmoil and coming out the other side stronger. An addiction to narcotics...

Long Island's generic drug makers struggling in current economy.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Buffeted by surging energy prices and intense competition, Long Island's generic drug makers are finding the current economy a tough pill to swallow. Generic drugs are an almost $30 billion U.S. industry, growing...

Long Island-based Cablevision fends off Verizon's entry into market.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Pete Weiss When Verizon first cracked the Long Island market with its vaunted FiOS television service, some analysts - and the company itself - predicted subscribers would leave Cablevision in droves for the phone company's video...

Shell Oil pushing for approval of Broadwater liquified natural gas terminal.
March 7, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale and Michael H. Samuels Shell Oil Co. President John D. Hofmeister went on the offensive this week, saying that if New York officials derail the Broadwater liquified natural gas terminal planned off the coast of...

Commentary: In dictating labor costs, good sense should be prevailing.
March 7, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki The Democrats have their best chance ever to win the perennially Republican-controlled state Senate this year, and they're counting on the unions to hit the streets hard come autumn. One payback for the trades is...

Malpractice costs cause a ripple effect on Long Island.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder The medical malpractice insurance crisis not only has Long Island obstetricians anxious, but midwives - who take a more natural approach to childbirth - are also feeling the crunch. In the New York metropolitan...

Islip on Great River plans: smaller, please.
March 7, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg The Town of Islip's Planning Board is prepared to approve two major developments in Great River - as long as both builders are willing to scale back their efforts. First, Astro Realty, headed by Bay Shore...

Smithtown Bancorp eyes loan biz expansion.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser The subprime mortgage mess may be crushing the banking industry as a whole, but the community banks have largely avoided the albatross. In the case of Smithtown Bancorp, it's actually led to a big jump in loan volume....

Long Island Business News Follow Ups: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Legal school A State Supreme Court judge has ruled against the Huntington School District in its fight with a Korean church over a former junior high school building. The former school was last used by Touro Law...

Long Island nursery pulled up its roots, heart doctor plans office.
March 7, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg This is the latest in LIBN's occasional series, "Abandoned LI" - about those commercial Island eyesores that never seem to find, or hold onto, the right tenant. The Belleclare Nursery was a popular spot for...

Commentary: A green mission.
March 7, 2008... Byline: LIBN staff The recurring joke at the Long Island Business News Green Strategies breakfast last week was that the parking lot was filled with SUVs, Beemers, Jaguars and assorted gas guzzlers. In a room loaded with the Island's...

Commentary: Region trails the green race.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Martin Cantor If attendance at Long Island Business News' recent symposium, "Long Island Next Big Thing: Green Strategies," was any indication, there is much interest in the greening of Long Island. What was also evident was that...

Commentary: An economic takeoff for LI.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Ed Green Long Island's two key airports, Long Island MacArthur and Republic, are on the cusp of assuming an ever more important role in the region's economy. MacArthur has just hired a new airport commissioner, Teresa Rizzuto....

Commentary: It takes more than smarts to run a college.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Robert Scott Money. Money. Money. Everywhere we turn, the message is about money. The Harvard tuition plan. The LaValle middle-income plan. Congressional price controls. The increase in expensive unfunded compliance...

Commentary: The Democrats are winning where it counts.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer Local political contests usually don't have much of an impact outside the region where the election takes place. But the recent special election to choose a state senator in the upstate 48th district is over and the...

Commentary: Out East: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller Get it done - with the help of 'Geraldo's Complaint' I have a personal version of Murphy's Law, which goes like this: If I take a public position on something, the opposite is guaranteed to occur. I think of it as...

Long Island Medical Briefs: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Suffolk and SBU join forces to fix health disparities Stony Brook University Medical Center and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services have formed the Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition to...

Long Island Technology Briefs: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Pete Weiss The voices of angels can be heard throughout LISTnet LISTnet's Feb. 28 BEST meeting featured a panel discussion about the Long Island Angel Network. No, not winged cherubs or lithe actresses playing secret agents,...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Green building is budding throughout the region Environmentally responsible real estate has been sprouting like weeds here lately. Chairman of the Long Island chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council...

