WAG magazine - October 2021

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REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION CONTINUE TO GROW WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE

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IN NEW YORK STATE 2014, 2015, 2016 2018, 2019

EXPLORE ALL THAT’S

autumn

Vibrant fall foliage, fresh crisp apples and comforting pumpkin delights! The special attention to detail and personalized care we bring to each resident, includes tasty, nutritious meals and award-winning services and amenities.

Take a progressive journey through our warm and welcoming community. Each stop on your visit will include delectable chef-made seasonal pumpkin treats.

Wednesdays in October 11:00am–3:00pm RSVP TODAY AT 914-306-8793 Virtual tours always available. Call today!

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We are proud to be a happy, healthy and safe community. We are committed to the safety and well-being of our residents and their families. Following the FDA approval of the vaccine, be assured that Senior Lifestyle mandates that all our employees are vaccinated to minimize risk of infection.

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1 MARTINE AT CITY SQUARE GALLERY LOFT APARTMENTS BY GDC… WITH A PRIVATE PARK AT YOUR DOORSTEP. Located one block from the White Plains MetroNorth Station, 1 Martine is part of City Square, an art inspired reinvention of a full city block by developer Martin Ginsburg.

With 11-foot ceilings, our unique luxury rentals create a Soho vibe that is quite unexpectedly in the center of Westchester.

Amenities include 24/7 Concierge, Club Lounge with Skyline Roof Deck, Fitness Center, Stadium Seating Screening Room, Conference Room, Pet Wash and an Art Gallery with resident discounts.

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CONTENTS O C TO B ER 202 1

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Building Communities 'A good time for brokers’ A developer’s eye for beauty Red-hot real estate ‘Lifetime’ achievements A hands-on developer Back to the future with Sotheby’s They love Greenwich Raising the restaurant bar Building a better bakery Awnings that ‘Gimme Shelter’ A business primed for patio furniture Wittus is all fired up Ready for its next act Is there a ‘boatel’ in Tarrytown’s future?

Beyond country furnishings at Country Willow A new identity for Trump Tower at City Center Adding to your home Fine American furniture for the home Building a recording studio in Westchester ‘Fall’ing for Litchfield hotels ‘Custom’-made scents and sensibility Get your health back on track – now Chilling with Chilean wines When & Where

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COVER: Peter Lundberg’s “Dancing With Torsten,” a concrete and stainless steel sculpture, is on display at Ginsburg Development Companies’ Haverstraw project. Courtesy GDC.

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WAGGERS T H E TA L E N T B E H I N D O U R PA G E S

Dee DelBello

Dan Viteri

PUBLISHER dee@westfairinc.com

CO-PUBLISHER/CREATIVE dviteri@westfairinc.com

EDITORIAL JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

PHIL HALL

Erin Real MANAGING EDITOR ereal@westfairinc.com

Georgette Gouveia EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ggouveia@westfairinc.com

LAURA JOSEPH MOGIL

ART Dan Viteri CREATIVE DIRECTOR dviteri@westfairinc.com DEBBI K. KICKHAM

WILLIAM D. KICKHAM

RAJNI MENON

Sarafina Pavlak GRAPHIC DESIGNER spavlak@westfairinc.com

PHOTOGRAPHY John Rizzo, Bob Rozycki

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gina Gouveia, Phil Hall, Peter Katz, Debbi K. Kickham, Christina Losapio Doug Paulding, Giovanni Roselli, Bob Rozycki, Gregg Shapiro, Barbara Barton Sloane, Jeremy Wayne, Cami Weinstein, Katie Banser-Whittle

FATIME MURIQI

DOUG PAULDING

JOHN RIZZO

PRINT/DIGITAL SALES Anne Jordan Duffy ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/SALES anne@westfairinc.com Barbara Hanlon, Marcia Pflug MARKETING PARTNERS

GIOVANNI ROSELLI

BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

JEREMY WAYNE

MARKETING/EVENTS Fatime Muriqi EVENTS & MARKETING DIRECTOR fmuriqi@westfairinc.com

Marcia Pflug SPONSORS DIRECTOR mpflug@wfpromote.com

CIRCULATION CAMI WEINSTEIN

Daniella Volpacchio ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER dvolpacchio@westfairinc.com

KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

NEW WAGGER Bridget McCusker is an assistant editor at the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals, where she also writes regularly, covering businesses small and large, government, education, real estate, the arts and economic development, among other topics. She has written previously for Reader’s Digest, and her editorial experience also includes time spent working in book publishing. Bridget hails from Thornwood and graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in English literature in 2019.

Gregory Sahagian ADVISER

WHAT IS WAG?

Billy Losapio ADVISER

Irene Corsaro ADVISER

Some readers think WAG stands for “Westchester and Greenwich.” We certainly cover both. But mostly, a WAG is a wit and that’s how we think of ourselves, serving up piquant stories and photos to set your own tongues wagging.

HEADQUARTERS A division of Westfair Communications Inc., 701 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604 Telephone: 914-694-3600 | Facsimile: 914-694-3699 Website: wagmag.com | Email: ggouveia@westfairinc.com All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff.

No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $24 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call 914-694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Anne Jordan at 914-694-3600, ext. 3032 or email anne@westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 1931-6364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO, dee@westfairinc.com

No matter the journey, it’s important to have a team navigating with you.

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210922-1259929

EDITOR’S LETTER

BY GEORGET TE GOUVEIA

With the coronavirus still raging, the housing market in spacious Westchester and Fairfield counties continues to be hot, hot, hot.

But don’t discount the commercial sector, particularly with health care and its ambulatory services as well as the need for distribution centers heating up.

That’s the message echoing again and again in our October real estate and construction issue. We’ve corralled many of the heavy hitters — Ginsburg, Houlihan Lawrence, Raveis, Simone and Sotheby’s — and asked them not only to share their stories but to give us the lay of the land. We also have profiles of two star developers — Louis R. Cappelli (Laura’s story) and Rella Fogliano ( Jena’s), who’ll be honored at the 35th annual March of Dimes Westchester Real Estate Awards Breakfast Nov. 4 at The Opus Westchester in White Plains for their work with the nonprofit, which in turn does so much for mothers and infants at risk.

What they know, and what many have discovered in the pandemic, is that home is everything. So in this issue we help you make the most of it. Cami tells you how to add on to it, while Katie tells you how to furnish it. Speaking of furniture, we’re delighted that Bridget McCusker of our sister publication, the Westchester County Business Journal has joined us with a piece on Country Willow, a Bedford Hills store noted for taking its fine furnishings beyond the country aesthetic to embrace the sleek mid-century modern, Scandinavian and industrial styles beloved by many of today’s shoppers. Meanwhile, Jeremy anticipates winter, exploring gas and wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and accessories at Wittus: Fire by Design in Pound Ridge.

But we haven’t neglected the outside with features on Patty DeFelice, whose Patty’s Portico in Port Chester restores and sells patio furnishings — just ask Martha Stewart — and on new WAG adviser Gregory Sahagian Sr., whose Hartsdale-based awnings company has given shelter to everyone from the folks at Barnes & Noble Eastchester to those at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden. Why do these stories in October? Because if you want to be ready for the great outdoors next year, DeFelice and Sahagian will tell you, now’s the time to prepare.

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We wouldn’t be WAG, of course, if we didn’t have a little fun. Peter — who does triple duty with his cover story on Ginsburg Development Companies’ aesthetic approach to real estate and construction and Tarrytown Marina’s plan for a “Wharf Boatel”— pivots for a look at Trump Tower in White Plains. Opened with great fanfare in 2005, with a pre-presidential Donald J. Trump and wife Melania in attendance, this Trump Tower is looking for a new name after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s Juliet asks her Romeo. Plenty, as it turns out. The saga of White Plains’ Trump Tower is a reminder that time is indeed another country, transforming places in ways even developers can’t anticipate, and that the only constant in real estate and construction is change.

A 2020 YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester Visionary Award winner and a

The curtain rises on a new season at the 95-year-old Capitol Theatre in Port Chester and for real estate and construction.

Photograph by Georgette Gouveia.

2018 Folio Women in Media Award Winner, Georgette Gouveia is the author of “Burying the Dead,” “Daimon: A Novel of Alexander the Great” and "Seamless Sky" (JMS Books), as well as “The Penalty for Holding,” a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist (JMS Books), and “Water Music” (Greenleaf Book Group). They’re part of her series of novels, “The Games Men Play,” also the name of the sports/culture blog she writes.

Her short story “The Glass Door” was recently published by JMS and part of “Together apART: Creating During COVID” at ArtsWestchester in White Plains. Her new story, “After Hopper,” is now available from JMS Books. For more, visit thegamesmenplay.com.

Oops!

In September WAG’s section on Doctors of Distinction, we listed Sarah Lawrence College’s name and location incorrectly in the entry on Mary Hartnett. Here’s how the entry should’ve read: Mary Hartnett Director, Medical Services Sarah Lawrence College Yonkers, New York Mary Hartnett, RN, BSN, earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University. She has more than 40 years of nursing experience, the last 20 of which have been at Sarah Lawrence College, where she has held the director of medical services position for eight years. She has been instrumental in promoting health initiatives that include health fairs, a smoke-free campus and mind-body programs.

Our apologies.

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BUILDING COMMUNITIES

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Industrial real estate and construction have been part of the Simone Development Companies since Joanna Simone’s grandfather, Pat, and father, Joe, founded the business in the 1970s. Indeed, that’s where they started, adds the third-generation Simone, a principal of the company, overseeing leasing and property management operations.

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“Today, (industrial real estate is) used in a different way, for warehouses, logistics and distribution centers,” Simone adds, referring to the Amazon-ing of America.

And along with health care, it is exploding across the region. “It is out of control,” says Simone, whose company has more than 7 million square feet of industrial, health care, commercial, mixed-use and residential space across the tristate area, including Westchester, Orange and Fairfield counties. “The rents on industrial properties have gone up significantly. The supply can’t keep up with the demand.”

But Simone Development is certainly trying. The company has more than 50 industrial/flex properties totaling 2 million-plus square feet in such places as Mount Vernon and Stamford. Simone also has an additional 500,000 square feet in development.

Running neck-and-neck with industrial real estate for the title of hottest sector is, unsur-

Simone Development Companies transformed 104 Corporate Park Drive in Harrison, a former office building, into a custom pediatric ambulatory care facility for Montefiore Medical Center.

The Boyce Thompson Center at 1084, 1086 and 1088 North Broadway in Yonkers puts medical services in a trending mixed-use setting that also embraces retail and restaurants.

prisingly, health care. Recently, Simone Development and Fareri Associates announced 21, 518 square feet of new leases at Purchase Professional Park on Westchester Avenue.

The new tenants include Westchester Park Pediatrics; International Research Services, a cosmetic testing company, Schweiger Dermatology Group and Jeremy Brauer M.D., also a dermatologist.

For Simone herself, such leases are about more than square footage. They’re about trends in various sectors. So the Schweiger Dermatology Group leasing 2,510 square feet at 3010 Westchester Ave. represents the move of Manhattan-based practices either to a new permanent home in Westchester or a remote location there. (Simone is also creating a 46,000-square-foot medical building at 3040 Westchester Ave. to go along with the 220,000 square feet of Class A medical and office space at 3000, 3010, 3020 and 3030.)

Another big health care trend is the shift to ambulatory services and office visits instead of hospital stays, Simone says.

“Insurance companies want patients out of hospitals,” Simone says. It’s a sentiment shared by doctors and the patients them-

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selves. Covid-19 underscored this as elective surgeries in hospitals were put on hold to accommodate the flood of severe coronavirus cases. Add to this an aging population and the need for ambulatory care facilities speaks for itself, she says.

One such space is 104 Corporate Park Drive, situated along Westchester Avenue’s “Medical Mile” in Harrison. Simone has transformed the 118,000-square-foot former office building into a custom pediatric ambulatory care facility for Montefiore Medical Center. The Simone portfolio also includes the former Sterling National Bank at 21 Scarsdale Road in Yonkers, which is being developed into a 52,000-square-foot medical building; and the Boyce Thompson Center at 1084, 1086 and 1088 N. Broadway in Yonkers, which puts medical services in a trending mixed-use setting that also embraces retail and restaurants.

Perhaps nowhere is the medical mixed-use approach more apparent than at the Hutchinson Metro Center, a complex of several buildings in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx that includes 1.4 million square feet of space on 42 acres. The center is the headquarters of Simone Development at 1200 Waters Place,

The Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx, home to Simone Development Companies, offers an example of what Joanna Simone, a company principal, calls “a live/work/play environment.”

formerly an abandoned mental health facility. Hutchinson Metro also houses a 125-room Residence Inn by Marriott, the first hotel and hotel chain in the Bronx, and the first LA Fitness facility in the borough — both in the Metro Center Atrium. Simone Development is adding 33 acres and 1 million square feet of medical offices and life science space to the site.

“It’s really a live/work/play environment,” Simone says. “It’s the kind of space that can be used to help the community, which is our mission.”

For more, visit simonedevelopment.com.

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OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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4 Fordal Road, Bronxville, a Houlihan Lawrence property, gleams beneath a pastel sky.

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'A GOOD TIME FOR BROKERS’

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Houlihan Lawrence describes itself as “the future of real estate since 1888.”

That’s when William Van Duzer Lawrence founded the firm in Bronxville, where he helped define the American suburb — sculpting tony Lawrence Park and developing Lawrence Hospital. (In neighboring Yonkers, Lawrence created Sarah Lawrence College in honor of his late wife, the former Sarah Bates.)

It was George Lawrence, William’s great-grandson, who would merge what was then Lawrence Properties with Art Houlihan’s A.T. Houlihan, a northern Westchester

firm that gave Lawrence countywide access.

George sold Houlihan Lawrence to Peter and Nancy Seaman in 1990. Nancy and her two brothers, Stephen and Chris Meyers, turned it into the top brokerage north of New York City. Today, the firm’s 1,300 agents in 30 offices serve the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Orange and Ulster in New York and Fairfield County in Connecticut.

Recently, we asked Tom LaPerch, director of Houlihan Lawrence Commercial, and Debbie Doern, senior vice president of sales for Houlihan Lawrence, respectively to paint a commercial and residential real estate picture

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for us. You would imagine that with many people fleeing to the ’burbs and working from home during the pandemic that the residential real estate landscape would be rosy and the commercial one not.

But while residential real estate remains hot, the commercial market is looking up:

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE — BLOODIED BUT UNBEATEN, UNBROKEN AND UNBOWED

Tom LaPerch, director of Houlihan Lawrence Commercial, is an optimist. “That’s what my wife says,” he notes with a laugh. As he views the commercial real estate picture in the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County, he generally likes what he sees.

“The pandemic hurt demand but not as greatly as anticipated,” he says. “The government money softened the landing in a big way.”

To be sure, he says, “some sectors were trending toward a bubble” before the coronavirus hit in March of last year. These sectors include hospitality, where the costs of restaurant rents and renovations were on the rise.

But if the coronavirus has taught us anything, it’s that those who survive and thrive learn to reinvent and repurpose. A second generation of restauranteurs is taking advantage of what LaPerch calls “a 20% to 50% rate reduction” in vacated properties to open new establishments or create “ghost kitchens” that do only takeout and delivery.

Similarly, retail was already in reimagination mode pre-pandemic, thanks to the ascent and domination of e-commerce, LaPerch says. Stores have reduced their footprint 20% to 50%, though they’re still needed on Main Street, he adds. Elsewhere, retail continues to recreate itself, with malls turning into “last mile,” or last stop, delivery hubs for e-commerce, particularly along the I-84 corridor in Danbury and Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties. Look also to see former retail properties go mixed-use, as with the Kmart site in Yorktown.

But what everyone is wondering is, What’s going to happen to the office market, as people return to in-person work or some kind of hybrid at-home, at-the-office arrangement?

“Everyone has been predicting its demise, but it’s never happened,” LaPerch says. He credits developers like Robert Weisz, who’ve outfitted their class-A buildings with air filtration systems and other accommodations to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) protocols.

“Weiss has done a fantastic job and has held his pricing.”

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Tom LaPerch

As for the Class B and C buildings, LaPerch says we have to “wait and see. The first quarter of next year will tell the tale.”

Nonetheless, he remains bullish. The pandemic is the third crash he’s been through, after the dot.com bubble burst of 2000 and the Great Recession of 2008-09.

The difference between then and now is that the market has been mostly up, 401k plans are fat and “money is cheap,” allowing for transitions and opportunity.

“This is a good time to be a broker,” he says.

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE — FROM HOT, HOT TO HOT WITH A BIT OF CAUTION

We all know what happened to residential real estate in 2020: As the pandemic took off, so did the exodus from New York City — the most populous and densely populated city in the United States, one of the world’s largest megacities and the center of its largest metropolitan area as measured by urban area.

“What really did happen: It was a fearbased move,” says Debbie Doern, senior vice president of sales for Houlihan Lawrence. “We had no seasonal downturn.

Usually things slow down in the summer….

Before Covid, we had historically low inventory.”

After the coronavirus exploded, so did the search for homes in the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County, with “mortgage banks doing preapplications for (potential home-

Debbie Doern

buyers for) multiple communities.”

Homebuyers, she adds, “were not focused on one area. In the past, their searches were more targeted.” During the height of the pandemic, “there was more urgency.”

Overall, Westchester County saw a 43% increase in home sales year over year with onethird of its buyers coming from New York City.

Some towns in Houlihan Lawrence’s market saw a 50-plus% increase year over year. And while luxury homes did well, the bidding wars were in the moderately priced range.

Now things are “starting to normalize,” Doern says, and buyers are becoming “more cautious.” But the hunger is such that there are some who still don’t have houses. And, she adds, “for the first time, all areas are in high demand as are all price points.

“Buyers looking for homes are still uncertain if they’ll be going into the city full-time.

That’s why they don’t mind the distances. The commute is not as critical if you don’t plan to be in the office very day.”

It’s part of the reason that places like Dutchess County, once the hinterlands, are seeing a labor shortage as buyers snap up available workers for repairs on their new nests. Goods are also in short supply, although that is a problem that cuts across many industries.

New York, a city that has reinvented itself many times in its almost 400-year history, will come back, Doern says, though it will be slow-going.

In the meantime, the suburban hunt is on.

For more, visit houlihanlawrence.com.

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A DEVELOPER'S EYE FOR BEAUTY

BY PETER KATZ

“I’ve always been attracted to challenges,” developer Martin Ginsburg tells WAG during an interview at one of his newest projects in Westchester County, the reimagined, 14-story 1 Martine Ave. in downtown White Plains.

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Originally an office building that was created as part of the Westchester Financial Center, 1 Martine has been transformed into a 188-unit apartment building. Ginsburg Development Companies LLC has made art a part of the reimagining, with an art gallery on the ground floor as well as artworks inside and sculptures placed outside.

After acquiring the Financial Center on the city block bounded by Main and Bank streets and Martine and South Lexington avenues, Ginsburg embarked on an ambitious effort to reinvent it as City Square, bringing new residential, commercial and pedestrian activity to the area diagonally across from the Metro-North train station.

Ginsburg considers 1 Martine to be one of the most challenging projects in his career. Unlike constructing other residential buildings, he says, each apartment in this one had to be

Peter Lundberg’s “Eye of Sauron” is installed near Ginsburg Development Companies’ Harbor Square project in Ossining. Photographs courtesy GDC.

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individually designed to make it compatible with the existing construction.

“We had to reinvent the wheel here. You’re really constrained by so many things, including the structure,” Ginsburg adds. “To just penetrate a concrete slab you had to X-ray to be sure you didn’t hit any of the cables. It’s been an experience from the design point of view and from the construction point of view.”

What he explained about the difficulties in making the conversion of 1 Martine work was reminiscent of his beginnings in the development business.

“We were only able to find sites that were extremely difficult to develop and we ended up learning how to develop, and architecturally work out very complex sites,” Ginsburg says.

“I’m an architect, so I’m not only a developer.

And we enjoy the challenge.”

The apartments have 11-foot ceilings, large windows, track lighting suitable for highlighting artwork on apartment walls and exposed ductwork. There is wide-plank flooring in the living rooms and bedrooms. Designer features are incorporated into the bathrooms and kitchens. There are bedroom ceiling fans, washers and dryers and walk-in closets.

“The office sector has taken a hit and part of this development (City Square) is offices as well,” Ginsburg says. “Residential is right now in a very strong position. There’s a tremendous market not only locally but nationally and I think that’s going to stay for a while.”

Nonetheless, Ginsburg does see a future for the office market.

“A lot of people that have been working at home are going to want to go back,” he says. “I don’t think that offices are going out of business completely. There has been a change and that’s going to stay….A lot of people will work a certain amount of time at home, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

Ginsburg has been active with projects along the Hudson River, both on the Westchester side from Yonkers to Peekskill and in Rockland County. He’s a promoter of the river as being more than just something picturesque to view out of a living room or bedroom windows.

“I do believe in Hudson River development and I believe in the redevelopment and repositioning of the Hudson River towns in the sense that you want to generate tourism,” he says.

“The Hudson River, one of the most beautiful rivers in the world, is the only major river that doesn’t really have any cruise ships on it. And tourism depends on having places for ships to stop and eventually I think tourism will bloom on the Hudson River and the waterfronts will not be overdeveloped.”

Ginsburg points out that of all the tourists

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Claes Hake’s “Vertical Gateway”at Ginsburg Development Companies' Haverstraw project.

who visited New York City before the pandemic and those starting to come back now as restrictions are being lifted, only a small percentage go upstate.

“I have traveled to many parts of the world,” he says. “If you go to Paris, there are many places to tour in France and they tour France.

But we get very few people that go to any places outside of New York City and nobody really tours New York state. But if you had more destination places like (The Abbey Inn & Spa in Peekskill) that I’ve created, you would start promoting tourism, real tourism, that is not just backpackers and I’ve got nothing against backpackers. You do not really get the European people that stay at The Waldorf-Astoria touring New York state. I’m trying to help promote that concept.”

As the name suggests, The Abbey is a conversion of the former convent of the Episcopal Sisters of St. Mary’s into a 42-room inn, restaurant and event facility with views of the Hudson. It’s next to his residential project known as Fort Hill Apartments at The Abbey.

“I might try doing this in other areas, be-

cause New York needs tourism,” Ginsburg says.

Ginsburg has made parks integral to many of his projects and, as part of his vision that brings art into his developments, has used the Hudson as a background for sculptures.

“Even when there has been development on waterfronts like we have done in Haverstraw, where we have quite a bit of development... the shoreline and the trails and the sculptures make the parks special,” he says.

When devising a development proposal, he molds it to what seems to be most appropriate for a particular location.

“We’re not the only party that has opinions.

In many cases it becomes a blending of ideas and the end project benefits from that blending,” Ginsburg says.

For him, there’s no single project from his approximately 60 years in architecture and development that he would honor as being his favorite.

“It is always my current and next project, because I’m always trying to do better and improve and I’m always most excited about what I’m doing currently.”

For more, visit gdcllc.com.

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RED-HOT REAL ESTATE

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN

Fairfield County’s booming residential real estate market is showing few signs of slowing — and may end up being one for the record books.

