America 250

AMERICA

1776

2026

Celebrating 250 years of innovation, commerce and community through the lens of Fairfield, Westchester counties and the Hudson Valley.

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America 250 Years

Dear Readers, As our nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary this summer, we will have an opportunity not only to reflect on our history, but also to recognize the people, businesses and institutions that have helped shape our communities into what they are today.

For generations, Westchester County has been a place where innovation, entrepreneurship and hard work have thrived. From family-owned businesses that have served neighborhoods for decades, to global corporations that have chosen Westchester as their home, our business community has long been a cornerstone of our County’s growth, progress and success.

Westchester’s story is, in many ways, a story of opportunity. Entrepreneurs have built start-up companies here, employees have developed rewarding careers and professions, and businesses of every size have contributed to a strong local economy that supports our residents and enhances our quality of life. Their investments have helped create our vibrant downtowns, strengthen our tax base, support local nonprofit organizations and provide opportunities for future generations.

Today, our County remains one of the nation's most dynamic business landscapes, benefiting from a highly skilled workforce, exceptional educational institutions, world-class transportation networks and a spirit of innovation that continues to attract new industries and talent.

As we commemorate 250 years of American history, we also celebrate the resilience and determination that have defined both our nation, and our County. The achievements highlighted in this special edition of Westfair’s Business Journals remind us that progress is built by individuals willing to take risks, create opportunities and invest in their communities.

I am grateful to the businesses, large and small, that have helped make Westchester the flourishing County it is today. Together, we can look forward to building on that legacy and creating an even brighter future ahead.

Sincerely,

Ken Jenkins Westchester County Executive

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America 250 | June 29, 2026

Powerful Partners Building for the Future

Consigli Construction Co., Inc. | Construction Managers & General Contractors | consigli.com America 250 | June 29, 2026

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Next Level Private LLC Business Profile 2026 Barry P. Mitchell, Jr. and his team established Next Level Private, a fully independent and independently owned registered investment advisor and fiduciary in Harrison, New York in September 2021. Mitchell previously spent 35 years working at various banks and investment firms. Mitchell and his team left the big firms for what they believed was a better, client centric fiduciary model. The years of being a broker, always answering to corporate profitability, in their minds, was over. Next Level Private provides financial advocacy and planning solely focused on helping their clients move towards financial independence. Their clients are what Mitchell calls “successful regular people looking to be part of a community where impact is important.”

Next Level Private has built a supportive community where they work as a financial advocate; like a CFO for the family. Helping regular people advance towards a more secure financial future, ultimately living the lives they have envisioned, gives the team great satisfaction.

Mitchell states that over the past 39 years, they have developed the skills, tools, and resources necessary to help their clients reach their goals and life objectives while implementing strategies that help their clients live more fulfilled, impactful lives.

Next Level Private lies at the crossroads of financial security and community impact.

The team at Next Level lives by the ethos, “This is our community, how can we make it a better place?” and lives by the simple philosophy of doing well by doing good and having fun while doing it. You cannot conjure up activities to make the day fun; you need to be inspired to help others with a huge smile on your face and in your heart. To help inspire the team, Next Level Private has a theme song each year. Several years back our song was The Nights by Avicii. Yes, of course, it has a great beat, but it is the lyrics that captivated the team. “One day you will leave this life behind, so live a life that will be remembered.” Very powerful indeed.

This year, their song was Forever Young

by Joan Baez. “May you always do for others and let others do for you.”

Next Level Private’s team of trusted advocates asks very different questions

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Barry Mitchell and the Next Level Private team in their offices in Harrison, NY.

than most of their competition. Mitchell can often be heard asking, “What can you do today to change someone’s life tomorrow?” Living with an attitude of gratitude is essential to Mitchell and his team. It helps them in their process of building a community of success, giving, abundance, and appreciation. As part of this philosophy, each member of his team is encouraged to write down one thing each morning that they will do to help someone else. The completion of these random acts of kindness fuels good moods among the team members. Even if they only complete half of their random acts of kindness, that gives each team member the potential opportunity to impact 180 lives each year. When you do the math that is over 2000 random acts of kindness from this amazing team of individuals. Now that is a spectacular year of impact.

The people of Next Level Private truly believe that they are on a crusade to change the face of financial advocacy in the Lower Hudson Valley. Mitchell and his team believe very few in the industry focus on people and not money as they

do. They are on a never-ending journey to help their clients move towards financial independence in the most impactful way possible. Plain and simple─ giving feels better than receiving, which is one of the core tenets of Next Level Private.

Next Level Private is building a community of like-minded people who thrive on others doing well.

Barry P. Mitchell, Jr. was born in New Rochelle on December 14, 1964. He graduated from Boston College (1987), Iona Prep (1983) and Holy Family Grammar School (1979). He has been married to his wife, Elisabeth, for almost 30 years.

The Mitchells have three children: Barry III, 27 years old, graduated from Boston College (2021), Iona Prep (2017); Margaret, 25 years old, graduated from The College of the Holy Cross (2022) and Rye High school (2018), and John, 24 years old, graduated from The College of the Holy Cross (2025) and Iona Prep (2021). All three played college lacrosse.

In addition to helping others through his work, Mitchell is obsessed with giving back and believes he is blessed with the

America 250 | June 29, 2026

opportunity to serve others. Barry and his wife Lis are passionate supporters of Bronx Lacrosse, Swim Across America, POTS, and Elizabeth Seton’s Childrens.

Next Level Private actively supports many law enforcement and first responder organizations: Westchester Police Chiefs, Rockland Police Chiefs, NYSACOP, Rye Firefighters and many local PBAs. Barry and Lis formerly served as Presidents of the Crusader Athletic Fund, he is a member of the Boston College Wall Street Council, and Class of 2023 inductee of the Iona Prep Hall of Fame. Mitchell also serves on the board of directors for Hospice of Westchester and The Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick.

If you feel fortunate and want to be part of something more than what the big banks stand for and are looking for a fiduciary, then be sure to reach out to the folks at Next Level Private and join their special family and mission. They are people-focused and don’t have financial minimum requirements for helping others. Join their crusade to change wealth management in your town today!

