NYC Real Estate Expo 2011

Alan P. Miller has been involved in New York City real estate for more than twenty-five years. Prior to join- ing Eastern Consolidated in 1999 as a Director, Mr. Miller worked with The Carlton Group, Ltd., a national real estate advisory fi rm. Previous to that, he joined Stonehenge Partners, Inc. where he assisted the managing partner in the analysis of potential purchases of investment property in Manhattan. Mr. Miller began his career with a ten year tenure at Lee Odell Real Estate, Inc., specializing in selling investment real estate throughout New York City and the Tri-State area.

Mr. Miller’s professional accomplishments are well known throughout the real estate industry, and span a career of success in the sale of development sites, hotels, residential conversions, commercial loft build- ings, parking facilities, outdoor signage, Transferable Development Rights, 421-a Tax Certificates as well as Inclusionary Bonus Air Rights.

He is one of Eastern Consolidated’s most prolific brokers, not surprisingly, as he possesses the prototypical New York broker profile: tenacious, fast-paced, highly intelligent and determined to succeed. Moreover, he intimately understands what kinds of properties his clients (both buyers and sellers) are in the market to secure, something that comes from experience coupled with an in-depth understanding of real estate fundamentals.

Andrew currently oversees more than a billion dollars in real estate. He has managed, trained, recruited and worked with New York's top agents and brokers. A graduate of the WP Carey School of Business at ASU, he was one of the Top 30 Brokers Under 30 featured in the Real Deal. Andrew brings a stellar track record to MNS, which he has grown to over 125 people in 5 years. He also serves as a licensed teacher of real estate brokers and sales.

Mr. Pearson began his career in the energy field in the early 1980’s at one of the largest energy rate consulting firms in the country. There he developed energy purchasing programs for some of the leading commercial and industrial firms in the country. He then established the energy analysis division for an innovative telecommunications analysis firm before he was hired by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to be part of their newly formed Corporate Property Management group. This team was tasked with overseeing the efforts of the third party real estate management firms that operated MetLife’s investment properties around the country. There Mr. Pearson developed energy purchasing programs for properties across the country, as well as, overseeing large scale energy efficiency projects such as chiller plant retrofits, energy management system installations and other energy related projects. Subsequently he joined KeySpan Business Solutions where he was responsible for developing a wide range of energy projects for both commercial and industrial customers. Most recently prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Pearson was the Director of Project Operations for The E Cubed Company, LLC, providers of strategic energy planning and related services where he was responsible for a wide range of activities. Highlights included overseeing the development of a 1MW cogeneration plant in Brooklyn that has been recognized by the US EPA and representation of the firm’s clients at New York Independent System Operator committee meetings and before Public Service Commission hearings on rate cases. Additionally, he developed legislation impacting energy efficiency programs throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Mr. Pearson has a Marketing Management degree from the Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York and became a Certified Energy Manager in 1995.

Barry B. LePatner is the founder of the New York City-based law firm LePatner & Associates LLP. For three decades, he has been prominent as an advisor on business and legal issues affecting the real estate, design, and construction industries. He is recognized as one of the nation’s leading advisors to corporate and institutional clients, real estate owners, and design professionals. For several years, Mr. LePatner has also been awarded the distinction of Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine. In 2009, he was rated as one of the top ten real estate attorneys in New York City by The New York Observer.

Mr. LePatner is recognized as a thought leader in the worlds of construction and infrastructure. His latest book, Too Big to Fall: America’s Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward (University of New England Press, 2010), uses the I-35W bridge collapse to uncover the dismal state of the nation’s infrastructure.

Benjamin Weinstock is co-chair of the Real Estate Department of Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C. in Uniondale, New York, where he concentrates on transactional real estate matters. Mr. Weinstock received his law degree (cum laude) in 1978 from Brooklyn Law School. In 2001, Governor Pataki appointed him to the New York State Real Estate Board, where he was elected and continues to serve as Secretary. Mr. Weinstock is a Special Professor of Law at New York Law School, a founding member of the Institute of Real Estate at Hofstra University and a member of the Legal Advisory Boards of First American Title Insurance Company of New York and Chicago Title Insurance Company. Mr. Weinstock is a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers has been included in New York Magazine’s Best Lawyers in New York since 2009 and in Super Lawyers since 2007. He is a frequent lecturer for continuing legal education programs sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and several other CLE providers. He is the author of the chapter on Lease Guaranties in the New York State Bar Association's desk book on Commercial Leasing and has published numerous legal articles. Mr. Weinstock also serves as Deputy Mayor of the Village of Cedarhurst and is a Member of the Executive Board of the Real Property Law Section of the NY State Bar Association.

Bruce Nohe has been directly involved in many aspects of the mortgage origination business for the last nine years and is currently the Senior Lending Manager for Citibank. Bruce is responsible for managing and expanding Citibank’s mortgage business from Midtown Manhattan to Wall Street. His unit will generate $1 billion in mortgage loans in 2011. Previously, he embraced the opportunity of launching the Manhattan mortgage business for Wachovia as a managing producer. When Wachovia folded Bruce joined Wells Fargo as a Private Mortgage Sales Manager until rejoining Citibank in July 2010.

After graduating from Cornell University, Bruce joined Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the J. Aron division. Bruce first joined Citibank in 1993 and held sales and management positions in the consumer and corporate bank until 2003. He holds a Master of Business degree in Total Quality Management.

Emigrant Mortgage Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emigrant Bank, which has been serving the credit and banking needs of the New York community for more than 160 years. Mr. Ruffin’s primary role at Emigrant Mortgage Company is to originate SBA, multifamily, mixed use, office, retail, warehouse, underlying co-op, and SRO loans. Mr. Ruffin also originates 1 to 4 family, condo, and co-op residential loans. Mr. Ruffin has over 15 years of experience originating commercial and residential loans. Before joining Emigrant Mortgage Company Mr. Ruffin was the Managing Director of Davenport Capital Markets. Mr. Ruffin’s role at Davenport Capital Markets focused on originating permanent, bridge and mezzanine commercial loans for various property types. Previous to Davenport Capital Markets Mr. Ruffin was a Client Manager in the Commercial Term Lending division of J.P Morgan Chase. While at J.P Morgan Chase Mr. Ruffin focused on originating multifamily and mixed use commercial loans. Mr. Ruffin holds a JD/MBA and a NY Real Estate Broker’s License.

David Hepinstall, Executive Director of the Association for Energy Affordability, Inc. (AEA) in New York City since 1993, has specialized in energy efficiency in multi-family buildings, designing, developing and managing research, demonstration, training, capacity building and deployment programs delivering energy efficiency and promoting community development. Previously a member of NYSERDA’s System Benefits Charge Advisory Group and the Governor’s Renewable Energy Task Force, he is currently a member of the NYC Mayor’s Energy Policy Task Force and the Green Jobs/Green New York Advisory Council, as well as Board Chair of the Building Performance Institute (BPI). AEA is the implementer of the Con Edison Multi-family Energy Efficiency Program.

David is a sales and marketing professional in the field of critical energy infrastructure and energy efficiency. In his current position with Con Edison, as Manager of Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency Programs, he oversees a $100 million program portfolio supported by a network of over 400 market partners.

David has worked in a variety of business development, sales management, marketing and external affairs positions for Johnson Controls, Public Service Enterprise Group, Pennsylvania Power & Light and the Trane Company. His major focus has been on clients with critical energy needs in the fields of commercial real estate, healthcare and data center operations.