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“It’s still hot,” Ryan Raveis, co-president of William Raveis Real Estate and president of William Raveis Mortgage, marvels to WAG. “It’s the first time Fairfield County has been like this for a long time.”

While comparing calendar year 2021 to 2020 is difficult due to the ravages Covid-19 inflicted last year, Raveis says that on a summer-to-summer basis, both average and median home sales prices are up by nearly 20%.

The average sales price from June to August 2020 was $918,000, and the median price for the same period was $585,000 — compared with $1.1 million and $695,000, respectively, during this year’s summer months.

“Listing inventory is down, so the narrative is that there’s nothing for sale,” Raveis adds. “But there is stuff for sale. It’s just that it leaves the market very quickly.”

Homes that once took seven to nine months to sell are now often off the market in 10 weeks or less, he says. Cash is preferred,

Family affair: From left, William Raveis, founding chairman and CEO, William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance; son Chris, president of Residential Sales for William Raveis Real Estate and Affiliates, co-president of William Raveis Inc. and corporate secretary of William Raveis Inc.; and son Ryan, co-president of William Raveis Real Estate and president of William Raveis Mortgage.

Courtesy Mindy Briar Photography.

Ryan Raveis Photograph by Kyle Norton.

and offers of over the asking price are, if not routine, on the rise.

Stamford and Greenwich remain some of the county’s strongest markets, but Raveis says that Rowayton is actually the strongest at the moment, as are Wilton, Weston and Darien.

Not that Greenwich is slumping, he adds: Its Riverside section has seen sales increase by 34% over last summer.

The much-reported-upon migration to Fairfield County and its environs from New York City is still very much in effect, Raveis says — though it is no longer the only factor.

“The Delta variant and the generally deteriorating environment in New York City over the last year or two are obviously part of it,” he said. “The health of the city — not just with Delta, but in terms of its crime rate, the close proximity people are in — also plays a part.

“But there are other factors as well,” he continues. “Interest rates are still low, which has an impact on the real estate market, and then you have the economy and the different stimulus packages. Plus, there’s a very large generation of millennials in New York City

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STAMFORD AND GREENWICH REMAIN SOME OF THE COUNTY’S STRONGEST MARKETS, BUT RAVEIS SAYS THAT ROWAYTON IS ACTUALLY THE STRONGEST AT THE MOMENT, AS ARE WILTON, WESTON AND DARIEN.

who are now starting families and looking at the suburbs.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how employers address that, if they’re going to create places for their teams that aren’t necessarily in New York,” Raveis says.

Meanwhile, many homeowners are hoping to benefit from the sky-high demand.

The dilemma for some, he says, is that “Even when they want to sell, where and how are they going to buy next?”

The family-owned real estate company — which spans the Northeast and Florida and is continuing to expand — has an answer in its CashBid programs. When a buyer is certified and pre-approved for a mortgage with William Raveis Mortgage, the firm can show proof of funds and position the client as an all-cash buyer. Its lenders will even reach out to the seller’s agent for verification, Raveis says.

Its CashBid Plus program goes even further. The firm buys the house on behalf of its client, using its own cash. It then helps the buyer secure a competitive mortgage and transfers the title to him or her once the lending is processed. The company describes it as “the silver bullet needed to win a bidding war.”

There is also the Raveis Purchase program, wherein the company acquires a property for an initial payment of up to 80% of the current value of the home, unlocking the majority of the homeowner’s equity and enabling him or her to settle any mortgages. Once the property is vacated, the firm prepares it for sale. When the transaction is completed, the now former homeowner can make a noncontingent offer on the next home.

Both the Raveis Purchase and CashBid programs were launched this year. Raveis allows that others may be in the works, but says that “Our focus is on what the existing market needs right now, and what we can do to help our agents provide the right benefits to their customers.”

For more, visit raveis.com.

BUILDING F O R T H E F U T U R E.

PURCHASE PROFESSIONAL PARK Purchase, NY

simdev.com

The Ritz-Carlton Residences in White Plains bookend The Opus Westchester.

Photographs courtesy 24 the Cappelli WAGMAG.COM OCTOBER 2021 Organization.

‘LIFETIME’ ACHIEVEMENTS

BY LAURA JOSEPH MOGIL

(Editor’s note: This is one of two stories about developers who are being honored Nov. 4 for their work with the March of Dimes. The other, on Rella Fogliano, is on Page 30.)

It was back in 1987 that White Plains resident Louis R. Cappelli (along with his father Luca Cappelli) received the first March of Dimes Greater New York Market Real Estate Award.

Thirty-four years later, Cappelli, founder and managing member of the Cappelli Organization, will return to receive the Martin S. Berger Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 35th March of Dimes’ Westchester Real Estate Awards Breakfast on Nov. 4 at The Opus Westchester in White Plains. The award acknowledges individuals for their outstanding accomplishments in both the commercial real estate industry and in ser-

OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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Louis R. Cappelli and wife Kylie at the opening of their Greca Mediterranean Kitchen + Bar. Photograph by Peter Katz.

vice to their communities.

A lot has happened since that first awards breakfast in Cappelli’s early career. He has played an integral role in the revitalization of downtown districts in Westchester and Fairfield counties — pioneering the construction of City Center, The Ritz-Carlton Residences and The Ritz-Carlton New York, Westchester (now The Opus Westchester) in White Plains; New Roc City in New Rochelle and Trump Plaza New Rochelle; and Atlantic Station in Stamford, to name just a few of his successful developments.

Cappelli’s roots go way back in the real estate construction and development world.

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1973, he went right to work for his father’s contractor business, Saturn Construction. “My first job was driving trucks to deliver materials to job sites,” he recalls.

“The company was building a lot of public schools and U.S. post offices. We were public bid contractors and didn’t build for ourselves until 1985.”

Interestingly, Cappelli said he spent a lot of time in the 1980s with developer Brad

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Berger, who introduced him to his father, Martin. “I started keeping my eye on the buildings they were constructing, owning and renting,” he says. “Martin was a great guy and like a second father to me. I would just pick his brain about development and he would council me for years and years. So, it is so wonderful to be receiving this award that was named for him,” Cappelli adds.

In 1985, Cappelli took a chance developing a 150,000-square-foot office building on speculation in Valhalla. “One day a car pulled up at the site and four executives got out.

They were from New York Telephone and rented the whole building,” Cappelli says.

Forming Cappelli Enterprises, the whole family then got involved in the development business, creating another 1 million square feet of space at what was to become the Summit at Westchester in Valhalla. The Valhalla properties would be among those that the Cappellis sold in 1998 to Reckson Associates, a publicly traded company, for approximately $200 million.

Starting his own company, Cappelli built New Roc City in 1995 and ’96. While Cappelli

has developed 100-plus buildings since then that are worth more than $5 billion, he says the project he is proudest of is The Ritz-Carlton. “The Ritz-Carlton stands out because of the iconic stature of the two 45-story residence buildings and the hotel (now The Opus Westchester) and the major importance of bringing The Ritz-Carlton to Westchester. I now have 360 units there, all sold out, and there’s not one unhappy resident, including me, as I live there,” he adds.

Cappelli is still busy at work on a number of large projects. “We’re very focused on New Rochelle right now with four, 28-story high-rises that we are currently building,” he says. In White Plains, he is also starting two new $200 million projects, one called Gateway II at the train station and another at Hamilton Green at the White Plains Mall next to The Ritz-Carlton Residences. “We also just finished a three-year project called Atlantic Station I and II, a $150 million project with 650 units in Stamford about a month ago,” he says.

In addition to his business accomplishments, Cappelli has made it a priority to give back to the community. In 2000 he set up the Louis R. Cappelli Foundation, which addresses the needs of at-risk youth, particularly in the areas of education, health and fitness and arts education. “The goal is to assist disadvantaged children, but also to help women and the homeless,” Cappelli says. “To date, our nonprofit has awarded close to $15 million to different charities. Among the organizations Cappelli’s charity has donated to are White Plains Hospital, the White Plains Public School District and Gilda’s Club.

Cappelli points out that the March of Dimes has always been very close to his heart. “I’m going to be 70 this year and I was recognized 35 years ago for an unbelievable cause. Your first impression and recognition really sticks with you. I never forgot it and I still remember every word of the speech I gave,” he says.

“In the end of the day, we’ve given and raised over $600,000 for the March of Dimes and hopefully we’ll raise over $500,000 at this upcoming event.”

For more, visit cappelliorg.com. And for more on the March of Dimes’ Westchester Real Estate Awards Breakfast, visit marchofdimes.org/events/Event.aspx?eventId=21929&.

Laura Joseph Mogil is a freelance writer residing in Briarcliff Manor. She is a frequent contributor to WAG magazine.

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Yonkers

57 Alexander ROSE St. ASSOCIATES EMBRACES WESTCHESTER House39 Lounge WITH THREE NEW DEVELOPMENTS

R

ose Associates, the Metro New York City multifamily developer and property manager, is in the early stages of development at three new properties in Westchester County.

Located in the cities of Port Chester, White Plains and Yonkers, the developments will bring nearly 1,700 new rental apartments to the County in addition to retail and office space.

The activity is indicative of Rose’s renewed focus on Westchester County, where the company was very active in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. During that period, Rose developed rental properties in Hartsdale, White Plains and Mount Kisco while owning and managing retail properties in Rye, Scarsdale and Shrub Oak. In 2016, Rose began to pursue new opportunities in Westchester which led to the purchase of the former AT&T building located at 440 Hamilton Avenue. After extensive planning and design, Rose is leading an adaptive reuse that will transform the former office building and create 255 new rental apartments. On an adjacent parking lot, a new, mid-rise building is also being constructed. This portion of the development will

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feature 213 apartments and a 575-space parking garage. The development will consist of studio, one- and two-bedroom homes. Along with a fully equipped resident lounge and fitness center, the property will feature an outdoor pool and an indoor golf simulator. Residents will enjoy living in the heart of downtown and commuters will benefit from the property’s proximity to Metro-North’s Harlem Line.

Amy Rose, president and CEO of Rose Associates, said: “As developers, we prioritize locations that offer convenient access to mass transit. 440 Hamilton satisfies this requirement and so much more with the city’s restaurant and retail center just steps away.”

In Yonkers, Rose is partnered with Battery Global Advisors on a ground-up development in the city’s resurgent downtown. Located at 57 Alexander Street, the property will face the Hudson River and offer 440 rental apartments in studio-, one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations.

The property will include a fitness center, golf simulator, game room and co-working space. In addition to an expansive outdoor terrace and an

ROSE

44 Amy Rose

Port Chester

ASSOCIATES

White Plains outdoor pool for residents, Rose is creating a riverside esplanade on the western portion of the fouracre site. 57 Alexander Street is adjacent to the Metro-North commuter rail and Amtrak train.

While still in its planning stages, Rose’s most ambitious project in Westchester will be realized on a 15.5-acre site in Port Chester.

LocatedLounge near House39 the confluence of Route 1, I-95 and New York’s

287 Thruway, the property was once home to United Hospital. Existing structures on the site are being razed to make way for a mixed-use development. Rose and co-developer BedRock Real Estate Partners are proposing approximately 775 residential units, a hotel, senior housing and retail and restaurant space. Current plans call for more than 18,000 square feet of commer-

40 Hamilton Ave. Barker Building

cial space along with 1,020 parking spots.

“As our firm approaches its 100th anniversary, I am thrilled that we are once again active in Westchester County,” said Rose. “Each of these municipalities is very forward looking and it is clear that Westchester is poised to play a lead role as the New York metro area continues to evolve.”

R Established in 1925, Rose Associates is a premier real estate firm specializing in multifamily rental properties in New York City and the tristate area. Focused on the development, acquisition and management of the highest-quality assets, the firm is currently developing six properties in the New York City metropolitan area. Rose’s management platform incorporates state-of-the-art services to maximize revenue and enhance asset value, ensuring that Rose properties consistently outperform the market. Under the leadership of CEO and President Amy Rose, the firm is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise.

OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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A HANDS-ON DEVELOPER

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

(Editor’s note: This is one of two stories about developers who are being honored Nov. 4 for their work with the March of Dimes. The other, on Louis R. Cappelli, is on Page 24.)

There’s a saying that “The road to success is always under construction.”

No need to tell that to Rella Fogliano, the definitive doyenne of affordable housing in lower Westchester County and New York City.

Over the last few decades, the Eastchester resident has found success altering the landscape for prospective homebuyers who may otherwise be priced out of the market.

Fogliano is founder and CEO of Pelham-based MacQuesten Development LLC and MacQuesten Construction Management LLC, companies that specialize in real estate and the design, financing and construction management of predominantly multifamily and mixeduse developments.

On any given day, Fogliano might be donning a hardhat, stomping through one of her massive construction sites or at her desk navigating the complex financial and legal infrastructure of the affordable housing market. She could be forging critical business partnerships or attending her own ribbon cuttings and regaling a crowd from the podium.

She has a portfolio of more than $140 million in completed projects and an anticipated pipeline of more than $250 million to be developed over the next five years.

There’s no doubt Fogliano looms large over her industry. For sure, her aplomb at navigating

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the many complexities of her job has earned her the hard-won respect of her — mostly male — peers.

But what’s the special sauce that helps her get such large projects over the finish line in an industry that’s as tough as nails?

“Tenacity,” she says. “I don’t take ‘no’ as my final answer. I think it’s part of my DNA. Though I think it also got stronger over time. That’s the great thing about getting older,” she quips.

The world of construction may seem like a left turn for this graduate of Fordham University, who earned a double degree in communications and French. But Fogliano’s company evolved from a family construction business, based in Mount Vernon, where she was no stranger to construction sites. Her father started bringing her to work with him when she was 6-years-old.

Fogliano’s father, Sabino, moved to New York from Bari, Italy, at age 30 with hopes of going into publishing. He took whatever jobs he could get. Eventually, his plans changed. In 1960, he started his own construction company, first in the residential arena then as a mid-range contractor of commercial properties.

His business was buying properties and selling them for a profit. But Fogliano says she had always seen herself more as a developer. As a young girl she would take the train to Manhattan, look up at the buildings on Fifth Avenue and imagine what it would be like to own one herself.

As she grew in the family business, the affordable housing market seemed like a path that might fit both her desire to create and design homes for others as well as a way to follow the dreams of that young girl in the city.

At first, when her father retired, she took

over his clients, forming her own company, MacQuesten General Contracting (named for MacQuesten Parkway, the street they started on in Mount Vernon). But within a few years, Fogliano saw an opportunity.

“My dad was acquiring properties in the northeast Bronx in the ’90s,” she says. It was a time when the market had a dearth of middle-income houses. “I said, ‘Let’s look at doing it as affordable housing.’”

That first project was 63 units, Hughes Avenue Crescent, where she, against steep odds, secured a deal under the 9% tax credit program.

That accomplishment jump-started her in the industry and It grew from there.

Besides projects throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, New Rochelle and Yonkers, her presence is strong in Mount Vernon.

“We started in Mount Vernon in 1982,” says Fogliano of her first foray into the industry. “So, it was time to look in my own backyard.”

MacQuesten’s portfolio in Mount Vernon includes the Modern, a bright, multicolored, 11-story, affordable housing complex made up of 81 residential units and clad in vibrant Minecraft-like squares of yellows and reds. The exterior was designed to usher in a feeling of renaissance to the industrial area at a development cost of $30 million. The Modern is a block away from the Mount Vernon West train station on Metro-North’s Harlem line, which MacQuesten purchased in 2016 from Davenis Realty Inc. for $3 million in the hope it would be another key component in the city’s revitalization Also adjacent to the station is 22 South West, MacQuesten’s $95 million, 17-story project with 189 affordable housing units and 149 underground parking spaces. The former site was a gas station (Repetti Service Station) and parking lot, which meant a huge brownfield cleanup was in order.

The development, which opened last year, illustrates Fogliano’s commitment to combining luxury with affordability. “The aesthetic is very important to me,” she says. “I would rather put out a better product even if I lower my profit margin.”

Fogliano’s portfolio of fairly priced structures blended with design-forward features is a formula that’s made her a major player in her field.

And she loves every part of it.

“I like the creative process but also enjoy the finance and legal aspects of it,” she says. “I’m involved in every detail. I can’t help myself. Sure, I delegate. But I make sure everything goes through me.”

Rella Fogliano in front of her building The Modern in Mount Vernon. Photograph

by John Vecchiolla.

Fogliano’s projects over the last 10 years have all met the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a globally recognized rating system for green building. Her effect on the communities she works within has also been recognized by her peers.

She was honored with the Private Developer of the Year award by the New York Housing Conference and National Housing Conference. She was The Business Council of Westchester’s 2015 Business Woman of the Year. And on Nov. 4, Fogliano will receive the March of Dimes Real Estate Award at its Westchester Real Estate Awards

Breakfast at The Opus Westchester in White Plains. “I’ve been supporting them for the past five years,” she says of the nonprofit. “It’s unbelievable what they do for infants.”

Fogliano also serves on the board of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesman of the City of New York.

As for what’s next?

“We have a few items in the pipeline,” she says. “We’re working very well with the great city of Yonkers right now on a very exciting project,” she says of the mixed-income housing that will include 77 units of apartments in the heart

of downtown on Riverdale and Main streets, an area that does not have a lot of affordable housing. The project’s projected closing is between April and June 2022 and will include 5,500 square feet of retail space.

It will be yet another opportunity for Fogliano to experience her favorite part of the job — watching as people move into the residences she has developed and call them home.

For more, visit macquesten.com. And for more on the March of Dimes’ Westchester Real Estate Awards Breakfast, visit marchofdimes. org/events/Event.aspx?eventId=21929&.

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BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH SOTHEBY’S

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

When you think “Sotheby’s,” you probably think “auction house.” But since 1976, it has also been a luxe international real estate firm. Recently, we spoke with Pamela S. Pagnini, senior vice president and brokerage manager of Sotheby's International Realty’s Greenwich Brokerage, about its storied past, challenging but successful present and high-tech future: 1. Sotheby’s was founded on New Bond Street in the heart of London in 1744 as an auction house. In 1976, Sotheby’s International Realty was founded. It’s not a huge leap of the imagination to go from auctions to luxury residential real estate, but how and why was Sotheby’s International Realty created?

“Sotheby’s International Realty was founded in 1976 as a real estate service for discerning clients of Sotheby’s auction house. Sotheby’s International Realty inherited the iconic brand name and benefits from its rich 277-year history, building on its legacy by delivering unrivaled real estate services. Only agents affiliated with

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33 John St. in Greenwich is among the properties that Sotheby’s International Realty has sold for more than $10 million.

Photographs courtesy Sotheby’s International Realty Greenwich Brokerage.

the Sotheby’s International Realty brand enjoy privileged access to market their listings to Sotheby’s exclusive client database.”

2. Sotheby’s International Realty is known for its premier luxury properties worldwide, licensing its name to franchisees through Realogy Holdings Corp. since 2004. What markets are currently seeing strong growth?

“Sotheby’s International Realty maintains a global presence in approximately 1,000 offices in 75 countries and territories around the globe with more than 24,000 independent sales associates.

“In 2021, the brand released its 2021 Luxury Outlook report, which examines the high-end residential markets across the globe in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The comprehensive report found that buyers are turning seasonal markets into year-round destinations, driving million-dollar home sales in secondary and tertiary cities. The fundamental shift in home buyer’s priorities has fueled a sharp rise in demand for homes in popular vacation areas, from Colorado ski resorts to the French Riviera and even the Caribbean.

“Sotheby’s International Realty has performed extremely well in areas like Vail and Aspen, Colorado; Destin, Palm Beach and Naples, Florida; Nantucket, Massachusetts; Fairfield County, Connecticut; the Hamptons, New York; Sonoma, Monterey and Carmel, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; the list goes on. Housing prices across Montana and Wyoming have shot up, with homes in cities like Missoula, Montana, selling for above-asking prices, and ski towns like Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Big Sky, Montana, also drawing investment well outside peak season.”

3. Among your significant sales have been Tom Cruise’s Telluride, Colorado, home this year. You are known for record-breaking property sales. Is there a minimum price point for a Sotheby’s International Realty home?

“Luxury is not about price; it’s about an experience. Sotheby’s International Realty prides itself on setting the highest possible standard for quality and service. Clients know that the brand will understand their desires, anticipate their needs and embolden their aspirations.”

4. How has the pandemic affected your luxury market?

“Following the initial Covid-19 outbreak, our market experienced a temporary slowdown, like most of the world, as uncertainty gripped the market. But shortly thereafter, with (Gov. Ned Lamont) declaring real estate agents/brokers as “essential workers,” the showings began in earnest with new safety protocols. We were well poised to handle the showings with our ability to virtually show the properties since we had the tools and programs available to our agents.

Top, The Tommy Hilfiger estate sold for $45 million.

Bottom left to right, Rooms with views: A dining area at 591 Riversville Road and an indoor swimming pool at 100 Field Point Circle. Both are on the market for more than $10 million.

Since Greenwich is under an hour away from New York City, we experienced an explosion of home sales, as a new wave of wealthy New Yorkers and others fled here — seeking more space for their children, who were often attending school remotely, as well as for those working from home.

“The Greenwich real estate market has continued to experience sustained growth in the number of units that have sold, as well as the dollar volume of those sales with fewer days on market and higher median prices and less inventory. According to the Greenwich Multiple Listing Service data, when viewing the entire residential market — including single-family homes, condos and co-ops — and comparing pre-Covid 2019 to today, we have experienced an increase of 45% in the number of closed transactions, with 999 closed sales in 2021 year to date, compared to 687 in 2019 for that entire year. When homes are appropriately priced, there are still multiple bids and the selling price often exceeds the list price.

“Similarly, town-wide, the dollar volume of closed transactions over $5 million increased 145%, from $334.6 million in 2019 to $821.2 mil-

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lion in 2021, again not even a full year yet, but we have already exceeded 2019 in its entirety. In addition, the active inventory decreased by 20% and the days on market decreased by 70% for those homes, which traded over $5 million year to date.

“This past August townwide experienced a slight downturn in activity. When comparing this August sales of single-family homes to last year’s, the number of closings of single-family homes decreased from 102 to 98. The median sale price for a single-family home decreased to $2.202,000 in August, 2021 from $2.222,000 in August 2020. The average days on the market for residential homes was 84 days, which was a decrease from 181 days on the market in August 2020.

“Our office represented Tommy Hilfiger with the sale of his home, located at 30 John St., which was listed at $48 million and which sold for $45 million with multiple showings as well as bids with 61 days on the market.

“We sold a number of additional properties over $10 million and we currently have a number of properties on the market priced over $10 million.”

5. “Dancing with the Stars” choreographer and Realtor Christian Perry is teaming with Sotheby’s International Realty Greenwich Brokerage for an “I Love Greenwich” campaign. (See story on Page 36.) What other innovations are propelling Sotheby’s International Realty forward?

“Sotheby’s International Realty recognized the importance of technology early on and pioneered the use of high-resolution photos, videos, virtual and mixed reality for its listings in 2010.

“Sotheby’s International Realty was the first global real estate brand to support 3D virtual reality home tours on listing pages in early 2016 and, in late 2016, the brand was the first real estate brand to launch an Apple TV app.

“In 2018, Sotheby’s International Realty was the first real estate brand to elevate property listings beyond virtual staging with augmented reality.

