TR US TE D J O U R NALI S M AT YO U R FI N G E RTI P S
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 VOL. 56, No. 47
westfaironline.com
One reason Connecticut is in a stronger fiscal position at the moment than most other states is our $3 billion rainy day fund....”
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— Kevin Kelly
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E The new GOP state Senate Leader, Kevin Kelly of Stratford.
Off the hook
INCOMING REPUBLICAN CT SENATE LEADER KEVIN KELLY DISCUSSES TOP ISSUES
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or years, Republican Len Fasano of North Haven embodied the phrase “loyal opposition” in Hartford. It seemed rare for Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy or his successor, Ned Lamont, to make a decree without hearing in turn from Fasano, who rose from minority whip in 2003 to Senate Republican president pro tempore in 2017, a post he held until his retirement this year. But if anyone thought Fasano’s successor as GOP Senate Leader, Kevin Kelly of Stratford, would pose a lesser foil to Lamont, they should think again. Long an opponent of a state government-sponsored public health
insurance option, which Comptroller Kevin Lembo and State Senate President Pro-tem Martin Looney (D-New Haven) have indicated will be raised again in the next General Assembly session, Kelly makes no bones about why he thinks that’s a bad idea — and why one-party rule, which state Democrats will continue to enjoy next year, creates “an echo chamber where they only listen to themselves” — in this conversation with Business Journal Bureau Chief Kevin Zimmerman. Congratulations on being selected the next Senate Republican leader. Even though the next session of the General Assembly
doesn’t begin until Jan. 6, what do you see as your party’s legislative priorities going into 2021? “First and foremost is addressing the affordability of Connecticut, which is represented by a whole host of different factors. Health care is unaffordable, taxes are unaffordable. Republicans put forth a plan to make health care more affordable that’s been sitting on the shelf for two years. We would reduce health insurance premiums by 20% and keep high-paying Connecticut insurance industry jobs — all of which would be protected by the Affordable Care Act and therefore » KELLY
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Court rules Louis Cappelli doesn’t have to pay $1M BY BILL HELTZEL bheltzel@westfairinc.com
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hite Plains developer Louis R. Cappelli does not have to pay a competing landlord $1 million that was assessed against his management company in 2013. The Second Appellate Court on Nov. 12 upheld a ruling by Westchester Supreme Court, finding that Cappelli Enterprises Inc. was not trying to make itself judgment proof when it wrote off more than $8 million in assets in 2011. White Plains Plaza Realty Inc. “failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Cappelli or Cappelli Enterprises
actually intended to hinder, delay or defraud any creditors,” the lower court judge, William J. Giacomo, had ruled in 2017. The dispute goes back to 2004 when New York Sports Club decided to move from One North Broadway, then owned by White Plains Plaza, across the street to Cappelli’s new City Center White Plains. The gym defaulted on its One North Broadway lease, and in 2011 a court awarded White Plains Plaza $900,562. But the New York Sports Club entity that signed the lease did not have the assets to pay the judgment. It was judgment proof. Cappelli Enterprises
had agreed to back New York Sports Club for liabilities from the One North Broadway lease. So White Plains Plaza sued the management company and, in 2013, won a $1,044,745 judgment. Cappelli Enterprises also was judgment proof, according to court records. So White Plains Plaza Realty sued Cappelli personally and Cappelli Enterprises, arguing that his sole ownership and control of the management company and 100some affiliates made them his alter egos. He had stripped assets from the management company, funneled » CAPPELLI
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