Limba

LIMBA May 7 Long Island Comm Real Estate Update
2010-05-07 00:00 (America/New_York)
This meeting featured some "players" in the Commercial real estate field. They included Jack O’Connor of Newmark Knight and Frank, Marie Zere-Zere Real Estate Services and David Hunt-Hunt Corporate Services. Each person gave his openning remarks on the state of the economy as it relates to commercial real estate. Later we engaged in a lively conversational back and forth with the audience.
Jack O’Connor began with some illustrations of how the market in Suffolk County has deteriated in cost. The effect being that many properties were "under water" having a lower assessed value now than when the property was purchased. When asked "how significant a problem that was", O’Connor stated as long as revenues are sufficient to pay the mortgage it is less significant , but at the same time the businesses are hurting and many cannot meet their mortgage commitments. He gave an example of where a building was sold a couple of years ago for $150/sq ft was now being sold for half that amount. It wasn’t clear that this trend was going to reverse itself anytime soon.
Marie Zrere spoke next and while she was in general agreement with O’Connors remarks stated that reciting the present market conditions can lead to it becoming worse "A self fulfilling prophecy". Later in the program during Q&A she emphasized the importance of working with a broker no matter what the market conditions may be. According to Zere, there are no savings in going it alone, without a broker. The broker will be able to accomplish better outcomes having a more complete knowledge of the market.
David Hunt, who focuses on business in Nassau County gave us a somewhat more optimistic veiw. Nassau County properties have lost a much smaller percentage of their value than in Suffolk. Even with the high taxes in Nassau County there is still a high desire to purchase in Nassau. That really is good news for both counties. As Nassau holds its values there is a tendendency to support values in Suffolk.
There was a high degree of interest in this program judging by the turn-out and the number of questions from the audience. After we adjourned there were knots of people who connected with the speakers, and each other to continue the conversation.
Special thanks to our sponsors Belfor Property Restoration Services. In addition Tellers Chop House gave a door prize of dinner for two They also Gave a $24 coupon for lunch in promotion for their $24 Business lunch program to each person attending the breakfast. Teller’s other fine resaurants; Prime Steakhouse, Verace & H20
In the photo: Bill Miller M&T Bank, Jack O’Connor Newmark Knight & Frank, Marie Zere- Zere Real Estate Services, David Hunt- Hunt Corporate Services and Ernie Fazio, LIMBA

John Cameron, Chairman. LI Regional Plan
2010-05-14 00:00
Today our speaker was John Cameron, President of the Long Island Planning Council. Mr Cameron seems well suited for the position because of his understanding of how things work. He is the founder of Cameron Engineering a formidable engineering firm that was begun 25 years ago.
John began by giving us a little history of the Planning Council. In the past much was planned, but too little was done. "We don’t want another study collecting dust on a shelf". He sees the role of the Planning Council as a facilitator that can bring various groups and governing bodies together. He cited the two most obvious examples of long drawn out struggles, those being "The Lighthouse" and the "Heartland Development" According to Cameron, "these projects have been around so long that the market has changed". With a diminished demand the prospects of moving forward are hampered.
He then took on the "Third Track" on the main line of the LIRR, which has been stalled for a long time. The second track that has been proposed for the Farmingdale line is also stalled, but Cameron believes these will be done. "They need to be done. We just can’t add three more lanes to the Long Island Expressway" These infrastructure needs must be built by local engineering firms because they know best what works best for Long Island.
Taxes and multiple governing bodies are among the impediments to growth on Long Island, according to John. He stated that the level of property taxes is simply not sustainable. 70% of our taxes go to schools and 70% of that money goes to salaries and pensions. As bad as that is it is going to get worse. As far as the schools producing a quality product Mr. Cameron questioned why we have so few students that are prepared for science and engineering.
Getting back to local government, Cameron likes working with Steve Bellone, Supervisor of Babylon, "Bellone gets it". Too many of other elected officials are marking time and not ever challenging the status quo.
The Q&A was lively, which is often the case at LIMBA. This audience is always polite to the speaker, and they were today as well, but the legitimate anger and frustration among the people asking questions was palpable

Dr Hubert Keen, Pres Farmingdale College
2010-05-21 00:00
Our speaker this morning was Dr Hubert Keen President of Farmingdale College. We asked him to speak to our group and tell us what challenges and opportrunities the college faces.
According to Dr Keen only 32% of the school’s budget comes from state funding and that is down from 80% just a few years ago and it will continue to diminish. The upside is that the college is free to enter into partnerships with business. These partnerships create industry specific programs that provide cash for the college.

In the past there was only a miniscule amount of charitable funding that was available to the college. Over recent years that source has grown, and it will have to continue to grow.

President Keen told us that people will occassionally ask if they still teach farming at the school. That got a chuckle out of a few people in the audience because there hasn’t been a moooo heard on the campus in 30 years. There were two professors in the audience that more clearly demonstrated that the school was more rooted in current technology. One of them was conducting work in fuel cell design and innovation, the other was in bio-science. Solar technology is another field of work that has been part of the curriculum for years and it is the largest in the state system. Professor Tawflik told us about work being done bio-gasification, and some of the potential benefits of that work.

Misconceptions about the school include the idea that most degrees are associate degrees. That is not true. In addition the age make up of the student body has become more typical of other colleges. That is the 17 to 24 year olds, while still having an older age group of students. Last year they enrolled 10,000 students.

There is a very ambitious building program under way spanning a 6 year period to the tune of $190 million. These buildings are being built to the Silver rating of the of the LEEDS building codes. As usual the Q&A was lively.

NO MEETING MEMORIAL DAY weekend
2010-05-28 00:00

Lee Zeldin Republican Senate Challenger to Brian Foley
2010-06-04 00:00
Lee Zelden was our speaker this morning. He is challenging Brian Foley in the 3rd NY Senate District.
Zelden began by introducing himself emphasizing his roots on Long Island and his military service. He proceeded to discuss the MTA tax that his opponent had voted for. He vowed to overturn that tax as a matter of it being so pervasive and that it is a business killer. He pointed out that being a payroll tax, the MTA tax also affects other government costs as well. The cost is tacked onto every municipal worker’s payroll. Teachers, policemen, librarians, park employees, and every other payroll in private industry are affected by the MTA tax. He made a few suggestions on how the MTA could otherwise raise money including the increase of rail freight.