“The brand launched its new editorial website in 2020, which enables millions of viewers to immerse themselves in 3D virtual reality tours, high-definition videography and high-resolution photography. The new website is available in more than 14 languages and nearly 60 currency conversions to continue serving the brand’s growing international clientele and fuel referrals worldwide.”

For more, visit sothebysrealty.com.

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THEY LOVE GREENWICH

BY PHIL HALL

Christian Perry is a man of significant and diverse talents — a former Merrill Lynch financial adviser, an award-winning choreographer whose credits include the long-running “Dancing With the Stars,” a pilot, a boat captain, a home remodeler and a serial entrepreneur. Real estate broker Danielle Claroni was aware of his skill set when he hired her a few years back to locate property in Greenwich for a home construction project.

“I’ve been building for 15 years,” Perry recalls, “first in California and now out here in Greenwich, Connecticut. Danielle would find me the land, we built our house, Danielle would sell my house and so on and so forth.”

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Perry opted to shift gears and try his hand at becoming a real estate broker — a decision that initially gave Claroni anxiety.

“When he got his license, I was a little taken back,” she says. “I was like, ‘Oh no, here’s some competition.’”

But to Claroni’s surprise, Perry wasn’t interested in elbowing her aside in pursuit. Instead, he was eager to link arms with her to face the pandemic-era real estate market together.

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“When he said he wanted to join up, I was so thrilled because we get along really, really well,” she continues.

“I knew that reputation was everything in town,” Perry adds. “Danielle has a great reputation in town and a great scoreboard. So, we partnered up.”

Together, Perry and Claroni — working within the Sotheby’s International Realty environment — developed the “I Love Greenwich” platform and social channels, a community resource that celebrates the town’s vitality as a socioeconomic asset within lower Fairfield County.

“There is so much great stuff here,” Claroni says about Greenwich. “Besides the fact that it's a beautiful town, we have lots of different beach-

Danielle Claroni and Christian Perry, the pair behind Sotheby’s International Realty’s “I Love Greenwich” marketing campaign.

Courtesy I Love Greenwich.

es, we have parks, we have open space, we have great schools and the people here are great. It’s very cosmopolitan here. We have people from all over the world and everybody can find a niche here.”

“That’s one of the reasons why we spearheaded putting some marketing dollars into this brand: A lot of folks that are moving here don't know what Greenwich has to offer,” Perry adds. “And the folks that live here still don't know that Greenwich has so much to offer, so we wanted to be a resource for them.”

Greenwich experienced a new influx of house hunters after the pandemic all but shut down New York City, and Perry noted this urban-to-suburban wave has yet to abate — especially among new parents eager for different surroundings.

“Once they have a child and they realize they're cooped up with that one child, they want out and are coming to the ’burbs,” he says.

“We’re getting a lot of that traffic and seeing a lot of that action.”

Claroni points out that the delays in bringing pandemic-exiled remote workers back to a central workplace have continued to help keep Greenwich’s housing market in the spotlight.

“A lot of companies are still allowing their workers to work from home and that’s more attractive to people coming out to the ’burbs,” she says.

While Greenwich frequently makes the headlines for seven- and eight-digit sales of luxury residences, the town is also home to those of considerably modest incomes.

“There is a lot of Section 8 housing,” Claroni says. “We have several Housing Authority projects here. Many don't realize that we have quite a few people that live here who are in Section 8 or public housing. You don't have to be a captain of industry to live here. There’s something for everybody.”

Looking forward, Perry and Claroni are confident the Greenwich housing market will continue to thrive.

“Greenwich is one of those towns that's a bit recession proof,” Perry says. “There's always movement here. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, there's a lot of activity.”

“I’m hoping it’s going to continue to grow,” Claroni says, noting the pandemic’s extension via the Delta variant has been somewhat disruptive, particularly in regards to bringing more properties for listing.

“Hopefully, people become less afraid. There are still people that are afraid of letting someone into their homes, which is why we don't have that much inventory. We hope that as things calm down, we'll get a little more inventory and we can stop the bottlenecking by having more available to more people.”

For more, visit ilovegreenwich.com.

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RAISING THE RESTAURANT BAR STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY WAYNE

If the white-flowered Brazilian jasmine in the planters or the pukka, white Miraval Côtes de Provence umbrellas on the terrace, have so far failed to convince you that Townhouse is an upscale of restaurant, it only takes a quick trip to the restroom for the point to be made beyond any reasonable doubt. Put it this way: If black marble is the kind of material to sink a ship, there’s enough of it here to sink an entire flotilla.

Some history: Helmed by chef Stephen Lewandowski and his friend, Drew Nierpont — of New York’s Tribeca Grill, Bâtard and Nobu restaurants fame — Townhouse opened on the site of the former Gabriele’s in Greenwich just eight weeks before Covid-19 struck. (You may also know Lewandowski’s name from Tribeca Grill or Gotham Bar & Grill, as well as WAG editor-in-chief Georgette Gouveia’s profile in July WAG). The third member of the team is operations director and Dobbs Ferry native Dana Cifone, who has enjoyed great success with major hospitality companies like the ONE group and Starr Restaurants at establishments like Pastis and Le Cou Cou — her achievements all the more striking as ops directors tend to be men.

The concept for Townhouse, she says, involved a “lighter and brighter” experience, in

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terms of décor, atmosphere and food — something the restaurant’s creators were able to achieve without being “in the shadow” of the previous restaurant once dining reopened in Connecticut in May 2020. Another pandemic plus — speedier permits for using the street terrace and rear garden as outdoor dining spaces.

When I asked Cifone, “Why Greenwich?” as opposed to, say, New York City, she barely paused before responding, “You’re never going to be a restaurant that is everything for everyone.” But Greenwich, she notes, attracts businesspeople, singles, stay-at-home-moms, families and visitors from the city. Above all, she says, “Greenwich is a just a nice place to be.”

Over the course of two visits, I was able to try a number of dishes, along with a couple of the restaurant’s wines by the bottle and the glass. Since Chef Stephen describes his cuisine as Coastal American, appetizers of tuna tataki crudo, iced jumbo shrimp and colossal crab seemed to be good places to start. I’m always slightly ambivalent about a tataki — those pinkish disks that are often served seared. Either you want your tuna cooked or you don’t is my thinking here but at Townhouse, the flavor of the flesh was actually underlined by the two-way treatment, some crisp garlic slivers giving it the subtlest additional kick.

In the jumbo shrimp and crab starter, by contrast, those heavyweight main ingredients come unadorned, allowed to speak for their considerable selves with just a touch of palepink, Marie Rose sauce as a dressing. Tagliatelle, meanwhile, with a short-rib Bolognese, delivered a noble pasta hit. The long-cooked, oleaginous sauce had turned a wonderful

shade of orangey-red at the edges and offered tremendous depth of flavor, clinging to the strands and folds of the al dente pasta in a heaven-made union.

Under the section titled “Land,” the lemon-thyme chicken with cucumber and charred corn was indeed a fresh and tangy salad but one masquerading as an entrée, with the chicken protein element providing the necessary upgrade from a salad to a main course. And if the grilled flat iron steak, cooked rare as ordered and served with mushroom, corn and ramps, was more of a tagliata, with the steak sliced over mashed potatoes, it was none the worse for that. (At dinner, when sea bass, salmon, roast chicken and a rack of lamb flesh out the lunch-

The wine room at Townhouse in Greenwich.

The main dining room.

The street terrace at Townhouse in Greenwich.

time menu, the flat iron transmogrifies into a grilled, 16-ounce New York strip, the steak still served over ramps and truffled potato purée.)

Overall, Townhouse’s presentation of dishes is smart, as in “well-dressed,” with embellishments such smudges, smears, shavings, sprinkles and dustings kept to a minimum. And there is a commendable, actually merciful, absence of square plates or otherwise unusually-shaped dishes — so yesteryear, my friends.

Smart — as in well-dressed — could describe the restaurant’s interior, too. This came as a pleasant surprise, since it was a great deal more attractive than the solid but rather plain red-brick exterior had suggested. The large main dining room, with its blue velvet upholstered chairs, hardwood floor and

cheerful, splashy art, has an unthreateningly contemporary, almost millennium feel to it and, this being the era of Covid, tables were well-spaced.

Speaking of lighter concepts, caramel stuffed churros — those moreish Spanish spirals of sugary dough that are featured on Townhouse’s dessert menu (with a wonderful vanilla crème anglaise) were as light as churros could be. And the crème brûlée wasn’t far behind — a superb, generously portioned custard, hiding under a sheet, or lid, of caramelized sugar, correctly served warm.

Not that lighter means any less polished or meticulous, of course. Indeed, as my guest and I sipped glasses of Chambord and smooth Nonino grappa after lunch on my second visit,

we agreed that Townhouse was proving to be a thoroughly grown-up, enjoyable experience, one full of surprises.

They included Townhouse’s wine list, on which some wines — the Bacchus Chardonnay from Napa or the Mencia Pétalos from the little-known Bierzo wine region in northwestern Spain — represented fair value for the money.

A few nights after my visit, Townhouse offered a cocktail reception and four-course dinner, showcasing the Plumpjack family of wines.

With 70 guests, seated in individual parties at their own socially-distant tables, the dinner was by all accounts a great success, and Cifone has indicated that these events will become a regular feature going forward.

For more, visit townhousegreenwich.com.

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“Our inspiration for The Mill was European boutique hotels. They take a historic building and pair it up against very modern elements. The juxtaposition is beautiful…I hope the people that live here will sense the timelessness, weight and permanence of The Mill.”

MARYBETH WOODS, ARCHITECT

40VINTAGE WAGMAG.COM OCTOBER 2021 MODERN

“We wanted to try to keep as many of the architectural elements of this historic building…one of them being the exterior brick walls which are brick both on the inside and outside. The building is a timber frame building and has some really nice wood features…”

PHILIP CERRONE, ARCHITECT

“The goal with The Mill is to make it a great place to live. We find that the recycling and adaptive reuse of historic buildings is a way to keep the history alive and to get future residents engaged in that direct connection with the past.”

BRUCE BEINFIELD, ARCHITECT

NEW

LUXURY LIVING OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM PRE-CONSTRUCTION PRICING 203.984.6869

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BUILDING A BETTER BAKERY STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY WAYNE

Yuval Golan knows coffee. He’s been making it since he was 13 years old, when he left school in Nahariyah, Israel, to work in his father’s restaurant. “All my friends went to the beach in summer.

They’d come and call up at me where I was working on the second floor, shouting ‘Come to the beach!’ I said, ‘I can’t.

I have to work.’” The young teenager was so short, he had to stand on a stool to reach the levers of the espresso machine.

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Next stop was the army. His mother died of cancer when she was 42, in 1986, the year his sister, Tal Campana — after her own army stint — came to the United States.

I am sitting with them both in the pocket-sized, cramped office beneath Martine’s Fine Bake Shoppe and café in the Crestwood section of Yonkers, learning about their remarkable bakery and patisserie, which produces some of the best cakes and pastries in the region. In the bustling kitchen on the other side of the wall, meanwhile, the flour is flying and an army of talented cake and pastry makers is hard at work — mixing, blending, rolling, layering, piping and otherwise decorating the vast array of scrumptious cakes and pastries for which this artisanal bakery has become justly famous. Organized chaos is how the furious activity is best described.

“I wasn’t supposed to stay (in the U.S.), but days become months and months became

years,” says Tal. Back home, meanwhile, Yuval had left the army and enrolled in culinary school in Kineret in northern Israel, a period of his life he looks back on with great delight — “the kitchen was right on the Sea of Galilee” — and where he gained his patisserie credentials. He moved on to the Palm Beach Hotel in historic Acre, near Haifa, for a year as pastry chef and would come to the States periodically to visit his sister, now ensconced in Westchester County.

After hearing about an Israeli restaurant opening on the Upper East Side that needed a chef, he seized the opportunity and the die was cast. He would remain in the United States, where long stretches at the restaurant in question, the Upper East Side’s Nagila Grill, bookended a two-year stint at a place in the West Village serving falafels (chickpea and bean fritters) and shawarmas — a Middle Eastern dish of seasoned, marinated, grilled meats and pickled

Savory treats at Martine's Fine Bake Shoppe.

Photograph by Jeremy Wayne.

vegetables on pita bread.

But a patisserie was never far from his thoughts or his sister’s. He and Tal were always talking about opening a small café and bakery, serving high-quality, European-style pastries and delectable sandwiches of their own, but they could never find a site that matched their budget. It was now 2007, just before the recession, and prices were sky-high. “Every time we went to look at somewhere, it was insane. How many cups of coffee would we have to sell a day just to pay the rent,” Yuval says they asked themselves constantly.

Then, one day, as Tal waited to pick up her kids outside Our Lady of Fatima in Scarsdale, opportunity knocked. “A dad — actually an Eastchester cop — whose kids went to the same school and who knew my baking from school bake sales, said to me, ‘Tal, I have a bakery with your name on it.’ ‘Really, I asked?’ ‘Yes,’ he said.

It’s on Fisher Avenue .... You should go take a look

at it.’”

“It” was the former Crestwood Bakery, which had been shuttered for many years. Tal did a drive-by and then told her brother to go and check the place out, which he did. He found a place that was virtually derelict, the windows covered with old newspaper, the walls a hideous red and the basement rank, full of junk accumulated over 50 years. Yuval picks up the story. “I asked the landlord to leave me alone for an hour and I sat on a stool and tried to picture what we could do. We had no money, no finance, no credit — nothing. When he came back after an hour I held out my hand and said, ‘OK, we have a deal.’”

Everybody told them they were crazy, but they didn’t see it that way. Adds Yuval: “I didn’t see the mess, I didn’t see the red walls. I saw the opportunity.”

The pair started to renovate by themselves, a project that eventually saw the entire family — including Tal’s husband, her daughter Martine (for whom they named the bake shop,) her aunt, in-laws and Yuval’s son — all pitching in. The only professionals they took on were an electrician and a plumber. Yuval did the tile, Tal did the grout. “I was high for a week on the glue,” she remembers with a grin.

Four months later, in October 2008, they opened. “He was the baker in the back, I was the counter girl in the front,” says Tal. Yuval adds: “We had one oven and two mixers — and one of the mixers was broken. Every day I had to bring different tools in to fix it. We paid cash for everything and each day was a struggle. For the first year I worked a 20-hour day and slept at the property on a mattress.” With no credit for wholesale, they bought all their milk and eggs from the supermarket.”

But starting with just a few products — including their now famous triple chocolate and chocolate mousse cakes — and a burning will to succeed, success came relatively quickly. At first, people were always asking for cannoli. “What kind of a bakery are you, anyway?” they would ask Tal out front. "'We’re everything.’ I told them," Tal says. "‘But we really wanted to bring something new — good quality, great chocolate, always Valrhona, tiramisu, the best cakes. (Soon we were doing) a wonderful apple danish, cheese danish, cheesecake, Jerusalem squares.

Oh, and the babka, of course.”

Ah, that extraordinary babka — the Eastern European specialty confection synonymous with Martine’s. Endorsed — make that immortalized — by Jerry Seinfeld when he and Ricky Gervais bought a chocolate babka (they also make a cinnamon version) while filming a segment

of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” back in 2018, Martine’s now ships its babkas all over the country. Yuval says he was taught the art by a German named Uri in Israel and, after sharing a few slices with the brother and sister along with a cup of Martine’s coffee, I can attest there is nothing quite like it for freshness, richness and depth of flavor.

Uri also taught Yuval economy. “‘Don’t make too much and be sure to sell everything fresh,’ he would tell me.” This has become something of a mantra for the pair, a central tenet of the business. “That’s why we never, never sell anything old,” reiterates Tal, thumping her fist on the desk for emphasis, so that you’d better believe her. “Anything we have left over, we always either donate it (to homeless shelters, including one in White Plains) or we throw it out.”

They are keen travelers and compulsive, constant tasters, always looking for new ideas and inspiration. New cakes or patisserie start with a drawing. Then, Yuval builds up the prototype with layers to a specific height, with weight, balance, texture, flavor and color always in mind.

Plus, of course, there must be compatibility (or contrast) with other products in the repertoire.

Today that repertoire comprises between 300 and 400 individual items at any one time, including 14 flavors of French macaroons, up to 20 kinds of cakes, 16 types of cookies and around 25 individual pastries, along with additional viennoiseries (morning pastries), salads, yogurts, sandwiches and soups, all to eat in or take out. The only actual breads they bake, however, are a classic French baguette and challah. (“A very good challah,” says Yuval, referring to the traditional Jewish plaited loaf. “We do that for the soul.”)

Martine’s Scarsdale shop opened in 2011 and was an immediate success and although there are no specific plans for expansion, readers may care to watch this space. It has, in any event, already been quite a journey, says Tal, what with a major recession and now Covid posing existential threats to the business. Brother and sister adapted quickly to the pandemic, however, upgrading their online and delivery service and keeping staff working shifts so they didn’t have to lay off a single person.

“My father always said, no matter what, people will always come for a coffee, a sandwich and a piece of cake,” muses Yuval philosophically. “People will always have money for medicine and something sweet.”

And, we might add, there can scarcely be better medicine than a Martine’s treat.

For more, visit martinesfinebakeshoppe. com.

OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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A trending rooftop shade sail offers a respite from the sun in Brooklyn. Photographs courtesy Gregory Sahagian & Son Inc.

WAGMAG.COM OCTOBER 2021

AWNINGS THAT ‘GIMME SHELTER’

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

It was Thanksgiving weekend 1990 when Gregory Sahagian Sr. decided to go into the awning business.

“I started at the worst time ever,” he says of those depressed times. And perhaps in the worst way ever, with a used pickup truck and a handful of tools. His first client was a Rye woman who wanted seven or eight awnings installed around her coastal property. Coming from a wholesale environment, Sahagian says he was unsure of what to charge her, then finally summoned the courage to name his price — $8,500.

The woman disappeared into the house, and Sahagian was sure she was going to call the cops on him. Instead she returned with several checkbooks. Finding just the right one, she told Sahagian that she didn’t have time to write two checks — one for a down payment and one for the completed work and instead gave him one for the full amount.

And that was Sahagian’s introduction to what has been a successful, 30-plus-year ca-

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Infinity canopy systems shade The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Roof Garden in Manhattan.

reer, one that has seen Hartsdale-based Gregory Sahagian & Son Inc. install awnings and pergolas on residential and commercial properties alike in Westchester and Fairfield counties and New York City, including Barnes & Noble’s concept store in Eastchester, The J House in Greenwich, Million Air’s hub at Westchester County Airport in White Plains and even The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Roof Garden in Manhattan.

Many of Sahagian’s clients are hospitals and country clubs. (His wife, Lori, general manager of the Bronxville Field Club near their Mount Vernon home, is, he proudly notes, the only female country club manager in Westchester County.) But whether you’re a famed restaurateur or a modest homeowner, there are a variety of coverings that Sahagian can offer to shade and protect your entrances, windows and outdoor living spaces. These include fixed or motorized retractable awnings; pergolas with awnings and the trending adjustable louvered blades; tension structures, known as shade sails; seasonal vestibule enclosures; screened-in porches; window solar shades; and outdoor privacy screens.

The awnings themselves come in a variety of styles and materials, the latter including aluminum; vinyl, the industry standard; and upscale, textured, aesthetic acrylic, which Sa-

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hagian says has a matte finish and offers good UV protection.

Listening to him talk the day after Hurricane Ida devastated the region, drowning cars along Central Avenue and sending restaurant alarms wailing, you realize that Sahagian has probably explained these differences countless times, particularly to homeowners during the pandemic. He was closed during its height here, March and April 2020, and business dropped precipitously. But he ended the year up 4%, thanks in part to homeowners feathering — or rather shading — their nests.

While Sahagian took a roundabout route to the awnings business, the through line from his early days has been a love of sales and service. It began with his father, who sold Persian rugs in Manhattan — a not uncommon business for those who, like the Sahagians, are of Armenian descent. Sahagian grew up in Washington Heights, where he attended P.S. 187, then Palisades Park Junior/Senior High Schools when the family moved to the New Jersey township. Sahagian went on to an associate’s degree from Farleigh Dickinson University with eye to a career in hospitality. His first restaurant gig was at the Vince Lombardi Service Area on the New Jersey Turnpike in Ridgefield. In college, he worked his way up at the Hilton Meadowlands from food and bever-

age to assistant comptroller.

But, he says, “I realized the hotel business would be low paying unless I worked my way to the top over 15 years.”

Training people for jobs that always alluded him, Sahagian quit. (“I was a bit of a hot head then,” he says.) But a segue to awnings was in store. For three years, he had “a dream job” with Pupa Milano beauty products in Spring Valley — traveling to Europe for the Italian brand, flying first-class on the now-defunct TWA. Pirelli, the car tire manufacturer, owned the building that housed Pupa. That led Sahagian to work with Pirelli and then RIRI Inc., an Italian wholesale awnings company.

“I realized if I could do this for them, I could do this for myself.”

Today, Sahagian and his staff of five, including older son Gregory Jr., are busy year-round, with winter focused on preparing his country club, parks and municipal clients for the upcoming season. One of their biggest pandemic challenges — getting the materials they need as aluminum is expensive and fabrics take four to six months for delivery.

Otherwise, it’s all good. “This isn’t rocket science,” Sahagian says.

Perhaps not. But it is something that enhances the quality of outdoor living.

For more, visit gssawning.com.

A BUSINESS PRIMED FOR PATIO FURNITURE

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

One spring Saturday, Patty DeFelice — owner of Patty’s Portico in Port Chester — received a call from a woman identifying herself as Martha Stewart, saying she’d like to come in with some pieces of mid-century modern outdoor furnishings that she purchased at an estate sale in January for her Bedford farm.

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Yeah, right: DeFelice thought it was one of her friends playing a prank. It turns out, however, that it really was Stewart, who showed up at DeFelice’s 5,000-square-foot workshop — tucked away from Main Street on Highland Street near L & M Roofing — with two truckloads of 25 pieces.

DeFelice recognized Stewart right away.

“She didn’t have any makeup on, but she was just beautiful,” DeFelice says. But Stewart — who would write a delighted blog post about the experience — also recognized her.

That’s because Patty’s Portico is well-known to those seeking to have their beloved metalwork resurrected. Outdoor furnishings are just the beginning for a 26-year-old busi-

Patty DeFelice, owner of Patty’s Portico in Port Chester, has made a success of not one but two businesses traditionally associated with men, beginning with her father’s auto body shop.

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Martha Stewart brought about 25 estate sale pieces of mid-century modern outdoor furniture to Patty’s Portico for restoration, then blogged about the fabulous results, seen here.

ness that embraces everything from Victorian radiators to hobby horses. The heart of the business, however, is patio furniture restoration and sales involving powder-coated finishes in every hue using an electrostatic process.

First the metal pieces are sandblasted to remove the old paint and rust. Then the pieces are sprayed with an anti-corrosive, durable zinc-infused primer. They’re baked at 375 degrees in the company’s 10-footlong oven. Then they’re finished in powder paints and baked again to seal the deal. “No runs,” DeFelice says, “no drips, no errors.”

