Centerline Capital Group announced that Robert L. Levy was promoted to chief executive officer. He will also remain President.
Levy was previously the president and chief operating officer of Centerline and a member of the Board of Trustees of Centerline’s parent company, Centerline Holding Company.
Levy joined Centerline in 2001 as the director of Capital Markets. From 1998 to 2001, he was a vice president in the Real Estate Equity Research and Investment Banking departments at Robertson Stephens.
Prior to 1998, Levy worked at Prudential Securities in the real estate equity research group and at the Prudential Realty Group.
He earned a Master of Business Administration from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University.
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National Cooperative Bank (NCB) announced the promotion of Cecil Greene to senior vice president, chief information security officer (CISO).
Greene will represent the Bank’s interests with respect to the security of information and information systems.
Greene has been with the Bank for nearly a decade, serving in a variety of leadership positions. Previously, he worked as its Information Systems Security Officer, and as Network Manager and Information Systems Administrator.
Greene received a Bachelor’s degree in Technical Management from DeVry University and holds various industry certifications including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
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National Cooperative Bank (NCB) announced that David Christiansen will serve as the bank’s new chief credit officer.
Prior to this role, Christiansen worked as a director at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank in New York. He has also served as a vice president and senior underwriter at JP Morgan Chase.
Christiansen worked at NCB from 1998-2000 as an assistant vice president responsible for national business development and credit management for NCB’s commercial real estate portfolio.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA.
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Riverside Abstract has added three new attorneys to its staff.
Joseph Rejent, Esq. will be acting as Counsel and heading Riverside’s underwriting efforts for its New Jersey, Pennsylvania and National departments.
Bringing 20 years of experience in the legal field, Rejent has worked in-house as Claims Counsel and assistant vice president with Fidelity Title Insurance Company. He has also worked with various private law firms specializing in real estate.
He is also licensed as a title producer in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Aryeh Lazarus, Esq. has joined the company as Counsel. He brings eight years of experience across a variety of areas in the legal field.
Following his legal internship at the Kings County Supreme Court under The Honorable David Schmidt, Lazarus began his career as Consulting Legal Counsel at Pernod Ricard USA, LLC in May of 2006.
He began his tenure at Tarshis, Catania, Liberth, Mahon & Milligram, PLLC in September of 2008, where he maintained a position as a legal associate for the past four years.
Steven Jaspan, Esq. will be acting as vice president of client relations for our New York and New Jersey departments.
After graduating from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Jaspan worked as an associate attorney for Guzov Ofsink LLC, a boutique securities law firm. Thereafter, he worked for Vintage Filings, an S.E.C. filing company.
After a merger of Vintage Filings with PR Newswire, Jaspan was hired as a contract attorney to assist several firms with high profile cases, including the $20 billion claims administration of the BP oil spill, and several other assignments for Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, and Latham & Watkins LLP.
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GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc. announced the promotion of Steven Bakst to chief operating officer for the company.
Bakst previously served as director of operations for the company for nearly six years.
Bakst has more than 10 years of management experience in mortgage operations. Before joining the company, he served as the vice president and director of operations for another mortgage lender where he oversaw the bank, title company and law firm.
Bakst graduated from Touro College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management.
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After a seven-year absence, Jack Isenberg has rejoined Greiner-Maltz as a director of real estate.
Isenberg, a 20-year veteran of the real estate industry, will concentrate on commercial and industrial real estate in Brooklyn, and Queens, NY. Some of Isenberg’s past clients include Steve Madden, and Time Warner.
Previously, Isenberg enjoyed a 30-year career in the fashion industry. He holds an AAS Degree in Business Management for the Apparel Industry from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
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Monday Properties announced that Frank Mancini has joined the company as senior vice president of asset management.
Mancini will direct the asset management activities of Monday Properties’ New York City portfolio, with direct oversight of all leasing activities, and corresponding responsibilities for the firm’s Rosslyn, VA, portfolio.
Previously, Mancini served as principal of SHL RE Consulting. Prior to that, he was executive managing director for New York Investor Services at Grubb & Ellis and head of asset management for Normandy Real Estate Partners.
Mancini earned a BS from St. John’s University, College of Business Administration and holds a Diploma in Real Estate from The Real Estate Institute of New York University.
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W&H Properties has appointed Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Kyle Nevergold building manager at One Grand Central Place.
Nevergold is responsible for overall operations, maintenance and capital improvement projects at the white-glove office building with direct in-building access to Grand Central Terminal.