His comments and disgust with Albany’s disfunctionality was in keeping with what the rest of us already feel.

He went on to discuss the amount of money we, (Long Islanders) get back from Albany. In the past Long Islanders were responsible foe 17% of the state’s revenues and 13% was returned. I guess considering the comparative wealth of Long Island that was acceptable. Now the return is, 5% according to Zelden. "That’s a 62% decrease,” said Zelden. When asked about the overall cost of schools and the tax burden placed on home owners and business, he said he would be for reducing administration cost by creating a countywide school district, while retaining the local identities of school teams

Sewers were another one of his issues. Lee thinks that swears should be built to encourage good growth, and that while the benefit would be local to the place receiving sewers so should the cost.
Ernie Fazio

Bob Catell Chairman of AERTC
2010-06-11 00:00
Bob Catell was our speaker this morning and when it comes to utility delivered power he has had the benefit of heading up a combined gas and electric company for about 14 years. His prior experience at Brooklyn Union Gas Company makes him an authority on that too.
Bob made a poignant comparison of the electric energy system and the telephone system. "Alexander Graham Bell would look around at today’s world and be amazed at the changes. Thomas Edison would look around and say everything looks like I left it"
Now Catell is the Chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center located on the SUNY campus at Stony Brook. The mission of that center is broad. Not only will the center be looking for new and innovative energy creation solutions, but they will also be looking at ways to increase efficiency, and decrease consumption for the same tasks.
Bob began his talk by enumerating the various carbon based fuels with their liabilities and benefits ( We did not discuss the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but I am sure it was on everybody’s mind). The opinion expressed was that it will be a long transition away from oil, but natural gas which is a fuel we are learning we have much more than we previously thought will likely be the "bridge" fuel. (Jim Powel one of the co-inventors of the Maglev was in the audience, and during the Q&A period he suggested that with the use of electric trains and cars we could transition out of liquid fuels even faster)
Alternative energy such as Wind and Solar has had a very limited use in the past. In fact it is still a small component of our energy picture compared to the capacity of conventional. On the other hand wind is growing very fast. There was a 50% increase in wind generation in the last year. Wind has grown in the United States from a miniscule 2500 Megawatts in 2006 to 35,000 watts last year. According to Mr. Catell the United States leads the world in operating wind power. That’s impressive, but it still pales in comparison to conventional installed generation.
Catell spoke about what is being called "Smart Grid." Smart grid is not easy to simplify, but it will be able to detect where there is stress on the system, and redirect power from other available connected sources. No one seems to know exactly how it will work so AERTC will construct a model of a grid and create the software that it will need. By having this model we can learn what works and improve upon it before it is deployed as a worksble technology. What I got from the discussion was that "smart Grid" would be able to integrate all available methods of generation.
There will be a clean energy incubator located on the AERTC campus that will be paid for with a $26 million grant from DOE. Among the things we expect to see developed here are solar systems that are much more productive. The modern high performing solar panel is able to convert about 16% of the sun’s potential energy. With new technologies we expect to increase that output substantially. The net effect would make solar more competitive with fossil fuel generation.
The AERTC is looking for technology partners that will create the future of energy. The environment where like minded people of science trade ideas will allow them to feed off each other. The results of this formal and informal symbiosis is knowledge that can, and most likely will advance the societal goals that are needed for us to have sustainable growth. We are very fortunate to have this shared enterprise on Long Island..
Ernie Fazio

Johm Kominicki. Publisher LIBN -The Future
2010-06-18 00:00
Our speaker Friday morning was John Kominicki, Publisher, and now, also the editor ,of Long Island Business News. We posed the question of how do newspapers compete with other media. Kominicki has a humorous, and always interesting manner when he speaks, even as he approaches a topic that is a serious business concern.
LIBN, as well as other print media, have been seriously challenged by the coming of the Internet. During a period of trying to use the new media to augment the dissemination of information and accrue advertising dollars some missteps will occur. LIBN thought that advertisers that were holding back from print would transition to their electronic pages, and to some degree that did happen, but not enough to offset the print page loss. In a word, that is not progress. The model had to be tweaked.
John said we now knew that we had to follow the model of the only smart paper, The Wall Street Journal, and charge for internet content. In LIBN ‘s case you can only get a teaser line, and can only read the whole story if you were a print subscriber. That strategy has worked. The print subscription sales increased and so did the advertising sales by about 10%. In the meantime some valuable newspaper people were lost. The good news is that the remaining staff feels a little more secure since the situation seems stabilized. Those people that did leave are having mixed success with experiments in web based journalism. John truly wishes them well.
Kominicki pointed out that news is not in jeopardy of being compromised by editorials since the content of a paper is the lifeblood of a readable publication. People read stories that are factual because they see opportunity inherent in the story. If a developer is planning a big project engineering firms take notice and make contact. That would be true of materials suppliers and sub contractors, and many others.
When asked during the Q&A period about print medias viability over the long run, John agreed with those that say print will find it’s place just as radio found it’s place after the advent of television. The common wisdom in those early days of television was that radio would disappear. It didn’t, it changed.

Meeting at LIFT Ken Morelly Homeland Security Unit
2010-06-25 00:00
Today my friend Ken Morelly, made good on his promise to have LIFT host a LIMBA meeting at the Homeland Security Center in Bethpage. Ken came to LIMBA in September of 2009 and explained what we would find there we came. Unfortunately Ken passed on in October less than a month after he appeared at LIMBA.
LIFT"s Ray Donnelly was there to host the meeting. Deputy Nassau County Executive Patrick Foye was there representing County Executive, Ed Mangano, to welcome us as well. The center has been renamed The Morelly Homeland Security Center to honor Ken for his vision and dedication
The tour of the facility began in the "343 Lecture Hall" so named to honor the lost fire fighters on 9-11. This is a large room that can accommodate about 130 people with hard-wired Internet in every seat position. There are four large screens in the front of the room so that each person in the audience can follow the speaker’s presentation. They can also be accessing their own computers. The Center is equipped with it’s own satellite communications and various other connections to the outside world. In the event of local catastrophic interruptions of power and communications the Center would still be able to communicate with the rest of the world. The facility has a generator that provides 1/2 megawatt of emergency power that will turn on if the grid power collapses.
We then went to a room with fourteen command position where various professional would take up various tasks if there were a natural disaster or an enemy attack. In this room there are two tech desks with four positions of technical people that can be there to keep all of the communication access points operating. Next to this room is what will be the command center. This where the County Executive could conceivably be a time of an emergency.
The building itself was designed to DOD standards during the Cold War and can withstand enormous forces. The outside walls are two feet thick and there are only a few windows. The entities that are part of this effort include Globecom, Siemens, Brookhaven National Laboratories, Cold Spring Harbor Labs, Stony Brook University, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, FEMA, US Coast Guard and LIFT. The center has an elaborate array of communications that provide information and coordination among the various entities that would be involved in major catastrophic events
In addition there are small medium and large companies with a presence at the facility that work in concert with the center to further develop material science and other disciplines. The beauty of this center is that it will function as a technology generator that will provide new manufacturing job opportunities and new businesses. If we never have the need to use this facility for it’s worse case scenario it was designed to handle, it will still be worth the effort.
Many thanks to LIFT president Frank Otto, Bill Wahling and Ray Donnelly who guided us through this morning’s presentation.
Ernie Fazio