David has a BS in Marketing and an MBA in Finance, both from Montclair State University. He is a Certified Energy Manager, and an active member of the Association of Energy Engineers, the New York Building Congress, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Green Business committee, American Institute of Architects (AIANY) and Urban Green Council. David is on the board of governors of the New York City chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

David Schlamm founded City Connections Realty from a lower level apartment in Greenwich Village over 20 years. Today, the firm has over 140 agents/staff and is one of Manhattan's fastest growing and innovate firms in Manhattan. David introduced the first successful high split model to Manhattan in 2004 and created it to service the needs of today's experienced, ethical, and entrepreneurial agents. Some recent innovations include subsiding the Certified Real Estate Program in conjunction with Touro's Graduate School of Business and the opening of two new concept storefronts. Happily married with two wonderful teenage daughters, the Schlamm family lives in Northern New Jersey and David enjoys boating on the Hudson River, plus going to concerts when he has any free time.

David Vivero is a serial Internet entrepreneur, consultant and author. Currently he is CEO of RentJuice, the leading provider of Rental Relationship Management to the real estate industry. Prior to founding RentJuice, David invested in consumer Internet companies on behalf of Mayfield Fund, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He was previously a Management Associate at IDG Communications, the publishers behind 300 trade magazines and 400 consumer web sites, reporting to the global CEO and VP of Interactive on new product development and business development projects. Before his professional career on the Internet, David co-managed 96 family-owned properties in Miami Beach, where David contributed to lease marketing, rent collection, and operations. David holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB in Economics from Harvard College, where he founded a student-run media company and a non-profit speech education program. His case studies on social networking and Internet trends have been published by Harvard Business School Publishing and are included in the school’s core entrepreneurship curriculum.

As a 20 year veteran of the residential real estate market and among the top 1% of brokers nationwide, Douglas Heddings is the founder of The Heddings Property Group, LLC. Prior to forming HPG, he was a top-producing Senior Vice President of Prudential Douglas Elliman for 11 years.

The Heddings Property Group is based in Manhattan and provides quality real estate services to buyers, sellers and investors alike. The boutique firm functions independently, affording its clients creativity and ingenuity in marketing and syndicating property listings for the best experience possible. Heddings, along with his company, has often been featured in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Crain's New York Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Real Deal, Brokers Weekly and New York 1 News.

One of the first broker-bloggers (www.truegotham.com) in Manhattan, Doug is always trying to stay ahead of the technology curve consistently exploring innovative and effective ways to better serve his clients.

E. Robert Levy is Executive Director of, and Counsel to the Mortgage Bankers Association of New Jersey, The Mortgage Bankers Association of Pennsylvania, and The New Jersey Association of Mortgage Brokers. He is also Legislative/Regulatory Counsel to the Pennsylvania Association of Mortgage Brokers. Mr. Levy was Deputy Commissioner for the State of New Jersey, Department of Banking and was a State Deputy Attorney General, in which capacity he served as counsel to the Department of Banking and Insurance. Mr. Levy currently serves on the New Jersey Licensed Lenders Advisory Board, which advises the Department of Banking and Insurance on legislative and regulatory matters.

Mr. Levy was instrumental in the drafting and passage of the first Mortgage Bankers and Brokers License Laws in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and assisted with the design of the mortgage banking regulations in both states. He was also one of the drafters of the Consumer Equity Protection Act in Pennsylvania and played a key role in negotiating the New Jersey Home Ownership Security Act (NJHOSA) and in obtaining crucial amendments to that law including the removal of the “reasonable tangible net benefit” provision which had stopped some mortgage lenders from originating loans in the State. Mr. Levy had been an approved instructor for Pennsylvania Education courses required under state law prior to the SAFE Act and now teaches Pennsylvania law and New Jersey law required by the licensing laws implementing the SAFE Act. Mr. Levy is a Partner in the law firm of Levy & Watkinson, P.C., with offices in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The firm specializes in the representation of mortgage bankers and brokers in licensing and regulatory compliance matters and also handles commercial and residential real estate closings as well as related litigation.

Mr. Levy was a member of the Pennsylvania Banking Department’s Statewide Foreclosure Study Committee that met with then Secretary of Banking A. William Schenck and other representatives of the Department of Banking to study the potential impact of abusive lending practices on foreclosures and to recommend regulation and legislation that may be deemed necessary.

Mr. Levy was a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and was Chairman of the National Association’s State and Local Advisory Council for two one-year terms. The Council represented all of the State Mortgage Banking Associations. In 2001, Mr. Levy was elected as a member of MBAA’s Board of Directors and was re-elected to a second term in 2002-2003. In 2005, Mr. Levy was appointed to the National Association’s Residential Board of Governors and made Chairman of the National State Legislative/Regulatory Committee.

Mr. Levy is the Chairman of the Industry Advisory Council to the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR), Mr. Levy was also a member of its Task Force, which drafted AARMR’s Model Mortgage Bankers and Brokers License Act Compendium to be used as a guide by various states. He has also been an instructor at the AARMR’s National School for Mortgage Banking Examiners and was instrumental in establishing the school.

Mr. Levy testified before Congress and HUD at RESPA hearings dealing with referral fee issues and is a frequent speaker and author on the subject and on licensing and regulatory matters affecting the mortgage banking industry. He is a member of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Advisory Board on the Environmental Cleanup responsibility law. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, the U.S. District Court and the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Mr. Levy is a graduate of the Rutgers School of Law.

Ellen Steinfeld is a Senior Vice President, Consumer Finance, at Citizens Financial Group. Ellen is the National Sales Manager responsible for Mortgage Sales.

With nearly 25 years of management experience in mortgage banking, Ellen has had experience in leading sales, operations and credit for both retail and wholesale lending business. Ellen has spent the majority of her career growing and building mortgage lending businesses.

Before joining CFG in November 2007, Ellen held positions with E*Trade Financial, Dime/ North American Mortgage and JP Morgan Chase, some of which were ranked in the top ten mortgage originators nationally.

Mr. Temelkov has a bachelor degree in economics and is an established professional in the real estate lending industry with 10 years of financing experience in both residential and commercial real estate businesses. Over the course of his carrier he is personally responsible for over $150MM in funded real estate transactions.

While at CIT Group/ Consumer Finance Mr. Temelkov has consistently ranked in the top 5 in business origination and earned the Admirals Club Award 3 years in a row.

In 2007 Emil joined the ranks of CIT’s Small Business Lending unit as a Regional Account Manager in the NYC Metro area and quickly became one of the fastest rising stars for the company while operating in the most difficult time for the financing industry. Working closely with small business owners and various referral sources he secured SBA guaranteed loans for professional practices, manufacturing facilities, office condominiums, franchises, hospitality etc.

TD Bank is one of the fastest growing banks in North America and one of the largest Commercial Banks in the USA. In his current position at TD Bank, Mr. Temelkov originates SBA 7a and 504 loan transactions with an emphasis on Owner Occupied Commercial Real Estate, Business Acquisitions, Franchise and Professional Practice Financing within the footprint of the bank, which covers the East Coast of the US. In addition to sourcing business from outside referral sources Emil is responsible for the SBA loan origination out of 47 TD Bank stores in Bergen County.

Elysa Berlin joined the Manhattan office in 2007 as Associate to Chairman and Founding Partner Robert A. Knakal. This year, Elysa was promoted to Associate Director of Sales. In her career, Elysa has participated in the disposition of 188 buildings with an aggregate sales value of over $1.07 billion. Notably, Elysa originated one of the top five land sales in Manhattan for 2010, selling for $18.7 million. She was also featured in New York Real Estate Journal in their Women in Real Estate spotlight in 2009 and 2011.

Ms. Berlin is a graduate of James Madison University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Finance. During college she spent a semester abroad completing an integrated business program at the University of Antwerpen in Belgium.

Ms. Berlin is active in charity work, founding an Interfaith Chair position of the Hillel Organization and acting as the head of the Hillel Interfaith Committee. She enjoys both golf and playing the saxophone. She lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and can be reached in the Manhattan office at 212.696.2500 x7764.

Esther Muller is a professor at the Graduate School of Business at Touro College where she is the Director of the Entrepreneurial Real Estate Program. In addition to her expertise in the real estate market, she is an author, acclaimed lecturer, active real estate broker, investor and a fierce advocate of quality education. Her incisive thoughts and perceptive ideas have distinguished her as an authority and often quoted spokesperson on industry issues.