As she talks, she is seated amid a prime example of her work — a square, translucent Brown Jordan table, with four chairs, all of whose metal has been painted an eggplant shade that matches her cold-shoulder dress.

Above her a Brown Jordan chair in a slightly different style and a lighter purple hangs like an outdoor lamp. The set, which she picked up and restored with the intention of selling it, stands out amid the black, gray, dark-green and white pieces. (Stewart’s 25plus pieces were painted a soft “Bedford gray.”) So does a set painted lime green for a customer.

The furnishings aren’t all that stands out.

DeFelice has succeeded in a business that has mainly been home to men. (She works with three of them and hires a driver parttime as needed.) She started out in a business that has traditionally been even more alien to women — an auto-body shop.

Her father, Louis DeFelice, began the Greenwich business in 1932. When he had a heart attack in 1976, Patty — the younger of two daughters, who had graduated from Greenwich High School and Manhattanville College in Purchase with a master’s degree in teaching — offered to come in to answer the phones until he got back on his feet.

Thirty years later, she was still there at what became Louis DeFelice & Daughter, armed with a knowledge of how to repair and repaint cars.

More than that, her close personal and working relationship with her father taught her how to deal with customers.

“You’re building relationships and to me that is what is most important,” she says. “I’m

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interested in the person, because when we do something, it’s going to last a long time.”

Her father died in 1998 and DeFelice sold the business in 2006. But by then, she had also transitioned to restoring metalwork for the home. (She says she still gets calls for auto-body referrals, however.) In 1994, a customer of her father’s, Thomas Rodda, M.D., asked if she would paint some furniture for him. DeFelice not only gave it a go; she put an ad in a local newspaper to gauge interest.

She’s been busy ever since.

Not even the pandemic offered a respite for a woman whose workday starts at 7 a.m.

All those men taking Zoom meetings on their decks — and it was men, not women — were noticing their peeling furnishings.

Spring and summer are, of course, prime

seasons. But winter is a time to prepare for the next outdoor season, DeFelice says.

That’s when she turns her attention to her commercial customers, like country clubs.

(Besides advocating that people do their metalwork repairs over the winter, DeFelice suggests storing furnishings that are in good condition unstacked indoors so they don’t get damaged. If they must be outdoors, use patio furniture covers, like those from HomeDepot.com, Frontgate and Wayfair, rather than tarp.)

Business is so good that she could expand. “I’m always thinking about it,” she says but adds, “bigger is not necessarily better. Right now I’m happy doing what I’m doing.”

For more, visit pattysportico.com.

HALCYON CONSTRUCTION CORP.

JOSEPH ZUZZOLO

CHARLES D. CASARELLA

65 MARBLE AVENUE PLEASANTVILLE, NY 10570 914-741-1112

WITTUS IS ALL FIRED UP

BY JEREMY WAYNE

Nestled along Westchester Avenue in Pound Ridge, you’ll find a place that sells stoves.

Not your induction hobs and gas cooktops, not even your pot-bellied wood-burning stoves of yore, but sleek, sexy stoves for the modern home.

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The building — which can fairly be described as a low-slung, wooden chalet, with its floor-toceiling windows and cheerful line of flags outside — would not look out of place in an Alpine resort or Scandinavian village. And that’s fitting since it’s the headquarters of Wittus: Fire by Design, the country’s leading importers of quality European-designed and manufactured hearth products.

The business began life as a fledgling company in 1978, when Niels Wittus found himself unexpectedly having to dispose of a consignment of wood-burning stoves. His late father, Per Wittus, had been trying to offload the stoves to an

Alyce and Niels Wittus on Shaker stove.

Photograph by Curtis Lew.

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Domino 8 Cookstove.

Courtesy Wittus.

American importer, but the deal fell through.

Niels, who had arrived in the United States from his native Denmark four years earlier and was working in real estate, stepped into the breach, and Wittus: Fire by Design was born.

Niels still heads the company, with Alyce, his wife, as vice president. The pair are passionate not only about their products but about the idea of incorporating fire into the home’s design in keeping with the Danish concept of hygge or coziness, which has been gaining importance worldwide.

Pre-pandemic, the Wittuses would attend trade shows in Verona, Italy; in Harrogate, United Kingdom; and in Frankfurt, Germany, home of the ISH fair on water management.

Working mainly with builders and architects but also directly with retail clients, they sell their gas and wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and accessories either straight from their showroom or through a network of around 120 dealers nationwide.

The products include such best-selling wood-burning stoves as the Klassic, created in 1970 by industrial designer Bend Falk; the Shaker — inspired by American Shaker furniture and designed by Italian architect Antonio Citterio; and the Stack and Rondó, made in Italy by La Castellamonte, known for its ceramics, and designed by Adriano Design Studio.

Niels is a great believer in advertising such wares, an ongoing exercise that has served the company well. After early success in taking on dealers for the company’s products, he says, those products were nevertheless difficult to sell. “Then we ran some of our first ads in Metropolis (the market-leader design magazine) and the business just exploded.” In the last 20 years, the internet has totally transformed the business, he adds. “Back in the old days, we used to send out 30,000 catalogs — physical catalogs, me typing labels on an old (Smith) Corona.

Imagine. And they were not small envelopes.”

The company is also active on social media, which is another area the two think important.

(The Chicago-born Alyce was in marketing and with IBM.) Recently, the Wittuses hired somebody just to take care of their Instagram account and other platforms. There, as in the showroom, terminology is key.

“Do we sell wood stoves? Yes,” Niels says. “But when you say to someone who is not familiar with our designs, ‘We sell wood stoves,’ they say, ‘Oh, but I don’t want a wood stove. My grandmother had one and it was a stupid little thing and it was also dirty.’” So instead, Wittus prefers to say he sells contemporary fireplaces, or what he terms “warm furniture” that combines up-

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to-date, automated manufacturing techniques with a high element of craftsmanship.

Who buys Wittus stoves and fireplaces? Just about everybody, it would seem. The late design writer Phil Patton expressed this in a profile of Wittus he wrote for Esquire magazine in 1989, describing how Wittus could be found “in SoHo lofts, Chicago industrial conversions, Fire Island cottages and Aspen condos.” And that holds true today, although the reach is perhaps even wider, with Wittus selling its products all over the country as well as in the far reaches of Canada.

“Clients are generally over 40,” Niels says. “For one thing, before you buy a stove or fireplace, you actually need to have a house.” He also mentions that Wittus clients tend to be well-traveled and to have had some exposure to European design. He and Alyce feel that American taste can be by and large a little conservative, and

they see themselves as influencing it to some extent.

Most of the clients, Niels says, use the product as a real focal point. After all, these stoves and fireplaces are not only aesthetically pleasing; they are literally the “focus” — Latin for “hearth” — of a kitchen or another room. They are also completely compatible with, and even corroborate, our increasingly eco-minded society. EPA-certified and environmentally friendly, Wittus-supplied products burn cleanly and efficiently, with adjustable air controls and other refinements.

Yet even the most expensive stoves and fireplaces have a pleasing simplicity of design and timeless quality so that what you choose today will still look good a half-century on.

Prices for Wittus: Fire by Design products range from $3,500 to $15,000. For more, visit wittus.com.

A yard big enough for the kids.

elliman.com

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The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester is back with a slate of boldface rock acts to celebrate its 95th anniversary.

Photograph by Scott Harris.

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READY FOR ITS NEXT ACT

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

“There's only two theaters, man… that are set up pretty groovy all around for music and for smooth stage changes, good lighting and all that — the Fillmore and The Capitol Theatre.” — Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead

Bob Dylan played there. So have The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, The Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath and Janis Joplin, who wrote “Mercedes Benz” at an adjacent bar between gigs there, then debuted the song later that night at the second show — the penultimate performance of her tragic, young life.

We’re talking about “The Cap” as The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester is affectionately known.

Designed by Thomas W. Lamb — a king of the lavish, early 20th-century theaters known as movie palaces — The Capitol Theatre opened on Aug. 18, 1926 with “the only theater refrigerating system in Westchester County,” a 10-piece orchestra that played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and a sold-out screening of “Sea Wolf,” for which 2,000 lucky patrons paid a nickel, while hundreds were turned away.

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The Capitol Theatre marquee.

Photograph by Jeanne Newman.

Right, Squirrel motifs are among the delightful details in this Thomas Lamb-designed movie palace turned temple to rock ’n’ roll. Photograph by Meghan Stankevich.

But it was as a temple of rock ’n’ roll in the late 1960s and early ’70s that the venue made its bones. You don’t get to be a 95-year-old legend, however, without a varied history and several face-lifts. Renovated as a psychedelic performance space in the ’60s, The Cap became a live theater venue in 1984 — the year it was added to the National Register of Historic Places — under developer Marvin Ravikoff and a banquet hall in 1997 still with some rock performances, perhaps most notably The Rolling Stones live on MTV’s “Ten Spot” on Oct. 25 of that year.

With Peter Shapiro, owner of the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, at the helm in a new century, The Capitol Theatre has come full circle as a concert/event space, with state-of-the-art light, sound and video systems; new carpets; upgraded bathrooms; repainted walls that feature tiny portraits of Mick Jagger and other boldface names that have graced the stage; and Dylan headlining the 2012 reopening.

So it’s no surprise to learn that The Cap has not only survived an 18-month pandemic shutdown but is thriving with a full slate of concerts that includes Sheryl Crow, Billy Idol, Brian Wilson, founding Grateful Dead member Phil Lesh, Elvis Costello, Foreigner, Frankie Valli and The Beach Boys, among others; as well as plans for more renovations.

Talk of those spring renovations is premature, General Manager Bruce Wheeler says as we sit at the generous bar of Garcia’s, the lobby venue named for Jerry, of course, that hosts intimate concerts and events. What Wheeler is eager to talk about — and the reason press and patrons alike have gathered on the kind of rainy

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late-summer day that defined the whole season — are the tiles on the entrance floor that became a vital part of keeping The Cap afloat during the pandemic.

For $450, fans can still “adopt” one of the 400plus tiles and have it inscribed with their names or messages and favorite Cap shows. Head usher Brian Lynch, who takes the press on a nostalgic tour of the theater, says his tile is inscribed with The Rolling Stones’ concert.

“Standing a few feet away from Mick Jagger is something I’ll never forget,” he says. (Eighty percent of The Cap’s performances are general admission — standing room only in the orchestra with seats in the loge and balcony. The rest of the concerts have full seating, with a total capacity of 1,600.) Merchandise that commemorates historic performances or the 95th anniversary captured in a design based on the theater’s elaborate scrollwork was the second of the three prongs in The Cap’s pandemic survival plan. But perhaps the most important part was — and is — ticket sales. While the theater was closed during the pandemic’s height, it streamed performances.

“Performers are paid a guarantee that is negotiated as a part of the contract and derived from ticket sales,” Wheeler says. “They could also earn a bonus depending on the agreement for that show, usually based on very strong sales or the show selling out.”

All this, along with government loans, kept the theater going. Still, Wheeler says he had to furlough 90 percent of the staff, which includes 15 full-time employees and 85 to 90 people who work shows and events, everyone

from stagehands to bartenders.

Now it’s all hands on deck not only for concerts that are also sound-and-light spectaculars but for weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs and business conferences. (One 50th birthday party featured a band from every decade, says Emily Schmalholz, director of special events.)

Party planners can take advantage of Garcia’s intimacy and the majesty of the theater itself, whose mezzanine bar mirrors turn into screens streaming the concert and simultaneously sporting events like the World Series.

For those coming to the theater, parking remains something of a challenge, as it does everywhere in constantly evolving Westchester County. The theater has two lots that hold a combined 80 vehicles. Otherwise, it and patrons rely on street parking.

Still, touring the theater and getting a taste of its pyrotechnics — which bring the present and the future together with the past — imbue you with a sense of both its history and possibilities.

Hey, it’s hard to argue with a legend.

For more, visit thecapitoltheatre.com.

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IS THERE A ‘BOATEL’ IN TARRYTOWN’S FUTURE?

BY PETER KATZ

Besides attracting visitors to Tarrytown and helping establish the Hudson River as an important feature for recreation and commerce, Tarrytown Boat & Yacht Club is noted as the place where Laurance Rockefeller, grandson of John Sr., kept his highspeed commuter yacht, The Dauntless.

Rockefeller used the 65-foot yacht — custom-made for him and launched in May 1948 — to commute between Tarrytown and the West 79th Street Boat Basin in Manhattan on weekdays.

(The yacht also made trips to Maine, Florida and the Caribbean.)

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You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to sail into the Tarrytown facility, but there’s a plan afloat that may make mariners and landlubbers alike feel like one.

The $2.15 million plan from Tarrytown Marina LLC — a subtenant of the boat club and an affiliate of National Resources LLC, a Greenwich-based real estate and development firm — calls for the building of a “Wharf Boatel,” improvements to the marina, space for a new restaurant and upgraded parking.

“A boatel is a hotel where guests and visitors will come by car and bus or even the nearby Tarrytown train station, but they will primarily be coming through by boat,” says National Resources’ Lauren Calabria. “These boatels really do become waterfront attractions that help to promote tourism and to serve and benefit surrounding communities ... specifically restaurants, shops and local businesses.”

The proposal, now before the Tarrytown

A rendering of Tarrytown Marina LLC’s proposed ‘Wharf Boatel.”

Courtesy Tarrytown Marina.

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The current restaurant at Tarrytown Boat & Yacht Club.

Photograph by Peter Katz.

Planning Board, would allow the continued operation of Tarrytown Boat & Yacht Club well into the future, she adds.

The four-story boatel would have 103 rooms, a 2,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant with outdoor dining and a 1,407-squarefoot store selling supplies used by boaters, including items such as snacks, sunglasses and sunscreen. A two-level garage would have 112 spaces with 20 set aside for valet parking.

There would also be 1,314 square feet for use by the boat club as its meeting and club room.

The rezoning petition asks that village zoning be amended to permit a hotel as a principal use on properties in the Waterfront Zoning District. The petition states that such an amendment would also provide that any such hotel must be operated in conjunction with an adjoining marina and that restaurants and other customary accessory uses such as marine-support services and retail would have to be permitted.

Lynne Ward, executive vice president of National Resources, says that the concept calls for a boutique marina with limited boat servicing facilities.

“The intention is to keep it as the operating Tarrytown Boat Club, the 100-(plus)-year-old club,” Ward says. “The whole openness of the design with a cut-through and a walkway is to bring the public to the water and to the restaurant.”

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The club has reserved the right to continue using up to 30 boat slips in the marina for existing members. The remainder of the 150 slips would be available for use by new members, visitors to the boatel and restaurant and members of the public. The petition anticipates that the boatel would use up to 30 slips and the restaurant up to 12 slips, primarily on weekends.

Ward says that occupancy of the boatel by people arriving by boat would be seasonal and heavier on weekends during the boating season, with weekday room occupancy estimated to be around 50%.

“We’ve been very concerned about the loss of marina facilities on the Hudson River ... and this is kind of a unique opportunity to put this back into operation,” she adds. “It’s been very neglected since Hurricane Sandy, but so have many other marinas. So, there is a bigger cause here. One can see that this is a wasted asset, actually.”

According to the rezoning petition, Tarrytown Marina LLC would have to perform all obligations of the club under the village lease, ensuring that the marina is supported economically and that it would be “vastly improved through significant dredging and other long-awaited repairs.”

“In developing the Wharf Boatel concept, the newest iteration, we spent considerable time with our architects reviewing the his-

toric character, architectural vernacular and the charm of the village of Tarrytown, and we wanted to develop something that was complementary to the village and also attractive from both the water and street sides,” Calabria says. “We also took into consideration other waterfront towns such as Newport (Rhode Island).”

She adds that the height of the boatel would conform to the 45-foot maximum allowed under waterfront zoning.

When the plan was revealed in 2020, attorney Brad Schwartz of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz, which represents the marina, told a work session of the Tarrytown Board of Trustees, “We believe this concept addresses the feedback that we received from the board on prior iterations and there are four key elements ...First, there would be no residential use. Second, no village land would be used. Third, the proposed height would comply with the current waterfront district zoning. Fourth is that the proposal would facilitate access to the riverwalk.”

Riverwalk is a public space that National Resources helped develop as a segment of a planned 51-mile park along the Hudson.

National Resources has also been developing Hudson Harbor, a project approved for 238 condominiums and townhouses along a stretch of Tarrytown’s Hudson River waterfront just north of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

The marina is just south of the residential buildings in the Hudson Harbor project. (A sign at the marina’s entrance carries both the names and logos of Tarrytown Boat & Yacht Club and The Marina at Hudson Harbor.)

Created in 1888, the Tarrytown Boat Club, as it was then known, was the 59th to open in North America, according to the Lake Champlain Yacht Club in Shelburne, Vermont, which keeps track of many miscellaneous things. It was beaten to the punch in Westchester County by Larchmont Yacht Club (1880), American Yacht Club in Rye (1883), Ossining’s Shattemuc Yacht Club (1885) and Rye’s Shelter Island Yacht Club (1886).

(First on the list is Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax, dating from 1837.)

Now Tarrytown Boat & Yacht Club is ready to set sail on a first of its own.

For more, visit tarrytownboatclub.com.

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BEYOND COUNTRY FURNISHINGS AT COUNTRY WILLOW

BY BRIDGET MCCUSKER

In the years since Cori and Roy Estrow opened Country Willow in a 1,000-squarefoot storefront in Katonah, they have upgraded the furniture store significantly.

Celebrating its 25-year anniversary, Country Willow spans more than 30,000 square feet of space over multiple showrooms in Bedford Hills, opening it up to new generations of buyers.

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And while the store started out selling country furniture, customers these days will be greeted with a range of styles for every need and taste, curated from several providers, mainly domestic.

“We kept true to the original country and country French stuff,” says Michael Leibowitz, who became CEO after Roy passed away in 2018. “And then when we had more space, we added a lot of different styles and more transitional styles. Now we have a pretty good mix of everything. There is some country (furniture) still left in the store. The name Country Willow sort of makes people sometimes think that we only do country furniture, but as a percentage of what we actually have on our floor, it’s the smallest percentage.

We have so much transitional contemporary furniture and newer styles that are popular now — Mid-century modern, Scandinavian, all of that stuff now, is all represented on our floor.”

What remains of the original Country Willow — along with Cori’s continued involvement in the store’s leadership — is a dedication to quality and service that Leibowitz says gives it an edge over the big furniture stores. Country Willow also differs from its competitors in terms of shopping experience and the way it’s run. (Country Willow is managed under an employee stock ownership program, in which employees technically own the company.)

“The name Country Willow sort of makes people sometimes think that we only do country furniture, but as a percentage of what we actually have on our floor, it’s the smallest percentage,” says Michael Leibowitz, CEO of the employee-owned Bedford Hills store (inset).

“We have so much transitional contemporary furniture and newer styles that are popular now – mid-century modern, Scandinavian, all of that stuff now, is all represented on our floor.”

The experience of shopping at Country Willow is one that seems all but extinct in the age of online orders and mass production.

Leibowitz describes the kind of care customers receive as giving them a feeling of family.

While the store’s designers and salespeople assist customers with finding pieces that they’re excited to take home, their specialty is getting to know each customer, their likes and dislikes, and even helping to bring a customer’s vision to life from scratch, with special custom furniture offerings and complete, complimentary design services.

“The specialty has always been custom,” Leibowitz says, “you know, the idea of having lots of fabrics to choose from, different sizes of the pieces, the ability to choose the firmness of the cushions that you want and the pillows. Everything is geared towards that custom experience, so we can kind of give a little bit of a value-added service to the customer that really wants to pull everything together.”

The store’s host of complimentary design services can be beneficial to customers looking for not just pieces of furniture but an endto-end layout and design scheme for a whole room, house or apartment.

After clients come into the store or access it virtually and confirm which pieces and styles they want, Country Willow can complete a home visit, measure the space and create a 3D rendering of it so that the buyers

can more clearly envision the furniture and the way it will fit into their home. Customers can also bring in their own measurements and photos to help the designer get a better idea of the space.

They can then choose whether they’d like a designer to help them bring the whole space together, adding rugs, lighting, window treatments, chandeliers, mirrors and artwork from Country Willow’s wide variety of accessories.

Since its founding, the store has catered to the traditional home, but its expansion and the launch a few years ago of The Loft at CW has opened it up more to a younger clientele that may be living in smaller spaces and whose tastes skew a bit less country.

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“Our tagline is furniture for life, right?”

Leibowitz says. “So we want to provide high-quality, design-level furniture, and we do have prices of products that span from all over. We do have some apartment-size stuff, apartment prices to get people started.

But then there's also the other stuff. I think the ability to do custom designs for pieces … gives us a little bit of an appeal to a different customer, but we try to be for everybody. I mean, we're not a discount store. It's definitely higher quality furniture. But I think our appeal is pretty broad, as far as there's a lot of people coming up from the city to this area, and I think we have a broad-enough appeal that we go from people who are budget-conscious to the customer who knows what they want.”

While the main showroom of Country Willow is meeting all these needs, its Loft showroom specializes in industrial, urban, mid-century modern and Nordic styles.

“Mid-century modern is very popular right now,” Leibowitz says. “Contemporary and a little bit of the sleeker modern, I think, is defi-

nitely something that we're seeing more of.

Then the other side is that we are seeing a lot and have a lot of performance fabrics that are coming into the market, for the people who have normal lives with families and kids and pets and all of that stuff to be able to buy a nice, high-quality piece of furniture and then not be concerned if something spills on it or there's an accident.”

Despite supply-chain jams from Covid and even natural disasters over the past year, despite customers who are increasingly becoming used to shopping at home and receiving their purchase in two days’ time and despite competing with companies that can cut costs by compromising quality, Leibowitz is confident in the niche that Country Willow fills in the furniture market locally.

“When you come in, you definitely feel something about this store that you don't get from any other home furniture buying experience.”

For more, visit countrywillow.com.

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DONALD GELESTINO: A VISIONARY LEADER CREATING A DIFFERENCE IN ELEVATOR INDUSTRY “Creating a Culture of Employee and Client Relationships Through Real-Time Transparent Communication and Elevator Service.”

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resident and CEO of Champion Elevator Corp.

Donald Gelestino is a visionary leader who has been a driving force for the company. Launched in 2015, Champion is one of the fastest-growing elevator companies in the United States. It currently services more than 4,252-plus elevators monthly in four states with an employee base of just under 300 people as of September 2021. Champion Elevator is an independently owned, full-service elevator maintenance, repair, violation removal and testing company. All services are provided throughout New York City’s five boroughs, and Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The company offers customers a hand-selected and carefully screened group of highly dedicated and talented elevator professionals to work with.

With changes in technology, codes, labor laws and safety, Champion has adapted and integrated with the new changes in laws and procedures through different departments. Donald keeps real-time transparent communication with the staff and clients, which eases the transformation in any given situation. The team at Champion believes in finding the best way to achieve all changes in a timely manner. Champion provides management companies and facility engineers with workshops on code changes as well as “lunch and learns” in order to keep the riding public and real estate industry abreast of changes.

Successfully dealing with all the challenges on an everyday basis makes Champion a better company. It thrives to achieve higher standards, increase efficiency and provide its customers with the very best elevator services possible. The company’s goal is to continuously reaffirm its selection as a superior industry leader and to provide the employees a fair, safe and committed place of employment.