NO Meeting July 4th weekend
2010-07-02 00:00

Railroad Museum of Long Island. Don Fisher
2010-07-09 00:00
Don Fisher, President of the Railroad Museum of Long Island was our speaker this morning. He began by emphasizing the business side of operating a local museum. Raising money to create the museum environment is not easy, but it is important. The museum hired LIA economist Pearl Kamer to study the multiplier effects of money spent by the railroad museum. She calculated that for every $1 spent by the museum there are $2.25 returned to the community. In other words jobs are created.

On the soft benefits there is the educational considerations, a sense of place, and the inspirational aspects that children can appreciate. Mr. Fisher pointed out to us that whether we support his museum or some other local museum, it is important that we do so. Museums are part of the fabric that makes our communities interesting

Later is in his prepared remarks Don gave us an overview of the available activities. There are tours of the vintage models they have on the premises where you will see the actual operating mechanisms. There is a special train that was operated at the 1964 World’s Fair that is available for short rides.

The museum is actually two locations, one in Riverhead and one in Greenport. You can visit either one, but merely by coincidence the Long Island Railroad has a scheduled train that stops at Riverhead on Saturday morning at 10.30AM and terminates at Greenport. It lays-over on Greenport for an hour and ten minutes and stops again in Riverhead. Your $5 museum entrance fee in Riverhead allows you to see the Greenport division on the same ticket and the LIRR ticket is $5 for adults and $1.50 for children round trip

This provides a great day of history education, entertainment and recreation for a family with children, without Dad forgoing lunch for the next week.

Everyone there received a video of historic rail systems from various places in the world.

Much thanks to Bonnie Cornett and the Boncor Group for sponsoring this interesting event

Here is some Railroad Museum of Long Island contact info:
www.rmli.org
Located at 416 Griffing Avenue Riverhead 631 727- 7920
and 440 Fourth Street Greenport 631 477-0439

Steve Bellone -Supv - CANCELLED rescheduled to Oct 8th
2010-07-16 00:00
Due to extenuating circumstances this meeting had to be cancelled. It is rescheduled for October 8 2010

Teresa Rizzuto
2010-07-23 00:00
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Theresa Rizzuto, Commissioner of Long Island MacArthur Airport (LIMA), giving us an update on what’s happening in and around the 50 year old facility. Ms. Rizzuto opened with describing the transition of MacArthur at its opening as a "Nice to Have" to today’s status as a critical linchpin in the region’s economy. It is a driver of private investment and job growth for Long Island. She followed with a more detailed look at the past ten years of ups and downs for the airline industry and economy. Right now one of the bright spots is General Aviation, experiencing growth among private jet travel.

The meat of Ms. Rizzuto’s presentation was a description of all the projects that are going on around the airport, from the addition of free Wi-Fi access, to the new Control Tower scheduled to open in early 2011, the road reconfiguration project, which will make it even more convenient to use LIMA, the West Side redevelopment project, where new private investment will replace old, dilapidated facilities to the new Fuel Farm, which to an airport administrator is the sine qua non of projects.

It was an engaging presentation punctuated by a description of the Town and Airport administration’s efforts to further market LIMA as both a departure point and Long Island as a destination. Negotiations and interactions with airlines were detailed, with an event called JumpStart described as "speed dating" between Airports and Airlines. LIMA is a relatively unknown airport among airlines, but Ms. Rizzuto and the town team are doing their best to make that a thing of the past. Through social media tools like Twitter @LIMacArthur and Facebook Fan Pages the word is getting out along with traditional media campaigns.

Ms. Rizzuto closed with a call to action for the business community to lobby the airlines to reinforce the demand for a convenient alternative to the congested Port Authority airports in NYC. Communicate with them on their feedback pages, and when you make travel arrangements, every voice helps.

We look forward to Ms. Rizzuto’s next visit where we hope she will have even more good news and additional travel destinations reachable by Long Island’s "Most Convenient Airport"

Steve Levy, Suff Cnty Exec- governors race sponsor-Primepay
2010-07-30 00:00
Mr. Levy is always an interesting speaker. Today was no disappointment. Steve’s opening remark was : "Politicians are always trying to satisfy the needs of voters while at the same time telling them that we can cut taxes". His point was that you can do one or the other, but almost never both. According to Levy, just as we need a responsible person at home, there needs to be a ‘grown-up’ in the rooms of politics.
He compared how different levels of government deal with revenue shortfalls:

At the Federal level they print money
At the State level they shove it down to the local level
At the Local level they raise taxes or do without

