Working for the work force
Regional housing exec builds momentum on ‘affordable’ issues
BY BRYAN F. YURCAN

When John P. Afoun makes his next trek to Capitol Hill to advocate for affordable housing policies, he’ll do so with a little more clout.

The chief executive of the Greenburgh Housing Authority was elected in December president of the Hudson Valley Association of Housing Authorities. The association comprises 22 municipal housing authorities from Yonkers north to Kingston.

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Rory Dolan’s taps into White Plains
BY ALEX PHILIPPIDIS

Rory Dolan’s Bar & Restaurant has signed a contract to buy the lease for the shuttered Dooley Mac’s Publick House at 179 Mamaroneck Ave. ­ in a deal that hinges on Rory Dolan’s securing the state liquor license for which it applied last month, said Jim Markey, landlord for the 5,800-square-foot White Plains site and a co-owner of Dooley Mac’s.

Cappelli gives himself options in White Plains
BY ALEX PHILIPPIDIS

Louis R. Cappelli is promising he’ll begin this month to build the 42 below-market-rate apartments he owes the city of White Plains if Martin Ginsburg cannot fulfill an agreement with him to do so on an adjacent downtown parcel approved for a $200 million retail-apartment building.

For Panera, the customer’s health comes first
BY CHRISTINA OCCHIPINTI

In business, there’s CRM -- customer relationship management -- and for Panera Bread there’s CHM ­ customer health management.

SL Green finds a familiar name for its new portfolio
By ALEX PHILIPPIDIS

Maybe there’s something to that old Reckson name after all.

That’s the thinking of the publicly traded Manhattan company that bought out Reckson Associates Realty Corp. for $6 billion last January. SL Green Realty Corp. is using the Reckson name for the division overseeing its newly acquired 16 buildings in Westchester, plus another three in Stamford, Conn.

Salisbury Bank to shut branch in Mount Vernon
BY ALEXANDER SOULE

Salisbury Bancorp Inc. has won approval from the New York State Department of Banking to relocate a branch it recently acquired in Mount Vernon to Dover Plains.

Beyond luxury end, slow times for condo projects
By ALEX PHILIPPIDIS

Westchester’s condominium scene may not quite evoke “A Tale of Two Cities,” with its best and worst of times, but it’s not a stretch to see it as a tale of two markets.

Counties to partner in WIRED program
BY ALEXANDER SOULE

A new work force development program in Connecticut’s Fairfield County is expected to formally bring on Westchester County next week as a full partner, which will share $5 million in federal funding.

County considers ride buy to shave costs
BY CHRISTINA OCCHIPINTI

Looking to improve the fiscal performance of Rye Playland, County Executive Andrew Spano has proposed buying eight of the park’s leased amusement rides for $7.8 million.

Brokerage eyes more deals in Westchester and Rockland
By ALEX PHILIPPIDIS

A commercial real estate brokerage is looking to nearly double the number of sales and leases it completed last year during its first full year of doing business in Westchester and Rockland counties.

Putnam mechanic, Yorktown investor team up
Converter kit designed for VO-fueled vehicles
BY BOB CHUVALA

About four years ago Walter Little was asked by a friend to install a kit on his diesel-engine truck so that it could run on vegetable oil. After the conversion, Little ­ an auto mechanic for close to 30 years ­ became an installer for the company that sold the kit, converting “close to 300 vehicles” before he dreamed up his own conversion kit.

The river that unites not divides
Head of Pattern for Progress reveals 2007 agenda
BY KATHY KAHN

Prior to formally taking office as president of Pattern for Progress, Jonathan Drapkin toured the mid-Hudson counties and did a lot of listening. As a result, the think tank’s new leader told more than 400 guests, at the organization’s first President’s Breakfast, that the Hudson Valley is in a period of “remarkable transformation.”

Transportation council to honor area businesses
BY CHRISTINA OCCHIPINTI

As a way to recognize progressive, environmentally astute employers in the metropolitan area, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) is accepting applications for the Regional Commuter Choice Awards.

Both sides hail workers’ comp reform deal
BY BRYAN F. YURCAN

Business and labor don’t always agree on issues, but both have collectively lauded an agreement to reform the state workers’ compensation system.