“I am extremely proud to be part of such a great tea.

The strategic pre-planning of our business model combined with pro-active daily operations have made Champion the elevator source for many building-related professionals.

The referrals we frequently receive from our clients are confirmation of our successful efforts to provide superior products and services,” says Donald Gelestino the company’s president.

Transparent Real-Time Communication Donald believes ideal leadership is hiring good people first, then harnessing their strengths and helping them with the existing team to learn their role within the company.

Some of the best employees are the ones who started with the least experience. As a leader, he believes in self-motivating himself and building a team of self-motivated people. Don makes conscious efforts every day to change his leadership style by delegating to others. Delegating can be one of the hardest things to do. Donald feels delegating can be a leap of faith but with good honest people in place things definitely work out.

“Sometimes the decisions of my team may vary from my own ideas. That is tough and challenging, but with the company’s best interest at top of mind we move forward. Some of Champion’s best policies, procedures and methods were not my thoughts and they are very good.” says Donald. Champion provides transparent real-time communication to its employees and customers. Donald loves the business and likes to provide people with good opportunities, that may be employment or service. Currently, Champion is a growing company and intends to continue down the path of organic and acquisition growth.

A People-First Company The transparent communication at Champion has helped to build a strong culture in the company. Donald conducts weekly meetings with all departments and he has a daily call with the maintenance team and goes through all jobs that have scheduled maintenance or may be down for any reason. At Champion, all employees know that they are part of a team and their suggestions are valuable. Also, the company has a suggestion box where employees can express themselves. Champion is a family. The team attends

many charitable events together. The company supports the employees’ sports teams, charities and when in need, as a team step up for each other. Champion has fishing trips, holiday parties and meets regularly during the safety meetings. The most important part of our culture is safety.

“Coming to work is easy… it is my vision that all my people go home at the end of the day more educated, safer than the day before and have more money than when they got to work. That’s our culture,” says Donald.

The supporting culture at the company is one of the reasons why Champion could face all the challenging situations with ease. During the outbreak of Covid-19, the company faced many scheduling conflicts and employee uncertainties. It did not lay off any employees. In case any jobs were shut down, the company managed to relocate those employees to perform extra maintenance to its clients free of charge. Champion is a people-first company. In the elevator industry, there is never a slow time, for example, social distancing caused fewer people to ride the elevator at the same time… this means more runs, wear and tear and more maintenance is needed. Champion also received $3.4 million in PPP funds from the government that required NOT to be paid back and the company gave the full amount back. The industry took a big hit during Covid, but Donald personally feels the funds were more needed by the real “mom and pop” business, which had no re-occurring revenue during these challenging times.

Working towards Groundbreaking Ideas Over the years, the elevator industry has witnessed a lot of consolidation by private equity. Donald believes that the Champion service and culture will be its competitive advantage while this is happening. Champion is working on some software and customer communications that Donald and the team believe can make a big difference in the industry.

He is also working closely with the National Association of Elevator Contractors to help better the industry through education and safety. The team has some real groundbreaking ideas in the works.

A Special Message to the Readers You must be genuine and dedicate a lot of time to your industry whole heartedly. Helping others to learn and achieve their goals is paramount and educating others is a blessing. It’s our choice as leaders to acknowledge the great people we employ and teach them to become even better leader. Then it’s up to them to take that knowledge to their own personal comfort leadership level.

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A NEW IDENTITY FOR TRUMP TOWER AT CITY CENTER STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER KATZ

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005 — a day that will live, if not in infamy, then at least in the memories of those who attended one of the biggest events to take place in White Plains in a longtime.

Trump Tower at City Center, the 35-story luxury building with 212 condominiums, had been completed and the evening of the 21st was set aside for a grand-opening celebration.

Not only would White Plains Hospital benefit from the event, but guests would have a chance to meet and mingle with none other than Donald J. Trump himself and his wife, Melania.

At the time, Trump’s NBC-TV show “The Apprentice” was a raging success in its second year and among those accompanying Trump to the event was Bill Rancic, one of the young wouldbe executives on the show vying for Trump’s favor and hoping not to be the one that week to whom Trump bellowed, “You’re fired.”

Now, some 16 years later — four of which were marked by the developer’s controversial presidency — the Trump attraction has morphed into what some consider a distraction, and the condominium owners at Trump Tower at City

Center have decided to remove the Trump name from the building. A move like that would have seemed like heresy, if not sheer lunacy, at the time of the big opening.

Then White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino, District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, White Plains Hospital CEO Jon Schandler and developer Louis Cappelli and his wife Kylie were among the estimated 700 people who had assembled for the event, which hit new heights for the city in glitz, glamour, Champagne, hors d’oeuvres and jockeying for position as Trump worked the room.

John Bailey, publisher of the White Plains news website wpcnr.com and host of the cable-TV program “White Plains Week,” recalls that Trump made it a point to smile and have a friendly word for every well-wisher while at the same time refraining from shaking too many hands because of his self-acknowledged germophobia.

“It was like a Broadway opening without the show. It was like a ‘Who’s Who,’” Bailey tells WAG. “Trump moved around the room like the celebrity he was back then. He was at the height of his television appeal.”

Bailey says that he walked up to Trump and congratulated him on the opening, Trump said, “thank you” and they shook hands.

“Getting a Trump-branded property in your town put you on the map at that time,” Bailey says.

Cappelli, who built Trump Tower as part of his City Center retail and residential project on the site of a former Macy’s store, had worked out a deal to license Trump’s name for the building. The Trump Organization also was brought

on board for marketing and building management services. Success was not only written all over the project but so was practical reality.

Fast forward to 2021, when “The Apprentice” has long faded from view and with it much of Trump’s support after insurrection at the U.S. Capitol intended to block Congress from formalizing Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Times changed and changing times were felt within Trump Tower at City Center.

A majority of the condominium owners came to believe that the time had come to remove the Trump identity from the building, just as it has been removed from some other properties that licensed the Trump name, including the 34-story condominium building Trump Parc Stamford in Connecticut.

Anthony Schembri, president of Trump Tower at City Center’s board of managers, tells WAG, “It wasn’t uncommon for the brand name to be brought into discussions at board meetings, but it wasn’t until January (after the assault on the Capitol) that the board decided to put out a survey to really take the temperature of the unit owners and just get a consensus of the direction that the unit owners wanted.”

Schembri says the outcome was that the overwhelming majority, about 68%, wanted a name change from Trump. He says a special meeting of the owners was called so that formal votes could be taken regarding changing the building’s branding as well as making official changes to legal documents.

The Trump Organization, as the building’s management agent, was handling the day-today financial management of the building.

“They sent out our payments, they received our maintenance fees, they managed our general ledger, they handled our operating and reserve accounts,” Schembri says.

He adds that at the same time the rebranding was being considered, a request for proposals was issued for a management agent. He says that The Trump Organization was among those responding but soon removed its name from consideration when it became apparent that the building’s branding was going to be changed.

“We are not the first Trump building that was considering a rebranding and a name change so this was not a new concept for The Trump Organization, and we’ve worked with them for over 15 years and have always had a good relationship,” Schembri says. “Representatives of The Trump Organization attended our board meetings, and they were hearing some of the concerns and listening. They assured us there would be a seamless transition. This was done gracefully and they worked very closely with our new managing agent, and this was a very amicable transition.”

Schembri says that a committee has been established to find a new name for the building and they also may bring in a marketing firm for assistance with the rebranding.

“We’re moving swiftly, because the building needs an identity and we want to do all that we need to in order to expedite that where we can,” Schembri says “The building isn’t going anywhere, and the building will maintain the same level of glitz and glamour and opulence that existed when the building first opened.”

Alan Neiditch, a former president of the building’s board, who owns condos in the City Center building and was an active real estate investor and broker in Westchester County, says that some people who bought units in the building did so at least in part because of the Trump name: “It was that luster of quality and luxury. Many people wanted that and were very happy with it.

“As his presidency continued, people became more unhappy. We heard anecdotal stories from individuals and brokers and sellers that buyers wouldn’t come to the building....But there weren’t really any hard and fast statistics that proved that the name was hurting the values in the building. It was a terrific property. It was managed very well and the building has a good staff with good amenities and was going very well.

“But, I think, after the insurrection on Jan. 6, it became an overwhelming groundswell of support to reevaluate the name. The name now symbolized divisiveness, politics.”

As of mid-August, the Trump name still was seen on a sign facing Martine Avenue and on the marquee at the building’s main entrance.

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Designing a Better Work Experience Research Driven Refined Design Principles Meet New Employee Needs After having spent months working from home, people’s expectations of the workplace have changed. They want and need a safe and compelling workplace that’s inspiring, more flexible and helps them get work done. They also want more control over where and how they work and employers will need to create spaces to solve for an even more diverse set of needs. Different design approaches will be required to create spaces that support the new ways people want to work and the things organizations need to compete effectively.

Me + We

Equally support individual and team work While some believe the primary reason people want to work in the office is for group activities, people say they also want the ability to focus and work in a professional environment. Relying on home offices to support individual work isn’t viable for an inclusive organization, because various factors such as limited home space, distractions or commute time make it challenging for people to always do individual work from home. The key is to balance the needs of teams and individuals by creating neighborhoods where both collaboration and focused work can ebb and flow.

Fixed to Fluid

Design for greater flexibility and mobility Design planning in the past often relied on a more formulaic approach, with a mindset toward permanent architecture and office settings. The new realities of how people and organizations need to become more agile

Open + Enclosed

More enclosed “me” and open “we” spaces Learnings from the work from home experience and early returns to the office show new patterns emerging. People, who often did individual work in more dense, open spaces, desire more enclosure or shielding to control privacy and safety. Teams, who frequently worked in enclosed conference rooms, prefer to be in more open settings, both for a sense of safety and the flexibility to expand and contract and adjust their space easily based on their activities.

Employers will need to think about ways to reinvent collaboration spaces that don’t always need four walls and a door, and individual spaces that feel more protected.

Braiding Digital + Physical

Enhancing human experience through technology People and organizations will embrace hybrid working from home and office, travel will be less frequent and so remote collaboration is here to stay. Employers need to create solutions for individual and group video interactions that are not constrained to laptops or phones.

Sensing technologies will need to be embedded to support increasing data driven or artificial intelligence guided experiences.

requires employers to plan spaces that will regularly morph and change as needed.

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Choice is key in creating inspiring spaces where people want to work. Waldner’s collaborates with forward-thinking companies to provide easy access to a broad range of solutions, from formal workspace furniture to informal settings with a multitude of ancillary options as well as architectural and technology solutions.

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With a little preparation, interior designer Cami Weinstein writes, your new home addition can be “a fun, creative process.”

ADDING TO YOUR HOME

BY CAMI WEINSTEIN

During the past year there has been much activity in the moving and home-buying landscape, with many people wanting to move out of cities and into suburbia. Along with all the movement, home renovations and additions are also on the rise. Not only do folks want to put their personal stamp on their beloved homes; they want to make them conducive to their ever-shifting lifestyles.

And that may mean adding space for home offices and multigenerational living, rather than upgrading to a house that has more square footage but is going to cost a lot and needs the same amount of work. Updating their current homes and adding on to the space give them the best possible chance to create the homes of their dreams.

The first step in undertaking a renovation is to prioritize your needs. Then search for an

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With a little preparation, interior designer Cami Weinstein writes, your new home addition can be “a fun, creative process.”

architect whose aesthetic lines up with yours.

Engage this architect to help you with your list of priorities and incorporating it in the most comprehensive way. At this point, clients often select an interior designer to work on the design with them and the architect. Once your design is completed to your satisfaction, your architect can help you determine the next steps. These include interviewing and getting bids from contractors. Determine your time line and if the renovation is so extensive that it will require you to move out for an extended period. If you can stay in your home — which you may very well be able to do with an addition — figure out the phases of construction and how much of your life will be disrupted by what’s going on around you.

When selecting your contractor, hire someone who is available for questions that arise during the process and keeps an open dialogue with you. Also hire a contractor who is comfortable working with both the architect and your interior designer if you have one.

The construction process can be longer than you’d like, especially when renovating an older home. Be prepared for surprises along the way, with both you wallet and timetable. Often unforeseen problems do pop up. Consider setting aside an additional 20 percent of finances for these “surprises.” Bear in mind that change orders can escalate your costs significantly, so

it’s best to keep them to a minimum and take the time to make changes with your architect on paper prior to construction.

It’s also important to set aside a realistic budget for decorating. Many clients don’t consider that and get to the end of a project without enough funds to finish it. Make a priority list for the furnishings you need and create a budget that will keep the design process on track, too. If your budget only allows for partial decorating, determine which areas you want to work on first and make them as comfortable and complete as possible. Keep trends to a minimum. Although you want your house to be updated and comfortable for modern living, try to avoid trends that will date your construction/renovation a couple of years after you have completed the process.

As a rule of thumb, the lowest bid can often cost more in the end. Hire a reputable, licensed contractor and ask for references. Construction can be a fun, creative process, so enjoy it. Along the way, you’ll also learn a lot about it, town permits and building inspections. Sometimes that will be frustrating, but the end result will be fantastic and allow you to incorporate the systems needed for living in an updated, modern world.

For more, call 914-447-6904 or email Cami@camidesigns.com.

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FINE AMERICAN FURNITURE FOR THE HOME

Judy Kensley McKie’s bronze and glass “Dragon Table” is sculpture as furniture, furniture as sculpture. Sold for $62,500 at Skinner Inc.

Roycroft five-drawer sideboard. This sleek, minimalist Arts & Crafts sideboard sure doesn’t look its age (100 years and counting.) Sold for $8,125 at Skinner Inc.

Federal pier table, part of the John and Marilyn Keane Collection. An eye-catching statement piece like this notable table adds visual excitement to any living room, hallway or dining room. It’s about fine workmanship and impeccable design. It was the best of the best more than 200 years ago. It’s the best of the best today and will be next century, too. To be offered in Skinner Inc.’s Americana auction in November.

This Shaker yellow-painted cupboard over drawers offered clean lines, ample storage and careful construction. Form follows function years before those words became a catchphrase. Sold for $9,375 at Skinner Inc.

as homeowners downsize, right-size and simplify. Important collections are being dispersed and offered at auction. There’s a great deal to choose from and no limit to the imaginative ways that treasures from the past can serve the needs of the present and the future.

Not so long ago, prevailing decorating wisdom favored a painstaking, time-coordinated look. Like the period rooms in museums or historic houses, private houses were often close approximations in every possible detail of the styles of a short time span — furniture, color scheme, wall and floor coverings, window treatments. (Luckily, historical authenticity wasn’t usually allowed to go too far. Central heating and electric lighting were permitted.)

Times change and tastes have become more venturesome. We’re a lot more relaxed about our surroundings today. Eclectic comfort has replaced academic correctness. Like fusion cui-

sine, fusion décor has come into its own.

Among its elements — timeless American studio furniture. Its artisans were also artists, and many of their pieces are sculptures as well as chairs, tables and storage pieces. One-of-akind or limited production pieces by George Nakashima, Sam Maloof, Judy McKie and their contemporaries are increasingly found in museums, but they’re most at home when they’re at home — in homes of any and every design.

Regardless of the style or “look” selected, opportunities abound in antique and vintage furniture. From time-tested colonial and Federal design to mid-century modern to 1980s and ’90s studio furniture, Skinner auctions offer a great selection of pieces that will refresh and enhance a home of any, or no particular, period.

BY KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

The pandemic lockdown has taught us how important home is to our sense of well-being, our comfort and our whole outlook on life.

For many people, these last months have been an enforced opportunity to take a prolonged look at the place called “home.” We’ve experienced changes in work, school and family needs.

We’re ready to move on to newer or older, smaller or larger, simpler or more sophisticated surroundings.

Now is the ideal time for redecorating, repurposing, remodeling and building anew. With these changes comes the need for different furniture. But where to begin? There are so many possibilities, so many choices.

A great place to start is with fine American furniture, with its 400-year tradition of excellence. As Karen Keane, Skinner’s CEO, observes only half-jokingly, “It doesn’t rust, and they aren’t making any more of it.” This furniture is wellmade, often of materials such as old-growth wood that are no longer available. It’s forthright in design. It’s time-tested, practical and beautiful — and right now it’s a buyer’s market.

Intriguing pieces are increasingly available

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For more, contact Katie at kwhittle@skinnerinc.com or 212-787-1114.

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Electric Kingdom Studios is Gordon Bahary’s new music recording studio in Westchester County.

Courtesy Electric Kingdom Studios.

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BUILDING A RECORDING STUDIO IN WESTCHESTER

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

Amid all the ongoing bad news about the Covid-19 variants, vaccination resistance and the effect being felt by performers and performance venues, there is some good news. Musician, producer and engineer Gordon Bahary has opened a state-of-the-art recording studio here in Westchester County.

It’s good news because, while people may or may not be able to attend live music events, at least they can listen to recorded music at home. With that in mind, Bahary’s Electric Kingdom Studios is said to offer “the warmth of yesterday with the clarity and dynamic range of today,” featuring such homey amenities as “Persian rugs, pianos and warm, earthy colors,” as well the convenience of being close to New York City. The equipment, including the new Rupert Neve 5088 32-channel console (pictured left), speaks for itself. Gordon was gracious enough to answer a few questions about his career and Electric Kingdom Studios for WAG:

Gordon, you’re a Long Island native.

How old were you when you took your first music lesson?

“I took a few piano lessons when I was about 10 years old but quit after a few. I wanted to write my own music.”

How many other instruments, if any, do you play in addition to piano and other keyboards?

“A little drums and lead and background vocals.”

By your teens, you were fortunate enough to have brushes with greatness, including Stevie Wonder and the late Harry Chapin. Looking back on those experiences, how formative were they in terms of the musician you are today?

“They played a huge role. Stevie was like a father to me, both in terms of a role model in the studio and as a human being who always cared about others. With Stevie, I was more focused on sound and music. Harry Chapin opened my mind about real-life lyrics and story songs. There was a vulnerability in his stories that encouraged me to be more honest with myself.”

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The Electric Kingdom Studios gets its name from the 1984 “Electric Kingdom” freestyle single you recorded under the moniker Twilight 22. What can you tell me about the music you were making at that time?

“I liked the energy of the records at that time. There were a few driving forces in music then, namely dance music and rap. We were coming out of the ’70s with Carole King, the Bee Gees, the Eagles and so many great pop and rock artists. It was also a strange time because we didn't know where music would go. Electronics was also affecting this more and more.”

In the press materials, you not only talk about the studio’s proximity to the city, but also the fact that there is off-street parking. What else made the Westchester location appealing?

“Being able to go for a walk near the woods to air your head and think about your ideas is a great asset. The quiet lets you hear the music in your head. Fresh air, walk right in, but also the city is only 30 minutes away for some players or producers who come here.”

How much did being a musician play into your decision to open a recording studio?

“A great deal. I wanted to not only have the ideal studio for my own records I produce or mix, but also for my own recordings. It's a dream studio with every color and texture available at your fingertips.”

Were you able to utilize local contractors and such for the build out of the studio?

“I have a great contractor from my previous studios in Manhattan. I designed it and we built it together.”

How was Westchester selected as the site for Electric Kingdom Studios?

I spent 30 years in the city, both living there and having my studio in SoHo. I love Manhattan. This is definitely a more relaxed atmosphere.”

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How was the space acquired?

“Since it's a private studio for my use as a producer and mixer, I made it part of a house.”

What are the challenges of opening a recording studio during a pandemic?

“Of course, it was quieter in terms of in-person recording. So, I focused more on mixing and mastering during most of the pandemic. Also, to compose my new album. Turns out there was a lot of good music written by many musicians during lockdown.”

Would it be fair to say that one of the rewards is that while live performance is still in the process of recovery, people can still listen to recorded music at home, so that functions as one of the services provided by the studio?

“That's a very good point. Music equipment retailers had a banner year in 2020.

People set up small studios at home for writing, vocals and some production. I am now mixing work that was recorded in people’s homes and giving it the touch that it needs for commercial release.”

What are you most looking forward to, in what will hopefully someday be a post-pandemic world, when it comes to being a musician, as well as a studio engineer?

“My goal is to provide a music sanctuary for artists and producers that is the most comfortable in terms of equipment, rooms and atmosphere. I look forward to collaborating with talented people and helping their vision become a reality. I like being flexible and applying myself to any genre, personality and challenge. That's part of the art that I love. Not to mention that music is not only beautiful but healing as well. Something we all need more of.”

For more, visit electrickingdom.com.

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Mayflower Inn & Spa. Courtesy Auberge Resorts.

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‘FALL’ING FOR LITCHFIELD HOTELS

BY JEREMY WAYNE

Last November I encouraged readers to visit the “refreshed” Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, Connecticut. This was not because it was the hotel immortalized in “Gilmore Girls”

by TV writer-director-producer Amy Sherman-Palladino, who stayed there (although that would be a perfectly valid reason,) but because now under the banner of Auberge Hotels, which runs the place, Mayflower Inn is once again a hotel at the very top of its game.

A recent dinner and overnight stay reminded me just how much I always enjoy this property, which I have visited under several different management regimes, since I first inspected it as a “mystery guest” evaluator for Relais & Châteaux (of which the hotel was a member) nearly 15 years ago.

With the common areas redecorated and the rooms and large suites refurbished little more than a year ago, I can only repeat: Mayflower is on top form. And it’s a hotel for all seasons. For sure, the place is at its jolliest in midsummer, when garrulous guests glug glasses of Rosé as they tan around the hotel’s well-appointed pool, glugging still more as the shadows lengthen. But it is also quite wondrous under snow, on a raw January day, say, when the fires are lit and you curl up with a good book on the window seat in the inglenook library. In spring, Mayflower yawns awake again, the woods seem to come alive and the Mayflower Spa, one of the finest in the Northeast and now renamed The Well, offers Forest Bathing (which is where aromatherapy meets tree-hugging) and in the restaurant the root vegetable-heavy menu gives way to local asparagus and other spring veggies.

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Above, The lobby at Mayflower Inn & Spa. Courtesy Auberge Resorts.

If all this sounds like an ebullient new advertising recruit’s breathy first press release, so be it. But I‘ve been lucky enough to visit Mayflower in all seasons of the year and I tell you honestly you’d be hard pressed to choose among them. That said, the wonderful Connecticut fall is upon us and were I your prisoner and about to be tortured with, say, chocolate, yes, I might have to admit that the crisp-outdoorsy, leaf-peeping, full-on fall might just have the edge as the best season of all.

As for the accommodations, they are superb. In the first floor Speedwell cottage, for instance, you’ll find two enormous bedrooms and bathrooms, with balconies, verandas, Colefax and Fowler heavy silk curtains and an abundance of fireplaces. Chinese lamps with silk shades and white peace lilies soften the mood, while housekeeping is spit-spot, the ice bucket topped up (my personal luxury) in the morning and also at turndown.

As for relaxation, just stepping into The Well’s hushed, magnificent all-white garden room, with its luxurious cream sofas and beautiful table lamps masquerading as miniature icebergs, is to have all anxiety slip away.

And should you want to leave the property — though frankly I can’t see the point — the charming hamlet of Washington Depot, which boasts Marty’s workmanlike café and the superb Hickory Stick Bookshop, is just a couple of miles away. Come to think of it, perhaps the

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bookshop is the point.