Steve cited California, Illinois and New York as being financially strapped states where hard decisions will have to be made. Under the Levy Administation, taxes went from being 13% of the bill to 10% of the bill. There were hard choices made to get there. Among the steps taken was an attempt to get New York State to shoulder the cost of troopers on state roads. That didn’t fly, so Levy put Sheriff Officers on the state roads, saving the high cost of Suffolk Police. Mr. Levy says, "The Public Sector jobs are living in their own bubble." The rest of the economy suffers as they go on thinking that they should be excluded from the pain-which of course just increases the pain for the rest of the economy. $180,000 annual salaries for Policemen are just not sustainable. Pensions are funded in ways that most of the private sector gave up on years ago.
The Foley Nursing Home is another ‘craw’ in his throat. Foley costs taxpayers $10 million per year. Steve said he will sell it to a private company, and the residents will be no worse off than they are now. The Union is ready to mount a battle, but he vows that it will be sold.
Some trimming of Levy’s budget was met through early retirements, which only works if you do not rehire the same number of people. He has been able to reduce the work force and keep it that way.
He spoke some on development. While he considers himself an environmentalist, that does not preclude development. Patchogue Village was given as an example. The future development of the Ronkonkoma Railroad Station is being planned, and the prospect of affordable apartments, retail stores, entertainment and transportation to New York City will make that location very desirable.
Lastly, the ending of the Empire Zones is a big blow to Long Island. Steve encouraged all of us to notify our state representatives and urge them to keep the program. Under that program, we were able to attract Canon, a major employer. The problem with ending Empire Zones is that not only will we not be able to offer the incentives involved, but the removal of benefits is retroactive. Because of this, we will not be able to meet previous promises made under the Empire Zone provision. This is patently unfair.
During the Q&A, the question of the MTA tax was brought up by Bill Schoolman, who will be speaking on that subject next week. According to Levy, the County will be entered as a ‘Friend of the Court.’
Ernie Fazio

Bill Schoolman MTA tax revisited- sponsor by LIBN
2010-08-06 00:00
Our speaker this morning was Bill Schoolman. His topic was the MTA Payroll Tax. Bill is a businessman, CEO of Classic Coach/Hampton Luxury Liner. Last December he sued the MTA & New York State over the MTA Payroll Tax. Here’s what he shared with us today on the subject:
The budget for the MTA is $13.5 billion. They collect $5.9 billion from fares and fees to users. The shortfall of $7.6 billion is collected from taxpayers. The MTA Payroll tax was instituted to cover an additional $1.8 billion operating shortfall, bringing the current total burden on taxpayers to $9.4 billion.
Mr. Schoolman began by offering some staggering statistics on MTA wages and salaries. One example: $183,000 to a railroad mechanic . This is the product of a corrupt system, per Bill. The MTA is called a Public Benefit Corporation. The biggest benefit , however, according to Schoolman, accrues to the people in the system. What the Public gets is an inferior transportation product, inadequate & diminishing service, and filthy rest rooms. The LIRR is among Bill’s competitors for the public transportation $. And ironically, he is being required to subsidize them.
Bridges and tunnels that are part of the MTA system were fully paid for decades ago. Yet tolls are increasing again and the money is going to this corrupt entity called the MTA. That states the problem. The tax is unfair, poorly applied, and levied in such a way that all of us can see the inequity. The people that really look into this tax ‘get it’! They see the general state of incompetence, ineptitude and arrogance in government at all levels. How can we endure the fact that over 90% of all employees retire as ‘disabled’, with each of them getting extra benefits for those imagined disabilities? How can we see a railroad mechanic being paid $183,000, retired at $10,000 per month and ever envision solvency for the MTA? Schoolman gave several other examples to make his point, but this was not a venting session. Bill came to us with a well researched and developed lawsuit that ! exposes that this tax, itself, is illegal. He said:
"We are on strong legal ground to have this tax annulled. The procedures used by Albany to pass the law imposing the MTA Payroll Tax violated five sections of the New York State Constitution a well as the Public Authorities Law."
The people in the room saw the inequity as clearly as Bill did, and they were as concerned by what the speaker was saying as was the speaker himself. There are presently five other lawsuits (Nassau County, the Towns of Southampton, Southold, Brookhaven & Smithtown, & the William Floyd School District) that are essentially using the same wording Bill’s attorneys prepared . Schoolman is taking every opportunity to speak to various groups and organizations in order to expose people to the strength of his argument.
What should be done, according to Schoolman, is that 1) the MTA should be declared bankrupt and 2) the salvageable pieces should be bought by ‘people who can run a business’.
This event was sponsored by Long Island Business News.
More information can be found on the special website of Bill Schoolman’s tax-exempt corporation: www.mtataxpayerabuse.org.
Pictured: Michelle Zere – Zere R.E., Shelly Sackstein – Action Long Island, Bill Schoolman – Classic Coach, Ernie Fazio, Marie Zere – Zere R.E.

Mark Lesko, Supv Town of Brookhaven Blight to Light
2010-08-13 00:00
Members and Friends,
We often wonder where and when will we get enlightened leadership, and once in a while it shows up. Our speaker this morning was Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri, filling in for Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko. Lesko and Pontieri are the enlightened leadership we seek.
Mr. Lesko has created a vision that addresses several needs in one program. Pontieri showed the award winning film "Blight into Light" that began by showing a beautiful pristine environment, then segued into the blight that exists in the Town of Brookhaven…broken down factory buildings, abandoned retail space and other eyesores dot the landscape.
The program that Lesko has advanced redefines the way permitting is done. A point system has been developed where the value of certain conditions wins points. Clearing an eyesore wins points, use of property is evaluated against a weighted point schedule. Job creation possibilities win points. New housing plans win points as well.. Other conditions that are considered are location, drug and crime problems and the potential for the area to be a plus in terms of generating tax dollars. Where the property is so contaminated that housing would not be feasible, another use could emerge.
The idea is to preserve as much still uncontaminated land as possible, and clean up those areas that are no longer being put to gainful use .At the same time, these derelict properties often do not have current tax revenue streams coming into the Town. When industry and high density residential properties are part of the redevelopment, then the taxes from those properties reduce the pressure on all other taxpayers.
The process, by its’ nature, is complex and comprehensive in execution. Yet the method promises to actually move proposals to fruition faster than the piecemeal approach that we have always taken. Furthermore, the scope of the project can be bigger if all of the elements are in place. For example, more units of housing can be built on an acre if there are sewers.
Mayor Pontieri is a natural partner for Town Supervisor Lesko because he uses some of the same principles in the Village of Patchogue. As a result, the planning and building in Patchogue has been very successful. Pontieri credits several previous Mayors for exhibiting foresight in the moves that they made. An example: providing sewer capacity in the Village that was about four times the size necessary at the time the sewers were put in. Now they are much needed, and already in place. Saving the beautiful Patchogue Theater was another great move proposed by a previous mayor.
Pictured: Paul Pontieri, Mayor of Patchogue; Yves Michel, Suffolk Co. Dept. of Econ. Dev.; Joe Ogno, Telcar Corp. Interiors
Ernie Fazio
ATTENTION ALL: ERNIE NOW HAS HIS OWN BLOG.Check it out at fazio-op-ed.blogspot.com
THIS WEEK’S EVENT WAS SPONSORED BY TELCAR CORPORATE INTERIORS.

