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Announcements
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Counselor
SUMMER 2008
- Must a person owe tax to be guilty
of Tax Evasion
- Welcome New Partners & Associates
- The Firm Highlights
- Firm News, Appearances & Articles
The Firm Highlights
Our firm’s attorneys
continue to enhance our clients’ economic quality
of life.
Zoning and Land Use Approvals
Jeffrey D. Forchelli and Richard C. Goldberg
Protected Long Island property owners’ economic rights
by successfully challenging a City of Glen Cove Board of
Zoning Appeals decision which had upheld the local building
department’s denial of a building permit and certificate
of occupancy for a substantial garage built by our clients
adjacent to their home. Denial of our clients’ application
by the Board carried with it possible significant adverse
consequences since our clients may have found themselves
in the position of having to tear the garage down at considerable
expense.
Other property owners benefited when Mr. Forchelli and Mr.
Goldberg successfully challenged in the Supreme Court, Nassau
County, the denial of a subdivision application by the Bayville
Village planning board. The owners of the premises had the
right to subdivide the premises in accord with a local law
which provided for the “grandfathering” of subdivision
rights in favor of the current owners, despite an intervening
change in local zoning law that would have rendered such
subdivision currently impermissible.
Real Estate Department
Brian R. Sahn and Anthony B. Barton
Represented Somerville Storage Partners, LLP, an affiliate
of The Marcus Organization, in acquiring a nearly 90 year
old, 61,760 square foot warehouse and manufacturing building
located in Somerville, Massachusetts. The project entails
converting the existing building into a self-storage facility.
Contemporaneously, Mr. Sahn represented Somerville in acquiring
and closing a $6.5 million secured construction loan facility
funded by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. The new facility will be
operated under the umbrella organization Space Self Storage
that operates a similar facility in Lindenhurst, New York,
and has under construction two more facilities in Deer Park
and Amityville, New York.
Barbara Shaheen Alesi
Negotiated and closed a transaction involving the purchase
of a commercial building in downtown Huntington. The transaction
involved negotiations for a lease cancellation with the
existing tenant; resolving various zoning regulations impacting
on the purchaser’s intended use; and coordinating
time frames to effect the seller’s tax free exchange
of properties under Section 1041 of the Internal Revenue
Code.
Negotiated and closed a transaction involving acquisition
of a four acre parcel in Muttontown from The Nature Conservancy.
The parcel is contiguous with a larger parcel owned by the
purchaser and, once combined, will support the purchaser’s
continued use of the property as a farm for boarding, riding
and showing horses.
Negotiated and closed a commercial loan transaction for
approximately $4 million of loan proceeds to be used for
expansion of the borrower’s nursing home operation.
Ms. Alesi also coordinated procurement of the required Department
of Heath regulatory approvals.
Banking and Finance Department
Steven G. Gaebler
Mr. Gaebler successfully represented Commerce Bank, N.A.
in connection with the negotiation and documentation of
a leasehold mortgage loan for City Cellar Restaurant of
Westbury. He was required to negotiate amendments to an
existing ground lease in order to obtain mortgage financing.
Bactolac Pharmaceutical of Hauppauge will have a new home
thanks to Mr. Gaebler’s successful representation
of Citibank, N.A. in connection with the negotiation and
documentation of a $6 million construction loan. The loan,
which included financial assistance from the Suffolk County
Industrial Development Agency, will enable Bactolac to construct
a 44,372 square foot commercial/industrial building to house
its operations.
James C. Ricca & James E. Cantanno
Represented institutional lenders in two separate mortgage
loan transactions, each involving multiple commercial properties
in Manhattan and the Bronx. The aggregate loan amounts for
the transactions exceeded $24 million and $7 million respectively.
Tax Department
Barry C. Feldman
Successfully secured tax-exempt status for a voluntary nursing
home located in Brooklyn. Upon Mr. Feldman’s skillful
representation, the Internal Revenue Service considered
the matter on an expedited basis, enabling the client to
complete a multi-million dollar HUD refinancing and, most
importantly, avoid paying nearly $1.7 million in mortgage
recording taxes.
Barry C. Feldman and Robert H. Groman
“We are returning your case file to the Area Director
with the determination that you be relieved of liability
for the tax periods indicated above.” With those brief
words, the IRS Appeals office closed its case against our
client, which had been pending for nearly three years. As
a result, the client was relieved of liability for payroll
taxes and interest in excess of $5.35 million. And, with
this decision “in hand”, there may be an additional
saving of $3 million in taxes and interest which might have
been claimed by New York State.
Terence E. Smolev
Mr. Smolev, as the head of the Tax, Trusts and Estates Division
of the firm, is currently representing several high profile
restaurants and other businesses in New York State Tax Department
and Internal Revenue Service investigations regarding sales
tax and income tax evasion charges.
Litigation
Donald Jay Schwartz
Donald Jay Schwartz recently settled a personal injury action
pending in the Bronx Supreme Court for $425,000. Mr. Schwartz’s
client was walking her dog on a Manhattan sidewalk when
she suffered a fractured hip caused by a wind blown piece
of plywood negligently placed in her path.
Donald Jay Schwartz and Richard C. Goldberg
Donald Jay Schwartz and Richard C. Goldberg were successful
in having the Appellate Division, Second Department reverse
a Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge’s decision and
reinstate an injunction on behalf of our Southampton physician
client. The injunction stopped our client’s former
employee from violating a restrictive covenant in an employment
agreement that prevented the offending doctor from practicing
within 15 miles of our client’s office for a period
of two years.
Richard A. Blumberg and Lisa Perillo
Richard A. Blumberg and Lisa Perillo’s successful
representation of Choicepoint in the Suffolk County, Supreme
Court resulted in dismissal of a negligence lawsuit. Choicepoint
assists companies in administering drug tests to their employees.
In this case, Choicepoint was retained by a freight moving
company to oversee the random drug tests of its employees.
One employee tested positive for cocaine. The Plaintiff
then sued Choicepoint for negligence alleging that the test
was administered improperly and that Plaintiff’s use
of Benzocaine and anabolic steroids caused the false/positive
result for cocaine. Utilizing expert testimony, Mr. Blumberg
and Ms. Perillo convinced the Court that a combination of
these drugs cannot produce a false/positive test for cocaine.
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