“What can you do today, to change somebody’s life tomorrow?”

- Barry P. Mitchell, Jr

Please join us in our crusade to make waves to fight cancer with Swim Across America

Barry P. Mitchell Jr., CRPC®, CRPS®, CAP® Founder & Managing Director Next Level Private barrymitchell@nxtprivate.com

Gary J. Raniolo II Senior Financial Advocate Next Level Private garyraniolo@nxtprivate.com

500 Mamaroneck Ave, Suite 501 - nxtprivate.com - 914.431.5256 Next Level Private LLC is a Regisered Investment Advisor America 250 | June 29, 2026

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America 250 Years

Mastercard is committed to being the wind beneath small business’ wings

By Georgette Gouveia / ggouveia@westfairinc.com Ginger Siegel — head of North America small and mid-market business at Mastercard International in Purchase — has a passion for small business that is as palpable as it is personal. For the Chicago native, and South Salem resident, it began with a grandfather who “started a business out of the trunk of his car and grew it into a national wholesale drug company, for which I later worked and saw the fruits of his labor firsthand,” she said in an online piece for Mastercard, one of the world’s largest payment technology corporations, operating a global network across more than 210 countries with a market capitalization of approximately $430 billion and annual revenues beyond $32.8 billion.

“For me, it’s always been about underdogs,” continued Siegel, whose résumé includes executive positions at professional services firm Deloitte, SunTrust Bank and PNC bank. “I admire their ambition and understand their struggles, and I appreciate how their collective entrepreneurial spirit powers communities and fuels the economy. That’s why I work hard — both in my role leading Mastercard’s small business efforts and as a mentor to hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years — to put the wind at their backs.”

That wind was set to blow toward Modern on the Rails restaurant in Mamaroneck June 17 at a Mastercard event celebrating 250 years of small business in the United States with business owners, community leaders and such elected officials as Rep. George Latimer (D-New York) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York). The program featured panel discussions and interactive sessions focused on what Siegel told the Westfair Business Journal were the three main concerns for small business owners — access to capital; security, particularly cybersecurity, as about half of small businesses have experienced a cybersecurity attack; and operational efficiency.

Small business is the backbone of the American economy, making up more than half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — nominally about $32.38 trillion, or $24.15 trillion adjusted for inflation. Ninety-nine percent of U.S. businesses are small businesses, Siegel added, while 60% of all employees are employed by them.

With a goal of setting and maintaining 500 million people and small businesses on the path to financial success by 2030, Mastercard takes a proactive approach to the sector. As Siegel said of the company — which was founded in 1966 and

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From left, Héctor Carvajal, founder of the Dominican-flavored Don Carvajal Café in Irvington, and barista Andy Tena were part of Mastercard’s Small Business Summit in New York City May 6. Photograph by Arsalan Danish for Mastercard.

From left, Tara Rosenblum, lead reporter, News 12; Ginger Siegel, head of North America small and mid-market business, Mastercard; Joan McDonald, Westchester deputy county executive. Courtesy Mastercard.

From left, Tara Rosenblum, lead reporter, News 12; Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York). Courtesy Mastercard.

relocated in 1995 to an I.M. Pei-designed building in Purchase created for but never occupied by Nestlé: “We don’t wait for (small businesses) to come to us.”

Instead, Mastercard has an extensive online Small Business Community, where you’ll find tools and resources including the Mastercard Small Business Navigator, and the Mastercard Digital Doors program.

“Small business owners need to know it’s OK if they don’t have all the answers,” said Siegel, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in advertising from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an MBA in marketing from DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business in Chicago. “Surround yourself with people. You can’t do it alone.”

To this end, Mastercard will also launch its Virtual CFO within the next two quarters to help entrepreneurs manage cash flow, among other tasks. Also launching are Amazon’s two new credit cards — Amazon Business Card and Prime Business Card — transitioning its

From left, Tara Rosenblum, lead reporter, News 12; Rep. George Latimer (D-New York). Courtesy Mastercard.

small-business credit cards to U.S. Bank, fueled by Mastercard’s global network.

The June 17 event has come amid the company’s series of one-day Small Business Summits that began in New York City May 6 and has continued through Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto. It’s at such events that you meet entrepreneurs like Héctor Carvajal, founder of the Dominican-flavored Don Carvajal Café in Irvington and recipient of a 2022 grant from the Mastercard Strive Innovation Fund to help new businesses financially and technologically; and Ramona Cedeño, CEO of FiBrick Inc., a Dobbs Ferry accounting firm for technology companies and small businesses, who has done webinars for Mastercard on everything from taxes to AI. Mastercard also makes videos posted on its corporate site that offer a personal perspective on small business owners like Gloria Jeng of Hunan Village II in Hartsdale, who speaks about emigrating from China and working her way up in the restaurant industry to give her children a better life

America 250 | June 29, 2026

From left, Maureen Pritchard, attorney, Wheatley Pritchard & Associates PLLC; Ramona Cedeño, founder and CEO, FiBrick Inc.; Maria Rassoulis, market executive and senior vice president, Citizens Bank; and Ginger Siegel, head of North America small and mid-market business at Mastercard International in Purchase. Photograph by Arsalan Danish for Mastercard.

Ginger Siegel — head of North America small and mid-market business at Mastercard International in Purchase. Courtesy Mastercard.

and more opportunities.

At a time when many corporations are shying away from diversity, Siegel said, “we believe in helping people across the board. All small businesses are equal. All needs are equal. And all are protected under the umbrella of Mastercard.”

And while the next 250 years might be impossible to predict, Siegel said small businesses will continue to be at the heart of the global economy. And Mastercard is determined to be there to help them.

Bridging the Future: How Fordham University is Shaping the Leaders of Tomorrow In an era defined by rapid technological disruption and evolving global markets, the traditional academic path is being reimagined. Today’s professionals are not merely seeking a degree; they are looking for a competitive edge—a multidisciplinary skill set that allows them to pivot, lead, and innovate in high-growth sectors.

At the forefront of this shift Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS), which is transforming how we prepare for the future through its industry-aligned, high-impact programs.

