Here at 60 Bay Street, we are privileged to be able to view Fleet Week’s Parade of Sail traveling beneath the Verrazano Bridge towards the Statue of Liberty. This year’s celebration marks the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the penning of the Star-Spangled Banner which was first a poem by Francis Scott Key written while he watched the…
I had the pleasure of accompanying five of my colleagues from the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce on our annual trip to Washington D.C. on May 9th and May 10th. As a member of the Board of Directors at the Chamber as well as the Executive Board’s Treasurer, and co-chair of the Chamber’s Small Business Committee, I was well aware…
A recent study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) was done comparing the quality of nursing home care around the country. This study was the first of its kind, focusing on quality and staffing amongst the ten (10) largest for-profit nursing home chains. The major complaint of families and residents alike is poor quality of nursing home care…
The United States has filed suit against Apple Inc., Hachette SA, HarpperCollins, Penguin and Simon & Schuster in New York district court claiming the companies violated anti-trust laws by fixing e-book prices. Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins have agreed to settle. Claims include that in 2009, top executives from the aforementioned companies conspired with Apple and allowed publishers to…
The Pirates of Penzance was a 19th century comic opera about a young man named Frederic who as a child was apprenticed to a band of pirates. Upon completing his 21st year, Frederic expected to be released from his indentures. However, it turns out that Frederic was born on February 29 so technically he only has a birthday every leap…
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things…
Everyone who owns a home or has significant financial assets should be smart enough to know that they need adequate automobile liability insurance in case they are sued for personal injury arising out of an accident. But how can you protect yourself and your family if you are the victims of an accident caused by someone with no insurance or…
The “Medicaid Redesign Team” has announced that for the first time in the past two years the “community spouse minimum and maxim resource allowance” will experience an increase in 2012. Currently, the spouse of an institutionalized individual receiving Medicaid nursing home care coverage is permitted to retain a maximum of $109,560.00 in resources while receiving a maximum maintenance needs allowance…
There are literally thousands of books and articles which you can find which have been written on the subject of starting a small business. It is the American dream and we have glorified small business ownership and in particular, entrepreneurship as part of our modern American business culture. We celebrate the successes of the captains of industry and assume that…
A Texas Family Court Judge has been barred from visiting his 10 year old daughter without his ex-wife’s supervision after a video surfaced on YouTube earlier this year that depicted the Family Court judge beating his 23 year old daughter (who was 16 at the time of the incident) with a belt. The video has garnered millions of views and…
The New York State Equality Act which was signed into law on June 24, 2011 is now bringing about some new changes. The Act which legally recognizes same sex marriages, as of July 24, 2011, allows New York same sex couples to hold title to real estate as tenants by the entirety. Prior to New York recognizing same sex marriages,…
New York’s Estate Powers and Trust Law welcomes the recent addition of EPTL 10-6.6 (c), enacted August 17, 2011. A product of the Trusts Estates and Surrogates Court’s Committee of the New York City Bar Association, the new section clarifies much of the ambiguity within the preexisting statute. Under the new legislation trustees may discretionarily invade a trust’s principal in…