Dale Carnegie Speaker - Bob Ranieri
2010-08-20 00:00
All you ever needed to know about human relations has been residing within your head all along. At least that’s the way it feels after you’ve been told. Today’s speaker was Robert Ranieri, Regional Training Manager for Dale Carnegie Training. Dale Carnegie was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People. Carnegie founded one of the world’s most famous business training institutions. Within the pages of his book are concepts that are common sense, and yet we constantly need to be reminded.
The discussion this morning was entitled "Winning Formula to Attract Customers for LIfe". The usual LIMBA format is that the speaker has the floor, followed by audience participation during a "Question & Answer" period. Today, the speaker had a running conversation with the audience. Each time he wanted to make a point, he posed a question to the audience.
Among the items that were discussed was how we bring people to a decision. The way you say something can make an enormous difference in the outcome. In this morning’s session, each person was given a list of phrases and alternative phrases. On the one side you may see What you need to do…..as opposed to Might I suggest…. The second couching of the direction has a softer tone to it. It also builds trust in the judgement of the person being guided. This is very useful information to anyone pursuing a sales track It is also useful in any argument, from a political discussion to getting compliance from your children to getting your wife/husband to agree to a movie you want to see. Ranieri suggested that we are all in sales in that sense. If you get good at this, yo may even get to see the movie you prefer.
At the end of the meeting, Bob raffled off several copies of Carnegie’s famous book.
Ernie Fazio

Edward Romaine Suffolk County Legislator
2010-08-27 00:00
This morning our speaker was Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine. His topic was "The Future of County Government". Frankly, I was not sure of what the topic would entail. Ed began by giving an historical look at how our present political structures evolved. In the early days of the County, there was no County Government. The Towns were the centers of local government. Later, the County was governed by a Board of Supervisors, which was comprised of all the Town Supervisors. This all changed after a law suit was launched by William Bianchi, an orchard grower from Bellport. Bill Bianchi’s suit resulted in the formation of our present day County Legislature. Bianchi was subsequently elected to that legislative body. The Executive Branch was also formed, and the first County Executive, H. Lee Denniseon was elected.
Prior to this time there were no County services, and no police department. Police departments were a function of the Towns. Some Towns opted out of the County Police Department, and retained their own police. For example, the Town of Southold still has its own police force.
Legislator Tomaine represents an Eastern Long Island District. The East End has 10% of the Long Island population, but supplies 30% of the tax dollars. This is the same inequity we speak about when we talk about the whole of Long Island providing a disproportionate amount of New York State financing. "We have no reliable source of recurring income ", said Romaine. We do have a property tax, but it contributes just a small fraction of our $2.2billion budget. The bulk of County income comes from sales taxes, which change dramatically with good times and bad. The result has been an endless ‘feast or famine’ roller coaster. "That needs to change if we are to plan in any rational way", per Romaine.
Romaine then proposed that there needs to be a radical change in how we are governed. "We must redefine the mission and purpose of local government." He suggested that we should diminish the role of County Government, and increase the role of Town Government. Ed recognized that the State of Connecticut redefined their government in the opposite direction-they decreased Town Government and increased County authority. He believes that changing government incrementally , or using short-sighted fixes will not solve our financial problems. Leaving County workforce positions open to save money is not the answer. That has a tendency to slow operations down, and the backlogged workload becomes even more expensive later. In addition, major opportunities may be missed.
Mr. Romaine proposed that we convene a conference of non-government people in business and the general public to look at everythingbefore reconstituting the way we are governed. This group should look at how government collects its operating revenue. Ed suggested that organizations such as LIMBA take some leadership in this effort.
Ernie Fazio

labor day no meeting
2010-09-03 00:00

No meeting Rosh Hashanah Sept 10
2010-09-10 00:00

Patchogue -The Rebirth of a Village Paul Pontieri, Mayor
2010-09-17 00:00
This morning LIMBA had one of our off-premises meetings
Occasionally we will find a gem that we that want to display. Patchogue Village is one of those gems. Due to actions taken by a series of good mayors cost effective capacities were baked into the pie. As each public servant steps up to the leadership challenge he makes a decisions that are often made possible by his predecessors. It takes vision and the ability to withstand the critics that argue against infrastructure costs that will not be immediately seen. However not making those hard choices makes the job of the new leader more difficult when they do become imperative The current mayor is Paul Pontieri. He is presiding over changes in the village landscape that are creating a great living space, as well as commercial and residential facilities. According to Pontieri his initiatives would be more difficult to achieve if it weren’t for the stewardship exercised in the past.
The village of Patchogue is in the midst of a dramatic change that is providing a vibrant and much needed refurbishment. The village has in the past few years rescued the Patchogue Theater from the wrecking ball, or as village attorney, Victor Yannacone, put it. “It was saved from becoming a parking lot” Mr. Yannacone was very instrumental in the restoration of that beautiful theater
As many of Long Island’s people left the city they forgot the convenience of living in a walkable village. Today the isolation and expense of living in single family homes does not meet the needs of many of our young and single residents. In many cases it does not meet the needs of older residents either. While single-family homes will not, and should not, become a thing of the past; we should have the denser alternative that makes living more sociable
Robert Loscalzo COO, of Tritec Development made the presentation on the structures that will be in place when the work is completed. With the computer graphics we were able to have a virtual tour of the village giving the audience the experience of “seeing” the completed work. In the past thousands of dollars would be spent on models of the project, and when changes were required, the models had to be modified as well.
The event was conducted in the lobby of the Patchogue Theater. After the presentation the group was invited to a tour of the restored and modernized showplace. Looking at the interior of the theater today you will see exactly what you would have seen when it was in its heyday. The gold leaf painted fancy plasterwork has been meticulously restored. Acoustical wall fabric was reinstalled and high quality seating has been reupholstered and installed. But the electrical systems are modern and can support theater requirements that are otherwise found only in Broadway level establishments. The sound and lighting is state of the art. Victor Yannacone conducted the tour and made it clear that the theater was available.
The theater is managed by a not for profit group that has made the Patchogue theater solvent by virtue of good management and the ability to attract enough productions. It was a great morning.

