News & Events
2005 Best of New York Award Dinner to Salute Belson, Turner, Health Plus, Gale Group and alumnus Michael Romano on May 9
Romano
Belson
Gale
New York City College of Technology/CUNY (City Tech) will salute Jerome Belson, president, Associated Builders & Owners of Greater New York; Turner Construction Company; Health Plus; Gale Group/New York; and alumnus Michael Romano ’75, executive chef/partner at Union Square Café, at its 2005 Best of New York Award Dinner on Monday, May 9, in the Hilton New York’s Trianon Ballroom in Manhattan.
The event will begin with a 6 p.m. Guest of Honor Reception, followed by dinner and the awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Some 400 business, industry, community and union leaders, public officials, City Tech alumni, students and faculty, and other guests will attend.
The theme of this year’s dinner is “New York at Your Service” and Belson, Gale, Romano, Turner Construction Company and Health Plus all exemplify the very best traditions of New York City’s service-oriented economy in the housing, advertising, public relations, food service, construction and healthcare fields.
2005 Best of New York Awards
Jerome Belson has been a prominent figure in New York and the nation’s real estate industry for decades. Today, he is chairman of Jerome Belson Enterprises and president of Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York (ABO). Since 1910, ABO has been shaping the world’s most celebrated skyline with new developments and rehabilitation projects in residential, commercial, hotel and retail properties. The local real estate industry’s largest such organization, ABO continues, under Belson’s leadership, to effectively develop and maintain communication and networking between the industry and local, state and federal government agencies on issues that affect building, managing and operating real property in New York City. Under Belson’s leadership, ABO continues to be a forceful proponent of model urban housing developments to alleviate the critical shortage in affordable housing and has established the highest standards in training and education for property management professionals. An individual highly dedicated to various charitable causes, Belson is chairman of the United Cerebral Palsy of New York City and also serves on the board of trustees of the National Jewish Fund and Handicapped Boy Scouts, and is a director of Disabled and Alone/Life Services for the Handicapped. In recognition of his exceptional leadership skills, he was inducted into the New York State Builders Association Hall of Fame in 2003 and is recipient of a Public Service Award from the New York Housing Conference/National Housing Conference. Belson is a graduate of the School of Law at St. John’s University and a member of the university’s board of trustees. His lifelong commitment to enriching the lives of all New Yorkers has won him the enduring respect and admiration of a grateful public.
Turner Construction Company, with construction volume of $6.1 billion in 2003, is America’s leading general builder and a national leader in all major segments of the construction industry. With a nationwide network of offices and a staff of more than 5,000 employees, Turner performs work on more than 1,500 projects each year. The firm is also a national model for corporate responsibility and value added services to clients, and its reputation in the areas of equal opportunity employment, support for education at all levels, a commitment to Green building, and community outreach and cooperation is unrivaled in the industry. In New York City alone, Turner’s YouthForce 2020 Scholarship Program has awarded more than 45 scholarships in the past 13 years to students living in the five boroughs. Turner Knowledge Network’s (TKN) online learning website, Turner University, provides an extensive range of construction-specific training programs for both employees and other interested parties in areas as diverse as OSHA, safety, specialized technical skills, insurance and bonding, and workplace sensitivity.
Health Plus is New York City’s largest not-for-profit, multi-cultural provider of government-sponsored health insurance and managed care quality healthcare services that help to keep more than a quarter-million New Yorkers healthy, happy and strong. It was established in 1984 by Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) to provide coordinated quality healthcare and improve access to care for a diverse and growing number of uninsured men, women and children in Southwest Brooklyn. In 1992, LMC began to explore the possibilities of working with other medical centers in Brooklyn and Staten Island to expand the Health Plus program. Four years later, the New York State Department of Health offered Health Plus, which had developed an extensive network of quality medical and behavioral health providers, a Medicaid Managed Care Program contract to cover Brooklyn and Staten Island. Health Plus now serves the five boroughs of New York City through its Health Care Plus, Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus programs, after expanding to Queens in 1998, the Bronx in 1999 and Manhattan in 2000. The company’s commitment to providing outstanding service to its constituency is one reason it is the top-ranked managed care plan in the city in terms of quality and member satisfaction, as measured by New York State. Future plans envision an expansion in service areas and the development of new business lines that will further its mission to promote the health of a culturally diverse population through greater partnership with members, providers and community-based organizations.
The Gale Group is a New York-Beverly Hills-based full-service advertising/public relations agency with clients that include designers Oleg Cassini and David Meister, and other top names in the fashion, beauty and youth markets such as Avirex, Capezio, Chereskin, Dollhouse, Iso, K-Swiss, Siena Studio, Styli-Style, Yellow Box and the Brooklyn bottling company Squeez’r Beverages. Established in 1988 by contemporary women’s apparel, direct marketing and fashion publishing professional Mindy Gale and award-winning Swedish art director/production expert David Zeigerman, Gale Group is today is leading strategic marketing firm specializing in cultural trends with the foresight to clients’ needs. The firm is young where it counts and experienced where it’s important, with a team of 20 creative image experts noted for their innovative approaches to branding, successful marketing and public relations campaigns, and smart media placement. Gale and Zeigerman have combined European tastes, talent, enthusiasm and a strong work ethic to fashion a firm with a remarkable reputation for success in effectively establishing brand awareness and building market share for its clients. Multi-layered programs and celebrity spokespeople deliver the right message to the right audience through the right media. Brand building excellence and lasting client relationships are testimonials to Gale Group’s commitment to dedication to quality. In the field of advertising and public relations, the firm exemplifies “New York at Your Service” at its best.
2005 Distinguished Alumni Award
City Tech alumnus Michael Romano ’75, will be honored with the College’s 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his professional excellence and outstanding achievements in the world of gastronomy and his other contributions to the larger community. Since coming to Union Square Café in 1988 and joining forces with partner Danny Meyer in 1993, Romano’s culinary and business talents have played a key role in fashioning the restaurant’s award-winning reputation as the Number One Most Popular Restaurant (1997 to 2002 and again in 2004), in the New York City Zagat Survey. Romano, who is recipient of numerous awards that include the James Beard Foundation’s 2001 Best Chef in New York City Award, has maintained close ties with his alma mater and currently chairs a committee created to establish an endowment fund to support City Tech’s Thomas Ahrens International Work/Study Programs. He is also a highly active supporter of City Harvest, Share Our Strength, Taste of the Nation and other anti-hunger, nutritional and culinary education efforts. Together with Meyer, Romano is co-author of two popular cookbooks: The Union Square Cafe Cookbook (1994) and Second Helpings (2001). Meyer will present the award to his friend and partner at the May 9 dinner.
About the Best of New York Award Dinner
Established in 1982, the Best of New York Award Dinner is hosted by the New York City College of Technology Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation chartered in 1981 to support the College in meeting and its educational mission. Proceeds from the annual dinner help fund foundation-sponsored scholarships and other student financial assistance programs. Previous honorees include Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind, Empire State Development’s Charles Gargano, the NAACP’s Kweise Mfume, Marriott International’s J.W. Marriott, Jr., CWA Local 1109 President Tony Matarazzo, Amalgamated Bank President Gabriel P. Caprio, Banco Popular Chairman Richard Carrion, UFT President Randi Weingarten, WNET/Thirteen President William F. Baker, Forest City Ratner Companies President Bruce C. Ratner, baseball legend Henry “Hank” Aaron, former New York City Deputy Mayor John Zucotti, and the late Lewis Rudin, chairman, Association for a Better New York. For additional information about the Best of New York Award Dinner 2005, call 718.260.5025.
4.15.05
