Congratulations to Brendan Burke on becoming the 1st Rand Commercial Services agent to achieve BREAKTHROUGH at 90%

Congratulations to Brendan Burke on becoming the 1st Rand Commercial Services Agent to achieve BREAKTHROUGH at 90%.

For more information on Brendan Burke go to www.randcommercial.com or email brendan.burke@randcommercial.com

 

 

Nick Wolff honored by the White Plains Rotary for all his Outstanding Service to Rotary International for his civic and charitable endeavors

Congratulations to Nick Wolff on being honored last night by the White Plains Rotary for all his “Outstanding Service to Rotary International” for his civic & charitable endeavors.

For more information on Nick Wolff please go to www.randcommercial.com or email nick.wolff@randcommercial.com

 

 

Route 59 is moving again after 3 years

After nearly three years of construction, a critical one-mile project on Route 59 in West Nyack is finally done.

All of the construction equipment and barriers have been removed from the lanes stretching from the front of the Palisades Center and Crosfield Avenue in West Nyack. Traffic is flowing smoothly over the newly paved roadway.

“It’s about time,” West Nyack resident Randy Glucksman said.

The $31 million project was scheduled to be completed by Oct. 31, although the state had been predicting it would end even earlier.

The massive infrastructure job was much more than about fixing the road. Four bridges along Route 59 were also replaced, all while traffic was kept moving.

It didn’t help that the road led directly to arguably Rockland’s most popular destination, the Palisades Center mall.

At its worst on weekday morning and weekends, traffic could easily back up more than a mile, forcing drivers to sit stuck in one lane.

Savvy drivers eventually resorted to using side streets, an unwelcome development for those living in previously quiet neighborhoods.

“When we had to go in the area, we would always go on the Thruway because it was such a nightmare to go in that traffic,” Glucksman said Friday.

The state Department of Transportation project came in about $2 million over budget. The DOT has previously said that was largely due to extra drainage and utility work, additional traffic protection and redoing some work that was damaged by Tropical Storm Irene in the summer of 2012.

A DOT spokeswoman said some minor work, such as landscaping, left that may result in a sporadic lane closures for a short time.

Aside from adding new sidewalks and crosswalks, Route 59 was raised 18 inches to aid in drainage during storms. There is a new longer merge lane from Sickletown Road onto eastbound lanes, replacing a stop sign.

“They did a nice job, I’ll say that,” Glucksman said.

The Journal New - Posted by: Khurram Saeed

Investing in New York's Future!

See a letter from New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo thanking Rand Commercial Services for its support on building a new Tappan Zee Bridge.

 

HVEDC Resource Guide wins Northeast award

HVEDC
 Resource Guide
 wins Northeast award

Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation's Economic Resource Guide has won a Superior Award from the Northeastern Economic Developers Association. The award was won in the Literature and Promotional Awards program Community Profile category. The award will be presented at the organization's annual meeting in Hartford in October.

To learn more about the Hudson Valley:

HVEDC Resource Guide - Download here

To learn more about NEDA:

Northeastern Economic Developers Association - www.nedaonline.org

Joseph Rand - Heavily and Happily Into Real Estate

See Joseph Rand in The Rye record -September 7, 2012:

 

Nyack Business Beat - by Scott Baird

From the Chamber of Commerce of the Nyacks

 

Old friend with a new name

In May of this year, First Niagara Bank (a regional New York Bank) purchased a number of upstate branches of HSBC (a multinational corporation), including the iconic bank branch we all know on South Broadway across from the YMCA. So, in an interesting switch from what we may be used to, a multinational bank has been transformed into a local, regional bank.

Despite the ownership change, the staff in the Nyack Branch remains largely the same. Sara Tucker still leads a team of six business bankers, including Tracy Dembicer, who covers Nyack. Tracy and her colleagues are looking for businesses throughout the Hudson Valley in need of commercial loans. Local credit decision-making is a key strength First Niagara brings to the table.

Sandeep Sandhu is Branch Manager in Nyack. You’ll see other familiar faces at the branch: those of Karen Ayres, Liz Fonvil, Arlene Rodgers, Dan Maze and Latoya Aguillard. We also look forward to working with First Niagara on community projects; the bank has a strong commitment to charitable causes, especially those involving youth and mentoring.

A taste of Italy

Celebrating her seventh year in Nyack, fashion designer Paulette Ross brings charm and class to Nyack in her delightful boutique—p.ross on Main Street in the heart of the Village. At first glance, you might think the small store carries just “one-of-a-kind” pieces, rather than full stock. But that’s only until you understand that Paulette has modeled her shop after European boutiques; while she has every size in the store, just one sample of each item is displayed.