The Fordham Real Estate Institute: A Powerhouse of Industry Expertise Headquartered in the heart of New York City, the Real Estate Institute (REI) serves as the cornerstone of professional advancement within PCS. REI provides students with cutting-edge academics and applied analysis, equipping them with the critical thinking and decision-making skills to compete in the global real estate and construction marketplace.

REI offers an unmatched breadth of academic depth. Prospective students can pursue MS degrees in Finance & Investment, Real Estate Development, Construction Management, and Hospitality. For those seeking specialized expertise, the institute offers advanced graduate certificates in hotel operations, and hospitality investment and development. For undergraduate students, there is a Real Estate major.

What truly sets REI apart is the student experience. Programs are developed and taught by accomplished practitioners from all sectors of the industry. Students gain real-world professional skill sets from the recognized experts who shape the NYC skyline and network with influential professionals at cutting-edge events. An integral part of this journey is the mentorship program, pairing students with a dedicated, respected industry executive, providing a direct pipeline to networking and career coaching. The Executive Advisory Council, comprised of industry trailblazers, ensures the curriculum stays in lockstep with the needs of global employers.

With the flexibility to study in-person in Midtown Manhattan, Harrison or online, REI meets students exactly where they are in their careers.

Professor Harris shares his thoughts at She Builds event

Hospitality at the Intersection of Real Estate Hospitality is a natural extension of REI’s multidisciplinary approach. Modern hospitality leadership requires an understanding of assets, finance, and development—not just front-of-house operations. The Hospitality Program provides a pathway to executive leadership in management, asset management, hotel administration, food and beverage and entrepreneurship. By blending traditional operations with the rigorous financial analysis students gain a comprehensive understanding of the travel and tourism landscape, positioning them for success in the C-suite and

beyond. No matter what track students pursue they are gaining the tactical tools needed to command higher roles within the hospitality industry.

Beyond the Patient: Launching Your Career in Healthcare Fordham’s Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Healthcare Professionals/PreHealth Program provides aspiring medical professionals with a flexible, rigorous path to complete prerequisite science coursework for medical, dental, PA, and other health professions. Designed for working adults, the program features evening and weekend classes, as well as individualized advising. The unparalleled supDr. Anthony R Davidson, Dean of PCS works to expand port provided by the Committee PCS’ domestic and global relationships. Pictured here in Los Angeles visiting the campus of AMDA. on Health Professions has yielded acceptance rates up to double the national average, including guiding a first-generation student to be accepted to nineteen top-ranked medical schools.

The Digital Frontier: Applied Health Informatics While REI dominates the built environment, Fordham’s Applied Health Informatics (AHI) master’s program is revolutionizing the data-driven landscape of modern healthcare. Born from the need for practical, foundational knowledge in digital health, the AHI program equips students with the skills to navigate artificial neural networks, telemedicine, and big data.

Reflecting Fordham’s Jesuit mission to protect human rights, the AHI program has produced Graduates like Mishal Ahmed, who developed an electronic health record system for an orphanage in Benin, thus demonstrating the program’s core philosophy: data-driven innovation must be matched by a commitment to the public good. The curriculum covers everything from clinical terminology to the boundary-pushing realms of generative AI and tools for clinical decision support, ensuring that graduates are not just observers of the healthcare revolution—they are the ones leading it.

The Fordham PCS Advantage: Flexibility, Mission, and Connection What connects the real estate developers of tomorrow with the hospitality executives, informatics experts and medical professionals of today? It is the Fordham PCS DNA. All of its programs are built on the principles of accessibility and practical excellence. Whether you are a full-time professional or balancing studies with personal commitments, the options for online and hybrid learning allow you to advance your career without pressing "pause" on your life.

In a rapidly changing world, industries are shifting, and the demands for leadership are higher than ever. Fordham University is not just offering degrees; it is offering a competitive advantage. By blending academic rigor with a profound commitment to professional development, Fordham is helping students transform their ambitions into impactful, enduring careers.

To learn more about how you can advance your career through Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies visit pcs.fordham.edu

America 250 | June 29, 2026

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America 250 Years

The U.K./U.S. ‘special relationship’ is alive and well in London

By Jeremy Wayne / jwayne@westfairinc.com

It’s an irony too delicious to be lost on anyone: Almost 250 years after the American colonies broke up with King George III, his great-grandson five times removed, King Charles III, was being feted in the United States for four days in April.

Ironic yet not surprising. Despite American independence, or maybe because of it, the United States has long had a “special relationship” with Great Britain. As a Brit who has lived nearly half his life in America, my conclusion is that the special relationship remains alive and well.

That’s because the same spirit of recognition and ease flows, as it has always done, in the opposite direction as well. For Americans arriving in London, the city – with its curious Britishisms, its quirky street names, its weird parking rules and, dare I say it, its unpredictable weather – is going to feel different to wherever it is you

call home. Nevertheless, it is immediately familiar, both culturally and socially, in a way that the rest of Europe isn’t. Instead, London reveals itself as a place filled with echoes of home – subtle at times, unmistakable at others.

Walk through London and you encounter American touchstones all over. I recently wrote in the Westfair Business Journal about London’s swankiest new hotel, The Chancery Rosewood,located in the former U.S. embassy on Grosvenor Square, It was on Grosvenor Square that the first U.S. minister to the Court of St. James (and the second president of the United States), John Adams, lived from 1785 to ’88, and where Dwight D. Eisenhower, later the 34th American president, set up his military headquarters during World War II. There is a statue of Eisenhower in the square, as well as statues of presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, with the United Kingdom’s 9/11 Memorial in the small garden on the square’s east side. (In Manhattan, (In

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Grosvenor Square. Courtesy Creative Commons.

Manhattan, Charles and Camilla visited the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 67 Britons, more than any other terrorist attack.) Just a couple of hundred yards away from Grosvenor Square, on not-sopretty Oxford Street, stands the famous

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London hotels have always provided a home away from home for visiting Americans, too. Conrad Hilton didn’t build one, Page S10

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America 250 Years From page S8

but he did oversee the development of the London Hilton on Park Lane, the first Hilton hotel in the United Kingdom and, for a brief period after it opened in 1963, London’s tallest building. One of America’s richest women, the philanthropist and hotelier Caroline Hunt, scion of the Texas oil family, owned the five-star Lanesborough London for 20 years between 1991 and 2011, making the hotel the watering-hole of its day for wealthy Americans.