John Gomez Candidate for Congress 2nd District
2010-09-24 00:00
John Gomez is a man I knew when we both had a radio program on the same station, and we enjoyed the back and forth when spoke to each other at the station. His program was political in nature and his message was conservative.
Today John began be stating that he was a Reagan Conservative (during the Q&A I reminded him that Reagan honed his political skills as a labor union president, and was a skilled negotiator and often compromised)
Gomez’s message was limited government. John believes that healthcare reform is no job for government. Cap & Trade is an economic negative, and Bush tax structure forever. No estate tax was another of his issues and stated that we are in the midst of a transformation to a European socialism.
All of this came across as the bumper sticker simplicity that has dominated politics for at least 20 years but it is more acute today.
During the Q&A I took John to task on several of those points. In this short session we really did not get the feeling that he had any real solutions that would put people to work, When asked by a representative of Long Island Contractors Association if he supported the gas tax to build roads. He agreed with that tax. Then the rep pointed out that while mileage has increased and gallons used has decreased. Shouldn’t we have an indexed gas tax to pay for that infrastructure? No! was the answer. That is a contradiction, but nobody pursued that point. Ernie Fazio

LIBDC meeting in Montauk no LIMBA meeting
2010-10-01 00:00
Long Island Business Development meeting in Montauk

Justice Ralph Costello NY Supreme Court
2010-10-08 00:00
As usual we learned something new at LIMBA. Our speaker, NY Supreme Court Justice, Ralph Costello was a departure from our usual roster of speakers.
The judge began by explaining the term of the court, 14 years, and that in this jurisdiction the position is an elected post. In other jusdications it can vary. In some cases the original term is appointed and to get a new term you must be elected. And in still others the first and subsequent terms are appointed. Methods can vary. For example the city of New York can and does have a different system than Suffolk. They appoint their judges.
When running for elction the rules are different than other public officials. A judge candidate cannot directly solicit campaign funds. If he needs funds he has a committee that solicits funds, and he is not privy to who those donors are. This is a little silly since these donor records are public documents. He pointed out that in Las Vegas donors can push a wheel barrow full of cash into a judicial candidates office, and that would be OK. Well…..it is Vegas.
Judges have received no pay increases in about 10 years, and until very recently they were not permitted to work outside of the courtroom. Even now they would’nt be able to work in "demeaning" occupations. They can write books, and that is something that they could always do even under the old rules
The Supreme Court is able to hear cases of all nature. Cases involved in environment, construction, medical liability and negligence are all heard in Supreme Court. However cases involving small sums (under $25,000) are not heard. This is different than specialized courts.
When asked to endorse the candidate for office political parties are not permitted to ask about his feelings on issues . This is a refreshing departure from the candidate questioning of a United States Supreme court nomination. In that case the candidate must dance around every question.
During the Q&A there were many questions indicating that audience was keyed in and interested
Todays meeting was sponsored by the New York Islanders Hockey club – Door prizes were given out and some lucky people went home with openning night seats in a luxury booth and oters went home with regular in season tickets. Thanks to Mike Meinardus and the Islanders.

Randy Altshuler
2010-10-15 00:00
Wow! What an energetic meeting! Our speaker this morning was Randy Altschuler, Republican candidate for the 1st congressional district
Mr. Altschuler began by giving some information about himself. He’s a Princeton grad and he ran a successful businesses. One of them was an electronic devices recycling and salvaging company. This company recycled, by fixing what was wrong and reselling the device or reducing it down to the base metals and then sold for the metal value.
He said the "American dream has disappeared." He stated that we have a general feeling that our children will not have the same opportunity to succeed as we did. Part of the reason is that we have created huge deficits. The idea that one generation creates the framework for the increased success of the next has been reversed. The debt we create is really a loan imposed on our children.
Altschuler criticized the administration foreign policy citing the danger posed by Iran, stating that the Obama administration is doing nothing to contain them (presently there is oil sitting in loaded tankers that cannot move because of the sanctions imposed by the world community including China and Russia but no one challenged him on that)
During the Q&A he was asked if he would have voted for the GM bailout since it appears that all of that money will be returned to the taxpayers. He said he would not. Some of the people in the room chimed in and agreed with him. He knocked the stimulus plan for infrastructure. Others in the room agreed with him, not because it was such a bad idea, but because so little of it went to infrastructure.
When the topic of immigration reform was brought up, the question was couched in the reality that removing 11 million people was impractical. He agreed, and then said the first thing we must do is secure the borders. and then make employers obey the immigration laws. But I did not hear a plan that would now assimilate those people that were presently in the country.
On education he stated we mustn’t spend recklessly and unions must show flexibility.
When asked how he would deal with Republicans and their demand for perfect discipline in the ranks, he promised independence.
Recently LIMBA counted a victory in getting a new rail intermodal yard started in Yaphank. Tim Bishop shepherded the permitting through the Surface Transportation Board. Altschuler was asked if we could expect him to support measures such as that, and he said he would.
Throughout the Q&A, which was much longer than his prepared remarks, the room was abuzz. There were many more questions addressed than what is cited here, and the conversation was passionate. People are genuinely troubled and it showed. I was impressed with the number of informed questions and the general participation. When we officially closed the meeting nobody ran for the doors. The people in the room continued their questions with the speaker as well as with each other.
A number of people commented to me on the quality of the discussion as they were leaving. It was a passionate exchange and people are frustrated, but there was no angry remarks diected to the speaker or each other.