Ms. Muller has been educating real estate professionals by private and group coaching and training for over 20 years. In 1995, she co-founded the Academy for Continuing Education, which has over 3,000 alumni of real estate agents and brokers. Her programs emphasize professional standards and ethics in the real estate industry.

A lifelong learner, Ms. Muller is a graduate of Brooklyn College and New York University. She is an MBTI Certified Master Coach. Most recently, she was credentialed by the International Distance Education Center as a CDEI International Educator.

In association with the Graduate School of Business at Touro College, Professor Muller has been responsible for creating and providing advanced professional education through the Certified Residential Advisor (CRA) program, which is the first of its kind in the United States.

Ms. Muller serves as a member of the board of directors for the Living Theatre. And is also a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, The Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association, the International Coaching Federation and the New York Athletic Club.

Esther Muller is passionate about empowering our community through education.

Frank Korzekwinski is currently Executive Vice President, Chief of Real Estate Lending at Flushing Bank. Frank joined Flushing in 1993 as Assistant Vice President. Over the years his role was expanded to include the supervision of the Bank’s Real Estate Lending Division. The primary business activities under his direction include Multi-Family Lending, Commercial Real Estate Lending, Mixed Use and 1-4 Family Lending, Loan Servicing, Collections, and Foreclosures, as well as Portfolio Management. Frank is a graduate of Long Island University, C.W. Post campus with a BA degree in Business Administration, primarily focusing on Finance and Economics. In addition to his career in Banking, Frank continues to remain active in various community groups and professional associations.

George T. Constantin brings more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience to his role as president and chief executive officer of Heritage Realty Services, LLC or “Heritage” and Heritage Investment Management, LLC. Since founding the boutique commercial real estate firm in 2005, Mr. Constantin has grown the privately held Heritage to include more than $400 million in assets, with properties throughout New York City, Westchester, Connecticut, and Washington, DC.

Under Mr. Constantin’s guidance, the Heritage team provides long-term strategic asset management services, including property management, leasing, development, finance, construction, and disposition services, as well as the acquisition of well-priced and well-located properties.

Prior to founding Heritage, Mr. Constantin was managing director of the Institutional Realty Advisory Group of Helmsley-Spear Inc. During his 20-year tenure at Helmsley-Spear, Mr. Constantin’s real estate advisory and investment services focused on profit-oriented management, leasing, marketing, and acquisition and sales programs for commercial properties owned by his investor groups and clients. Mr. Constantin’s portfolio of clients included domestic and foreign investors, multi-national corporations and financial institutions.

Mr. Constantin is an active member of various real estate organizations, including Buildings Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), for which he is a frequent guest speaker, and the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). Former New York State Governor George E. Pataki appointed Mr. Constantin to the New York State Real Estate Board, on which he served from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Constantin is fluent in Greek, German and Spanish and is conversational in French. He is a long-term member of the Board of Directors and serves as treasurer and executive officer of the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce, the oldest and foremost economic and political organization of the Greek-American Business Community in the United States. He also serves as chairman of the Chamber’s Real Estate Committee and hosts yearly speaker forums that have included some of the most notable names in real estate.

Mr. Eliopoulos has been the Director of commercial Financing for MW Commercial Capital Corp a subsidiary of Mortgage World Bankers for over 15 Years which has placed over $200 million in commercial loans throughout NY, NJ, and CT.

During his 28 years as a practicing attorney Mr. Alimaras has been engaged in every aspect of New York real property law. After graduating from Hofstra University School of Law in 1982, Mr. Alimaras initially concentrated on landlord-tenant matters, mortgage foreclosure proceedings and other types of litigation, later moving on to representing institutional lenders in closing their residential mortgage loans. For the past 19 years, Mr. Alimaras has limited his practice primarily to representing community banks in closing commercial mortgage loans and various types of business loans, as well as representing private clients in the acquisition, disposition and leasing of residential and commercial properties in and around New York City and Long Island. Over the course of his legal career, Mr. Alimaras has closed thousands of real estate and mortgage loan transactions. Mr. Alimaras has taught continuing education courses at Queens College and has lectured at other venues on various real estate topics, including principles of title insurance, commercial loan transactions and advanced real property law.

Harris Schaer is a Project Manager based out of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) New York City Office. His primary focus is promoting energy efficiency in the Con Edison utility territory through NYSERDA’s Commercial/Industrial incentive programs. Mr. Schaer has guest lectured on the topic of energy efficiency opportunities in commercial buildings at Columbia University and received the prestige of speaking at numerous industry events, with many tied to local trade associates such as the Association of Energy Engineers and ASHRAE.

Mr. Schaer received a BA in Physics from the University of Chicago, and visited Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar where he received an MS in Solid-State Physics from the University of Iceland for his thesis on hydrogen storage in metals and hydrogen-based heat-pumps.

Ilan Bracha is Chairman of Keller Williams NYC (www.kwnyc.com), the Manhattan franchise of leading real estate firm Keller Williams Realty Inc. As Founder and President of the Bracha Group at Keller Williams NYC, he is one of the top real estate professionals in the country and an expert in the Manhattan real estate industry. The Bracha Group was recently recognized by the Wall Street Journal as the Number Two residential real estate team in the country, and the top team in Manhattan, with more than $226 million in sales in 2010. At only 37 years old, Ilan is one of Manhattan’s most recognized and respected real estate and investment experts. Specializing in the sales, marketing and pre-development planning of luxury condominiums in Manhattan, with over 500 transactions annually, he and his team of professionals truly know New York. Ilan was previously a Managing Director at Prudential Douglas Elliman. Known as a mega broker and listed as one of the Top Ten Brokers in Manhattan in The Real Deal, he received top awards including Number #1 in sales for five years, Number #2 in the entire Prudential network, Top Producing Sales Group, Most Sales Transactions, Most Sales Exclusives and closed over 200 transactions in 2010 with over $200 million in sales volume.

Ilyse practices with the real estate group at Withers Bergman LLP and is based out of the New York office. She assists high net worth families, domestic and foreign, with the purchase and sale of real estate. She also has expertise in handling design, construction and related issues. Her core practice is residential, but she has significant experience in commercial real estate transactions as well.

Jacky Teplitzky, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman (PDE), is regularly ranked among the top ten producers at the brokerage firm. Prudential Real Estate Network, PDE’s parent company, honored her with its highly-coveted “Legend” award, which is only given to agents who are among the top 1% of the company’s 64,000 sales professionals and in the top 100 for five consecutive years. Jacky is also the leader of her eponymously-named team and, together, they were ranked by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top 100 teams in the nation in 2010.

Jacky and her team have sold close to one billion dollars in Manhattan real estate. She recently expanded her operations to Miami, Florida. In both cities, the team works with buyers, sellers and investors regionally, nationally and globally. Born in Chile and raised in Israel, where she was served as a sergeant in the armed services, Jacky is fluent in English, Spanish and Hebrew and has an especially intuitive touch with her international clients.

Jacky is an active member of The Real Estate Board of New York's Education Committee and a New York State Department certified real estate instructor. She has presented at many industry conferences and seminars including Real Estate Connect, GreenPearl, FIABCI, REBNY and at the Real Estate Academy. To learn more about Jacky, visit www.elliman.com/jacky.

Jim leads the firm's US Real Estate practice which handles both residential and commercial transactions, particularly for foreign real estate investors and for organizations in the nonprofit, luxury, hotel and art sectors. Jim combines his experience from his 14 years as the Associate General Counsel for Yale University to provide clients in the nonprofit world with advice on real estate, endowment and commercial engagements of many kinds. In addition, Jim is fluent in Italian and works closely with our commercial team in the US and Milan to assist with cross-border commercial and real estate transactions. Highlights $100 million financing for New York healthcare organization. Drafting retail, office and ground leases for US and foreign art galleries, museums, luxury fashion and other tenants. Structuring and closing luxury residential transactions, including one of the largest sales recorded in US history. Counseling US and foreign organizations on the formation and operation of "friends of" and dual qualified structures with particular focus on Italy.