(It still is for many.)

And while you don’t have to be American to visit The Savoy hotel’s American Bar – opened all the way back in 1893 to make its transatlantic visitors welcome and still mixing what many Americans claim is the driest martini in London – American accents abound there, gently reassuring this born Londoner.

Meanwhile, London restaurants, inspired by American ones or actually launched by them, have come to define whole areas of London as American.

“The Great American Disaster has struck London,” The New York Times reported in August,1970. “Berkeley coeds, Boston hippies and even the British stand on Fulham Road to push into the tiny, wood‐paneled restaurant that offers Great

American Milkshakes, Great American Apple Pie and, of course, the Great American Hamburger. Mia Farrow, André Previn, Warren Beatty and Roman Polanski have already bitten into the hamburgers with relish.”

A year later, the Disaster’s 22-year-old co-founder, Peter Morton, opened the first Hard Rock Café at Hyde Park Corner, where, 55 years later, it is still going strong.

(The Disaster eventually became the Texas Lone Star Café, with Boston University and Ithaca College opening London outposts just down the street.)

Up in leafy St. John’s Wood, a tony district just north of Regents Park, sits the American School in London (ASL,) a prekindergarten through 12th grade private day school where despite yearly tuition costing $62,000 (for the high school), getting a place is nevertheless extremely difficult, due to the high number of expatriates applying and the school’s high academic bar.

If their pocketbooks can stand it, American expatriate families in London, I daresay, would like to live in village-y St John’s Wood, with its handsome brick and stucco houses, along with Panzer – the upscale delicatessen catering to the local

expat community and selling hard-to-find American items like Hershey’s chocolate, Pepperidge Farm cookies and crackers and Old Bay seasoning.

In adjacent Regent’s Park, you’ll come across Winfield House. This was “poor little rich girl” Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton’s London mansion, which she sold to the United States government after the Second World War for the token sum of $1. Set back from the road and well-shielded by trees, the house has been the official residence of the United States ambassador to the Court of St. James (as in the United Kingdom) since 1955. Although closed to the public, the grand house nevertheless imbues this part of the vast, beautiful park with a kind of American flavor. In other words, it feels good just to know Winfield House is here.

From T.S. Eliot to Henry James, famous Americans have always enjoyed setting up home in London. It’s been a particular haven for American music stars. “Mama” Cass Elliot lived (and died) in London; ditto Jimi Hendrix. Paul Simon lived in London in the mid-1960s. Madonna and John Legend call London home. And Bob Dylan currently lives in Crouch End – a modest suburb of North London. (To

put this in context, the equivalent might be Mick Jagger, who lives primarily in Manhattan, moving to a small townhouse in Tuckahoe.)

One particular American who actually might not receive a rapturous welcome should she choose to return to her husband’s native city, is the former Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, now living with said husband, Prince Harry, and children in Montecito, California. But never say never, because she may yet be back, and I’ve no doubt that in time the easygoing Brits would warm to her again – well, quite a lot of time, if I’m being honest. (And don’t even get me started on the Peltz–Beckhams.)

But to conclude, I would say London offers Americans a quiet reassurance: Come here, and you will not feel entirely abroad. The city reflects back a familiar identity, refracted through what’s left of British tradition, yet unmistakably American in its presence.

And, just as Washington opened its arms to a visiting king, London, in its own way, continues to extend its standing welcome to American visitors – proud to have them explore a city where their own story has long been part of the landscape.

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America 250 Years

Historic business ties that still bind

By Georgette Gouveia / ggouveia@westfairinc.com

Few businesses from American Revolutionary times remain extant in our area, due to the destruction of the so-called “Neutral Ground” of Westchester County and the burning of coastal Fairfield County. Remnants of farms, mills and taverns survive, of course, as local historical sites. But actual businesses from that period that are still operating are virtually nonexistent. An exception is The Griswold Inn in Essex, Connecticut, which opened in 1776 to accommodate those working on the Patriots’ first warship, the Oliver Cromwell. It remains one of the oldest continuous businesses in the United States.

And if it looks a little familiar, particularly to those of a certain vintage who have never actually visited it, that’s because “The Gris” played the Collinsport Inn on the 1960s vampire soap opera “Dark Shadows,” a cult classic, as well as “roles” in Hallmark’s “Christmas at Pemberley Manor” and Netflix’s “The Noel Diary.”

Here are some other companies that have had a long-running role in shaping our region, either on their own or as ancestors/descendants of prominent businesses: Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) — Long before there was a United States of America, there was the Hudson’s Bay Co., a Canadian fur trading company founded by royal charter in 1670 that would become a holding company for department stores and commercial properties until its liquidation in 2025.

Its primary claim to fame in the United States was its pivotal acquisition of Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. For Lord & Taylor, the HBC years (201219) marked the last chapter of its storied brick-and-mortar history as HBC sold the Manhattan flagship to WeWorks and then the company to Le Tote Inc., which in turn filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 2, 2020 and announced L & T’s liquidation some three weeks later. (New owner Saadia Group, which acquired Lord & Taylor that October for $12 million, then announced that it would run L & T as an online business only. Today, the online retailer is owned by Regal Brands Global, which acquired it in 2024.

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Hudson’s Bay bought Saks Fifth Avenue in 2013 and owned it until 2024, placing two of the Saks Off Fifth locations, offering off-price clothing and accessories, in the former Lord & Taylor locations in Eastchester and Stamford.

Saks Global Holdings LLC resulted when the American assets of Hudson’s Bay were spun off in November 2024 and expanded with the acquisition of the Neiman Marcus Group a month later.

However, that also precipitated Saks’ own Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a restructuring that forced the closure of Saks Off Fifth in Eastchester, White Plains and Stamford and threatened the closure of Neiman Marcus at The Westchester in White Plains.

With Neiman Marcus now the point brand for Saks Global — the tail that wags the dog, as experts put it — Neiman’s remains a fixture at The Westchester, while The Saks Shops at Greenwich are ensconced there.

