AWARD WINNING EDITORIAL
INCLUDING THE HUDSON VALLEY MAY 23, 2022 VOL. 58, No. 21
westfaironline.com
LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERT URGES BUSINESS PREPARATION FOR MASS SHOOTINGS BY PETER KATZ Pkatz@westfairinc.com
W
hile elected officials propose new gun laws and call on social media companies to block hate speech in the wake of the May 14 shooting at a Buffalo supermarket that left 10 dead, a law enforcement expert tells the Business Journals that there are steps businesspeople can take to help protect their employees and customers from similar assaults. An 18-year-old white suprem ac i st , P ay ton Gendron of Conklin, New York, allegedly drove to the Tops Friendly Market on Jackson Avenue in Buffalo while livestreaming his actions on a radical website. He allegedly started shooting in the parking lot, then went inside the store. He
BY JUSTIN MCGOWN jmcgown@westfairinc.com
T
he Stamford Executive Center at 1111 Summer St. is a handsome glass-clad office building near the center of the city that is home to a number of lawyers and other businesses. It is also at the center of a legal tussle between New York City developers over
allegedly shot a total of 13 people, most of whom were black, killing 10. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is from Buffalo, went to the scene and said she would go ahead with plans to introduce a new package of gun control laws on May 17. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Buffalo to meet with survivors of the mass shooting and families of the deceased. “Unfortunately, these mass shootings have increased over the years and the fatality rate has also increased because of the ability to get these high-powered weapons,” David E. Chong, public safety commissioner for the city of White Plains, told the Business Journals. “We abide by the standard of ‘run, hide and fight.’ If you are a business owner, you certainly must have an
exit besides the entrance, so you must have another way out of your business and that should be clearly, clearly marked. All your employees should clearly know where that other exit is. In a large supermarket or department store there will be many exits. Those should be clearly marked in bright red. Your employees should know where those exits lead to.” Chong is a veteran of more than 44 years in law enforcement. In addition to currently serving as head of the eighth largest municipal police department in New York state, Chong previously was police commissioner for Mount Vernon. He served more than 22 years with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), retiring as lieutenant commander of detectives.
BUSINESS PREP
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President Biden and Gov. Hochul hug as he arrives with Mrs. Biden, right, at the Buffalo airport, Buffalo. Mayor Byron Brown is on the left.
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pay respects to the victims of the Buffalo mass shooting at a makeshift memorial near the Tops store.
NYC developers spar over Stamford office property ground lease a ground lease. 1111 Summer Street LLC, the plaintiff in the case and the would-be buyer of the ground lease, is registered at 670 Myrtle Ave. in Brooklyn. The company lists its principal as Abraham Brach, a New York City developer with several multimillion-dollar properties to his name. If the sale had gone through, Brach’s compa-
ny would have acquired the remaining 97 years of the grounds lease for the Stamford Executive Center. The agreed-to terms included $600,000 and the assumption of all debts related to the property by Brach’s company. Brach’s lawsuit for the ownership of the Executive Center’s ground lease was filed with Stamford Judicial district on March 28. It
accused the current owners of the lease of one count of breach of contract and another count of breach of good faith. The complaint mentioned that a third entity, AGW Summer LLC, owns the property, but does not name them as a defendant. Meanwhile, the current owners of the ground lease, the similarly named 1111 Summer Street Ventures
LLC, lists as its principal 1111 Summer Street Investor LLC, which in turn lists an address at 40 W. 57 St. in Manhattan. This address is shared with Joshua Schuster’s Silverback Development, which lists the Stamford Executive Center as one of its current projects. Silverback Development was founded by its managing principal Josh Schuster.
Once hailed as a rising star of real estate in the New York City area by The Real Deal, that same publication more recently reported on allegations from his former business partners who stated that the New York courts ordered Schuster to pay millions of dollars to his creditors. This included more than $300,000 for failing to make payments
NYC DEVELOPERS
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