The Women’s Council of Realtors Concert To Benefit The Wounded Warrior Project

People April 2015

Realtor Jen DiCostanzo recently joined the Green Team Home Selling System, a full service real estate brokerage in the Village of Warwick. DiCostanzo lives in Warwick with her husband, Richard, a 25-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department, and their two children. After graduating from high school, DiCostanzo attended Drake Business School and…

Rockland’s Wright Bros. Firm Joins Leading R.E. Companies of the World

NYACK—Wright Bros. Real Estate Inc., a locally-based real estate brokerage firm serving Rockland County and the lower Hudson Valley, has been selected for membership in the Chicago-based Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. It was announced on May 1 that Wright Bros. had joined Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a global network…

Tech Visionary Andy Rapattoni Dies at 75

THOUSAND OAKS, CA— Rapattoni Corporation announced that its CEO and Chairman of the Board Andy Rapattoni died April 8, 2015, at the age of 75 at Los Robles Hospital here after complications following lower back surgery. Rapattoni headed Rapattoni Corp., a national software firm located in Simi Valley, CA, and was an industry icon in…

Weiden Named HGAR Government Affairs Director

WHITE PLAINS—The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors announced earlier this month the appointment of Phil Weiden of Brooklyn as its new Government Affairs Director. Weiden will help to develop HGAR’s policies and objectives involving local, state, and federal government issues, as well as analyze proposed legislative actions and their potential impact on the industry. In…

BOARDROOM Report: April 2015

Communications and Member Services Director of Communications Mary Prenon provided the report from the Communications Council, advising that a new HGAR Member Perks Program has been launched. Enrollment is free and the program provides access to exclusive offers and discounts from popular merchants. Approximately 400 people have already signed up. Prenon further advised that the…

HGAR’s Houlihan Served as Parade Grand Marshal

EASTCHESTER—Veteran Realtor Joseph Houlihan, who along with this brother Dan, have owned boutique real estate brokerage firm Houlihan & O’Malley in Bronxville for more than 30 years, had the honor of serving as Grand Marshal for Eastchester’s 11th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 15. Houlihan, 60, whose great grandparents emigrated from county Kerry…

A Conversation With: Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino

WHITE PLAINS—Since taking office in 2010, Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino has waged a campaign to revitalize the Westchester economy by taking advantage of the county’s “Intellectual Capital,” as well as its emerging biotechnology and healthcare sectors that continued to fuel job creation and economic growth in Westchester in 2014. Armed with the results of…

People: March 2015

Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty announced that Jennifer Baldinger, Agnes Seminara-Holzberg and Lori Calamari have joined the firm. Baldinger, a top producing Westchester County real estate agent for more than 10 years, will be based in the firm’s Scarsdale brokerage. The Scarsdale resident specializes in selling residential homes in Scarsdale and its surrounding Westchester…

Longtime Cappelli Exec. Apicella Moves to MacQuesten Companies

PELHAM, NY—For almost 20 years Joseph Apicella was developer Louis Cappelli’s right-hand man during the approval process for just about all of the firm’s high-profile projects in Westchester County. The residential development firm The MacQuesten Companies has announced that Apicella has left Cappelli’s firm and has joined the Pelham-based company as its managing director of…

Guest Opinion: Just the Facts About PILOTs

Let’s set the record straight regarding Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) in Orange County.  PILOTs actually ease the tax burden on every taxpayer and school district in our county. Without PILOTs we would be left with open unused fields, less taxes and no jobs.  Large companies interested in expanding in Orange County have the…

Women’s Council of Realtors Present Benefit Concert Featuring Original Stars of ‘Jersey Boys’ on Broadway

TARRYTOWN—On Thursday, April 9th, The Women’s Council of Realtors, Empire Westchester Chapter will present” The Midtown Men In Concert” at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown. The concert will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, which serves military service members, veterans, and their families who suffered physical or mental injuries or illness during their military service…

In Memoriam: George Frank, Longtime Building And Construction Executive

ARMONK - George Frank, the longtime executive vice president of The Builders Institute (BI)/Building and Realty Institute (BRI), died peacefully on Jan 30 at the age of 88. A longtime Westchester County resident, Frank served as executive vice president of the BI-BRI from 1954 to 2001. He oversaw all aspects of the association, a building,…

GATEWAY PERSPECTIVES: Spring Thaw?

Let’s hope so, (he said, knocking on a lot of wood). The title of my last article for this publication was “Deep Freeze.” In hindsight I should have called it “Deep Freeze with Several Snow Storms Thrown in for Good Measure,” as we were pummeled with snow storms every week and the bitter cold persisted.…

HGAR’s Richard Haggerty Inducted Into Bud Smith Leadership Society

VANCOUVER, BC—Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors Chief Executive Officer Richard Haggerty was honored for his contributions to the real estate industry with his induction into the National Association of Realtors’ Dr. Almon R. “Bud” Smith, RCE, AE Leadership Society during the NAR Association Executives Institute meetings held here from March 13-March 16. Other society inductees…