Meanwhile, Montefiore Health System’s White Plains Hospital has expanded its White Plains Physician Associates locale in Eastchester in what was once Lord & Taylor’s distinctive, curving white Modernist home.

BNY Wealth Management, White Plains and Greenwich — One of the ancestors of BNY was The Bank of New York, which merged with the Mellon Financial Corp. on July 1, 2007, to become The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., refreshed as BNY in 2024. In the wake of the American Revolution, The Bank of New York not only helped resurrect a ruined New York City after the defeated British finally left on Nov. 25, 1783; it would also buoy the financially fragile infant nation.

The bank resulted from a group of businessmen gathering at the Merchants’ Coffee House on Feb. 24, 1784, to discuss plans to recall the city to life. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton wrote a constitution for the bank that called for balanced books, paid dividends and no overdrafts. That call for liquidity, transparency and solvency would establish the bank and New York’s credit. It would also bail out the federal government with a $200,000 loan negotiated by Hamilton two day after his appointment as secretary of the Treasury on Sept. 11, 1789.

The Bank of New York would become the first company to be publicly traded when the New York Stock Exchange was founded in 1792.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorganChase) — The Bank of New York wasn’t the only one Alexander Hamilton

The Griswold Inn, established in Essex, Connecticut, in 1776, is one of the oldest continuously operated businesses in the United States. © James Kirkikis | Dreamstime.com

Bank of New York, $3 bank note (1808). Courtesy Baker Library, Harvard Business School, Historical Collections.

helped found. On Sept. 1, 1799, he and archrival Aaron Burr helped establish a company to bring potable water to New York’s growing population. The charter allowed The Manhattan Co. to use its surplus for banking. The enterprise, however, was soon eclipsed by New York’s second commercial bank, The Bank of The Manhattan Co. In 1804, Hamilton and Burr’s tempestuous relationship would come to a climax in a duel in which Hamilton was mortally wounded. (The bank would acquire the pistols Hamilton used in 1930.)

Meanwhile, banker John Thompson had founded Chase National Bank in Manhattan in 1877, naming it in honor of Salmon P. Chase, the former Treasury secretary under President Abraham Lincoln. In 1955, Chase merged with The Manhattan Co. to form Chase Manhattan Bank and, 45 years later, joined with J.P. Morgan & Co., originally co-founded in 1871 by financier J. Pierpont Morgan, to become JPMorgan Chase & Co. Today, it has more than 40 branches in Westchester and Fairfield counties alone.

Shreve, Crump & Low — With a New England pedigree that was a contemporary of Paul Revere, Shreve, Crump & Low lays claim to the title “America’s jeweler.”

It was established in 1796 by watchmaker and silversmith John McFarlane in Boston, across the street from fellow silversmith Revere, became Shreve’s in the 19th

America 250 | June 29, 2026

This 1900 photograph shows Harvard University tennis player Dwight F. Davis (center) with the punchbowl trophy he ordered for roughly $1,000 from Shreve, Crump & Low a year earlier to honor a competition of men’s teams from various nations.

Today the Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis.

century and then Shreve, Crump & Low after an 1869 merger. Over the years, the business, owned by the Walker family, had various elegant locations in Boston reflecting changing architectural styles.

The flagship is at 39 Newbury St. The Greenwich location at 125 Greenwich Ave. opened in 2014.

Along with jewelry, a Watch Salon, home goods and gifts, the jeweler is credited with numerous commissions, including supplying the original Davis Cup trophy for men’s tennis in 1899 and Cy Young Award to honor the namesake Boston Red Sox pitcher in 1908. Today, the Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis, while the Cy Young Award is presented to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) American League and in its National League.

FOR 250 YEARS, AMERICA HAS BEEN BUILDING.

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America 250 Years

From inns to manufacturers to newspapers, Fairfield County businesses date back to Revolutionary and Civil War times

By Gary Larkin / glarkin@westfairinc.com

Most of the Fairfield County historic businesses that date back to the American Revolution and American Civil War fell into a handful of categories: inns, banks, newspapers and light manufacturing.

While the state of Connecticut is known as having oldest continuous newspaper in The Hartford Courant (1764) and the oldest operating inns in Essex’s Griswold Inn (1776), Fairfield County’s claim to historic fame is as an early manufacturer of hats; hospitality provider at its many inns, taverns and restaurants; banking hub for growing businesses and prolific newspapers that provided the main means of communication back then.

Inns, taverns, restaurants According to the Fairfield Museum, The Sun Tavern (1780) located on the historic Town Hall Campus (611 Old Post Road), this was a vital inn and gathering place during the Revolutionary War. While it no

longer operates as a commercial inn, the site is maintained by the Fairfield Museum and hosts seasonal tours and historical events.

The Burr Mansion (1734) located at 739 Old Post Road was a hub for prominent early American merchants and is now primarily a beautifully preserved event space.

The Fountain Inn Bed & Breakfast, named after Cass Gilbert Fountain, located at 114 Main St. was built in 1740. The builder and owner of the home was David Hoyt, a prominent loyalist to the British, demanded the British troops stop shooting artillery at the Keeler Tavern, which was the headquarters of the local militia during the Battle of Ridgefield.

The Stanton House in Greenwich (1843) is a historic bed & breakfast inn at 76 Maple Ave. Stanton House Inn was built on land granted to the Rev. Richard Sackett while he was pastor of the Second Congregational Church in 1717, according to Stanton House Inn website. The family kept the land for 150 years, and in 1840, John Sackett built the original structure on its present location. It was called the Seaman-Brush house, which was originally in

the Greek Revival style, with a large central hallway and two large, symmetrical rooms on either side.

Tavern at GrayBarns in Norwalk is situated at 194 Perry Ave., as an upscale New American restaurant housed inside a preserved 19th-century inn set along the Silvermine River.

The Arcade Mall at 1001 Main St. in Bridgeport dates back to 1841. It is one of the oldest enclosed shopping malls in the United States, featuring a restored, glass-painted ceiling.

Banks Fairfield County Bank (Ridgefield) was established in 1871 as the Ridgefield Savings Bank. It has been serving the county continuously for over 150 years.