Jim Connolly has been employed with Hess Corporation for 7 years and is currently the Director of Origination for Hess Energy Solutions. His current responsibilities include building the Hess Energy Solutions customer base, implementation of business strategies involving assessment of customer interests, competitive position, resource needs, and political/regulatory dynamics.

Mr. Connolly has held a variety of roles within Hess Corporation, most recently as the Sales Director for the Northern Region, which includes New England and Upstate New York. In this role, he was responsible for direct sales to Commercial and Industrial customers for electricity, natural gas and fuel oil commodities, as well as the sale of demand response, green energy and carbon neutral products.

Mr. Connolly has been active in the deregulated sales of electricity and natural gas since the inception of the markets and has been involved in all aspects of energy marketing related to customer acquisition. Mr. Connolly received his Bachelor of Science in Technical Science from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts.

James Kinsey was raised in a real estate family in New York. He co-founded ERG Property Advisors with James Guarino and Richard Guarino in 2009 believing that the market downturn presented a rare opportunity to combine forces with other industry veterans and lay the foundation for a new company platform.

He brings passion, excellence, and leadership to the practice of real estate brokerage, maintaining a continuous focus on market information, technology, transactions, financing and the various disciplines required to excel in his profession.

Earlier in his career, in 2000, Mr. Kinsey partnered with his late father to form Kinsey Capital Associates LLC, a broker specialized in commercial real estate financing in New York City, and in 2004 he became President of The Kinsey Corporation, a firm founded by his father that focused on property management and development. In 2005, while simultaneously handling his responsibilities with The Kinsey Corporation, Mr. Kinsey formed Mason Real Estate LLC, a firm that handles residential sales and rental brokerage in New York City. His current management company, Kinsey Equities LLC, manages properties he owns as well as properties owned by third parties. A native New Yorker, Mr. Kinsey lives in Port Washington with his wife Nicole, his son James, and his daughter Noelle.

As a good leader, not only does he set and maintain high standards, but he also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas. Mr. Kinsey exhibits an impeccable work ethic and innovative management practice. His diligence, patience and outstanding communication abilities enable him to provide great mentorship to all of his brokers. With an exemplary character, he conveys confidence and inspires the best effort from team members.

Jason Sheftell is the real estate columnist for the New York Daily News where he launched the paper’s Your Home section four years ago. Since then, the section has changed the way real estate has been covered in New York City, bringing the people and personalities who shape the property and design world to life. Recently having relaunched the section as “Best Places to Live in NY,” Jason writes about neighborhoods, world-renowned developers, green building, and the ins and outs of the New York real estate. He has profiled such personalities as Bruce Ratner, Philippe Starck, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, and city planner Amanda Burden.

In 1996, after working as a marketing consultant for Yankelovich Partners, Jason started writing for magazines and newspapers. He wrote for Wired magazine, and wrote, edited and assigned articles for Cigar Aficionado Online. While at Cigar Aficionado Online, Jason was part of the small team that won the 1999 National Magazine Award for General Excellence in New Media.

As a freelance writer, he wrote humor, travel, nightlife, global travel and celebrity features for Stuff magazine and fashion, film, travel, and art essays for Black Book. He spent two years as Cosmopolitan magazine’s Guy Spy. For three years, Jason was a consistent contributor to the NY Post Home.

Currently, Jason writes a travel deal column for www.Frommers.com. He holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and M.A. in American Studies from the University of Alabama, where he was a Presidential Fellow. He speaks fluent French. He was born in Brooklyn, and lives in Greenwich Village. He has appeared on numerous panels as well as television and radio programs as an expert on New York City neighborhoods and real estate.

Jeff is the Managing Director - Real Estate of the firm and is based in Manchester, Vermont. His principal areas of focus are providing assistance and advice on strategic commercial real estate acquisitions and divestitures, conducting research and analysis on potential and existing real estate projects, and managing related investment and administrative matters for select properties. Jeff has been active in principal investing in the commercial real estate and private equity businesses for over twenty years. This experience results from his twenty-year tenure with a New York area based single family office company. Prior to his family office career, he served as a Vice President in the Energy & Minerals Division of Chemical Bank. Jeff's involvement in the private equity and real estate investment businesses consisted of analyzing, pricing, document negotiation and ongoing asset management responsibility. Jeff graduated with a BS from the University of Virginia, subsequently obtaining an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business. In his spare time, he enjoys skiing and golf. He and is wife Kathy, a teacher at the Stratton Mountain School, are excited to be residing in Manchester Center after moving from Atlanta, Georgia.

Jim Gricar serves as General Sales Manager for Halstead Property, where he works closely with President Diane M. Ramirez and the directors of Halstead’s 20 offices. In addition, he spearheads recruitment efforts for the leading residential firm and is responsible for identifying strategic growth opportunities. Jim is based out of the Halstead Flagship office at 499 Park Avenue.

A dynamic leader and seasoned executive, he is known throughout the industry for cultivating top professional talent as well as providing expert guidance. Equal parts decisive and disarming, Gricar exemplifies the trademarks of a gifted leader. Upon embarking on a career in residential real estate in the mid-1990's, he quickly became a top producer by utilizing the sharp business acumen gleaned years earlier in the financial services sector. When The Corcoran Group tapped Gricar to serve as Managing Director of the company's Downtown office, he quickly quadrupled revenue and created a truly vibrant sales environment. In 2004, Jim joined the Brown Harris Stevens executive team, serving as Director of Sales of the firm’s west side division. Within a year, the office had doubled in size, dominating the west side’s luxury market share. Jim recruited top agents as well as cultivated the skills of talented new sales people, producing BHS Rookies of the Year in four of the six years he ran the division. Jim also oversaw the company’s new development and conversion work as Managing Director of Brown Harris Stevens On-Site Marketing and Sales. Recently promoted to his current position, Jim is proud and pleased to join Halstead Property’s exceptional team, and to continue his work with Terra Holdings.

A charismatic spirit with an engaging manner and quick wit, Gricar is often called upon as an industry expert by news organizations such as The New York Times, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Associated Press. He is also a frequent lecturer on a range of critical topics impacting the real estate industry, including ethics, market conditions and professional development.

A lover of modern architecture and a dedicated preservationist, Jim supports several modern preservation organizations. In 1999, he painstakingly restored a significant mid-century home in Weston, Connecticut, where he continues to spend leisure time.

Jim and his partner are loft dwellers in Hell’s Kitchen. Along with their beloved dogs, they enjoy spending weekends in Connecticut and at their home in Rhinebeck, New York.

Jason Pendergist has over 15 years of financial analysis, project management, coaching and sales management experience. After a decade at JP Morgan Chase, Jason recently relocated to New York in order to head up Chase's Commercial Term Lending group, covering the New York/Tri-state area along with Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

After joining the Chase Commercial Term Lending finance team in 2002, Jason quickly assumed the role of western regional manager in 2003 where he was responsible for significantly growing origination volumes.

Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase, Jason spent three years as a business consultant and three years as Strength and Conditioning coach for a top 10 ranked, Big 12 football program.

As the Nation's #1 multifamily lender, Chase Commercial Term Lending provides owners and investors the best financing solutions for purchasing or refinancing 5+ unit apartment buildings. We offer an array of fixed and adjustable rate loan programs, competitive rates, low loan fees, local appraisals, and streamlined process. Visit us online at www.chase.com/MFL

John Catsimatidis is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Red Apple Group. The Red Apple Group has holdings in oil refining, retail petroleum products, convenience stores, supermarkets, real estate and aviation.

While still in college, Catsimatidis opened a small supermarket in 1968 on Manhattan's upper Westside. This supermarket evolved into Manhattan's largest, high quality supermarket chain, Gristedes’ Supermarkets.

