Yonkers Partners In Education
Wendy R. Nadel, Executive Director
(914) 377-4882

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: November 12, 2008
For More Information Contact: Wendy Nadel
Email: wrnadel@ypie.org

Yonkers Partners in Education Welcomes Five New Board Members

Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE), the non-profit education fund providing programs to the over 25,000 Yonkers public school students, is pleased to announce the addition of five new members to its Board of Directors: Joseph Curto, Jr., Edward Fergus, Ph.D., Anthony Gallinari, Thomas Smith, Esq., and Nick Sprayregan. Business and community leaders, they will bring strategic thinking and fresh perspectives to YPIE’s leadership.

“These five professionals will enhance our Board with a wealth of legal, financial, business, and educational expertise—all which are essential to meeting the needs of the Yonkers public school students,” said Wendy Nadel, Executive Director of Yonkers Partners in Education. “We look forward to their guidance and energy as our organization grows and strengthens.

Joseph Curto Jr. is the owner and operator of Yonkers Tennis Center, and is also a partner in Curco Operating Company and JoMale Realty Corp., Yonkers-based real estate management and development companies. He is an active member of his Cold Spring, NY community, currently serving on the Haldane Central School District Board of Education, the Haldane School Foundation, and the Board of Trustees of the Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library.

Edward Fergus, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation at the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, New York University, has spent his professional career working on education reform. He has conducted research on education policy, analyzed issues plaguing low-performing public school districts, and advised numerous school districts throughout the country. Dr. Fergus currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hunter College and on the Board of Directors of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University.

Currently VP of Acquisitions for First Hartford Realty, a real estate development company based in Manchester, Conn., Anthony Gallinari has extensive experience in all forms of retail development. He served as President of the Music Conservatory of Westchester from 1996 through 1999, where he oversaw the acquisition, financing, and construction of a new school facility and earned a Kresge Challenge Grant for its successful capital campaign. A graduate of New York Law School, Mr. Gallinari is a member of New York State and Connecticut Bar Associations. Mr. Gallinari is also a member of International Council of Shopping Centers.

Thomas Smith Esq., Partner at Smith, Buss and Jacobs, specializes in commercial read estate development and urban retail redevelopment. Mr. Smith has served as a member of the New York Attorney General’s Martin Act Task Force and as the former Chairman of the Mount Kisco Zoning Board of Appeals. He is a founder and the current secretary of the Council of Westchester Co-ops and Condominiums (CWCC) and has served on the Board of the Southern New York Chapter of the Community Associations Institute. He currently serves as a member of the Board of The Westchester Bank, which opened in Spring 2008.

Nick Sprayregen has expertise in both the real estate and publishing industries. Since 1992, he has been a general partner at Tuck-It-Away Associates, L.P., a commercial real estate company specializing in self storage properties. In 2006, he also became a managing member of Rising Development Co., specializing in residential and commercial real estate in downtown Yonkers. And, in 2007, he added the role of President and Publisher of Rising Publications, a nine-newspaper weekly chain of weekly publications. Nick also sits on the Board of Directors the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce, Police Athletic League, and Downtown Waterfront BID.

Yonkers Partners in Education is an education fund that works in partnership with the public and private sectors to ensure that all students attending public school in Yonkers receive a high quality education that prepares them for work, college, and success in life.

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