Savings Bank of Danbury at 220 Main St. was founded in 1849 and has been serving generations of Danburians from its historic downtown presence.

Ives Bank (formerly Savings Bank of Danbury) operates as the oldest continually operating business in Danbury, also founded in 1849. Originally operating directly

The former Remington Arms Munition factory in Bridgeport was razed years ago. Photo courtesy of Mannafort Brothers

out of the Ives homestead on Main Street (where Mrs. Ives accepted deposits on a dining room desk while her husband was out), the bank has anchored downtown for 175+ years.

Union Savings Bank, which was established by an act of the Connecticut State Legislature in 1866, is a mutual savings bank that was founded by local hat manufacturers to protect the savings of Danbury residents. Its iconic Romanesque Victorian headquarters is located on “Bankers’ Row” at 226 Main St. The Greenwich Trust Co. was founded in 1887 and operated as the oldest bank in

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America 250 | June 29, 2026

Page S16

Honoring Our Legacy, Building the Future of Care As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary, we have been reflecting on the moments and milestones that have shaped both our country and the communities we are privileged to serve across Connecticut. At Yale New Haven Health, that reflection is grounded not only in history, but also in an enduring commitment to advancing care for future generations.

For Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich Hospital, that commitment has always centered on caring for the communities around us. For decades, both hospitals have been trusted places of healing for patients and families during life’s most important moments. Today, we are building on that legacy by investing in safer care, expanding access and bringing more healthcare services directly into the communities where people live and work.

Bridgeport Hospital continues to strengthen its role as a leading community teaching hospital, advancing specialized care in areas such as cancer, heart and vascular, neuroscience and surgical services. It’s also home to the only verified burn center in the state.

We are also expanding ambulatory and outpatient operations throughout the region, making high-quality care more accessible and convenient for patients beyond the walls of the hospital. The hospital’s commitment to quality and equity was recently recognized when Bridgeport Hospital became the first hospital in Connecticut to earn The Joint Commission’s Excellent Health Outcomes for All Certification, acknowledging systemwide efforts to reduce healthcare disparities and improve outcomes for every patient.

At Greenwich Hospital, advancing care means bringing world-class expertise directly into the community. The new Smilow Cancer Hospital at Greenwich Hospital will transform cancer care in lower Fairfield County by bringing the expertise of Yale Cancer Center physicians closer to home for patients and families.

The project will expand access to leading specialists, innovative treatments and clinical trials through a more connected and comprehensive approach to cancer care.

Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich Hospital continue to earn national recognition for their commitment to quality, safety and patient outcomes.

Both hospitals recently received Leapfrog “A” Hospital Safety Grades, reflecting exceptional performance in protecting patients from preventable harm and delivering safe, high-quality care. They also earned Magnet designations from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, considered the nation’s highest recognition for nursing excellence.

Greenwich Hospital was recently awarded a prestigious 5-star CMS quality rating, placing it among the nation’s top-performing hospitals for patient outcomes, experience and clinical excellence. Together, these recognitions underscore Yale New Haven Health’s commitment to providing compassionate, equitable and world-class care for the communities we serve. They reflect the trust our communities place in us and the dedication of thousands of healthcare professionals who work tirelessly to serve patients with skill and compassion.

Healthcare is changing rapidly, and our responsibility is not only to keep pace but to lead thoughtfully and responsibly. Our goal is simple: to make healthcare more connected, convenient and responsive to the needs of patients and families across Connecticut.

America 250 | June 29, 2026

Our longstanding partnership with Yale School of Medicine also continues to drive innovation, education and clinical excellence throughout our health system.

Together, we are translating medical advances into tangible improvements in patient care while helping train the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Looking back reminds us how much medicine has evolved over time. Looking ahead reminds us that progress depends on continuing to invest in people, innovation and access to care.

As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, we are deeply grateful to the caregivers, patients and community members who have shaped these institutions and placed their trust in us.

Together, we look forward to building the next chapter of healthcare in Connecticut: one defined by safety, innovation, access and exceptional care close to home.

Christopher O’Connor CEO, Yale New Haven Health Pamela Sutton-Wallace President, Yale New Haven Health Anne Diamond, DBA, JD President, Bridgeport Hospital Robert Blenderman, PA President, Greenwich Hospital

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America 250 Years From page S14

Greenwich, housing the oldest chartered Trust Department in Fairfield County.

Through a series of major mid-century mergers, it consolidated into The National Bank and Trust Company of Fairfield County in 1958.

Industry and manufacturers Ezra Mallory was born in Redding in 1785 and started the Mallory Hat Co. in Danbury in 1823. He set up his shop near his home in the Great Plain district of town. He produced high beaver hats called stovepipes that had bell shaped crowns and heavily rolled brims.

The Hatch & Bailey Co. in Stamford, which was founded in 1872, holds the title of Connecticut’s oldest lumberyard and is still supplying professional builders and remodelers.

Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co., once the largest employer in Stamford, produced the world-famous pin-tumbler locks after Linus Yale Jr.’s invention in the 1860s.

Gault Family Companies in Westport, which started in 1863 as a hauling and farming company, has evolved into Gault Energy. It provides home heating oil to area homes and businesses.

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Jelliff Corp., which was established in 1880. has produced precision wire cloth, mesh products, and screen packs for over a century. Located at 354 Pequot Ave in the Southport section of Fairfield, it started as a small hardware store owned by Charles Jelliff.

Bigelow Tea Co., which started in 1945, is a major Fairfield family-owned business rooted in local commerce history.

Remington Arms Munition factory was built in Bridgeport in 1867. All that remains of the now-abandoned factory is the iconic shot tower, which bears more than a passing resemblance to a giant whiskey bottle. The complex was built by the Union Metallic Cartridge Co., and the shot tower was completed in 1909. The 10-story, 190foot tall tower was the tallest building in Connecticut for years.

Acme Shear Co. at 100 Hicks St. in Shelton, was founded in 1876. It grew to be one of the largest manufacturers of scissors, shears, and surgical goods in the world.

