Westchester County Newsmakers, 2.2.2015
The Bristal appoints new exec
Faraz Kayani has been appointed executive director of The Bristal at White Plains, an assisted living community.
Kayani had been the assistant executive director at The Bristal at North Hills. He also owned All Politics is Local, in which he visited assisted living residences to lead political lectures and current events for the residents.
Kayani was recognized in 2010 with the New York State Chancellor”™s Award and served as adjunct professor at SUNY Old Westbury, teaching community politics and civic engagement. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American politics from SUNY Old Westbury and a graduate degree from SUNY Albany in international relations. He has also taken human rights courses at Columbia University.
Salandra named CFO
John A. Salandra has been appointed chief financial officer by Ossining-based Dominican Sisters Family Health Service Inc., a visiting nurse service. Salandra has served more than 30 years at New York metropolitan area hospitals and nursing homes in various senior financial capacities and 17 years as a CPA at two independent public accounting firms.
“We are confident in John and look forward to his contributions in this new leadership role,” said Mary Zagajeski, president and CEO. “With his extensive and diversified experience in health care financial operations and management, John will be an excellent addition to the executive team at Dominican Sisters Family Health Service.”
Prior to joining Dominican Sisters, Salandra was responsible for the development of a health care audit, accounting, tax and consulting practice for a regional public accounting firm.
Nichuals garners cover
Barbara Nichuals of Bayside Travel in Larchmont was recently featured on the cover of Luxury Travel Advisor magazine, a trade publication for sellers of affluent travel. The article covers Nichuals”™ acquisition of her agency and subsequent purchases of other travel firms as well as the strategy and tactics that have allowed her to grow her business.
Bayside Travel was started in 1960 in Queens and in 1987, Nichuals purchased the company; in 2000, she moved it to Larchmont. Over the years, Bayside Travel acquired Gramatan Travel of Bronxville, Eastchester Travel, the staff of Days Travel and Earlfield Travel and now has more than 40 travel advisers.
Chamber honors Zacotinsky
The Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce has given its Businessperson of the Year honor to longtime business owner and former board chairman Bill Zacotinsky of East Road Motors in Carmel.
Zacotinsky received the award after more than 30 years running his automotive and small-engine repair business and more than a decade of service to Putnam County”™s largest chamber of commerce. His service to the chamber included participating in the Shop Putnam Business and Home Expo committee as well as the annual Mahopac Street Fair.
Zacotinsky started out in the corporate world working for McDonnell Douglas on the space shuttle program before the 1986 Challenger disaster disrupted the entire industry. In order to keep the family in Mahopac, he chose to go back to the auto repair business, which his father had worked in for many years.
Promotions at DLC
DLC Management Corp. in Tarrytown, a national owner and operator of open-air shopping centers, has promoted Adam Greenberg and Heather Moon from associate directors of leasing to directors of leasing for their respective regions.
The new directors have exhibited strong deal-making skills through the number of deals they have completed in any given year, problem solving for key spaces and vacancies and the execution of overall property business plans, according to a press release.
Two partners named to society
Goldberg Segalla announced that partners Anita Hotchkiss and Michael D. Shalhoub, co-chairpersons of the law firm”™s life sciences practice group, have been named Fellows of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), an invitation-only honorary society with membership limited to 3,500 of the best trial lawyers in America.
Hotchkiss is a trial attorney with nearly 40 years of experience defending companies and individuals in the state and federal trial and appellate courts.
Shalhoub is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on product liability defense for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
WJCS receives $52,500 in grants
Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) has been awarded three grants totaling $52,500 from the Westchester Community Foundation and from the Dammann Fund to expand services for Jewish children ”” lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youths ”” as well as pregnant and parenting teens.
The Westchester Community Foundation awarded a $30,000 grant from the New York Community Trust DeWitt Wallace Fund for Youth to the WJCS Center Lane program and a $20,000 grant from the Nathan Moscow Fund to aid Jewish children affected by adverse life circumstances, financial situations and the economic downturn.
Bank names new board members
Wallkill Valley Federal Savings & Loan has announced new board members Richard Gerentine, Mike Croce and Richard J. Smith. President and CEO of Wallkill Valley Federal Savings & Loan Michael Horodyski said, “We are happy to add gentlemen of this caliber to our board. Each one of them is a community-minded guy who is well established within the business community.”
Gerentine of Marlboro is the founder of Marlborough Associates LP, a developer of senior housing complexes, who currently serves as county legislator for Ulster County District 11. Croce of Wallkill is the regional sales manager of BB USA in Newburgh where he manages one of the most profitable divisions. Smith of Pine Bush is the founder and president of R. J. Smith Realty, a real estate brokerage company in the Hudson Valley.
Ruby Group to work with Freedom Luxury Suites
The Ruby Group in Goshen, a general contracting, consulting and project-management firm, is now working with Freedom Luxury Suites LLC (FLS) to identify locations and manage the build-out of the company”™s salon locations throughout the Hudson Valley.
FLS is the regional franchisee for Phenix Salon Suites, an operator of salon concepts nationwide, which plans to open locations within the next three years in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster and Westchester counties, as well as the Albany area.
“We are very pleased to work with the Ruby Group as we continue to explore the possibilities for expansion,” said Richie Edelstein, managing partner of FLS. “We have an opportunity to change the salon industry for the better in the Hudson Valley, and it all starts with finding and leveraging the best sites for our salon concepts. We look forward to magnifying our footprint with the help of the Ruby Group.”
Phenix Salon Suites offers salon professionals of all types the opportunity to fulfill their dream of operating their own business with a luxurious and private suite with no initial investment. The suites come fully furnished with all of the fixtures and equipment necessary to run their business.
KSQ Architects promotes two
Rachel Birnboim-Kochman, project manager, has been promoted to senior associate at KSQ Architects, Tulsa, Okla., a firm she joined in 2005 and currently leads its White Plains studio where she specializes in managing projects for New York City multifamily housing developers as well as university student housing. Birboim-Kochman is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the New York AIA and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Robin Styles-Lopez has been promoted to associate. She joined the firm in 2012 and oversees the day-to-marketing activities of KSQ and specializes in graphics, branding, marketing communications and collateral materials. She is a member of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and an alumna of Rochester Institute of Technology.
Mattesi joins Douglas Elliman
Glorianne Mattesi has joined Douglas Elliman Real Estate”™s Westchester brokerage. An award-winning multimillion-dollar real estate professional, Mattesi has consistently been ranked as one of Westchester”™s top brokers over the course of her 20-plus-year career in real estate. She was ranked the number one agent by volume and number of transactions in New Rochelle for 2014 by Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service.
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