People April 2015
April 7, 2015Realtor 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…
Read MoreRockland’s Wright Bros. Firm Joins Leading R.E. Companies of the World
April 7, 2015NYACK—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…
Read MoreTech Visionary Andy Rapattoni Dies at 75
April 1, 2015THOUSAND 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…
Read MoreWeiden Named HGAR Government Affairs Director
April 1, 2015WHITE 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…
Read MoreBOARDROOM Report: April 2015
April 1, 2015Communications 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…
Read MoreHGAR’s Houlihan Served as Parade Grand Marshal
April 1, 2015EASTCHESTER—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…
Read MoreA Conversation With: Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino
April 1, 2015WHITE 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…
Read MorePeople: March 2015
March 7, 2015Julia 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…
Read MoreLongtime Cappelli Exec. Apicella Moves to MacQuesten Companies
March 3, 2015PELHAM, 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…
Read MoreGuest Opinion: Just the Facts About PILOTs
March 3, 2015Let’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…
Read MoreWomen’s Council of Realtors Present Benefit Concert Featuring Original Stars of ‘Jersey Boys’ on Broadway
March 3, 2015TARRYTOWN—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…
Read MoreIn Memoriam: George Frank, Longtime Building And Construction Executive
March 3, 2015ARMONK - 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,…
Read MoreGATEWAY PERSPECTIVES: Spring Thaw?
March 3, 2015Let’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.…
Read MoreHGAR’s Richard Haggerty Inducted Into Bud Smith Leadership Society
March 3, 2015VANCOUVER, 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…
Read More