In the 1986 Catsimatidis acquired United Refining Company of Warren Pennsylvania. United Refining, with a 70,000 bpd capacity, provides the energy needs of Western Pennsylvania and New York through its network of four hundred gas stations and convenience stores.

Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Real Estate is a strong investor in the New York real estate market. Red Apple Real Estate has recently developed a major commercial and residential project near to the new landscape of the downtown Brooklyn Development area is planning the first new development on Coney Island’s coastline in recent history.

John Catsimatidis is a jet pilot and was a pioneer in business jet management in 1977. After a history in aircraft operations, including ownership of major airlines, currently Mr. Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Aviation operates a fleet of corporate aircraft.

Mr. Catsimatidis’ companies post annual sales over $4.4 billion in 2010. With 8,000 employees, John Catsimatidis is a major employer in the New York City metropolitan area and upstate New York.

Mr. Catsimatidis is a leader in the Greek Orthodox Church of America. In his roll as the National Coordinator of Religious Freedom, Mr. Catsimatidis in May of 2011, presented the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Demetrios, with an historic Religious Freedom Letter signed by the both houses of the New York Assembly. John and Margo Catsimatidis interests are mostly focused on Hellenic youth, the Police Athletic League of New York, and the Kidney Foundation.

Mr. Catsimatidis is active in local and national politics. He was named to the Transition team of New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, 2011.

Mr. Catsimatidis is married to Margo Vondersaar Catsimatidis. Two children, daughter Andrea Catismatidis Cox, NYU student and recently married to Christopher Nixon Cox, and Catsimatidis son, John Jr., who will enter NYU in the Fall of 2011.

Real estate executive with 29 years experience in the commercial real estate industry. As a commercial broker and financial advisor/investment banker, he advises institutional investors and families with their wide range of commercial real estate challenges including devising strategic real estate plans and leads the acquisition, disposition, lease or (re)financing of land, commercial and residential property. He has marketed, developed and repositioned office, land and industrial property; served as asset manager for a 25 million SF $3.0 billion mixed-use institutional real estate portfolio, completed over 80 commercial leasing transactions, and assisted in over a dozen commercial refinancings or sales. He has performed approximately 1,200 property evaluations (including analyses of the physical, financial/rent roll and refinancing ‘due diligence’) for institutional names such as JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Tishman Speyer, Hartz Mountain Properties, Brown Brothers Harriman Trust, Artesia Mortgage Capital (Dexia Bank), Criimi Mae and GE Capital. He has served as president and director of a Latin American family-owned portfolio of mixed-use commercial real estate located across the US. He has provided expert testimony in New York City & Stamford, CT Civil Courts. He enjoys longstanding relationships with a wide range of commercial brokerage/management, appraisal, construction and law firms; and with over 400 institutional and family-office sources of real estate debt and equity. He helps arrange private equity growth capital for middle market companies(real estate and other). He founded his own brokerage/banking boutique in 1995 and has been teaching for five years (15 consecutive semesters) three levels of graduate real estate finance courses as an Adjunct Professor (NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate - Masters Program). He earned his credit initial at Citibank after completing the bank’s management/credit training program (1982) and received graduate degrees in Energy Policy/Urban Planning (1981) and Real Estate Finance (1988) from UCLA and NYU respectively. He lives in New York City with his wife and teenage son.

Jorge J. Lopez serves as President and CEO of ConEdison Solutions. Mr. Lopez, who joined ConEdison Solutions in 2002, previously served as Senior Vice President of Retail Commodity and Energy Services, where he was responsible for development and leadership of the company’s Energy Services and Retail Commodity divisions. He formerly also held the position of the Vice President of Sales.

An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Mr. Lopez had previously served as Director of Sales, power quality/reliability and distributed generation for Chevron Energy Solutions, an energy services company based in San Francisco. Prior to his tenure at Chevron, he held a variety of management positions at New Jersey-based PSE&G.

Mr. Lopez holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Building Congress.

Joshua Stein has practiced commercial real estate law since 1981, and is an active member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and former chair of the New York State Bar Association Real Property Law Section. In 2011, he was elected to membership in the Anglo American Real Property Institute. He has written five books and over 200 articles on commercial real estate law and practice.

In 2011, Stein was recognized by Who's Who Legal as one of the ten "most highly regarded" commercial real estate attorneys in the world. In 2011, Chambers USA identified him as one of the leading real estate lawyers in New York--and the only one in that group who does not practice in a large firm. The fall 2011 issue of Super Lawyers magazine devoted its cover story to Joshua Stein and his unusual move to his own practice after 20+ years at one of the largest law firms in the world.

He has closed hundreds of financing, leasing (both "space" and "ground" leasing), development, and hotel transactions. His legal work also includes workouts, loan modifications, and advice on loan enforcement.

He has acted as an expert witness on numerous commercial real estate issues, and is qualified as a New York State American Arbitration Association neutral. He is quoted regularly in the press about business and real estate issues, excluding matters in which he is involved.

Stein has chaired the Practising Law Institute's annual two-day seminar on commercial real estate financing since 1997 and the New York Mortgage Bankers Association education committee since 2008.

In 1982, he began to use computers in his law practice. Joshua Stein PLLC now relies on technology that matches or exceeds the technology available to lawyers at the largest law firms.

Stein graduated from Columbia Law School (1981), where he was a managing editor of the law review, and University of California, Berkeley (1977), where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was admitted to the California bar in 1981 and the New York bar in 1985. Before law school, he worked briefly in publishing and journalism. He has two daughters, born in 1988 and 1993. His elder daughter, Helaina, has worked in Rwanda since August 2010, blogging about that experience at www.helaina.com.

In 2010, Joshua Stein was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Ken McCarthy has been with Cushman & Wakefield since August 2006. As Senior Economist and Senior Managing Director for Research, he is responsible for preparing C&W’s US and global economic analysis, as well as overseeing all aspects of Research activities in the New York City, Westchester County, Fairfield County, Long Island and New Jersey areas.

Prior to joining C&W, Mr. McCarthy served as Chief Economist for vFinance, Inc. He oversaw all of the company’s economic analysis and research including developing the vFinance Entrepreneurial Confidence Index, a proprietary research tool for understanding entrepreneurial activity in the US.

For 10 years prior to joining vFinance, Mr. McCarthy headed the Economic Intelligence Company (EIC), a private consulting company that provided economic analysis and advice to Fortune 500 firms.

Ken received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, a Master of Arts degree from Fordham University.

Ken is a member of the Research Roundtable of the Steven L Newman Real Estate Institute of Baruch College.

He also serves as a member of the advisory panel of the New York City Office of Management and Budget.

Kerry Dawson is a Vice President and Senior Lending Manager for Chase Mortgage Banking. She manages the Manhattan Market and oversees 200 mortgage sales professionals. Dawson’s team members are aligned to 153 branches in Manhattan and provide home financing counsel to Chase customers and prospects.

Dawson was a top producing loan officer and Sales Manager at Chase qualifying for the prestigious Leader’s Club for 14 years. She has held management positions of increasing responsibility —including rotations as an area Manager in Manhattan, a Region Manager in Long Island and her current assignment in Manhattan.

Prior to Chase, Dawson was Executive Director for Real Estate Sales, Title Closings and Mortgage Servicing for the City of New York. She also received commercial lending experience during her position as Director of Resident Sales & Commercial Leasing at River Bay Corporation.

Dawson holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Kevin Kurland is principal and co-founder of Spire Group, an industry-leading NYC real estate brokerage and consulting firm located in the Flatiron District. Formerly President of Kurland Realty (1997-2010), Kevin joined forces this year with top agent Bianka Yankov to launch Spire Group as New York City’s only ‘True 100%’ commission firm, generating significant industry interest. Regarded as an innovator and a top knowledge broker, Kevin is a featured speaker at Touro College, Real Estate Academy, Real Estate Expo, and NYREI.