Of course, small, luxury hotels, at least in a country as vast as the United States, are metaphorically like buses — nothing for an hour and then three at once. That’s to say, you may not come across a single good hotel in 300 miles of driving (if you happen to be driving in Nebraska, say), but then suddenly two appear within spitting distance of each other. That is certainly the case with Mayflower and Winvian Farm, a second, much-loved Litchfield County hotel, only 20 minutes’ drive from Mayflower in the direction of Morris and the Litchfield Hills, which burst onto the scene in a blaze of publicity in 2006.

Occupying a 110-acre farm once the property of Merrill Lynch partner Winthrop H. Smith and his wife Vivian, Winvian (as they named it) was left to their son, Winthrop H. Smith Jr,, who with his wife, Maggie, now the outright owner, commissioned the building of 18 unique cottages on the site. Each was to represent some aspect of Connecticut life, and together all the cottages would form a cohesive, luxury hotel.

No ordinary cottages these, however — and hence the publicity. First and foremost, the Helicopter Cottage (there’s always one sibling that gets all the attention) is a real U.S. Coastguard Sikorsky rescue helicopter, adapted into a guest room. And yes, I’ve stayed in it and yes, it has some crazy angles to negotiate.

Other wacky accommodations include the Stable, Library, Treehouse and Music Cottages,

the clue to the cottage “style” contained in the name. And let’s not forget the Stone Cottage, where I once spent a wet Memorial Day weekend trying to convince myself that I had not mysteriously transmuted into Fred Flintstone.

Seriously, apart from the odd silliness where some small comfort has been sacrificed on the altar of unnecessary authenticity (I mean, honestly, even the wash basin in the Treehouse Cottage is made of wood.) The delightful surprise of Winvian is that it absolutely succeeds as a superb, independently owned-and-run luxury hotel, where the service is thoroughly polished and the young staff seems to know what you want before you even realize it yourself.

Guests converge on the ravishingly pretty dining room in the main house for breakfast and dinner, and the mood overall is of a swell house party where, despite the idiosyncrasies of the accommodation, everyone shares a common aim — fun. The wine list undoubtedly helps in this endeavor. It is encyclopaedic in scope. But as the Winvian people themselves say in their brochures, this extraordinary place is all about “graces but no airs” and “no extravagance or opulence, only warmth and treats.”

At the end of the day, or even the beginning of it, at the first blush of spring or in autumn now upon us, that is a terrific mission statement, and all I ever really ask of any hotel.

For more, visit aubergeresorts.com and winvian.com.

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WAG

A SELECTION OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY REAL ESTATE FIRMS (Area code 914 unless otherwise noted.)

Admiral Real Estate Services 62 Pondfield Road, Bronxville 10708 779-8200 • admiralrealestate.com info@admiralrealestate.com At Home with Yara Realty 111 Lake Ave. Suite. 5, Tuckahoe 10707 372-1404 at-home-with-yara-realty.business.site info@athomewithyara.com Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices River Town Real Estate 133 Grand St., Croton-on-Hudson 10520 271-3300 • bhhsneproperties.com info@RiverTownsRealty.com 983 Main St., Peekskill 10566 739-5300 • bhhsrivertownsre.com info@RiverTownsRealty.com Biagini Realty 547 Saw Mill River Road Suite 1C Ardsley 10502 874-8252 • biaginirealty.com info@biaginirealty.com Boutique Real Estate 282 Katonah Ave., Katonah 10356 815-2222 • westchesterconcierge.com theboutique@westchesterconcierge.com Century 21 Schneider Realty 255 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains 10605 345-3550 • c21schneider.com Christie’s International Real Estate 72 Garth Road, Scarsdale 10583 200-393 • westchestercountyresidences.com joannbyrnerealestate@gmail.com Coldwell Banker Realty 6 Cedar St., Dobbs Ferry 10522 693-5476 • coldwellbankerhomes.com Compass Real Estate 36 Main St., Hastings-on-Hudson 10706 250-9001 • compass.com/agents/the-rioloteam-westchester/ rioloteamwestchester@compass.com 1082 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale 10583 299-7490 • heatherharrisonrealestate.com heather.harrison@compass.com 2 Ashford Ave., Dobbs Ferry 10522 261-0276 • compass.com/agents/franciemalina-team/ franciemalinateam@compass.com

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130 Pondfield Road, Suite 10, Bronxville 10708 337-0070 • hacketthometeam.com 80 Theodore Fremd Ave, Rye 10580 262-6329 • compass.com/agents/the-kimarenas-team/ kim.arenas@compass.com 138, S. Ridge St., Rye Brook 10573 506-1181 compass.com/agents/Jessica-sigmund/ jessica.sigmund@compass.com 1730 Central Park Ave., Suite 1F, Yonkers 10710 752-8763 • compass.com/agents/ theprimeteam/ primeteam@compass.com Damico Group Real Estate 22 Second St., Yonkers 10710 773-2900 • damicogroup.org daniel@damicogroup.org Douglas Elliman Real Estate 26 Popham Road, Scarsdale 10583 723-6800 • elliman.com Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman has grown to become one of the largest independent real estate firms nationwide with $29. 6 billion in closed sales. With approximately 7,000 agents, Elliman operates approximately 100 offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester, Greenwich, New Jersey, Long Island, the Hamptons, Florida, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, and Texas. Moreover, Douglas Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets spanning 61 countries and six continents.

ERA Insite Realty Services 600 N. Broadway, White Plains 10603 949-9600 • era.com eRealtyAdvisors 777 Westchester Ave., White Plains 10604 712-6330 • erealtyadvisors.com info@erealtyadvisors.com Ginnel Real Estate 493 Bedford Center Road, Bedford Hills 10507 234-9234 • ginnel.com info@ginnel.com

Gino Bello Homes 237 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains 10605 653-4099 • Ginobellohomes.com gbello@houlihanlawrence.com Gio Homes 539 N. Wagner Ave., No. 2, Mamaroneck 10543 946-1067 • giohomes.com Giovanni@giohomes.com Grand Lux Realty Inc. 101 King St. No.1B, Chappaqua 10514 273-9688 • grandluxrealty.com michael.levy@grandluxrealty.com Harborview Properties 2406 Boston Post Road, Larchmont 10538 834-8200 • hvp.com info@harborviewrealestate.com Henry Djonbalaj Real Estate LLC 655 McLean Ave, Yonkers 10705 376-1000 • hdrealtyny.com henry@hdrealtyny.com Hire Realty 444 Bedford Road, Suite 204 Pleasantville 10570 458-5677 • thehirerealty.com info@thehirerealty.com Hollingsworth Real Estate Group 75 S. Broadway, Fourth floor White Plains 10601 222-3739 • askhollingsworth.com rey@askhollingsworth.com Home Sweet Properties 200-202 W. Boston Road, Mamaroneck 10543 777-5900 • hshprop.com info@homesweethomeproperties.com Houlihan Lawrence 32 Popham Road, Scarsdale 10583 723-8877 • houlihanlawrence.com CShwall@houlihanlawrence.com 1145 Pleasantville Road, Briarcliff Manor 10510 762-7200 • houlihanlawrence.com jabbate@houlihanlawrence.com 45 S. Greeley Ave., Chappaqua 10512 238-4766 • houlihanlawrence.com JCoon@houlihanlawrence.com 9 Main St., Armonk 10504 273-9505 • houlihanlawrence.com bgraziano@houlihanlawrence.com

WAG

A SELECTION OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY REAL ESTATE FIRMS (Area code 914 unless otherwise noted.)

124 Maple St., Croton-On-Hudson 10520 271-4433 • houlihanlawrence.com bgraziano@houlihanlawrence.com 143 Katonah Ave, Katonah 10536 232-5007 • houlihanlawrence.com LBoucher@HoulihanLawrence.com 750 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley 10502 674-4144 • houlihanlawrence.com jkovacs@houlihanlawrence.com 113 Main St., Irvington 10533 591-2700 • houlihanlawrence.com jkovacs@houlihanlawrence.com Iconik New York 423 Commerce St., Hawthorne 10532 769-8283 • iconiknewyork.com info@iconikny.com J. Philip Real Estate 522 N. State Road, Briarcliff Manor 10510 762-2500 • jphilip.com jphilip@jphilip.net Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty 2 Croton Point Ave, Croton-on-Hudson 10520 271-5115 • northcountrysir.com Keller Williams Realty Group 760 White Plains Road, Scarsdale 10583 713-3270 • kellerny.com Frontdesk769@kw.com Librett Real Estate Group 72 E. Main Street, New Rochelle 10801 636-6100 • librett.com steve@librett.com Link NY Realty 141 Parkway Road, Suite 28, Bronxville 10708 495-9838 • linknyrealty.com info@linknyrealty.com Main Source Realty 117 Main St., No. A, Dobbs Ferry 10522 674-0646 • mainsourcerealty.com Mark Seiden Real Estate Team 1238 Pleasantville Road, Briarcliff Manor 10510 749-6600 • homeman.net info@HomeManAgent.net

McGrath Realty Inc. 295 E. Main St., Mount Kisco 10549 241-6222 • mcgrathrealtyinc.com info@mcgrathrealtyinc.com

Sotheby’s International Realty 2 Croton Point Avenue Croton-on-Hudson 10520 271-5115 • northcountrysir.com

Moda Realty 153 Fifth Ave., Pelham 10463 202-3100 • modarealty.com info@modarealty.com

Sotheby’s International Realty 207 Wolfs Lane, Village of Pelham, 10803 804-5685 • sothebysrealty.com info.mcclellan@sothebysrealty.com michael.norton@northcountrysir.com

NestEdge Realty 2 Overhill Road, Scarsdale 10583 15 Mohegan Drive, Chappaqua 10514 12 Mystic Drive, Ossining 10562 939-8800 • nestedgerealty.com info@nestedgerealty.com Park Sterling Realty 17 ½ Park Place, Bronxville 10708 337-1234 • parksterlingrealty.com info@parksterlingrealty.com Patricia Forgione’s Realty Network 207 Main St., Eastchester 10709 337-0210 • pfrn.com Ragette Real Estate 44 S. Broadway, Suite 100, White Plains 10601 888-1885 • ragette.com ralph@ragette.com

Sotheby’s International Realty 634 Old Post Road, Bedford 10506 234-9261 • renwickrealestateny.com info@renwicksothebysrealty.com Stetson Real Estate 565 Alda Road, Mamaroneck 10543 381-7173 • stetsonrealestate.com hello@stetsonrealestate.com Stiefvater Real Estate 303 Wolfs Lane, Pelham 10803 738-1133 • pelhamny.com scott@pelhamny.com Tarrytown Real Estate Agency 80 S. Broadway, Tarrytown 10591 631-2132 • tarrytownrealestate.net

RMR Residential Realty 45 Knollwood Road, Suite 305, Elmsford 10523 948-6100 • rmrresidental.com robinten@aol.com

The Orange New York 909 SawMill River Road, Ardsley 10502 274-8076 • theorangeny.com info@theorangeny.com ofc@c21schneider.com

Rye Port Real Estate Inc. 81 Maple Ave., Rye 10508 843-3225 • ryeportrealestate.com kathleen@ryeportrealestate.com

VestaPort Real Estate 75 Cooley St., Pleasantville 10570 768-3344 • vestaportre.com info@vestaportre.com

Shaw Properties 381 McLean Ave., Yonkers 10705 377-2371 • shawmetro.com info@shawmetro.com

Vincent & Whittemore Real Estate 629 Old Post Road, Bedford 10506 234-3642 • vinwhit.com info@vinwhit.com

Silversons Realty 6 Palmer Ave. No. 2, Scarsdale 10583 725-9344 • silversons.com info@silversons.com

Westchester Condo Experts 835-6600 • westchestercondoexperts.com info@westchestercondoexperts.com Westchester Realty Consultants 500 Mamaroneck Ave., Suite 320 Harrison 10528 630-5522 •westchesterrealtyconsultants.com jcosentino@westchesterrealtyconsultants.com

OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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WAG

A SELECTION OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY REAL ESTATE FIRMS (Area code 203 unless otherwise noted.)

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services 1583 Post Road, Fairfield 06824 255-2800 bhhsneproperties.com/office/Fairfield walterhibbs@bhhsne.com Blackstone Properties of Connecticut 409 Main St., Ridgefield 06877 240-5877 • blackstonect.com annmarie@blackstonect.com Bolanos Real Estate Group 101 Merritt 7, Third floor, Suite 300 Norwalk 06851 604-6773 • bolanosandassociates.com victor.h.bolanos@gmail.com , info@ bolanosandassociates.com Boost Realty Group 858-852 • boostreg.com todd@boostreg.com

Greater Fairfield Board of Realtors 156 Round Hill Road, Fairfield 06824 255-0497 • fr.gfbor.com/home gfbor@fairfieldboardrealtors.com

Nizzardo Real Estate Services 1887 Summer St., Stamford 06905 883-8532 • nizzardo.com info@nizzardo.com

Hegarty & Company Inc. 166 Whisconier Road, Brookfield 06804 775-8353 • hegartyrealestate.com tara@hegartyrealestate.com

Platinum Property Realty 144 East Ave., Norwalk 06851 853-2455 • ctplatinumhomes.com wm.karchere@pprealty.biz

Higgins Real Estate Group 1055 Washington Blvd., Level 6 Stamford 06901 837-9328 • howellhomesct.com benjamin@yourctagent.com

Poarch Realty 400 Post Road, Suite11, Fairfield 06824 331-7239 • poarchrealty.com jeff@poarchrealty.com

1499 Post Road, Fairfield 06824 715-5858 • higginsgroup.com stephaniejgerlach@gmail.com 41 W. Putnam Ave., Greenwich 06830 220-5020 • higginsgroup.com

Brokerage of New England 140 Post Road, Danbury 06810 788-8611 • brokeragene.com brokeragene@gmail.com

House Real Estate 1200 Post Road, Fairfield 06824 667-7416 • house-ct.com info@house-ct.com

Compass Real Estate 54 Wilton Road, Westport 06880 295-4375 • kmspartners.com kmspartners@compass.com

Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty One Pickwick Plaza, Greenwich 06830 869-4343 • sothebysrealty.com mike.dorazio@sothebys.realty

1499 Post Road, Fairfield 06824 259-8326 • vanderblue.com info@vanderblue.com

3 Roxbury Road, Stamford 06902 49 Purchase St., Rye 10508 325-3618 • williampitt.com marcia.rogull@juliabfee.com

Dagny’s Real Estate 20 Windy Ridge Place, Wilton 06897 858-4853 • dagnysrealestate.com David Ogilvy & Associates 75 Arch St., Greenwich 06830 869-9866 info@davidogilvy Executive Real Estate 588-6007, buyexecutive.com executive.re@buyexecutive.com Fairfield County Real Estate Co. 200 Mill Plain Road, Fairfield 06824 259-9999 • fcre.com mail@fcre.com Fairfield County Realtor 43 S. Main St., Newton 06470 313-0013 • fairfieldcountyrealtor.com bnkeeney@remax.net, ben@ fairfieldcountyrealtor.com

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Kleban Properties 1189 Post Road, Fairfield 06824 955-1978 • klebanproperties.com info@klebanproperties.com Laufer Real Estate 714 Reef Road, Fairfield 06824 255-2306 • laufferrealestate.com mlauferre@aol.com Luks Realty 88 CT-37, New Fairfield 06812 746-0535 • luksrealty.com inquiry@luksrealty.com Mark Greenstein Real Estate 81 Melody Lane, Fairfield 06824 367-6500 Munson Real Estate 48 Reef Road, Fairfield 06824 255-0700 • munsonrealestate.com munsonrealestate@yahoo.com

Preston Gray Real Estate 6 Huntington St., Sheldon 06484 331-7043 • prestongrayre.com Realty by Design 268 Post Road, Fairfield 06824 909-6615 • squeezemoreprofit.com hello@squeezemoreprofit.com Rudy Perkins Realty 2 Corporate Drive, Trumbull 06611 243-3820 • rudyperkinsrealty.com sales@rudyperkinsrealty.com Scalzo Realty 4 Stony Hill Road, Bethel 06801 888-2123 • scalzo.com info@scalzo.com Silver Pine Real Estate 526 Danbury Road, Wilton 06897 451-6622 • silverpinerealestate.com shalini@silverpinerealestate.com SWCT Realty LLC Fairfield 06824 208-8438 • swctrealty.com swctrealty@outlook.com The Riverside Realty Group 472 Riverside Ave., Westport 06880 226-8300 • theriversiderealtygroup.com info@theriversiderealtygroup.com William Raveis Real Estate 2525 Post Road, Southport 06890 255-6841 • raveis.com fairfield@raveis.com Zichil Elite Real Estate 122 Post Road, Suite 207, Fairfield 06824 287-0522 • zichilhomes.com info@propertyct.us

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OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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Scents of the season from Custom Candle Co. include Mahogany Teakwood, Pumpkin Chive and Green Tea. Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

‘CUSTOM’-MADE SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Custom Candle Co. in Bedford Hills was born in 2014 from Marcie ManfredoniaSiciliano’s desire to create an eco-friendly, nontoxic, long-lasting scented candle that her allergy- and asthmaprone family could enjoy.

Her natural soy products have been transformed into musical candles and candles poured into repurposed liquor bottles, among other offerings.

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Recently, WAG wrote about her Leo candle (scent: Turquoise Sky) from The Zodiac collection. So, we were delighted to receive a fall basket, featuring a cutting board created by husband Nick Siciliano — whose Crafted

by Nick company uses recycled materials; and a selection of seasonal scents in Pumpkin Chive, Mahogany Teakwood and Green Tea, contained in pumpkin, teacup and liquor-bottle holders.

Life hasn’t always been scented candles for Manfredonia-Siciliano. Growing up in the Bronx, she had to leave school at age 13 to help support her family when her father died. She married and had four children then divorced.

A single mom, she started a power-washing business, then segued into commercial and residential construction. Her Nationwide Maintenance has been going strong for 30

years. In slow times, Manfredonia-Siciliano has her workers cutting and polishing old bottles they repurpose from construction sites.

“I love candles and I love old liquor bottles,” she says. Seven years ago, she put the two together, some nine years after moving to Bedford Hills, where she met Siciliano.

“We couldn’t purchase paraffin wax, because of our asthma,” she says. So Manfredonia-Siciliano began using soy and a new company was born.

While things slowed during the height of the pandemic, they’re picking up once more.

Already, orders are coming in for her custom holiday baskets. As always, local deliveries are free.

For more, call 914-218-8357 or visit customcandleco.com.

Hilda Demirjian offers beauty and wellness through skincare Why Hilda Demirjian Skin Care?

Hilda Demirjian Laser and Skin Care Center offers men and women collagen treatment for younger-looking skin; treatment to improve the appearance of acne, scars and stretch marks; and treatment of hyperpigmentation (dark spots) on the face due to exposure to UVA and UVB rays. All of the laser treatments are performed via laser, which is FDA approved for all complexions, Demirjian says.

In addition, Hilda Demirjian offers Collagen-Elastin Gel with Green Apple Stem Cells. an innovative formula derived from botanical sources that actively stimulates the growth of the protein collagen in the epidermis.

Currently referred to as the “Fountain of Youth”, 0.1 percent of apple stem cell extract could stimulate 80 percent of human cells and tighten skin on the face, neck and body.

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All skincare products used and sold at Demirjian Laser and Skin Care are botanical, non-comedogenic and cruelty free, and come in recyclable packaging. Her latest all-natural Collagen-Elastin Gel with Apple Stem Cells is currently a #1 seller.

COLLAGEN LASER SKIN TIGHTENING TREATMENT

Hilda Demirjian is an internationally known laser and skin care specialist.

Her skill and advanced knowledge of the industry has transformed many faces and bodies around the world.

“Hilda was very professional. She explained the process precisely. I will certainly return.”

– Mercedes M.

“Hilda is an absolute pleaseure.She made me feel at ease and explained to me the wonderful benefits of Laser.”

“I bought Skin tightening for my wife to see Hilda Demirjian. We were absolutely amazed by her Knowledge. Loved it.”

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Hilda Demirjian Laser and Skin Care Center, 34 S Broadway, Ste. 607, White Plains, NY. For more info, call 914.374.1756 or visit HildaDemirjianLaser.com.

GET YOUR HEALTH BACK ON TRACK – NOW

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI

“Health is the new wealth” — Unknown

Governments around the world have unanimously endorsed avoidance procedures to combat Covid-19. These include handwashing, avoiding touching the face, keeping a distance from sick people and the wearing of personal protective equipment especially masks. The strategy that has had the greatest effect has been self-isolation, physical distancing and quarantining, which forces the youngest to the oldest and the fittest to the unfit, to become inactive and more sedentary.

THE RISKS OF INACTIVITY

Prior to Covid-19 isolation, inactivity was already regarded as a significant public health problem. Globally, inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death due to preventable diseases, amounting to three to five million people dying annually of its comorbidities.

While successful in limiting the transmission of the Covid-19 virus, quarantining has come at a substantial cost to metabolic and mental health, resulting in increases in weight, obesity, loss of lean muscle mass (sarcopenia), increased blood glucose levels, insulin resistance, hypertension, diabetes, decreased levels of HDL — the good cholesterol — and increased levels of LDL (the bad one).

An irony of our new world order is that, when we can control Covid-19, we will be left with increases in metabolic syndrome, anxiety and depressive symptoms, increased low-grade inflammation and a decreased immunity response not only to Covid-19 but potentially to other chronic diseases.

The new World Health Organization guide-

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WAG wellness columnist Giovanni Roselli, front, far right, and his fitness colleagues make exercise seem like child’s play.

Courtesy Roselli Health & Fitness.

lines recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity and 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity, which is double the previous recommendations. To target some chronic conditions, time in excess of 300 minutes of moderate physical activity can further improve health outcomes.

Here are some things you can do to get back on track and grab hold of your health and wellness.

• Get a fitness evaluation from a qualified fitness professional. This trainer will be able to meet you wherever your fitness level is and create programs that will help you progress safely. Tell the trainer your concerns, likes, dislikes and goals so you get a plan that’s tailored to your needs and desires.

• Take a group fitness class from an experienced instructor. All classes and exercises are designed with modifications in mind. Cannot perform a particular movement or have some type of orthopedic injury/issue? The instructor will provide an appropriate substitution. In addition, the pure energy in the private classroom, complete with energetic music, is infectious and will make you want to keep coming back for more.

• Reestablish focus on your nutrition.

Don’t get caught up in click-bait articles, catchy headlines and sound bites stating you can lose x in y days. Think about one thing you can do to improve your current nutrition habits and go from there.

THE TIME IS NOW

The pandemic has affected all of us, whether in physical, mental, emotional or social ways, or quite possibly a combination of all of these. There is one common denominator that can help improve all of these factors. That’s right, you probably guessed it — movement and exercise. Additionally, our immune system is also boosted and kept at strong levels when exercising regularly. The best way to keep yourself protected from disease is to live a healthy lifestyle.

Genetics is something that we cannot control. But here are some things that we can control: • Lifestyle choices, such as how we spend our time, our sleep patterns and hobbies; • What we put into our bodies (and what we do not); • The amount of time we dedicate to movement and exercise.