Long Island Financial Briefs: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Empire National ends capital raising, opens in Islandia Long Island's newest de novo is open for business. Empire National Bank opened its doors Feb. 25 after an initial public offering that topped...

Paul Gallagher brings Long Island-based Hirsch International back to profitability.(Company overview)
March 7, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Driving to work on his first day as chief executive for a Long Island company, Paul Gallagher got a call from his wife at their home in Manhattan. "There's been some kind of accident," she said. On that morning...

Commentary: How To...Choose a private banker.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Banks are willing to roll out the red carpet for customers with sizeable accounts. Many banks have private banking departments, which provide personal, custom services to high-net-worth individuals that meet...

South Nassau Communities Hospital names Joseph Lamantia as exec. VP and COO.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder NAME: Joseph Lamantia POSITION: Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer ORGANIZATION: South Nassau Communities Hospital TOP ACCOMPLISHMENT: His family South Nassau Communities Hospital has named...

Schwartz & Company names new partner.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Schwartz & Company has named Michael H. Rowe a partner. Rowe joined the firm in 2002, and has been the director of their auditing and accounting division.

Chris Miller launches Long Island's first wine certification course.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy If you don't know noble rot from a noble chateau, a Petite Sirah from a Petite Verdot, Chris Miller wants to teach you. Not just teach you, but certify you as a wine expert in the booming business of the grape,...

Commentary: Working together to keep children safe.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Kenneth R.Cerini Within Nassau and Suffolk counties, over 15,000 children have been reported to Child Protective Services each year as suspected cases of child abuse and neglect. We don't have to be mathematicians to calculate the...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Arrow gives grant to FSL Arrow Electronics in Melville gave the Family Service League a $10,000 grant to support the organization's Community Advocacy Information and Referral Center located at the South Shore...

Accountants are managing more than just money.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Jacks of all trades Accounting firms are being called upon to manage clients' money as well as their lives People meet with their accountant at least once a year, when tax time rolls around. Many...

U.S. government creates deduction double standard.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Some people believe that the government specializes in double-speak. It would be more correct to believe it's an expert on double standards, at least where the IRS is concerned. The U.S. government, through the...

Thanks to accounting regs, M&As just got more expensive.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Mergers and acquisitions are about to get more costly due to new accounting regulations expected to lead to increased fees and more immediate charges to earnings. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has...

Ones to Watch: Long Island Accounting Firms.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Joel C. Dressner Partner Gettry Marcus Stern & Lehrer An accountant with more than 30 years of experience, Dressner leads the Woodbury-based firm's expanding real estate practice. He provides services for closely...

Economic stimulus package offers tasty tax advantage.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Anderson and Laura Glasser This week has already delivered enough gloomy economic news, so why not take a little comfort in this notice from the tax adviser. If your business has thoughts of expansion during the next few...

Long Island religious organizations announce personnel changes: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder The New York Board of Rabbis has elected Rabbi Charles A. Klein as its 59th president. He has been rabbi of the Merrick Jewish Centre-Congregation Ohr Torah for the past 30 years. He has been actively involved in the...

Long Island nonprofits announce staffing changes: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder The Huntington Arts Council appointed Jamie Spear as its program director. He will be responsible for planning and overseeing the council's Summer Arts Festival. John Westerman, managing partner of the law firm...

Long Island law firms announce staffing changes: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Michael J. Antongiovanni has been named an associate at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein in its litigation and dispute resolution law practice. He handles complex corporate and commercial litigation, including real...

Long Island health care firms announce staffing changes: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Raphael Castillo has joined Huntington Eye Care. He specifically treats diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, trauma, cataract surgery and comprehensive ophthalmology. He is an expert in cataract surgery and...

Port Jefferson School District appoints director of special education.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder The Port Jefferson School District has appointed Lou Malerba as director of special education. He had been a speech pathologist and a program coordinator at the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational...

Long Island banks announce staffing changes: March 7, 2008.
March 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Bridge Bancorp has appointed Emanuel Arturi to serve as its director and as director for The Bridgehampton National Bank. He is the recently retired cofounder of BusinessEdge Solutions, a consulting firm. ...