Marc is a multi-media professional who creates social networking websites, virtual and live events to promote companies and individuals in the New York City real estate and real estate related professions.

He is the creator and publisher of the NYC Network Group's social network website - recognized locally and internationally as a source of up to the minute New York City real estate news.

As an expert photographer and photojournalist covering New York City's real estate scene he has written and published thousands of blogs, photographs and web videos.

The top ranked NYC Network Group at NYCNetworkGroup.com offers companies and individuals a collaborative experience where they can find news, events, leads -brand themselves and their companies and then participate with associate members to get information, and new business.

Currently offering several workshops on ‘Personal and Corporate Branding Strategies’ he will be teaching the techniques he uses on the social networking platform of the NYC Network Group to companies and individuals at the NYC Real Estate Expo that want to optimize social media tools on the web.

Recently he has launched a new web collaborative career conference (coming this Spring) and website - PromotingYouNetwork.com that will bring together the industry's leadings experts and technologies. The Conference will bridge the gap between past and present knowledge to create a new standard for career search and development.

Mark Lebow has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York for nearly ten years. He has served as Chair of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and Chair of the New York City Transit Authority, both of which are committees of the MTA.

He is Chair of St. Francis Friends of the Poor, Inc. (which provides permanent housing for mentally ill homeless), Chair of American Friends of Magen David Adom (which supports Israel’s Red Cross Society) and Secretary of the Fortune Society (which supports prisoner re-entry). He is Managing Partner of Lebow & Sokolow LLP, a law firm in New York City. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Yale College.

As Director of Recruiting, Mary is the “face” of Citi Habitats, who not only seeks out new talent, but interviews all potential newcomers to the firm. She is as dynamic and well-received as the company she represents; plus has recruited some of the most outstanding talent in the industry, resulting in many successful careers.

“Selling” Citi Habitats comes easy for Mary as she is very passionate about its quality management, training, reputation and potential for growth. She enjoys holding weekly open houses and doing presentations at the various real estate schools to meet new people in her industry, and attract the interest of both new and experienced recruits.

Matt Chaban the real estate editor at the NYO. He has been covering development, architecture, and real estate for the past five years, first as a reporter and editor at The Architect's Newspaper, then at the Observer for the past year as a reporter and blogger. He has covered everything from profiles of Bill Ackman, Chris Ward and Blackstone Jonathan Gray to the redevelopment of St. Vincent's, the East River waterfront and the World Trade Center, as well as more light-hearted fare like boycotts at the Park Slope Food Co-op and the battle between the Mini Cooper and the new Fiat 500 for the hearts of New York's drivers.

Michael Edelman is responsible for the oversight of Beech Street's northeast region production and is based out of Beech Street's New York office. Edelman also manages the lender's correspondent relationship with Meridian Capital Group, Inc., a commercial real estate mortgage brokerage firm with whom Beech Street has a correspondent relationship.

Edelman joined Beech Street in March of 2011 after fifteen years at Freddie Mac, most recently as the managing regional director, responsible for multifamily northeast region production and sales. During his time at the agency, Edelman oversaw record expansion of Freddie Mac's multifamily portfolio, and also served as an underwriter and a manager of production and customer relations for several years. Edelman previously worked in the real estate lending divisions of the Greater New York Savings Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, where he specialized in underwriting and customer management.

Edelman received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University and a graduate degree from Pace University.

Since 1986 Michael Lagoudis has owned and operated one of the largest privately owned mortgage lenders, Mortgage World Bankers. Specializing in Conventional, FHA, Stated Income, Commercial Mortgages in NY, NJ, CT, PA, FL Whether you're a first time homebuyer, savvy borrower or investor looking to take advantage of our low interest rates, Mortgage World Bankers has a program to suit your needs. With offices located through out the Tri-State Area, Mortgage World Bankers can meet all of your loan needs.

Michael Stoler is the President of New York Real Estate TV, LLC, and a Managing Director at Madison Realty Capital a private equity firm. Prior to joining Madison in January 2009, he served as a Senior Principal at the AREA Property Partners (Apollo Real Estate Advisors) a leading international real estate fund manager, from 2006 to November 2008, where he focused on new acquisitions across all of Apollo’s funds under management. Prior to joining AREA, he served as Senior Vice President, at First American Title Insurance Company of New York, and Princeton Commercial Corporation, a management consulting and financing firm, which he founded in 1977. His clients have included Signature Bank, HSH Nordbank, Deloitte & Touché, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Swiss Bank Corporation, U.S. Trust, Israel Discount Bank, Bank Leumi, Sterling National Bank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bankers Trust Company, Itel Corporation, Paychex, Yasuda Bank & Trust, Snapple Beverage Company, Equifax and Republic National Bank and Lightstone Group.

Mr. Stoler is the host and executive producer of “The Stoler Report-Real Estate Trends in the Tri State Region which is now in its eleventh season. The Stoler Report is New York’s only television broadcast featuring real estate and business leaders. Michael is also the host and executive producer of “Building New York”-New York Life Stories in its seventh season, a program that profiles the lives of individuals responsible for shaping the skyline of the tri-state region. These shows are in New York City on CUNY TV, channel 75 and in East Hampton & Montauk, Long Island on WEGTV Channel 22. The broadcasts are also available on the Internet at a number of sites including www.stolerreport.com, www.itunes.com and www.youtube.com.

Michael Stoler serves as the real estate commentator on 1010 WINS radio, the most listened too radio station in the nation. “The Michael Stoler Real Estate Report” premiered on 1010 WINS in June 2007, and airs on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays.

Mr. Stoler is a columnist for “Commercial Observer” newspaper and their web site. He previously served as the Contributing Editor and Real Estate Columnist for the New York Sun and Senior Columnist for “The Real Deal Magazine”.

Mr. Stoler served as Adjunct Professor at the NYU Schack Real Estate Institute and has served as one of the co-chairs of the annual capital markets symposiums. He is a frequently speaker at many organizations including New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, National Realty Club, Real Estate Lenders Association, Association of Real Estate Women, Appraisal Institute of New York & Long Island; Metropolitan Mortgage Lenders Association. Mr. Stoler is the coordinator and moderator of the New York and New Jersey Real Estate Summits. Mr. Stoler is a Director of the Real Estate Lenders Association and served on the Board of Governors of the National Realty Club.

Michael J. Vardaro, a Partner with Zetlin & De Chiara LLP, focuses his practice on construction litigation, drafting and negotiating construction contracts and providing advice to a variety of construction industry clients. A former construction worker with a degree in civil engineering, Mr. Vardaro's background gives him the ability to understand the intricacies and nuances of the construction process and to provide focused and innovative counseling to a wide range of construction industry clients.

Mr. Vardaro successfully represents clients in complex commercial and construction litigation matters in various venues across the country. He has extensive experience resolving claims through mediation as well as representing clients before administrative boards and arbitration panels. In addition to litigating, Mr. Vardaro drafts and negotiates complex construction contracts for various project types around the world and regularly counsels clients with respect to professional licensing, corporate organization and transition, general business matters, risk management and insurance issues. He works extensively with regard to advancements in the construction process, including design build, integrated project delivery (IPD), building information modeling (BIM), and sustainable/green design and construction.

Mr. Vardaro holds the notable AV rating for ethical standards and legal ability from Martindale-Hubbell. He has been a featured guest lecturer at Columbia University and New York Polytechnic University speaking about legal issues in the construction industry. His most recent articles include “Plugging into Green to Power New York” (Real Estate Weekly, July 2011), and “Greening the Globe: United Nations Developing Worldwide Building Emissions Monitoring Standards” (Zetlin & De Chiara Review, December 2010).

Mr. Vardaro received his JD from St. John’s University, and a BCE in Civil Engineering from Villanova University.