Frisbie Pie Co. opened in 1871 on Kossuth Street in Bridgeport by William Frisbie, this operation sold hundreds of pies daily, accidentally inventing a cultural phenomenon when college students began

The site of the Sun Tavern in Fairfield, which stood at the Town Green near Town Hall, was where a major Revolutionary War battle was fought. Photo courtesy of Fairfield Historical Society

tossing the empty pie tins.

Newspapers The Stamford Advocate starting publishing in April 1829 as The Intelligencer. It was relaunched and renamed The Sentinel.

In 1843, the name “Stamford Advocate” first appeared on the front page. In 1892, it transitioned from a weekly publication to a daily newspaper.

The Norwalk Hour (now commonly known as The Hour) is 155 years old. It was first published on May 6, 1871, originally starting as a weekly paper in Westport

America 250 | June 29, 2026

before moving to Norwalk in 1873 and transitioning to a daily publication in 1895.

The Danbury News-Times is 142 years old. The publication originally debuted as the Danbury Evening News on Sept. 8, 1883. In 1933, it merged with the Danbury Times (founded in 1927) to form the present-day News-Times.

The Connecticut Post, operated by Hearst Media, was founded in 1883 as the Daily Post in East Bridgeport. It was renamed The Bridgeport Post in 1906.

In 1992, it was renamed the Connecticut Post.

The Fairfield Citizen was founded in October 1970 by resident Peter Ball under the original name Fairfield Citizen and Chronicle. It traces a historic lineage back to 1867 to the Southport Chronicle.

The Ridgefield Press was founded in 1875 as Baxter’s Monthly briefly, before becoming a weekly paper later that same year. The founder was David Crosby Baxter.

The Newtown Bee was founded by John Pearce in June 1877. The hometown newspaper for Newtown has been owned and continuously published by the Smith family since 1879.

Happy 250th Birthday, America.

From your 135-year old friend.

Since 1891, PKF O’Connor Davies has served clients through change, growth and opportunity. As America marks 250 years of independence, we proudly celebrate the businesses, families and communities that continue to define our nation’s future.

This milestone birthday honors generations of vision, resilience and progress — and the promise of all that is still to come.

Happy

Birthday

America 250 | June 29, 2026

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America 250 Years

Sailing ‘Fourth’

By Georgette Gouveia / ggouveia@westfairinc.com

It may not be quite like the moment when a floating forest – more than 400 British warships – sailed into New York Harbor in August 1776, one month after the Declaration of Independence was signed. But it will be no less awe-inspiring.

Picture 60-plus international tall ships (Class A and Class B) from more than 20 nations, 40-plus allied and U.S. naval vessels, a British aircraft carrier, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and more than 100 allied and U.S. aircraft, led by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, as they arrive in New York Harbor for Sail4th 250, a weeklong extravaganza that is expected to surpass ancestor Operation Sail (OpSail) events (1964, 1976, 1986, 1992, 2000, 2012) in scale and scope. The event is part of Sail 250, a five-city tall ship consortium including New York City; Boston; Baltimore; Norfolk, Virginia; and New Orleans.

The projected economic impact to New York City alone is equally impressive. A New

York City Economic Development Corp. analysis anticipates $2.85 billion in economic activity, including a net new economic impact of $730 million to the Big Apple, with some eight to 10 million spectators expected to witness the events.

Among the New York City highlights are: July 3 and 4 – The dropping of the ball in Times Square eight times to ring in the Fourth across the United States’ eight time zones; July 4 – The International Parade of Sail , the International Naval Review, the International Aerial Review (featuring the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels) and Macy’s fireworks (all to be carried on NBC and Peacock). Note that the 2026 Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks celebration will expand to three locations to mark its 50th anniversary as well as America’s 250th birthday — the Brooklyn Bridge, the Lower East River near the South Street Seaport District and the Lower Hudson River (in collaboration with Jersey City, New Jersey); July 6 – The “Homecoming of Heroes” ticker-tape parade up the portion of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” honoring post-9/11 combat veterans and

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first responders in anticipation of the 25th anniversary of 9/11; and July 8 and 9 – The respective preparations for and official start of the Five Sisters Cup Race, with four of the five identical sister ships still in service – the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Eagle, the Sagres (Portugal), the Mircea (Romania) and the Gorch Fock (Germany) – racing from New York to Boston. (The Gorch Fock has held the Tiffany & Co.-made trophy since 1976.)

Between July 3 and 7, visitors can relish an array of food and cultural activities, along with visiting the tall ships (July 5 through 7).

(Sail4th week will also coincide with the New York/New Jersey-hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup and Fleet Week, which was moved from its traditional Memorial Day Weekend slot for this occasion.)

Fairfield County will be getting a foretaste of the tall ships, which generally range in size from 340 feet to 371 feet in length when the Netherlands’ 160-foot Oosterschelde docks in Greenwich Harbor from June 27 through June 29. The Greenwich Historical Society has raised more than $150,000 for the visit, which includes two days for corporate sponsors (June 27 and 29). But June 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, is reserved for a free celebration, featuring Oosterschelde tours, a reading of the Declaration of Independence by descendants of Connecticut signers, a Revolutionary War encampment reenactment, colonial crafts, a salute to veterans and a musical journey from the 18th century through jazz and rock. More than 2,000 are expected for the registration-required event.

This is, however, one of many Fairfield County events: Through July 25 — Fairfield University Art Museum plumbs the American flag as protean symbol of patriotism and protest in “For Which It Stands…,” beginning with “Italian Day, May, 1918,” a work by Cos Cob Art Colony member Childe Hassam, and moving through 75 works by such artists as Jasper Johns, Faith Ringgold and Robert Rauschenberg. It’s part of the university’s “America 250: The Promise and Paradox” initiative considering the American Experiment.

Through Aug. 27 — In The Norwalk Art Space’s “America 250: Visions and Voices,” artists Sachin Pannuri, Susan Clinard, Mateo Gutierrez, Scott Schuldt, Margaret Roleke and Rick Shaefer consider the tensions, urgencies and uncertainties playing out in the contemporary United States.