LIA President Kevin Law
2010-10-22 00:00
Kevin Law, the dynamic new leader of the Long Island Association (LIA), New York State’s largest business group opened by expressing surprise that LIMBA’s Ernie Fazio was not on stage at Hofstra’s gubernatorial debate as the MAGLEV party candidate, given our feckless leader’s tireless
advocacy for this new rail technology.
Six weeks into his new tenure as head of the LIA, his previous appearance in front of LIMBA was as the Chief Executive of the Long Island Power Authority ( LIPA ).
Energy and Infrastructure will still be focused on at the LIA as just two of the challenges facing Long Island. Mr. Law brings a fresh perspective to the LIA, seeking to partner with other business groups to unify Long Island’s message to Albany and Washington DC. To that end he has been meeting with many groups, the Partnership for NYC, Hauppauge Industrial Association (HIA),the Association for a Better Long Island (ABLI), and of course, LIMBA today.
One of his primary goals for the LIA will be to unify the efforts of the organizations that make up Long Island’s mosaic of groups in society, business and government. Not many entities tie together and represent Long Island as a region as the LIA does. His previous leadership role was at one of those that did, LIPA. He mentioned the Long Island Rail Road as another and pointed to the recent efforts to coordinate the region by the revival of the Long Island Regional Planning Council. His service for two governors, two county executives, and at a major Long Island law firm give him a good perspective on what businesses struggle with on Long Island. As an aside, he commented on how much more interesting the recent gubernatorial debate might have been if his old boss Steve Levy had still been in the race.
Segueing into Suffolk County’s efforts to grow the county, he spoke about the recent successes in keeping Canon’s US headquarters in Melville, and attracting Leviton to move its headquarters to Suffolk from parts west. These two successes keep 3000 jobson Long Island. He emphasized the need
to capitalize on this good news and other stories like it to change the currently negative psychology and perception of Long Island. Acknowledging some of the challenges facing Long Island his talk moved into the areas of taxes, the multiplicity of governing bodies, and the infrastructure of Long Island, both physical and intellectual. Sewers and the power grid were foremost on his mind for investment in the physical, and the fine educational system on the island is deserving of continued investment to cultivate the high value businesses and jobs that LIA wants to develop and attract to Long Island.
Still early in his tenure, Kevin is continuing to take inventory of the wide array of groups on the island, meeting with as many as possible, the ones mentioned above and more, such as Action Long Island, and the Association for Commerce, Industry, and Technology ( ACIT). This survey is taking place in order to inform the short and long term agenda of the LIA. He wants that agenda to envelop the concerns of all these groups unifying their voices and efforts.
Addressing another challenge, taxes, he came out in opposition of the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, because of their impact on a high cost area such as Long Island. $250,000 doesn’t go as far here as it does in Oklahoma, or even upstate New York. LIA also seeks to address the imbalance in Long Island as a net exporter of taxes to both DC and Albany and will not be timid about taking positions on issues. One of these issues and a priority for the LIA is to move Long Island to be a leader in the “Green Economy”, continuing the trend to develop renewable energy while he was at LIPA. It will be tough for Long Island to do on its own without Federal help, addressing that tax imbalance with research money and internationally by fighting currency manipulation to keep the playing field level. This will help Long Island meet the issues it faces with energy, infrastructure and education.
As usual, the Q & A session was lively, and at times feisty!
Michelle Zere lit a fire by asking how Kevin was going to change the culture of the LIA to make it more in line with the needs of smaller business owners, and eliminate the perception that it is only addressing the needs of the larger businesses on Long Island. Mohinder Singh also echoed Michelle’s
comment with a request that the LIA expand its diversity efforts.
Kevin responded by assuring us that he was addressing the issue and will be driving the LIA to be more inclusive, and acknowledged the importance of small business on Long Island, citing the statistic of 90% of Long Island businesses having fewer than twenty employees.
Marc Herbst of the Long Island Contractors Association ( LICA ) called on the LIA to not be a paper tiger, and be a leader of all the business groups, pledging the support of LICA towards that goal. Following up, he asked Kevin how the LIA was going to help advance the $500MM worth of sewer projects that are currently on the drawing boards.
His answer was to agree that this sewer work is critical to progress development on Long Island and a key to future growth. Reviewing the history of the last round of sewer projects on Long Island, he emphasized the need for federal funding to pickup a large portion of the cost of this infrastructure.
Larry Weiss asked Kevin for his thoughts on how to address NIMBYism, which Long Island is seemingly the capitol of.
Recalling his tenure at the Town of Huntington during the early efforts to get the Matinecock Court housing development in East Northport off the ground, he stated the best way to head off NIMBYism is education and outreach. NIMBYism generally comes about because of a lack of education and uninformed opposition. The proponents of a project must get out in front of this in order not to lose the spin war before it starts.
A highlight of the session was a group of questions surrounding access to the gubernatorial debate broadcast and control of the news media on Long Island. That certainly got the audience’s attention and dander up. Once again it was another provocative, entertaining and informative LIMBA meeting with an excellent speaker and a room full of Long Island’s movers and shakers. Please join us for these Friday morning sessions that finish the work week off on a high note and never fail to be of value.

Kirk Kordeleski Bethpage Fed Credit Union.
2010-10-29 00:00
This morning we held our LIMBA gathering in the offices of Bethpage Federal Credit Union (BFCU) and were educated about credit unions in general and BFCU in particular. Kirk opened his talk with a primer about credit unions’ structure and history. Credit unions have been one of the few success stories to come out of the financial crisis.They are not banking institutions; they are financial cooperatives that offer banking services. Their charters are such that they were restricted from engaging in the risky investment strategies that proved to be so damaging to many banks and other financial institutions This has resulted in BFCU having a strong capital base to work with as we emerge from the recession.
One of the interesting things about a credit union is that it cannot raise capital by selling equity as the large banks have been doing recently to recapitalize themselves. Their capital comes from deposits and the success of the instruments and products that they
invest those deposits in. Their boards are all volunteer, and have evolved from being oriented around a single company’s employees to serving defined communities. The founder of Filene’s department stores is credited with fostering legislation and founding
organizations that lead to the popularization of credit unions for corporate employees to obtain reasonably priced financial services.
BFCU was founded by Grumman employees in the early 40’s, and grew through adding company associations with some of the larger employers on Long Island, including its next door neighbor Cablevision and Computer Associates in Islandia. Membership was also restricted to employees of those companies. Subsequently, its charter was changed to include all of Nassau and Suffolk counties so that anybody that lives, works, worships, or regularly conducts business in Nassau and Suffolk can become a member. BFCU has invested heavily in their community strategy since changing their charter and it is beginning to show results. Their sponsorship of the Jones Beach Air Show both honors their Grumman roots and serves their expanded Long Island community.
Under Mr. Kordeleski’s guidance over the last ten years, BFCU has grown from $950MM in deposits to nearly $4B and 180,000 members. It is the #1 credit union in the country measured by deposits. It has twenty four branches with three more under construction. BFCU plans to open three to six each year to grow eventually to fifty or sixty branches.
Value, service and convenience returned to the shareholders are are its guiding principles. Since BFCU is a co-op, they don’t have the same profit pressures that retail banks do. As a result, community involvement is a foundational principal. BFCU is expanding its focus to help underserved communities, placing branches in disadvantaged neighborhoods and communicating with a multicultural marketing strategy. Convenience is emphasized with surcharge free access to ATMs in 7/11 stores, Walgreens, Costco and King Kullen. The King Kullens in Commack and Levittown also host BFCU branches.
They are expanding into business services also. The initial focus is on real estate, but lending products and SBA supported lending is forthcoming. Another strategy is to price their product to be number one or two in the markets that they serve, whether that is interest
rates earned on deposits or charged on loans. These approaches have resulted in consistently high JD Power rankings for satisfaction.
Once again it was another educational opportunity to be at LIMBA meeting with an excellent speaker and learn more about an underappreciated Long Island institution that can serve us all.
Please join us for these Friday morning sessions that finish the work week off on a high note and never fail to be of value.
Recap by Craig Plunkett.