Joseph J. Sitt is the President and CEO of Thor Equities—a forward-thinking international real estate development company that specializes in value-added investments in shopping centers, malls and mixed-use urban developments in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Thor currently has a retail, office, hotel, residential, and development portfolio totaling more than 15 million square feet. Mr. Sitt also serves as Chairman and Managing Principal of the Thor Urban Property Funds whose investors include pension funds, investment banks, top-tier college endowments, and foundations. Thor has two brokerage affiliates as well: Thor High Street Advisors, which provides tenant representation and advisory services to high end retailers seeking premier retail locations around the world, and TOWN Residential, New York’s new premier, and game changing, full service luxury residential real estate firm. Formerly, Mr. Sitt founded the women’s clothing retailer Ashley Stewart and quickly grew the company to over 380 stores in more than 100 cities generating $400 million in annual sales which prompted many national retailers to take notice of opportunities in the urban marketplace. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at colleges around New York City and the country including Columbia University, New York University, and Notre Dame and is an active board member on various non-profits including The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, one of the most renowned community development organizations in the United States. He has also been honored by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) for his commitment to fostering healthy competitive business conditions and new opportunities in inner city neighborhoods.

Programs to discuss real estate topics including those on WABC-TV and NY-1 News among others. In addition, Mr. Spinola has been invited to speak at dozens of press conferences alongside top government officials to make major announcements. Crain’s New York Business has included Mr. Spinola in its list of the 100 Most Influential New Yorkers, describing him as the “authoritative public voice, lobbyist and conscience” of the industry he represents. In 1996, Governor Pataki and New York State Senate Majority Leader Bruno appointed Mr. Spinola to serve on the New York State Real Estate Board, on which he still serves, a panel with advisory responsibilities in regulating the profession.

Ofer Yardeni is a managing partner and co-founder of Stonehenge Partners. Mr. Yardeni has over 23 years of experience in the real estate business concentrating in the commercial and multifamily real estate sectors in New York.

He has completed over $3 billion in real estate transactions during his career and continues to be active in acquiring and managing a diverse portfolio of real estate assets including commercial, retail and residential properties. Mr. Yardeni was born in Israel in 1960 and received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Tel Aviv University in 1985.

In 1986, Mr. Yardeni launched his real estate career as a real estate sales person at a New York brokerage firm. He later received his broker’s license and founded, Yardeni Investments, which focused on representing owners in the buying and selling of retail, residential, and commercial properties in Manhattan. In the early 90’s, Mr. Yardeni co-founded Stonehenge Partners and has acquired a current portfolio of Manhattan based properties with an aggregate of approximately 2,400 residential rental units and nearly 750,000 square feet of commercial, retail and garage space.

Paul Lalanne runs a dynamic business development firm. By taking an organic approach in wealth management, his firm is anchored in teaching sound leadership principles to organizations, businesses & individuals in the market place.

His teams equip corporations and business owners in mastering the fundamentals on leadership and asset management with a primary focus on living with balance.

His passion lies in touching lives by providing solutions to develop successful leaders in the workplace. He continues to work closely with churches, media & real estate companies. He's helped mentor teams that have led to The Women Creating Wealth initiative and the Latin initiative for Business Owners. Paul's drive for discipline grew from a fascinating career working aboard nuclear submarines. After an exhilarating tenure in media, he merged his background with asset management and carved his niche in the world of business development.He holds his Bachelors Degree from Southern Illinois University. Licenses: NY & NJ State Insurance, Banking, Annuities and Investments

Peter Metis’ practice focuses primarily on litigation and real estate. Since starting his legal career Peter has successfully litigated cases in state and federal court. He has represented a broad range of commercial clients including financial institutions, construction companies, universities, manufacturers as well as not-for-profit entities. He is admitted to practice in the Southern & Eastern Districts of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and has experience litigating before administrative agencies and arbitration tribunals. Peter serves as an arbitrator for the Ninth Judicial District, the American Arbitration Association and is an Adjunct Professor at the Fordham University School of Law teaching mediation.

He is on the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Lawyers Association of New York and is and is fluent in Greek.

Richard Farley is Executive Managing Director and Director of Leasing for ABS Partners Real Estate, LLC, one of New York City’s foremost real estate service firms specializing in landlord representation.

Prior to joining ABS in July 2011, Farley was employed for 12 years at RFR Realty as Executive Vice President/Director of Leasing where he effectively managed a 6-million-square-foot portfolio of properties and negotiated over 300 leases annually with a value of more than $450 million.

Among the notable deals he completed were leasing campaigns for prestigious trophy properties such as the Lever House and the Seagram’s Building, where he successfully negotiated a 165,000-square-foot lease transaction with Wachovia, generating $16 million in revenue. He also orchestrated the redevelopment and repositioning of 160 Fifth Avenue, leasing 90 percent of building within 18 months.

Before joining RFR, Farley held a number of titles at S.L. Green Realty over a period of many years including Executive Vice President/Director of Leasing and Senior Vice President.

Farley serves as Executive Board Member/Treasurer for the Landmarks Preservation Foundation of New York and is a member of several leasing committees for the Real Estate Board of New York. He was formerly a Treasurer and Governor for the Young Men’s and Women’s Real Estate Association.

Mr. Mack is responsible for new investments and investment management. Previously, Mr. Mack had been a member of the Real Estate Investment Banking Department at Shearson Lehman Hutton. Mr. Mack serves as a Director of the VERA Institute of Justice and as President of the non-profit HES Community Center, which serves the residents of Canarsie, Brooklyn. Mr. Mack graduated from the Wharton School of Business with a BS in Economics and from the Columbia University School of Law with a JD.

Just two years after Graduating from Iona College in 1989 with a BBA degree, Robert Magnan joined Emigrant Bank. Robert is a nineteen year veteran of Emigrant Bank's Residential and Commercial mortgage lending division. Most of his tenure has been spent among the ranks of the Company's top originators. As Vice President and Regional Sales Manager, he oversees Emigrant's Mortgage Account Managers covering territories from New York City and all lending area's north of Manhattan. Robert also supervises the Mortgage Account Managers that service Emigrant Savings Bank Branches.

Robert takes great pride working with executive management to forge new programs and innovative approaches to resolve ever changing financing demands. Having the ability to draw both residential and commercial business from retail and wholesale channels is quite a challenge but offers an exciting work dynamic. The key to Emigrant’s success can be attributed to the creative solutions that the company applies to various financing dilemmas that face homeowners, investors and commercial clients. On the Residential side, Emigrant focuses primarily on Jumbo transactions with guidelines in place for loans up to $10m. Our products offer features such as blanket liens on various property types, foreign national guidelines, pledges, investment Co-ops, Non-Warrantable (Condo/Co-op) projects and flexible underwriting with compensating factors. Robert’s years of experience are also called upon and shared with his team when they are confronted with issues on IMD, AIR and Condo-Hotel projects.

Emigrant utilizes the same creative solutions on the commercial side of the business. Robert’s vast knowledge of Real Estate affords his team the ability to identify the intrinsic value of certain commercial real estate. This enables Emigrant to deliver favorable (to the borrower) yet sound (to the Bank) financing offers by applying the appropriate valuation method. When hurdles such as vacancies or certificate of occupancy issues surface, Emigrant can suggest options which enable the client to close. As a portfolio lender, Emigrant is able to entertain and close deals that other Lenders refuse.

Mr. Ragozine is President of Donnelly Sustainable Energy Services, part of the 22 year old Donnelly Mechanical Corporation. Under Mr. Ragozine’s leadership, Donnelly has won numerous awards, including the NY Enterprise Report Green Company of the Year, and the 2011 Green Matters Magazine Green LEEDer of the Year. Prior to joining Donnelly, Mr. Ragozine was co-founder and COO of Metro Energy Solutions, an independent energy services and energy consulting company headquartered in northern New Jersey. Metro Energy provided energy services to clients around the United States, including New York Life Insurance Company, Ricoh Americas Corporation, Tractor Supply Company, Loews Cineplex Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts, the Philadelphia Water Department, Radio City Music Hall, and the New York Yankees. Mr. Ragozine has been in the energy services industry since 1990, and has been directly involved in projects valued at several hundred million dollars for some of the most well-known entities in the world. Prior to starting Metro Energy in 2000, Mr. Ragozine was Director and General Manager for one of the largest independent energy services companies in the United States, as well as Vice President of the one of the largest electrical contracting companies in New Jersey. He is a member of numerous industry-related groups, including the United States Green Buildings Council, and the Association of Energy Engineers. Mr. Ragozine has an extensive background in finance, having spent many years on Wall Street as an investment banker, and is a former elected official in New Jersey. He has a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.