Previously, Nevergold served as the building manager of two other W&H buildings along the Broadway Office Corridor: 1333 and 1400 Broadway.
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The NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate has appointed Manish Srivastava, who recently joined the faculty as a clinical associate professor of real estate finance and investment, to also serve as the new director of academic affairs for the Institute.
Srivastava will initially be involved in monitoring the finance curriculum of the M.S. in Real Estate to ensure that all courses are relevant to the evolving dynamics of the real estate finance industry.
Srivastava is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned dual Master’s in Real Estate Finance and Development, and Architecture. He was the recipient of the Aga Khan Scholarship at MIT.
He also completed a five-year Bachelor’s of Architecture from the University of Lucknow in India, where he worked as an architect and was responsible for the design and the development of several building projects.
Prior to joining NYU Schack, he served as senior manager of Real Estate Capital Markets at Ernst & Young LLP, and for the past two years, had been managing principal at Sidhant Capital, LLC.
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Weichert Commercial Brokerage, Inc. announced that Michael Kearns has joined as sales associate.
Kearns brings with him over 20-years of experience in the financial sector focusing on equity trading, investments and financial planning.
Prior to joining Weichert, Kearns was and continues to be managing director for Point Capital Markets where he introduces private equity deals to high net-worth individuals.
He held various positions with such companies as Ernst & Young and Goldman Sachs & Co. He also was the director of sponsorship sales for Crystal Springs Resort in Sussex County, New Jersey.
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Fox Rothschild LLP has welcomed a team of eight attorneys from Day Pitney LLP.
Robert A. Klausner, Deirdre E. Moore and Christopher M. Rider have joined Fox as partners. Grace J. Shin and Mat D. Carlson have also joined as partners, and as associates, Jennifer L. Solberg, Joshua J. Franklin and Corey D. Kaplan. This group boosts the firm’s real estate practice, which has an expansive footprint in New Jersey.
In addition, the team will spearhead the opening of a Fox office in Morristown, NJ, in the summer of 2013. Fox has three offices in the state with more than 150 attorneys.
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The Advantage Group of Companies announced two new hires and two promotions.
Cynthia Synan has joined The Mortgage Advantage as director of business development.
Previously, she was director of reverse mortgage sales at Interstate Home Loan Center, Inc. She has more than 16 years of experience in all facets of the mortgage industry.
Stephen Albright, Esq. has joined Advantage Title Agency Inc. as senior vice president.
Albright previously was counsel to HSBC Land Title Agency (USA) LLC. He has more than 25 years of diverse real estate, lending and litigation experience and has provided strategic advice to leading law firms.
Denise Angiulo was promoted to vice president/business development, at Advantage Title. Previously, she was a client manager.
Michael Licitra has been promoted to executive vice president of Advantage Title. He previously was senior vice president.
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Adams & Co. Real Estate announced that Seth Godnick has joined the company as associate director.
Prior to joining Adams & Co. full-time, Godnick interned with the company. He also previously worked for General Security Corporation on Long Island, where he sold a complete line of integrated security systems for homes and businesses.
Godnick is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
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First Financial Network has hired Tim Buss, formerly with NAI Global, as a senior vice president, Business Development.
Buss previously served as a senior vice president at NAI Global and NAI Hiffman where he was responsible for working with commercial lenders and special servicers to resolve their distressed loan issues.
Before this, he was a vice president, regional sales manager for Lehman Brothers, a principal at Trammell Crow Company and a vice president at Boatmen’s Bank/NationsBank.
He started his professional career in 1987 as an assistant bank examiner with the FDIC.
Buss received his Bachelor of Science from Kansas State University.
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Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation (MMCC) has named Andrew Dansker as an associate director in the firm’s Manhattan office,.
Dansker will be responsible for sourcing, underwriting and obtaining financing for all asset classes of commercial real estate nationwide with particular emphasis on multifamily.
Prior to joining MMCC, Dansker worked with Cooper-Horowitz Inc. He was also a managing director with Matrix Realty Group.
Dansker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Chicago. He received his Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law.
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Morrison Cohen LLP announced the arrival of Yariv Ben-Ari as senior counsel in the firm’s Real Estate Department.
Previously, Yariv was an associate at Herrick Feinstein LLP where he concentrated in the areas of commercial real estate and finance.
Yariv Ben-Ari’s practice is focused on all areas of commercial real estate. He has represented investment banks, commercial banks, and other lending institutions in real estate finance transactions.
Yariv uses his knowledge of American and Israeli business cultures and legal systems to assist Israeli businesses and enterprises in the United States and Israel.