Through Oct. 3 — The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum presents “Revolutionary Roots: Generations of Change.” w “The exhibition will examine the American Revolution through the 18th-century history of the Lockwood and Mathews families as new research reveals untold stories of their Patriot ancestors who

America 250 | June 29, 2026

fought for America’s independence,” said museum consultant Stacey Danielson, the exhibit’s curator.

Not to be outdone, Westchester County will see Ward Pound Ridge Reservation’s more than 4,000 acres transformed into a battleground this fall as Rev Fest 250 revs up for a reenactment of the Battle of White Plains Oct. 24 and 25.

But the county has long been gearing up for the Fourth with a website filled with almost daily events, everything from “Toast 250! Tavern Nights” to Revolutionary tea parties, like the one at Sleepy Hollow’s Philipsburg Manor July 3.

There are a host of other Westchester events: Through July 5 — The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah — site of an international summer music festival and a Mediterranean-style house museum — celebrates America 250 with a festival within the festival that runs through Aug. 2. On July 2, the Poiesis Quartet offers “A Love Letter to the Queer Community.” July 3 it’s the “Centennial Celebration of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five.” The traditional “Pops, Patriots and Fireworks” concert takes place July 4. And on July 5, violinist Johnny Gandelsman caps off Caramoor’s commemoration concerts with an extended program of solo violin works from his project “This is America.”

Through Oct. 4 — The Katonah Museum of Art (KMA) presents “Diplomacy at Home: The Domestic Lives of the Founding Families,” an exhibit organized with the Friends of John Jay Homestead (FoJJH) and the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation. Bringing together furniture, fine art, decorative objects and personal possessions, the show offers a perspective on the private lives of public figures who forged our nation, including John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, whose homestead is down the street from the museum; Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, who created our central banking system; Robert Livingston, a shaper and a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and his younger brother Edward, a New York City mayor who would later become President Andrew Jackson’s secretary of state.

The exhibition also foregrounds the role of founding wives like Sarah Jay (pictured above with her children), Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, whose influence in and out of the home helped form the political culture of the early republic.

July 12 – “Reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Birth of New York State” – The day in White Plains (11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) will include a parade, a wreath laying and a colonial village experience.

America 250 Years

Westchester’s links to the past

By Peter Katz / pkatz@westfairinc.com

Before and after the Revolutionary War Westchester’s economy was principally agricultural, according to historical information compiled by Westchester County and some of the county’s local historical societies.

Craftsmen conducted business to serve the needs of their immediate populations and farmers who were producing more than could be consumed by their families and sold locally began selling their cattle and crops to the New York City market through shipment aboard vessels that sailed the Hudson River or Long Island Sound and via new roads that were opening up.

Taverns and inns sprang up to serve the travelers of the era, and can be seen as the roots of Westchester’s tourism and hospitality industry of today. The Kittle House Inn in Chappaqua dates from 1790. South Salem’s The Horse & Hound Inn is known to have

operated as an inn as far back as 1749.

By the first half of the 1800s iron foundries, brickyards, and rock quarries were established as key industries in Westchester. Construction of the Croton Dam and Aqueduct completed in 1842 and the 1844 extension of the New York and Harlem Railroad’s tracks to White Plains were important engineering and economic achievements. By 1860, Westchester’s population had reached 99,000 and the largest city was then, and is today, Yonkers.

Business and industry in Westchester rapidly diversified in the last half of the 1800s, with pharmaceutical manufacturing taking place in Ossining at the Brandreth Pill Factory in 1836, beer being brewed in the Peter M. Biegen Brewery in Dobbs Ferry, and greenhouses being manufactured at the Lord & Burnham factory in Irvington.

Cornell’s Hardware in Eastchester traces its roots to approximately 1800 and a general store in Tuckahoe. The Alexander Smith Carpet Company was founded in 1845 and moved to Yonkers in 1865. Elisha Otis founded the Otis Elevator Company in Yonkers in 1853.

While those and other businesses may be long gone from Westchester, reminders of the

historic past do remain in the form of such structures as The Odell House in Hartsdale, the Purdy House in White Plains and the Elijah J. Miller House in North White Plains.

The Odell House served as the headquarters of Gen. Count de Rochambeau, the French ally of Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Washington actively used the house and during the summer of 1781, the combined American and French armies camped for six weeks in the Greenburgh and Hartsdale areas.

George Washington used the Purdy House his headquarters from Oct. 23 to 28, 1776, during the Battle of White Plains, and again from July 23 to Sept. 16, 1778.

Washington also used the Miller House as a headquarters and residence.

Among many other early Westchester structures with historical significance are: Phillipsburg Manor, a mill and trading complex in Sleepy Hollow that is remembered as having slaves; the Timothy Knapp House in Rye identified as the county’s oldest building dating from 1667; Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, which was designed in 1838; and the John Jay Estate in Rye established

America 250 | June 29, 2026

in 1745 with its mansion built in 1838.

While the county has these and other structural links to the past, the Westchester County Archives and Westchester County Historical Society provide links in the form of collections of official and unofficial documents, photographs and other illustrations.

There also are collections of surviving copies of newspapers and individual news clippings.

It’s believed that the first newspaper in Westchester County was the Mount Pleasant Register dating from 1797. In 1808, the Westchester Gazette and Peekskill Advertiser appeared. By 1828, White Plains had its first newspaper, The Gazette. The Hudson River Chronicle was published in Ossining in 1837.

The Eastern State Journal came out in White Plains in 1845 and 1867 saw the Yonkers Daily Herald first published in that city. In 1891, the Yonkers Herald, which subsequently would merge with the Yonkers Statesman to form the Yonkers Herald Statesman, was first published. Over the years, Westchester County readers had a wide choice of both daily and weekly newspapers from which to choose, all of which contributed to writing the first draft of history.

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A Message From Westfair Business Journal For decades, Westfair Business Journal has been committed to telling the stories of the businesses, leaders and communities that drive Fairfield County, Westchester County and the Hudson Valley forward.

As we recognize America's 250th anniversary, we also celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and determination that continue to shape our region. Through periods of growth, challenge and transformation, business has remained at the center of progress.

We are proud to serve as the region's trusted source for business news and information, and we thank our readers, advertisers and community partners for being part of that journey.