Long Island-based Hi-Tech Pharmacal drops on weak sales of cold and flu drugs.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Generic drugmaker Hi-Tech Pharmacal reported a third quarter loss Monday, attributing the decline to lower sales in cold and flu products. For the quarter ending Jan. 31, the company reported $15.1 million in net...

North Fork is gone, rebranded as Capital One Bank.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser North Fork Bank made the long-awaited transformation to Capital One Bank this weekend and opened Monday morning as a division of the credit card giant. The rebranding comes more than a year after Capital One's...

N.Y. Gov. Spitzer expected to resign.
March 11, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who steamrolled into Albany as the agent of change, is expected to resign amid scandal, according to numerous media reports. The governor was disgraced after news broke Monday of...

N.Y. Governor Spitzer resigns.
March 12, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has been linked to a prostitution ring, resigned Wednesday. David Paterson, the former state Senator from Harlem who Spitzer selected to run as his lieutenant governor in...

Nassau County Executive Suozzi's state of the county focuses on cutting taxes.
March 12, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Nassau County must figure out how to cap taxes, lower taxes and control taxes, County Executive Tom Suozzi said in his State of the County Address Tuesday night. Suozzi, who spoke for about 35 minutes, said...

David Paterson sworn in as governor of New York.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels With the pronouncement, "My name is David Paterson, and I am the governor of New York," a new era of governance began in Albany Monday afternoon. Paterson, who replaces disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer,...

Chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. Patrick Foye resigns.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Patrick Foye, downstate chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., has resigned. Foye ran the United Way of Long Island from 2004 to 2007 before he was selected by outgoing Gov. Eliot Spitzer for the...

Tiger Woods buys Southampton mansion.
March 18, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Tiger Woods has purchased a Southampton mansion that was offered for $65 million, according to sources. The selling price was not disclosed. The waterfront home on nearly six acres was listed with Beate Moore...

Gov. Paterson committed to supporting property tax relief.
March 20, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Gov. David Paterson on Thursday reiterated his desire to relieve the property tax burden on the state's residents during the fifth meeting of the New York Commission on Property Tax Relief. Paterson attended...

Edgewood-based CPI Aerostructures shares fall on results.(Financial report)
March 25, 2008... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Shares of Edgewood-based CPI Aerostructures fell nearly 4 percent Tuesday after the company released fourth quarter and year-end results that fell short of its own projections. For the quarter ended Dec. 31,...

Smith named dean of Hofstra University Medical School in Hempstead.
March 26, 2008... Byline: David Reich-Hale Hofstra University named Dr. Lawrence Smith the dean of its new medical school on Wednesday. Smith is currently the chief medical officer of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, which is collaborating...

Edge Electronics hires product manager.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Edge Electronics hired Michael Fiore as product manager. He will help with the annual business plan for franchised lines, delivering monthly forecasts and managing inventory and price negotiations. Previously, he was...

Long Island not-for-profits announce staffing changes: March 28, 2008.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Leila W. Holmes was recently appointed to the board of directors for the Nassau Suffolk Partnership Housing Development Fund Corp. She is secretary for the Sunny Brook First Baptist Church Revitalization Committee of...

Long Island law firms announce staffing changes: March 28, 2008.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder E. Christopher Murray, a partner at Reisman, Peirez and Reisman, has been appointed to the Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals, which rules on all real property variance and other zoning applications. He...

South Nassau Communities Hospital hires clinical research coordinator.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder South Nassau Communities Hospital has hired Roxanne Rosario as clinical research coordinator. She comes to the hospital from Five Towns Neuroscience Research, where she was responsible for coordinating all clinical...

Suffolk County Legislator to serve on Suffolk County Budget Panel.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Suffolk County Legislator Lynne C. Nowick was asked by County Executive Steve Levy to serve on the Suffolk County Budget Panel. Nowick represents St. James.

Long Island educational facilities announce staffing changes: March 28, 2008.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder The Locust Valley Central School District has hired Anna F. Hunderfund as superintendent of schools. Previously, she was assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at the Jericho School District, where...

Karp Resources founder receives 2008 Enterprising Women of the Year Award.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Karen Karp, president and founder of Karp Resources, was named a recipient of the 2008 Enterprising Women of the Year Award by Enterprising Women Magazine. Karp Resources is a company dedicated to the successful...