As much as we all thought we would be “out of this” by now, we are still faced with uncertain times. As noted above, our health is in a dangerous place right now. As always, I’m here to help and have the bandwidth that can connect you to my network of personal trainers, group instructors and nutrition coaches no matter your location or experience. Never hesitate to reach out, and let’s close out 2021 with our health and wellness optimized and prioritized.

Reach Gio at Gio@giovanniroselli.com.

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OCTOBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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CHILLING WITH CHILEAN WINES STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG PAULDING “Our luncheon setting in the shade of the ripe Carmenere grape clusters of Apaltagua winery in Chile,” wine columnist Doug Paulding writes of his 2012 visit to Chile.

Grapes have been grown and wine has been made for centuries in Chile, but it is known as a new-world wine region largely due to its previously unstructured and uninteresting wines. The vines were planted willy-nilly without much respect for location and terroir. Vines were encouraged to push out as much fruit as possible to make as much juice as possible. The political situations of the 1900s were disincentives for investments or development of vineyards and wineries. But today, beginning in the final two decades of the 20th century, this region has been transformed into a respected wine producer.

In the last three decades, the wine world has taken notice of Chile and its capabilities, encouraging talent and money to flow into the Chilean wine industry. Rothschild, Mondavi, Gran Marnier, Aurelio Montes, Paul Hobbs and Michel Rolland are just a few of the alpha names that have embraced the land, the landscape and weather of Chile to craft wines of style and substance, not to mention price tag. Previously, it

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would be difficult to find a Chilean wine costlier than $20. Today there are hundreds of respectable Chilean wines in the under $20 category, but there are also dozens in the $50 to north of $100 range.

I visited Chile in 2012 for a sponsored full immersion media event in which we traveled north and south from the capital city of Santiago, visiting vineyards and wineries. Chile is a narrow country with its east-west borders essentially defined by the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains. And these two boundaries also have a profound effect on grape production. Chile can be hot to very hot and the cooling Pacific influence, along with the altitudes of some of the more westward vineyards in the Andean foothills, contributes to ideal growing conditions for grapes. Hot days, cool nights along with stony, volcanic soils help to create an environment with mineral, organic richness.

From these stressing environments, significant hang times of grapes approaching or surpassing 100 days on the vine will create grapes of substance and wines of elegance.

This past week I attended an in-person Chilean wine tasting in a rooftop garden in Brooklyn overlooking the East River and Lower Manhattan. I tasted many of the same wines I had tasted while in Chile and yes, there was a noticeable improvement. As vineyards mature and as roots develop and extend deeper into the soil, the grapes draw a minerality and a complexity from the earth. And deeper roots make the vines more impervious to drought conditions.

This large rooftop garden was chosen to highlight the effort Chilean producers have made to be green. Currently 85% of their wine exports are certified sustainable. Many are certified organic or are transitioning in a multiyear effort

to sustainable or organic production. In Europe and around the world, phylloxera, an aphid-like grape louse, feeds on the roots of the vines, killing the vineyards. Entire vineyards throughout much of the world have had to be replanted on American rootstock, which is impervious to phylloxera attack. But Chile’s remote setting and physical boundaries have left it unaffected by this devastating pest.

I tasted through many of the wines at this event and found them all to be quite acceptable and many to be exceptional. Find a good wine store with a good inventory and pick up a few bottles from various price points and regions from Chile. They have planted largely noble varieties so most of the grapes grown will all be easily recognizable names. Vista Wine & Spirits in South Salem, The Wine Connection in Pound Ridge and Vintology Wine & Spirits in Scarsdale have a number of these wines in stock. Look for Lapostolle, Cono Sur, Alma Viva, Concha y Toro, Santa Rita, Montes, Koyle, Miguel Torres, Casa Silva and Matetic wines. These are just a few of the sure hits but there are many more. And as the Chilean wine world matures and improves, these will only get better.

And one more consideration: For recent vintages, wines from the Southern Hemisphere get harvested in its autumn (March 20-21 through June 20-21), so these wines are about six months older than Northern Hemisphere wines of the same vintage year. For young wines, this is a considerable percentage of extra maturing time that should lead to a more evolved and comfortable tasting wine in the glass.

Wines of Chile: Pick up a few bottles and share. You will be impressed at every price range. Cheers.

Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

SMALL BUSINESS HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

PROJECT PARTNER

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FUNDING CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

S

BY JON CARLISLE AND GREGORY LEWIS, CONNECTICUT SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER BUSINESS ADVISORS

ecuring funding for your small business has many considerations depending on the type of funding you are seeking. For new businesses, you may have needs beyond what you, your family and friends can provide as investment. It may be time to consider a traditional loan through a bank or a micro loan through a community lender. For more established businesses, you may be looking to get a line of credit or equity financing to expand your business.

As you start to think about applying for a loan, you may be wondering what lender you should work with. The US Small Business Administration has a Lender Match tool, which helps businesses get identify and connect with a lender aligned with their specific needs. All you have to do is answer a few questions about your business and within two business days, Lender Match will provide you a number of different lenders who you can contact.

Applying for a loan can be time consuming and arduous. The Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC) can help. Its team of 15 advisors can help you explore financing options, assess your capacity for financing, help you refine a business plan typically required by a lender and work with you to create your revenue and expense projections to demonstrate your ability to repay your loan. Advisors will help you consider lender terms and determine the best fit for your situation.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) works with lenders to offer various loan programs for fixed assets and working capital.

These different programs offer competitive terms and unique benefits, such as a lower down payment or flexible overhead requirements that may be attractive for small businesses for a variety of reasons.

One of the programs SBA offers is the 7(a) program, which includes the Standard 7(a) loan, 7(a) Small Loan, SBA Express, Export Express and International Trade loans. Depending on the type of loan, the maximum amount and guarantee may differ, however there are standard requirements that all businesses must adhere to when applying for these loans. Some of the required information includes financial statements (both personal and business), business license or certificate, loan application history and income tax returns.

A 7(a) loan can be used for several busi-

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Ashley Kalinauskas, founder of Torigen Pharmaceuticals and CTSBDC business advisor Gregory Lewis meet to discuss funding opportunities, like SBIR/STTR grants, to help small, research-focused businesses.

ness-related expenditures, including longand short-term working capital, the purchase of machinery, equipment, fixtures, supplies, the purchase of real estate or construction costs or to refinance/consolidate existing debt.

The 504 loan program from the SBA is a long-term fixed-rate financing program for up to $5 million in fixed assets. 504 loans are available specifically through Certified Development Companies (CDCs) that help regulate nonprofits and promote economic development. In order to be eligible for a 504 Loan, you must be a for-profit company, have a tangible net worth of less than $15 million and have an average net income of less than $5 million after federal income taxes for the two years preceding your application.

Once you receive a 504 loan, you may use this money to purchase assets that will help your business grow or create new jobs. This could include buying an existing building or land, long-term machinery and equipment or improving upon existing facilities or land, streets, utilities, parking lots and landscaping.

504 loans cannot be used for working capital or inventory or consolidate existing debt.

CTSBDC advisors can also assist you with non-SBA loans or alternative financing options such as asset-backed financing or equity investment through venture capital or angel investors.

Businesses conducting research and development may consider seeking grant

funding through the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

SBIR/STTR can provide small businesses with nondilutive grants to commercialize their innovations. These programs are a great opportunity for highly creative businesses in a wide variety of industries to get the support they need to launch new products while stimulating scientific and technological growth. For STTR, small businesses are required to collaborate with a nonprofit research institution in order to foster technology transfer between the entities.

SBIR/STTR is a three-phase process, which brings businesses through proof of concept, research/research and development and commercialization. There are currently 11 different federal agencies with SBIR programs, five of which also have STTR programs. Each of these agencies may issue their own program and solicit proposals for a variety of R&D topics. The opportunity this provides for small research-focused businesses can oftentimes propel them forward and bring new products to market.

CTSBDC and its partners have the resources and experience businesses require to navigate the SBIR/STTR application process successfully. More importantly, the support needed beyond SBIR/STTR remains in place to help companies introduce their innovations to the marketplace — growing both the companies and Connecticut’s economy.

“…We’re putting the community back into community banking.” “…We’re putting the community

back into putting community banking.” “…We’re the community With a team that believes in relationships, The First Bank of Greenwich continues to focus on the community back into community banking.”

With a team that believes in relationships, The First Bank of Greenwich continues to focus on the community

With a team that believes in relationships, The First Bank of Greenwich continues to focus on the community

The First Bank of Greenwich Lending Team. Bob Cappazzo photography The First Bank of Greenwich Lending Team. Bob Cappazzo photography

You can’t have a discussion about banking with Frank Gaudio without hearing about the importance of You can’t have a discussion about banking with Frank relationship building. As President & CEO of The First Gaudio without hearing about the importance of Bank of Greenwich, Frank champions a philosophy relationship building. As President & CEO of The First that Bank many have discarded.

“What’s Youofnational can’t havebanks a discussion about banking with Frank Greenwich, Frank champions a philosophy happened in Westchester is happening throughout Gaudio aboutdiscarded. the importance that manywithout nationalhearing banks have “What’sof the nation.

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Bank Greenwich’s continuous growth.

Like every member the teamDavid Frank Ritacco, has built, This includes newest teamofmember he believes relationships are the key to First This includes newest team member David Ritacco, Vice President, Commercial Lending Officer.The David Bank of Greenwich’s continuous growth.

Vice President, Commercial Lending Officer. David knows a thing or two about community banking. knows a thing or two about community banking.

StartingThis fresh out ofnewest collegeteam as a member Bank Teller, David David Ritacco, Startingincludes fresh out of college as a Bank Teller, David worked his way up the banking ladder holding numerVice President, Commercial Lending Officer. worked his way up the banking ladder holding David numera thing or two about community banking. ous positions which gave him the the foundation to be ousknows positions which gave him foundation to be Starting fresh outthe of the college asWestchester a Bank Teller, David a successful Lender in local Westchester market. a successful Lender in local market. worked his way minded, up the banking ladder holding CivicCivic and community David alsoalso serves as numerand community minded, David serves as ous positions gave him “Volunteer the foundation to be a Board member onwhich the Non-Profit New a Board member on the Non-Profit “Volunteer New a successful Lender in the local Westchester market. headquartered in Tarrytown. spent York”York” headquartered in Tarrytown.

He He alsoalso spent Civic and community minded, David also serves as several a Real Estate Committee member several yearsyears as a as Real Estate Committee member a Board member on the Non-Profit “Volunteer New for March The March of Dimes and chaired several for The of Dimes andin chaired several York” headquartered Tarrytown.

He also spent events serving the community. events several serving the community. years as a Real Estate Committee member for The March of Dimes andgrew chaired several David upWaccabuc in Waccabuc grew up in events serving theDavid community. and now lives in Goldens

and now lives in Goldens Bridge with his wife and two up in Waccabuc BridgeDavid with grew his wife and two daughters. “I couldn’t be more and now lives in Goldens daughters.

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Westchester community Opportunities to grow in the Westchester community

As Executive Vice President & Chief Lending Officer, exist because Westchester has been underserved for so Evan Corsello sees the benefits of this relational long. In the middle of all these bank mergers, we get to The First Bank of Greenwich Bob Cappazzo photography AsTeam.

Executive Vice President & Chief Lending Officer, exist because Westchester has been underserved for so Lending approach. “Frank Gaudio established three Community show people what true community banking looks like.”

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“Instead of cookie-cutter lending, we lending solutions.

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EveryoneOfficer comesMaureen together to help the SVP, Senior Lending Hanley echoes SVP, Senior Lending Officer Maureen Hanley echoes we’ve created. created. Whether you have aaten dollar ororten we’ve Whether you have ten dollar ten Frank Gaudio reflects on what they’ve accomplished client get what “It’s theywhat needIto succeed.” that sentiment. love mostabout aboutour ourbank. bank. million dollar dollar account with us, treated like that sentiment.

“It’s what I love most million us,you’re you’re treated likefamily, family, and what lies account ahead. “Iwith couldn’t be prouder of the team Everyone is accountable for creating the best customer no exceptions. We’re growing because our clients want Everyone is accountable for creating the Hanley best customer SVP, Senior Lending Officer Maureen echoes no exceptions.

We’re growing because our clients we’ve created. Whether you have a ten dollar or ten want experience possible.” She goes on to share, “People to do business with a true community bank. I guess you that sentiment.

“It’s what I love about“People our bank. experience possible.”

She goes on most to share, dollar account withcommunity us, you’re treated family, tomillion do business with a true bank.like I guess you matter to our management and every employee, so could say that our bank is growing because other banks Everyone accountable for creating the best customer matter to ourismanagement and every employee, so no exceptions.

We’re growing because our clients could say that our bank is growing because otherwant banks management doesn’t move the goalposts or shift the aren’t. And I don’t believe we’ll ever stop looking for experiencedoesn’t possible.”

She goes on to share,shift “People management move the to do business withbelieve a true community bank.

I guessfor you aren’t.

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We matter to our management and every employee, so couldtosay that ourthe bank is growing because other banks rules.

They empower us to take care ofdisappear the customer. ways improve level of service we provide.

We Even during the pandemic, we didn’t have innovative things coming.” management doesn’t move the goalposts or shift the aren’t.some And exciting, I don’t believe we’ll ever stop lookingWhen for Even during the pandemic, we didn’t disappear orrules. tighten theempower reins.

In fact, have some exciting,oninnovative things coming.”

When asked toimprove expound this,ofFrank replies with a smile They us towe takeearned care ofmany the customer. ways to the level service we provide.

We or new tighten the reins.

In became fact, we disheartened earned manywhen customers who asked to expound on this, Frank replies with a smile in his voice, “Stay tuned.

It’s going to be great!”

Even during the pandemic, we didn’t disappear have some exciting, innovative things coming.” When new who disheartened when they couldn’tthe talk tobecame their own inasked his voice, “Stay tuned. going to bewith great!” orcustomers tighten reins.

In fact, webanker.” earned many to expound on this,It’s Frank replies a smile theynew couldn’t talk to their own banker.” customers who became disheartened when they couldn’t talk to their own banker.”

in his voice, “Stay tuned. It’s going to be great!”

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HOW TO WIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

BY DENISE WHITFORD AND JOSEPH WILLIAMS, CONNECTICUT SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER BUSINESS ADVISORS

New England Bioassay owner Kimberly Willis, left, and CTSBDC Business Advisor Denise Whitford have worked together over two years to help the business win multiple municipal contracts for aquatic toxicity testing.

D

oing business with the federal or state government can provide small businesses a great opportunity to expand their revenues and develop new experience. However, many small-business owners may feel intimated by taking on a government contract and not know where to begin.

If you are interested in government contracting, here are some steps you can take to ease yourself in: 1. Evaluate: Is doing business with the government the right decision for your business?

It is important to understand your core capabilities and competitive advantages as well as what federal agencies buy, when they buy it and how much they buy. Evaluate what you know about your competition –– who is or might be seeking government contracts. You may want to explore whether you can get a “foot in the door” by partnering with existing government suppliers. By having a strong knowledge of your customer, your capability and your competitors, you are properly preparing for winning contracts.

2. Plan: Based on your evaluation, it’s time to develop a plan that addresses the details of pursing government contracts and positions your business to successfully deliver on a contract. Prepare a “deeper dive” into what your prospective government customer has purchased and from whom. Understand the terms and conditions of a government contract – not just the pricing. When did the customer want delivery? Can you abide by their terms? What is the penalty or cost of not meeting the customer’s demands? Can you fit your new customer into your order entry and delivery processes? Do you have the labor, equipment and working capital to enable you to take on this new business?

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How will you get there?

3. Registration: You must register with certain vendor tracking systems before you can bid on a government contract. These include Dunn & Bradstreet, System for Award Management (SAM), Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) and perhaps others.

4. Prepare: If your business is eligible to be certified as a member of an underrepresented group, you should understand the time and process involved with securing this certification. It doesn’t have to take a long time, but it is important to get certified before bidding on a government contract. Certifications such as Women-owned (Women’s Business Entity or Women-owned Small Business), Minority-owned or Veteran-owned will provide you with access to contracts set-aside for these business groups and enable you to form joint ventures with noncertified businesses.

You will want to have these certifications in place as you develop your marketing materials and promotional strategies. You’ll need a clear, direct statement of your capability, which is a short explanation of what you can deliver and who you have delivered for (your customers, of course). Your website should be up-to-date and include the latest information about your goods and services and your customer base. You should understand government payment processes and mechanisms, so if ordering is done online your site is set up for payment.

5. Pursue: Finally, you are ready to start pursuing government contracts. There are computerized bid matching services, which provide daily search and email alerts so you are notified ASAP about new opportunities.

Small businesses are encouraged to actively pursue these contracts and opportunities using resources like SAM.gov, which will al-

ways have the latest updates to federal RFPs. For the state of Connecticut, contracts are listed with the Department of Administrative Services and can be filtered by NAICS code and alerts can be set up so you receive notifications of updates to these solicitations. It may also be helpful to attend industry days or training conferences so you can network with business advisors and purchasing agents.

6. Achieve: When you are awarded a government contract, it is important that you have or quickly develop a government-accepted accounting system to help prepare you for any audit, report or modification that may need to be made to the contract to keep the business. If you do not have the accounting systems in place, there is a chance you may lose your contract.

Government contracts are not the only opportunity available to small businesses and entrepreneurs. For example, federal grants may be available depending on the nature of your business. Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/ STTR) grants enable small businesses to explore their technological potential and provide the incentive to profit from its commercialization. This competitive grant program requires a business or individual have a relationship with a research university. There are several in Connecticut that have collaborated with businesses on successful grant applications. Other federal grant programs also support new or enhanced technology or services.

There are a number of resources that are critical for small businesses when they are pursuing federal and state contracts. The Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC) is a great place to start.

CTSBDC advisors will provide, at no-cost and on a confidential basis, an assessment of your business concept and your plan to pursue government contracts. Advisors will walk you through the government certification process and help you think about what you need to plan and prepare for a successful government proposal. CTSBDC works closely with other resource partners who can also help, such as the Connecticut Procurement and Technical Assistance Center (CT PTAC), which is dedicated to supporting small businesses seeking government contracts, the Women’s Business Development Council, the Women’s Business Center and community and nonprofit lenders and others who can help you meet your government contracting objectives.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS

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BY STEVEN SEMAYA AND MICHELLE KOEHLER, CONNECTICUT SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER BUSINESS ADVISORS

hen a business is doing well, it can be tempting to want to expand in order to maximize your revenue. Having a clear understanding of your business, especially where your profit is derived, is critical. As is clearly defining goals — both business and personal. Taking these into consideration can help business owners objectively decide if expansion makes sense for them and if so, guide in developing a strategy that will achieve their goals. Whether you are looking to buy/lease a new location, expand a product line, acquire an existing business or perhaps take on a partner to grow your business it is important to consider the “why” behind the expansion and not to leap at opportunities without considering all factors, including how it will impact the current business.

Here are a few considerations to keep in mind: 1. Expand your line of products or services: Can you increase revenues by offering more without increasing overhead? If you are a service business, what additional services are complimentary? If you are a product business, what other products could your customers buy from you? As a business owner, keeping an eye on industry and market trends and regularly asking yourself these questions may help you spot opportunities for revenue growth and increased profits.

2. Mergers and Acquisitions: Is there an opportunity to purchase another business that compliments yours? Or is there an opportunity to purchase a turn-key business without having to go through all of the startup steps? What are the short term AND longterm considerations for a merger and/or acquisition? Acquiring a business OR merging businesses comes with their own unique process for due diligence, set of challenges and potential opportunities. Notably, having an attorney review the purchase from a legal side is essential to avoid any issues that may arise from liens on the existing business, lawsuits or other legal matters. While expanding your operations may be a great idea, once acquired/merged, the new business owner is now responsible for any existing issues the business may have, including debt, poor image, bad culture, etc. It is extremely important to do your research and be prepared with a strategy when considering a merger or acquisition.

3. New location: Would expanding your

CTSBDC assisted Skippers Restaurant open their second location in Old Saybrook, CT and attended the grand opening of that location.

physical location offer enough return on investment to warrant a purchase or move?

Whether you want to buy a building or move to a new location to reach new demographics or expand your product offering, a new space can provide many new opportunities — or it may be detrimental. Remember that location can be extremely important for some businesses, such as those in the food and hospitality industry. A new location may bring increased fixed costs (higher rent/ mortgage, utilities, for example) that may pinch profit margins for some time. On the positive side, a new location may provide increased exposure to your current target market or access to new customers.

4. Strategic partnering: Are there opportunities to work with another company to sell or promote one another’s complimentary products or services? Sometimes it may be more beneficial to both businesses to find a commonality and do some cross-promotion.

This can be especially useful for businesses with limited resources, either financial or physical.

Regardless of the type of expansion you’re considering, it is critical to have a well-established business plan that clearly outlines the strategy and goals for the business. Setting concrete personal and professional goals for the expansion will be a great litmus test to see how the business is doing against projections and planning. Rather than setting one big-picture goal for the business, it may be helpful to have milestone goals to check in

on how the expansion is going.

For example, if a manufacturer is looking to grow by entering a new market via product-line expansion the overall goal is to be in this new market. However, by breaking this down into smaller goals along the way (distribution channel and supply chain needs, equipment and labor capacity) the manufacturer can make sure that its expansion is well-planned and positions your company well to grow long term.

As this manufacturing business looks to enter this new market, there may be several barriers to entry. Will the new product line require additional capital investment? How will capital be raised and what impact will the form of this raise have on the firm’s capital structure?

What is the true market opportunity for the business? What will happen to profit margin?

Many of these questions can be answered with the help of an advisor from CTSBDC. Advisors at CTSBDC have exclusive access to market research and business planning tools, which can be used to evaluate opportunity and refine the business plan.

When it comes to funding the expansion, there are many different options to choose from. If a business is considering debt funding, what bank or community lender should they work with? Maybe equity investing is an option for the company. Does it make sense to bring on a partner for the venture? These questions can appear overwhelming for a small-business owner. Connecticut Small Business Development Center has a team of expert advisors to help you evaluate your options and guide you forward at no-cost.

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CORTLANDT: WHERE LIFE WORKS

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here is a hidden gem nestled against the eastern banks of the Hudson River, less than an hour train ride from midtown Manhattan. It is the town of Cortlandt, where life works at home, work and play and it is prime for investment. The commercial space available offers a business twice the space at half the cost. During this current hiring crunch a tremendous advantage Cortlandt possesses is a willing, educated and diverse workforce. The lifestyle of Cortlandt is second to none and the town’s location provides great transportation, including two railroad stations. With an average household income, within a 10-mile radius, of $113,830 and population with an average age of 41.4 years, the market is ripe for all types of goods and services.

Under the direction of town Supervisor Linda Puglisi, Cortlandt completed an award-winning Sustainable Master Plan four years ago, that focused on economic development.

It prompted the town to focus on trends for the future of employment, which especially today continues to evolve.

The Plan targeted four strategic areas for economic growth.