Seth Pinsky was appointed President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in February 2008, seven months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers ushered in one of the most significant economic downturns in generations. Seth has worked to meet the challenge presented by the crisis by re-evaluating the agency’s strategy for expanding the City’s economy and redoubling existing efforts to position the City as the international center for innovation in the 21st century.

An attorney by training, prior to joining NYCEDC, Seth was an associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in the Real Estate practice and a financial analyst at the Mergers & Acquisitions boutique, James D. Wolfensohn Incorporated. Seth is a graduate of Columbia College, where he majored in Ancient History, and Harvard Law School.

Beyond working to overhaul the City’s economy, Seth’s efforts have also included modernizing NYCEDC’s 63-million square-foot property management portfolio; overseeing $2.5 billion in capital investments ranging from basic infrastructure improvements to new parks and streetscapes across the City; and helping to negotiate and structure the City’s involvement in some of the most complex development projects in recent years, including the World Trade Center, Yankee Stadium, and Citifield.

Shimon Shkury is the Founder and President of Ariel Property Advisors. In this role, Mr. Shkury oversees all investment sales and research operations for the company.

Prior to starting Ariel Property Advisors, Mr. Shkury was a Partner with Massey Knakal Realty Services where he built a 20 person operation in Northern Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester for the company. Under his leadership, the Northern Manhattan-Bronx division sold more than $1.5 billion worth of investment properties in less than a decade.

Individually, Mr. Shkury has closed over 250 transactions totaling more than 325 investment properties and $850 million in gross consideration. Some of his most notable transactions include The Grunberg Family Portfolio for $120 million, The Florence Nightingale Nursing Home for $80 million, The East Harlem HUD Portfolio for $26.9 million, and 1428 Fifth Avenue for $21.85 million.

Originally from Israel, Mr. Shkury previously served as a lieutenant in the Israeli Defense Force. He came to the United States in 1999 to earn an MBA in finance at the Wharton School of Business and a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Shkury devotes much of his spare time and resources to professional and non-profit organizations. These include various leading positions with the Bronx Manhattan North Association of Realtors, the National Realty Club, the UJA Federation, The Rabin Medical Center, The Chabad Israel Center, Legal Outreach, The Manhattan School of Music and the State of Israel Bonds Committee.

Mr. Shkury lives in Manhattan with his wife and son. He can be reached at 212.544.9500 ext.11 or via email at sshkury@arielpa.com

Ted Morgan is Senior Vice President and Credit Administrator at BNB Bank. He is a member of the Internal Loan Committee, which reviews all loan requests prior to submission to the Loan Committee of the Board of Directors. Morgan oversees the underwriting, approval, closing and servicing process of the Banks commercial lending. In addition, he supervises the SBA Loan program, which includes underwriting, eligibility, closing and servicing.

Morgan is responsible for developing and supervising new loan business assets including loan brokers and Loan Production Officers. He also oversees the Bank’s collection efforts for delinquent and classified loans, working closely with in-house legal counsel to litigate and foreclose where necessary.

Timothy J. Pastore is a Litigation Partner with the firm of Duval & Stachenfeld LLP (“D&S”) -- one of the world’s leading real estate firms with approximately 2000 transactions on all sides of the capital structure. Before joining D&S, Mr. Pastore was a partner at a large, national firm.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Pastore was a decorated officer and Judge Advocate (JAG) in the United States Air Force and a Special Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Department of Justice.

In the public and private sector, Mr. Pastore has litigated a wide variety of matters before federal, state and military courts and has represented the United States before foreign governments. Currently, Mr. Pastore represents large national and international corporate clients in various industries, including commercial real estate, banking and finance, security, entertainment and others.

Among other commercial real estate experience, Mr. Pastore has litigated purchase and sale disputes, commercial mortgage backed securities claims, loan defaults, land use litigation, lease disputes, broker’s fee claims, eminent domain and other disputes and claims involving commercial real estate.

Mr. Pastore is licensed to practice in New York and Massachusetts and before the United States Supreme Court, United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Pastore is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and has served as Secretary on the Committee on Military Affairs and Justice.

Mr. Pastore holds degrees from Bucknell University and Boston College Law School.

Thomas J. Torre joined METRO Fuel Oil in 1981 as CFO and Vice President after six years of working for Big 4 accounting firm Peat Marwick. Tom received a B.S. degree in Accounting from St. John’s University and an M.B.A. from Pace University. Tom manages all the financial aspects at METRO and all its subsidiaries.

Tom has served as chairman since 1998 for the Greenpoint & Williamsburg Communities Toast to Scouting and is presently on the President of the Board of Directors for the Brooklyn Council Scouts. He is also Assistant District Administrator and Treasurer for the District 26 Little League.

Tom McGovern founded Geatain Energy Management in 2004 to provide assistance to large commercial building owners from steadily increasing electric bills. As Chief Executive Officer, Tom is responsible for the long-term planning, direction and strategic vision of the firm. He is responsible for overall business operations, quality control, communications, tracking firm metrics and aligning firm practices to market conditions. Tom has always been ahead of the curve, constantly determining better ways to streamline routine practices. He developed a unique system to align building use to specific energy saving measures and developed several proprietary ventilation practices. Geatain has grown into a full service energy consulting firm which evaluates every building component. While focusing on cost-effective operational improvements with one to two year returns, Geatain also provides long-term strategic planning to replace antiquated building infrastructure. Geatain is working on a project to convert an old warehouse to a netzero building, which will create more energy than it uses. Geatain is evaluated two (2) Manhattan high rises for office building energy saving measures. Geatain is evaluating heat reclamation from ovens and dish drying equipment for a Bronx wholesale bakery. Geatain is evaluating cogeneration for a Manhattan office building which spends over $1 million per year in energy. Geatain is evaluating two (2) Manhattan condominiums for energy savings. Geatain is working with a retail chain to provide energy savings for a 15,000 sf store in the Queens. Geatain has replaced 775 light fixtures for a Hauppauge manufacturer, saving $28,000 annually. Geatain is working with a seafood warehouse to slash refrigeration costs 20%. Geatain is working on several residential projects to help save 20% of energy costs. These measures not only lower overall electric costs, they increase building assessments and produce higher portfolio values.

Tom has presented at a variety of seminars and conferences regarding commercial building energy savings. He spoke on the national “Green Leader” radio show and highlighted recent regulatory trends and state-of-the-art technological advances. He was a panelist for the HIA Go Green Expo which is the largest industrial trade organization east of the Mississippi River. He presented and helped organize the “What’s Cooking in Real Estate” Building Conversion Episode for the Live Open House television network. He presented at two annual environmental conferences where he discussed several large multimillion dollar construction projects. Tom is a professional engineer, has a law degree from St. John’s University, is LEED AP certified and lives in Suffolk County with his wife and two children.

Bill advises on many aspects of US taxation – federal, state, and international – affecting US and non-US individuals, families, their family offices, and their business and investment interests. This includes planning for the US income and estate tax consequences associated with the ownership of US real estate by non-US persons. He is involved with Withers Bergman's Family Office Group and International Corporate Tax Group and regularly works with entrepreneurs, established business owners (including investment managers), and family offices to assist with the formation, management, and periodic evaluation of multi-national and/or multi-generational structures for business and/or investment purposes. He is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut, and in the United States Tax Court.