Inside the United Way of Long Island.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee The United Way is a national, charitable organization that was founded in Denver in 1887. "There was a big population boom," said Christopher M. Hahn, president and CEO of the United Way of Long Island. "People...

Nonprofits awaken to the power of the Internet.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Ed Lally, vice president of development for The Hospice Care Network, sat in front of a colorful quilt with panels on which people wrote messages such as "My dad was no. 1," "I miss my dad," and "I love my grandpa in...

Ones to Watch: Long Island Nonprofits.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Clifford Sondock Frank Catalano Board member Contingency Planning Exchange, Long Island Chapter Catalano is a board member and security and law enforcement liaison for the board at this non-profit association based in New York...

Politicians raising money online.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Politicians are finding more than votes online. Campaign funds are only as far away as the click of a mouse. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been successful in raising millions online. So it's no surprise...

Long Island nonprofits creating charitable communities online.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Nonprofits are turning to portals that create charitable communities, connecting groups with donors, often for free. You may not even need a site of your own. Port Washington-based Karma411.com launched last...

Bank of America pumps up philanthropic ops.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Banks aren't only counseling wealthy clients on how to manage their money; they're advising them on how to give it away. In order to cement relationships and better serve affluent customers, financial institutions...

Home sales stall in the Hamptons.
March 28, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg It seems the Hamptons real estate market isn't bulletproof after all. Aside from the occasional high-profile transaction, brokers report home sales have slowed to a crawl on the East End, falling 25 percent in...

Madison National Bank building loan portfolio with taxi medallion lending.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Madison National Bank has found an unconventional way to build its loan portfolio: helping would-be hacks fund their $429,000 taxi licenses. When the Merrick-based bank opened its doors in January 2007, the...

On Long Island highways, a few are really cleaning up.
March 28, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg The state's Sponsor-A-Mile program turns 10 this year. Over the decade, it's saved taxpayers millions in clean-up costs and provided good vibes and valuable highway signage to sponsoring companies. It's also...

Social entrepreneurship allows for comfortable living while doing good.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Do well, very well, and then you can afford to do good. That is a tried and true long-term strategy for certain businesspeople, but now a movement gaining traction called "social entrepreneurship" is allowing...

Commentary: Who was Vern and how did he get his own equinox?
March 28, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki Spring sprang earlier again this year. By "spring," I mean the start of the growing season, the springing forth of vegetation for which the season is named, after the Old English word "springan." Using...

New York Foundation for the Arts helps artists craft a biz model.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy The human figures lurch and crawl, with one falling from the ceiling while two women huddle together. The figures, made of thin black wire, live on one wall of Naomi Grossman's airy, spacious studio in the...

High deposit rates pressure Long Island's small banks.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Community banks have a new obstacle to deal with: A few big banks are upping interest rates on deposits, compensating for a lack of loan business. Countrywide, now part of Bank of America, is offering certificates...

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy pitches cuts, rules out tax hike.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Facing a $150 million budget shortfall, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is pushing to make up the deficit without cutting taxes. Some legislators, however, are prepared to push back. Levy's plans, which...

Long Island Business News Follow Ups: March 28, 2008.
March 28, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Stop in Queens If Gov. David Paterson has his way, Islanders trying to drive into the Big Apple will have to stop in an outer borough and get on a subway, drive to northern Manhattan or pay the $8 fee to drive south...

Across from Enterprise Park at Calverton, a lonely 20 acres still unused.
March 28, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg There's a lot going on in Calverton. From Riverhead Resorts' 755-acre indoor ski mountain theme park to the 320-acre industrial park planned by Rechler Equity Partners, money is finally flowing into most of the...

Two minutes with Jim Gay, president and chief executive of Gold Coast Bank.
March 28, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Jim Gay, president and chief executive of Islandia-based Gold Coast Bank, which opened March 10, is using his experience working with small businesses at banks like Citigroup to tailor his new institution to Long...

Commentary: In the sewers.
March 28, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is once again crusading... for sewers. And he's right, because as unsexy a topic as this is, sewers are the key to the county's economic future. Without them, downtowns and...