Paulette serves both men and women. Her business is all about knowing her customers and bringing something special to them. She travels to Italy two to three times a year to connect with the latest trends. She works closely with clothing designers to bring home styles that appeal to her customers’ tastes. Paulette is also a fashion artist in her own right. She designs jewelry, which is made in Italy. She designs her own line of shoes, blending high fashion with comfort. In the same vein, the handbags she carefully selects combine trendy looks with practicality.

Special touches, such as making sure shoes have no pinch points and ensuring the fit and drape of clothing are perfect, make Paulette’s product line one of the treasures of Nyack.

Scott Baird is the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Nyacks; he is a commercial realtor with Rand Commercial Services. His e-mail address: scott.baird@randcommercial.com

Local Rand Realty Hosts School Supply Drive

Several Rand Realty offices in Rockland ran the annual school supply drive for the "Back to School with Dignity" program. People to People stopped by the local real estate offices on Thursday to pick up the donated school supplies to be distributed,

Picture from Left to Right: Diane Elizabeth Serratore - People to People; Matt Rand - Managing Partner - BHG Rand Realty; Paul Adler VP - Rand Commercial Services; Roberta Bangs - BHG Rand Realty.

As September approaches, one of People to People's main missions is providing thousands of children with the basics that they'll need to start a new school year.

As Rockland County's largest food pantry, People to People's "Back to School with Dignity" program is still going on. Rand Realty began a school supply drive 15 years ago to offer their local Rockland offices as drop off locations for supply donations.

Although the supply drive at Rand Realty has ended, school supplies can still be dropped off at People to People on Monday through Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The program aims to give school supplies to at-risk Rockland students. People to People is in need of the following supply donations:

• compasses
• Eight-tab dividers
• scissors
• book covers
• hi-lighters
• Number 2 pencil cases
• loose leaf paper
• pencils
• white index cards
• marble composition books
• three-subject spiral notebooks
• five-subject spiral notebooks
• 1' binders
• graph paper
• dictionaries
• pocket folders
• blue or black pens
• pencil sharpeners
• Broad-tipped markers
• Crayons
• Calculators and Scientific calculators
• Erasers
• Rulers
• Glue sticks

While People to People volunteers are trying to get the school supplies to children, they are also supplying families in Rockland with all kinds of nutritious groceries including meat, poultry, fresh fruits and vegetables each month.

Sports training facility set to open in Ardsley

ARDSLEY — A father’s frustration with driving his children to far-flung sports events has produced a $20 million indoor athletic center expected to open Sept. 10.

House of Sports at 1 Elm St. hopes to turn the village into a training and tournament destination with a 120,000-square-foot complex that includes a children’s nursery, restaurant, bar, fitness center and more than 100 covered parking spots. Don Scherer, House of Sports’ chief executive officer, said the idea for a sports training academy with adult-friendly services came to him while taking his son to sports events in Connecticut and New York City.

“That’s how I learned this community’s need,” said Scherer, 43, of Tarrytown, who is opening his complex in the former Selecto warehouse.

The training center will employ about 200 full- and part-time workers and will focus on basketball, lacrosse and baseball. The complex has four regulation-sized basketball courts and training baskets equipped with computer sensors to help students perfect their arcs.

The center has hired former coaches who have worked with some of the country’s best-known college teams, such as Andy Borman, who played basketball for Duke University when the school won the NCAA National Championship in 2001.

The lacrosse academy will be run by Ned Crotty, an all-American at Duke University and a member of the 2010 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship team. Crotty received the 2010 Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation’s top lacrosse player.

Scherer said the 100-by240-foot artificial turf will allow House of Sports’ lacrosse academy to raise Westchester County players’ skill levels with winter practice.

“You go down south and and there is skills-building all year round. That has impacted the ability of our kids to compete,” Scherer said.

House of Sports will open as the Town of Greenburgh is embroiled in a controversy over a proposal to put a sports bubble on land at the former Frank’s Nursery & Crafts at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road in Hartsdale. The idea is to lease the property, acquired through a foreclosure for nonpayment of taxes, to Game On 365.

Some residents oppose the proposal and Scherer called the sports bubble proposal unfair competition.

“If they don’t have to pay rent at fair market value, if they don’t have to pay taxes, if they don’t have to do (environmental review) to the same level, if their cost structure is radically different from mine, it makes it very hard for me to compete,” said Scherer, who predicted that Greenburgh’s efforts to lease the property will be found unlawful.

MTA Payroll Tax Ruling

Rand Commercial Services hails yesterday's ruling by State Supreme Court Justice Cozzens, declaring the MTA's payroll tax unconstitutional. Since the inception of the tax, one of the top priorities of of business & non-profits was urging the State Legislature to repeal this unfunded mandate that hurt both taxpayers and business in Rockland & Westchester Counties. The MTA Payroll tax did nothing to help stimulate economic development and with yesterday's court decision it is our hope that one huge obstacle has been removed which will help business & non-profits alike grow in our region.