These four “districts” are: Transit Oriented District centered around one of Cortlandt’s two Metro-North stations; Medical Oriented District around New York Presbyterian-Hudson Valley Hospital; Cortlandt Boulevard a major corridor that carries 16,000 cars per day to various retail, office and service businesses; and the Waterfront Sustainability District where multiple opportunities exist to create a recreational/cultural presence. Each of these districts has a strategic magnet, yet plenty of opportunity in surrounding undeveloped or under-developed properties — some owned by the town, which is seeking public/private partnerships.

Perhaps most important to investors and developers is the welcoming attitude. Cortlandt wants you to do business here and its leadership will do all it can to make the approval process easy and expeditious. Depending upon the proposed project, the Town Board may act as lead agency, thus reducing a second round of public hearings and approval votes.

The town recently revised its Zoning Code to simplify certain actions such as lot-line adjustments and reuse of office and retail buildings, by eliminating an applicant’s burden of appearing before a Board. This streamlines the process and eliminates prior bottlenecks easing the granting of permits to adapt buildings that have outlived their original purpose but with some modification become well-suited for today’s changing landscape. Town Supervisor Puglisi working with Deputy Supervisor Richard Becker and the Town Board, have established coordinated meetings so that an investor or developer can meet at one time with all the key stakeholders.

This affords the investor instant and complete feedback and

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indicates the feasibility of the project before the expenditure of time and money for development costs.

A prime consideration for business is the town’s stable leadership, fiscal certainty and commitment to economic growth. The Supervisor and Town Board have served together for decades, so a developer can feel at ease that a project that is green-lighted one year isn’t derailed after the next local election. The town has tripled its reserve fund over the past 30 years and property taxes have increased on average at only 1% over the past 30 years. It has committed more than $160 million to capital projects to enhance infrastructure, while protecting open space.

Cortlandt is 40 square miles with 15 miles of riverfront, over 40 recreational sites, a major shopping corridor along with targeted enclaves of small businesses and friendly residential neighborhoods. It is within a 35-minute drive of two commercial airports (Westchester County Airport and Stewart Airport), has two Metro-North stations as well as the only Amtrak station between Yonkers and Albany. There are miles of highways, getting to, from and through Cortlandt or if you prefer, it is served by Westchester County’s Bee Line bus or even ride your bike on many of the wide, smooth roadways.

Among projects moving forward this year are the Kinosaito Art Center in the hamlet of Verplanck, the soon-toopen Dog Haus restaurant at the Cortlandt Town Center and several ethnic restaurants. Shortly, plans will be revealed for a repurpose of the former Shop Rite on Route 6, and two public/private partnerships to develop an indoor recreation center and a hard-cider-making facility on the Hudson River. As this goes to press, Cortlandt will be joined by the New York State Cider Association and others to host the First Annual Hudson Valley “Pour the Core” Hard Cider Festival on Sept. 25 along the banks of the Hudson River.

Cortlandt, too, is noted for its historical record, cultural events and its recreational outlets. Surrounding the city of Peekskill and with New York City a short train ride away, Cortlandt provides that touch of urban life when desired, while giving your business, employees and customers the benefits of open space and outdoor entertainment and activities, even at home.

Cortlandt truly is where life works. What works for you?

The town of Cortlandt’s team is ready, able and waiting to turn your vision into reality. Cortlandt want your business.

For more information about the town of Cortlandt visit https://wherelifeworkscortlandt.com/ or contact George Oros, town of Cortlandt Economic Development Coordinator at 914-522-6774 or email goros@townofcortlandt.com.

THE TOWN OF CORTLANDT IS WHERE LIFE WORKS AT HOME, WORK AND PLAY...

AND IT IS PRIME FOR INVESTMENT! Commercial space is often available with twice the space for half the cost, along with access to a highly educated and diverse workforce of all ages. Plus, the town is committed to aiding investors and entrepreneurs through streamlined approval processes.

Four Strategic Areas for Growth

In all, there are four strategic areas of potential economic growth, based on Cortlandt’s award winning Sustainable Master Plan completed in 2016: Transit-Oriented District, (TOD) Medical Oriented District, (MOD) Cortlandt Boulevard Area, (CBA) Waterfront Sustainability District, (WSD) The Master plan focuses on trends for the future of employment, such as work from home options and co-work spaces in order to reduce commute times, reduce negative impacts on the environment and attract a new talented workforce.

Orange County

Putnam County

Rockland County

TOWN OF CORTLANDT

Westchester County

Long Island Manhattan

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU? For more information about Cortlandt contact: George Oros, Town of Cortlandt Economic Development Coordinator at goros@townofcortlandt.com or call (914) 522.6774 Linda Puglisi, Town Supervisor

Visit us at www.wherelifeworkscortlandt.com

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OPERATING A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS

BY JIM JACKSON, CONNECTICUT SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER BUSINESS ADVISOR

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ccording to professors John A. Davis and the late Renato Tagiuri, a family-owned business is defined as one in which two or more family members influence the direction of the business through the exercise of management roles, kinship ties or ownership rights. This definition captures some of the subtleties involved in running a family business.

Family-owned businesses offer many attractive qualities but also come with their own unique set of challenges. One significant challenge can be recognizing when you’re wearing the “family hat” and when you’re wearing the “business hat.” Conflicts can arise because families generally operate on principles of fairness and equity while businesses tend to operate on principles of performance and contribution. As family members work together, their roles can be blurred as employees given their status as either family members, owners of the business or a manager for the business. Very often, these three roles intersect each other and may present challenges as people navigate their role.

Owners of a business tend to step back and consider the “big picture” in terms of succession and estate planning, long-term strategy and overall future direction of the company.

Managers on the other hand may be more focused on day-to-day operations and how the strategic plan is being carried out in the business itself. Managers are responsible for evaluating overall performance and ensuring that the business is conforming to policies and procedures. Family members may be more considerate of the emotional side of the business and ensuring that it is being run fairly and equitably and is staying true to family values and vision.

To balance all of these roles and reduce the risk of problems arising there are a few key tenets that you may consider: 1. Write a combination business and family plan: Many family-owned businesses fail as they pass through the generations due to a lack of a formalized business/ succession plan. By establishing this early and communicating the plan with those involved, you will be well-positioned into the future for your business to succeed.

As one generation is looking to retire and pass the business along, long-term successful family-owned businesses have been planning for this day for years. Without proper training and development, the business will be in the hands of someone who is not pre-

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CTSBDC Business Advisor Shelly Koehler has worked with Seth Bahler, 0wner of Modern Milkman to help his fifth-generation family-owned business navigate continued operations throughout the pandemic.

pared and therefore may put the business you worked so hard to establish in jeopardy.

2. Seek outside advising: Establishing an outside Board of Advisors may be extremely beneficial to guide your business. This Board can provide objective guidance as the business moves forward, where family involvement may come with a bit of bias.

Technical assistance from organizations like the Connecticut Small Business Development Center is available on a confidential, no-cost basis. Advisors from CTSBDC are available to help bridge the gap between emotional and rational business planning.

3. Clearly define roles and responsibilities: By ensuring everyone is aware of their role in the company, you minimize the risk of conflict arising. As small-business owners, it is common for one employee to take on many responsibilities, but it is important that it is understood exactly where everyone’s role stands.

This may also be helpful when it comes to salary and compensation discussions. For family-owned businesses this topic can be extra complex but if the business owner or manager has set clear goals for each employee, that may serve as an objective way to make those decisions. When it comes to compensation, it is especially important that all employees are treated equally and fairly and that the process is well-established in this way.

4. Be open to other ideas: If you offer each family member the opportunity to share their perspectives, the business may be able to move forward in a direction that had not previously been discussed. By involving other family members in decisions, your busi-

ness will be open to grow and employees/ family members will feel valued.

5. Remember: this is business: When you are trying to run a successful business and family is involved, it is critical to keep your mission and goals in clear view. Although roles may intersect at times, making your best effort to keep business and personal separate will only serve to the success of both your business and personal life.

Whether you are looking for assistance in writing a business or succession plan, need help with estate planning or are thinking of selling the business there is plenty of assistance available. The University of Connecticut Family Business Program offers business and family-systems programming to prepare and propel your business through innovative business strategy, organizational structure, management practices, human resources, leadership development and succession planning.

Additionally, the University of New Haven has a Center for Family Business, which provides peer-to-peer engagement for family business owners.

The Connecticut Small Business Development Center also provides assistance to family business owners. Working one-on-one with an advisor, CTSBDC can help you navigate these and other challenges that may arise. CTSBDC advisors can help you conceptually design a succession plan that you are then able to bring to an attorney to formalize. For small, family-owned businesses that are just getting started CTSBDC is a great resource to be able to leverage their experience in areas you may not be as familiar with so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

OPERATING A WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS DURING A PANDEMIC

BY JIM JACKSON, CONNECTICUT SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER BUSINESS ADVISOR

I

n March 2021, Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CSBDC) hosted a panel of women entrepreneurs to discuss their experience as business owners during this pandemic. These women have shown resilience in the face of adversity and offer insight into what silver linings may come out the pandemic for their business.

Constantine Alleyne owns Alleyne & Company LLC and its subsidiary Civilian Corrections Academy, which offers organizations and their employees consultancy, pre-boarding and in-service training, mentoring and career planning service.

Amy Lavoie is the Founder of a Piece of the Puzzle, Behavioral Interventions. As an education professional for over 18 years, Amy possesses a steadfast commitment to helping children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

HAYVN Founder Felicia Rubinstein is a true trailblazer, starting her career as an engineer at GE and Apple before “Women in STEM” was a movement. HAYVN is a women-centered coworking space in Darien, Connecticut, designed to be just that — a “haven” for women to “connect, create and get stuff done.”

Neviana Zhgaba is the co-owner Aquila’s Nest Vineyard, an experience-focused vineyard, winery and event venue, located on a 41-acre property in Newtown, Connecticut.

Neviana and her husband share a vision of producing wines that bring people together, cultivating stronger communities, provoking storytelling and promoting local art.

Please describe the challenges brought about by the pandemic, requiring you to alter the way you ran your business?

Connie: My initial business model was based on in-person classes, so I have had to move to an online learning platform, which was quite the undertaking.

Felicia: When Covid hit, we were never forced to close. Since we have private offices we were able to stay open and have people in their co-working spaces. What was predicted for 2030 in terms of coworking seems to be trending toward happening sooner based on the pandemic.

Amy: We had to close a center, which had just opened for families to bring their children into for services. Most of our services remained in person at private homes until we were approved to provide services through telemedicine.

left: Felicia Rubinstein, HAYVN; Neviana Zhagba, Aquila's Nest Vineyard; Amy Lavoie, A Piece of the Puzzle Behavioral Interventions; and Constantine Alleyne, Alleyne & Company LLC.

How was running your business and running your ‘nonwork life’ impacted by the pandemic?

Felicia: I would focus on “eating the frog” and tackling the three worst things I had to do for the day first thing. I also had a great support group, including my advisor at CTSBDC to help me with the business side of things.

Neviana: For every entrepreneur, it’s important to have a circle of support that is able to help you in the areas you need help with as you focus on your business. Keeping only the responsibilities that work for you as a business owner and mother was very important.

Connie: Having a schedule was critical for me during the pandemic. I needed the structure to get everything done, especially with having kids and trying to run a business.

What changed for your business during Covid and what did you find successful?

Connie: There were a lot of onsite industry conferences that were cancelled that offered the opportunity to get in front of my target audience. This pushed me to be more intentional about engaging people in other ways, like on LinkedIn, to get my message out. I also had to change my marketing approach to engage people on a local level that I wasn’t able to contact in person as I had been planning to.

Felicia: Pretty much everything changed.

We jumped right in and pivoted with the pandemic. We offered virtual lunch and learns for every day of the week MarchJune 2020. We de-densified our offices and purchased cleaning supplies. We reorganized our staff and marketing efforts to focus on making our message clear and caring for our community. We have doubled in membership size from the start of the pandemic.

Amy: We ended up having a lot of growth after a rough initial couple of months. Be-

ing able to offer services through telehealth allowed us to be available for families on a more flexible basis.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned about running your business over the last year?

Amy: I have gotten a closer look at how strong my team is. We have gotten through an incredibly challenging time in our business and I am so thankful to have such a strong team I am able to depend on to run my business.

Felicia: During the last year, it was great to reach out to other businesses similar to mine around the world and share ideas of how to grow.

Neviana: We are looking forward to building our partnerships with other small businesses that bring a sense of community to your business. Having new capabilities, like online booking, is a great silver lining of the pandemic.

Constantine: I have learned so many new skills during this time that I hope to be able to keep up with going forward for my business.

As businesses continue to recover the pandemic, assistance is available to help you move your business forward. Connecticut Small Business Development Center has a team of advisors that work with small-business owners on a one-on-one, no-cost, confidential basis. Last year, CTSBDC assisted 2,555 women-owned businesses with a range of needs - everything from growth strategy, market and industry research and marketing strategy, accessing loans or equity investment for their business, entering new markets and starting a business – and more. If you are a women-owned business in Connecticut, there are many resources available that CTSBDC can provide or connect you to, including resources from the Women’s Business Council, the Women’s Business Center and other organizations located throughout Connecticut.

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CTSBDC: EXPERT BUSINESS ADVISING TO SMALL-BUSINESS

he Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC) provides business advising to small-business owners and entrepreneurs to start, grow and thrive in Connecticut. Our professional staff of 15 business advisors offers no-cost confidential and expert business advising to small-business owners and entrepreneurs to overcome challenges and reach their goals.

Our business advisors are organized by specialty to meet the client’s most pressing need. When clients register for our advising, they will be assigned an advisor who is well-suited to meet their needs. CTSBDC business advisors have a wealth of knowledge based on their own expertise and education that they leverage for each of their clients. From applying for a commercial loan, to starting a first business or even reaching international markets, CTSBDC advisors support business owners and entrepreneurs to meet a wide range of needs.

In reviewing a client’s business concept and strategy, CTSBDC is able to provide access to resources the client might not be able to access on their own, such as geographic-based demographics, consumer spending data, market research, industry trend reports and software and guidance to develop revenue and expense projections, cash flow forecasts and more. Advisors’ knowledge of financing options available from traditional and nontraditional lending institutions enables them to help business owners make informed decisions and be more successful in accessing the financing they need.

From Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 1, 2021 the Connecticut Small Business Development Center provided technical assistance to 4,874

businesses, helped these businesses access $65,159,996 in capital and helped 182 businesses start in the state. Notably, CTSBDC has assisted, counselled and trained 2,445 women-owned businesses and 1,558 minority-owned businesses. CTSBDC helped small businesses access $40,418,746 in emergency funding through programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program, Emergency Injury Disaster Loan, Restau-

PUBLISHED BY WESTFAIR COMMUNICATIONS INC. Fairfield County Business Journal, Westchester County Business Journal WAG magazine 701 Westchester Ave., Suite 100J, White Plains, New York 10604 Tel. 914-694-3600 • Fax 914-694-3699 westfaironline.com

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rant Revitalization Fund and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.

CTSBDC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and the University of Connecticut. It is housed within UConn’s School of Business and has advisor locations throughout the state.

PUBLISHER - Dee DelBello CO-PUBLISHER - Dan Viteri SUPPLEMENT COORDINATOR Barbara Hanlon, bhanlon@westfairinc.com ADVERTISING SALES - Barbara Hanlon • Anne Jordan

WAG

WHEN & WHERE

THROUGH OCT. 24 Ridgefield’s ACT of Connecticut presents “Smokey Joe’s Café,” one of Broadway’s longest-running hits. This high-energy show features nearly 40 pop-rock classics, including “Jailhouse Rock,” “Stand By Me,” “Yakety Yak,” “Hound Dog,” “On Broadway,” “Spanish Harlem” and many more. 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays.

(Some times vary). 36 Old Quarry Road; 475-215-5497, actofct.org.

THROUGH DEC. 6

“Not By the Book” features works by four artists who rely on different aspects of the physical structure of books as the basis of their artistic endeavors. Shiela Hale builds with books, taking her inspiration from nature; Chris Perry regards books as sculptural objects, working with the theme of water; Andrew Sovjani expands the boundaries of books’ physical nature, using photography and engineering; and Erin Walrath transforms recycled books into visually expansive new contexts. 10 a.m. tp 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Library, 101 W. Putnam Ave; 203-622-7947, flinngallery.com.

THROUGH DEC. 18

Self-described “ghetto potter” Roberto Lugo uses porcelain, a medium traditionally reserved for the wealthy, to explore inequality and racial and social justice. His works use familiar shapes drawn from European and Asian ceramic traditions, but their hand-painted surfaces take inspiration from street art and feature contemporary iconography, including celebrations of Black and Latino figures. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, Fairfield University Art Museum, 200 Barlow Road; 203254-4000, ext. 4046, fairfield.edu/museum.

OCT. 1 THROUGH 17

Arc Stages presents “The Mountaintop”

by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall. This production is a reimagination of events the night before the assassination of the civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 8 p.m., 147 Wheeler Ave., Pleasantville; arcstages.org.

OCT. 2

Celebrate the Ridgefield Historical Society’s 20th anniversary with live music by the Ridgefield High School Jazz Ensemble as well as Dan Bonis and Ed Accardi; refreshments;

Oct. 7: ArtsWestchester presents the first Jazz’n ArtsBash benefit concert with Ravi Coltrane.

Photograph by Deborah Feingold.

a quilt-making demonstration; a coloring station; the exhibit “How the Scott House was Moved and Reassembled”; a commemorative program in honor of the society’s founders; a community corner featuring Ridgefield Library and the Ridgefield Historic District Commission; self-guided tours of the David Scott House, the society’s home; and more.

1 to 4 p.m., 24 Sunset Lane; 203-438-5821, ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org.

OCT. 5 Join “The Exchange: Conversations About the Issues of Our Time,” with the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, moderated by Joan Gillman, to benefit the Westport Library. When they broke the Harvey Weinstein story in The New York Times in 2017, Kantor and Twohey exposed allegations against him that had been piling up for 30 years. In their book, “She Said,” they take us into the heart of the #MeToo movement, reliving in real time what it took to get the Weinstein story and the forces that hindered and spurred change.

10 a.m. 20 Jesup Road; 203-291-4800, westportlibrary.org.

OCT. 7 ArtsWestchester and Ginsburg Development Companies present the first annual “Jazz’n ArtsBash” benefit concert, with live music by saxophonist, bandleader and composer Ravi Coltrane and his quartet. This private outdoor event will include cocktails, music and hors d’oeuvres. 7 and 8:15 p.m., City Square Park, 50 Main St., White Plains; 914-428-4220, artsw.org/jazzfest.

Join the Fairfield Museum and Sacred Heart University at SHU’s Community Theatre to welcome author Nat Philbrick, who, in discussing his new book, “Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy,” answers the question, “Does George Washington still matter?” By retracing Washington’s journeys across the colonies – including a visit to Fairfield’s own Sun Tavern – Philbrick compares the fraught divisions of 18th-century America with our current political landscape. 7 p.m. 1424 Post Road; 203-259-1598, fairfieldhs.org.

OCT. 8 For its gala event, the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts presents American

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WHEN & WHERE

OCT. 23 The Rowayton Historical Society celebrates the grand opening of the Raymond Boathouse Maritime Museum, Norwalk’s newest museum and the only maritime museum in Fairfield County. The museum features permanent exhibits on the ecological history of the Long Island Sound, Native Americans, oystering families and their businesses, photographs of boats on the Sound from days gone by, a spectacular collection of model New England work boats, sail and shipmaking tools and much more. Food, beer, children’s games and more. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pinkney Park, 177 Rowayton Ave.; 203-858-7945, rowaytonhistoricalsociety.org.

Oct. 8: Sheryl Crow headlines the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts gala. Dove Shore/courtesy the artist.

music icon Sheryl Crow. Her first nine studio albums have sold 35 million copies worldwide. For her current release, “Threads,” Crow collaborated with a broad array of her musical heroes, including Stevie Nicks, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Chuck D, Joe Walsh, Kris Kristoffersson and the late legend Johnny Cash. 8 p.m. 40 Jesup Road, Westport; 203-602-4122, levittpavilion. com.

OCT. 8 THROUGH 23 Hudson Stage Company hosts the world premiere of “The October Storm.” This new play by Joshua Allen, set on the Southside of Chicago in the 1960s, follows a troubled war veteran who moves into an apartment building, causing an emotional maelstrom among the other residents. 3 p.m., Whippoorwill Theatre, North Castle Public Library, hudsonstage.com.

OCT. 8 THROUGH 24 White Plains Performing Arts Center offers “Masquerade: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.” This New York premiere production will feature stories and songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s life and work. 2 and 8 p.m., 11 City Place, third floor; wppac.com.

OCT. 14

The Westport Library welcomes the Short Cuts Film Festival to the Trefz Forum, also streaming online, screening short, awardwinning narrative and animated films, curated by the Tribeca Film Festival. Now in

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its 11th season, Short Cuts includes a postscreening discussion with the international cast of filmmakers. 7 p.m. 20 Jesup Road; 203-293-8729, jibproductions.org/shortcuts.

OCT. 15

Irvington Theater presents an outdoor screening of “Hocus Pocus,” as part of its “Sunset Cinema” film series. The 1993 American fantasy comedy film follows a curious youngster who moves to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches executed in the 17th century. 6:15 to 8 p.m., Main Street School Lawn; irvingtontheater.com.

OCT. 15 THROUGH 17 New Rochelle Council on the Arts presents ArtsFest 2021. New Rochelle and Pelham will be alive with art exhibits, music, food, films and performances. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at varying locations, newrochellearts.org.

OCT. 17 The Emelin Theatre holds a music performance by acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke, considered to be one of the most important and influential acoustic steel-string fingerstyle guitarists of the 20th century. 7 to 9:30 p.m., 153 Library Lane, Mamaroneck; emelin.org.

The India Center of Westchester celebrates Diwali Mela. Diwali, also known as The Festival of Lights, is one the most colorful feast days in India. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 174 Brady Ave., Hawthorne; indiacenter.us.

OCT. 24 The Schubert Club of Fairfield County presents the annual Wendy Tisch Memorial Concert, with pianist Garrick Ohlsson performing an all-Chopin program. Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. 4 p.m. Saxe Middle School, 468 South Ave., New Canaan; 203-451-3277, schubertclub.org/.

OCT. 28

“The Avon Celebrates Hitchcock” with an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, pasta and carving stations as the theater toasts the Avon Award honorees for their support of the arts – Jenny and Chris Clark. Exit 5, featuring musicians Laura Kaehler, John Motay and Marycate Muller, will perform jazz throughout the fundraiser. 8 p.m. l’escale restaurant bar, Delamar Greenwich Harbor, 500 Steamboat Road; 203-661-0321, avontheatre.org.

OCT. 30

Ryan Montbleau and his band build bridges among ’70s soul, ragtime, blues-folk-Americana and the contemporary singer-songwriter vibe of artists like Martin Sexton and Ray LaMontagne.

When pressed, Ryan calls his music “lyrically driven folk/Americana mixed with soul/R&B.” The Warehouse, Fairfield Theatre Company, 70 Sanford St.; 203-259-1036, fairfieldtheatre.org.

Presented by ArtsWestchester (artswestchester.org) and the Fairfield County Cultural Alliance (culturalalliancefc.org).

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