Calendar Calls

Approvals

Jeffrey D. Forchelli, representing Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and developer Richard Mohring, successfully applied for approval to a subdivision of the County Executive's property in Glen Cove.

William F. Bonesso successfully:

• Represented The Huntington Square Mall on Jericho Turnpike in East Northport in securing parking variances from the Huntington ZBA and Site Plan Approval from the Huntington Planning Board to undergo a complete renovation of the site. The redevelopment of the shopping center will give a much-needed facelift to the property and introduce a number of new retailers.
  

• Secured approvals from Huntington ZBA for Crestwood Caterers on Fort Salonga Road in Northport to undergo expansion, obtaining a substantial parking variance to allow the catering facility to hold larger affairs.

Brian Sahn, Aaron Gershonowitz, and Steven Gaebler successfully represented Welcome Wagon International, Inc. in connection with $6,500,000.00 sale of its building located at 115 South Service Road in Westbury, NY, while negotiating a possession agreement for Welcome Wagon to move to 245 Newtown Road in Plainview, NY, giving the company time to locate a permanent site for its local operations. Representing parent company Homestore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOMS), Gaebler successfully negotiated the lease for 48,000 square feet for Welcome Wagon.

Judy Simoncic Jacoby, representing the Pisciotta family before the Nassau County Planning Commission, received final approval for a six-lot subdivision on a two-acre parcel of land located in Glen Wood Landing, ending a six-year complex environmental and planning review.

Peter Mills Alpert represented the sale of a building in Brooklyn Heights recorded as among the highest price ever paid per square foot ($1000.00/sq ft.) to date.

Richard A. Blumberg successfully defended Platinum Properties and Robin Gray, Esq. in a lawsuit over a $230,000.00 down payment to which the Plaintiff claimed entitlement. The Court agreed with Mr. Blumberg that the seller can retain the down payment and further found that Robin Gray, Esq. acted properly in releasing the said funds.

Steven G. Gaebler successfully represented Citibank, N.A. in connection with a $5,000,000 leasehold mortgage loan to HPP Rinx Inc. and HPP Summer Camp Inc. to purchase the lease and licensing agreements relating to the various recreational activities at Hidden Pond Park in Hauppauge. Prior to finalizing the loan, Mr. Gaebler successfully engineered lease amendments between the Town of Islip and the new purchasers to make the loan and purchase possible.

The Corporate & Commercial Department completed these transactions:

Anthony V. Curto, Barbara Shaheen Alesi and Christopher J. Kula, representing Losquadro Ice Company and its affiliates, completed a complex commercial transaction involving a sale of substantially all the assets to a subsidiary of Artic Glacier Inc. The transaction involves the transfer of almost every asset class and is multi-jurisdictional in scope. The selling entities entered into leases on four commercial properties. The transaction involved agreements, including employment agreements, noncom petition agreements, and distribution agreements.

Barbara Shaheen Alesi represented an Internet-based advertising company, Hot Rocket Marketing, Inc., and its owner Mark Colacioppo, in the sale of certain of its assets to a newly created subsidiary of Traffix, Inc., a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ. The consideration included shares of Traffix, Inc. Mr. Colacioppo will continue as an employee of the purchasing entity with the vision of expanding the scope and depth of its customer and vendor base.

The Litigation Department has successfully resolved the following matters:

Donald Jay Schwartz:

• Settled a commercial litigation on behalf of client Cablevision Systems Corp that was pending in the Orange County Supreme Court. The Court denied a property owner's motion for a preliminary injunction, and granted Cablevision's motion for summary judgment holding the property owner had no rights to monetary benefits resulting from Cablevision's use of its equipment on property leased from the property owner.
  

• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of client, Starwood Ceruzzi, resulting in the striking of an improperly filed mechanic's lien and dismissal of the lawsuit against the client.
  Settled litigation which had been pending against our client, Swezey's, in the Suffolk County Supreme Court.
  

• Brought litigation against two insurance companies on behalf of two clients forcing the insurance companies to pay this firm's legal fees to represent our clients. Mr. Schwartz demonstrated that the insurance companies would be guilty of a conflict of interest if their attorneys instead represented our clients.

Barbara Shaheen Alesi and Donald Jay Schwartz recently settled a litigation matter brought by our client, North Shore Animal League America, against a defendant for failure to provide a 24- hours poison control center for pet owners through NSALA access to an Animal Poison Control Hotline. NSALA is a not for profit animal welfare organization which places in excess of 30,000 homeless animals in adoptive homes each year. The settlement resulted in NSALA's continued ability to provide the Animal Poison Control Hotline to the public.