Phil Nolan. Town of Islip, Supervisor
2010-11-05 00:00
This morning we were back in our usual MacArthur Holiday Inn location to hear from Phil Nolan about the state of the Town of Islip in general, and the role of Long Island MacArthur Airport (LIMA) in particular. The affable, animated supervisor has been a LIMBA speaker in the past and opened his talk with some reminiscences of meetings and events with the familiar faces in attendance.
Coming off of last night’s Town Board meeting where the new budget was approved, Mr. Nolan gave us the high and lowlights of town finances during his administration. To the good, the town’s general fund tax rate remained flat from last year. The recession has dried up ten to fifteen million dollars per year in revenue, mostly from the decline in Mortgage Tax revenue over the past few years. The supervisor has responded by downsizing the town government, shrinking the number of employees by 25%, mostly through attrition. Last year however, he did have to lay off thirty seven people, one of the most personally difficult things that he has done in his career.
LIMA has felt the recession also, with passenger emplanements currently running at 1.9 million per year, down from a peak of 2.3 million. In spite of this, it is still the crown jewel of the town and is a great driver of jobs and economic growth. Mr. Nolan is very enthusiastic about the business community’s embrace of LIMA as a business facility. He was also kind in his remarks on former supervisor Pete McGowan’s role in building the airport up during his predecessor’s tenure.
Great praise was also in store for the current airport commissioner, Theresa Rizzuto, who has injected great energy and private sector business acumen into the airport’s current operations. Ms. Rizzuto and her staff are working with all sectors of the aviation industry and all regions of the hemisphere in drumming up new business for the airport.
The west side redevelopment of LIMA will be underway soon, with $70MM of investment in the works to create new homes for the major FBOs at the airport, Shelt-air, Mid-Island Aviation, and ExcelAire. The supervisor claimed that each business jet based at LIMA generates 5 jobs and a million dollars per year in revenue. Increasing that revenue, especially on the commercial aviation and airline side, is a tall order. Sales cycles for these arrangements are complex and very long, subject to a lot of pressure from outside factors. The supervisor told the tale of Spirit Airlines who were done in almost overnight by the massive run up in oil prices.
The net of Mr. Nolan’s talk was that the airport has been and will continue to be a prime driver of economic development for both the town and Long Island as a region. With prudent fiscal management and smart management, it has been transformed from a sleepy general aviation field to a modern facility that provides an excellent alternative to the Port Authority airports to the west.
Once again it was another educational opportunity to be at LIMBA meeting with an excellent speaker and learn more about a Long Island institution that served as one of the reasons for LIMBA’s founding. Please join us for these Friday morning sessions that finish the work week off on a high note and never fail to be of value.
Pictured:Terri Townsend, Ernie Fazio, Supervisor Nolan, Marie Zere

Empire National Bank/Doug Manditch
2010-11-12 00:00
Commercial Banking Update. Meeting at Empire Headquarters.

Mark Lesko, Supv Town of Brookhaven
2010-11-19 00:00
Supervisor Mark Lesko of Brookhaven Town was our speaker this morning. He began by citing the shortsightedness of stopping the Avalon proposal in Huntington. He believes good projects must be built, but did not go into why it was stopped. Nor did he assign any blame. What was clear is that he didn’t want to see that kind of resistance in Brookhaven.
Brookhaven had its’ budget debate last night. He tells us it was not a pretty sight, but in the end a budget was passed. With a great deal of push-back on the unions, the unions finally agreed that they too should share the pain and concessions were made. According to the supervisor the negotiations allowed them to move forward.
The infrastructure needs sewers were discussed, and while new sewers are not possible because of serious budget restraints, there are creative ways of better using those sewers that presently exist. These assets are essential to support beneficial growth.
Lesko pointed out that advances have been made in his "Blight to Light" program where otherwise run down and degraded properties are used to create new, and useable redevelopment.
He asked us to reframe the whole notion of development. We must adopt a wealth development mentality. Instead of an economy based on defense and healthcare, (both of which are supported by tax dollars). We need to explore our ability to mine the research assets that we have. We have these assets in more abundance than most places, and now we have to keep the fruits of that research here and create the next CA, the next google, the next whatever. Mark stated that other sections of the country are doing it and sometimes they are snatching technology from under our noses. (My words not his). We have the good stuff, but we are not capitalizing.
The supervisor pointed out to us that the state controller has to invest huge sums of money to support the state pensions. Only 2% of that money is invested in ideas emanation from the Long Island Region. We must work on our entrepreneurial pace. If we do not, we will create technology that will lured to other places.
The ripple effect has broad implications in every other economic sphere, but real estate in particular. Homebuilders are another important economic segment. Historically entrepreneurial efforts create a lot of losers and a few winners, but those few winners far outweigh all of the losers and often create unimaginable success. When the transistor was invented even the inventors were not sure of the applications. They certainly did not imagine the level of electronic sophistication that we have today, the myriad of products, and the enormous wealth that followed.
Lesko indicated to us that Long Island is not business friendly and that has got to change. Taxes and utility rates are a substantial part of our discouragement of business. Taxes are exacerbated by municipal pensions on every local level because of a pensions system that is called a define benefit plan. When we have a poorly performing stock market, pension funds shrink. The shortfall must be made up in the only way it can be made up, you guessed it, raise the taxes. Atlas is about to shrug and enlightened leaders like Lesko know it.
During the Q&A the questions were pointed and filled with concern. A few ideas were proffered and the supervisor was listening. One idea from Marie Zere was a business incubator that would embrace any viable sounding business rather than the technology specific model that we are used to. Mr. Lesko liked the idea.

Thanksgiving Friday no meeting
2010-11-26 00:00
