"Our Island Real Estate is honored to have an American flag painted on their building, located at 2008 Victory Boulevard. To have an artist as well known as Scott LoBaido create a patriotic masterpiece on our building and to help show support for Where to Turn is something we are more than happy to do for our Staten Island community," says Chris Reno president of Our Island.

Where To Turn, Inc., a newly incorporated New York not-for-profit located at 1110 South Avenue, Staten Island, N.Y. 10314, had its beginnings shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It was at this time that it became apparent that many families of victims did not know where to turn to receive the aid they needed. In response, a small group of Staten Island residents began a collaborative effort to help the families.

This nascent effort grew into a support organization that served the families of victims by acting as a clearinghouse for 9/11-related information. By collecting relevant information on many of the 9/11 support groups, Where to Turn was able to direct families to available support groups and services. Where to Turn was also able to get answers to victims' general questions from organizations on both local and national levels, depending on the need. Where to Turn was able to assist families that found themselves caught in various bureaucratic mazes within many support organizations.

As Where to Turn became better known, it began to build relationships with top-level administrators of such support organizations and helped them to become aware of problems or needs that were not being addressed. Where to Turn voiced the families' concerns and successfully enacted changes to the Victim's Compensation Fund as well as the redevelopment of Ground Zero.

Where to Turn soon became one of the primary New York-based clearinghouses for 9/11-related information. It soon became apparent that the process that they had developed could be used to help all victims of tragedy. In October of 2004, the staff of Where to Turn began to verify and catalogue the various links with which they had been dealing. At launch, the Where to Turn website contained nearly 300 verified links.

The project, Flags Across Staten Island, which will be finished by July 4, is a sequel to LoBaido's 2006 trip around the country in which he painted a flag on a rooftop in every state. "I've been painting flags for 20 years," said LoBaido, 44, of Grasmere. "It's a beautiful thing. It's a powerful thing. I know that men and women sacrificed and still do today so I can express myself and test the boundaries of the First Amendment," the fourth-generation Staten Islander said. The goal of the murals, on buildings ranging from churches to gas stations is twofold - to inspire patriotism and deter graffiti. "Kids never touch my flags. For some reason they respect the flag," LoBaido said.

Scott LoBaido is a self-taught artist. His art is diverse in style, medium, and subject. Most artists stick to one continuous style, but Scott loves the challenges of change and diversity. This is evident in his gallery of a wide range of works, from surreal and abstract paintings to the pop art of his love for patriotism. His past is rather colorful and controversial, as he was known for his notorious pro-American activism. With his art as his platform he has been featured in hundreds of newspapers, TV news programs and radio shows like CNN's Anderson Cooper, ABC's World News Tonight (Person of the Week) and FOX's Bill O'Reilly Show.

The artist's goal is to combine his surrealistic pop images with a touch of patriotism in hopes of promoting the positives of this feeling to all generations, especially the young who see the flag and love of America as taboo.

Our Island Real Estate is proud to announce the sale of 20 new construction homes at Giacomo Estates, conveniently located in the heart of the North Shore. During such unprecedented economically trying times Loffreno Construction has delivered a product which separates him from the other developers on the Island. Amazingly Giacomo Estates spares none of the amenities people expect from a new construction home at a price they can afford.

Loffreno Construction has gone a step further teaming up with Our Island Real Estate and JP Morgan Chase to provide an additional one point discount to the already record low mortgage rates. The project will be FHA and SONYMA approved, guaranteeing almost no barrier to entry.

"We are all very proud of the place we call home and want to make sure that our fellow Staten Islanders can afford the homes in which they live," says Scott O'Brien, Broker/Owner of Our Island Real Estate. Our Island asks that you come visit these homes on Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.

"These homes are being finished with the utmost attention to detail that I personally have never seen before here on Staten Island," says Chris Reno, President of Our Island Real Estate. "The quality of craftsmanship is a real testament to the unparalleled expectations that the builder has adopted in all of his construction projects."

"Frank Loffreno's unique attention to detail leads his company to deliver a product that is second to none. Frank's direct involvement with each aspect of the home and the transition leads to an enjoyable result and seamless transaction for all parties involved. It is an absolute pleasure being associated with a professional who takes such pride in his work," says Scott O'Brien.

DIRECTIONS: Giacomo Estates can easily be found just off of Cary Avenue in a quaint little pocket of the North Shore. All these homes are situated in a convenient locale, walking distance to shops, restaurants, supermarkets, schools and transportation.

by Alan Lasher

IN A MOVE calculated to restore order to the stock market and stop the rollercoaster in the world of finance, the United States government approved a package valued at $750 billion to be made available. The hope was to restore liquidity to the market place, allowing businesses to borrow again for their short term needs, to encourage new expansion and to reverse the last ten months of deflation.

The bill authorizing the money was the work of Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, and was approved by the Finance Committee of the United States Senate, all of whose members, including N.Y.'s Chuck Schumer, had received large contributions to their political campaigns from the Finance Industry PACs (Political Action Committees). Of course there are no conflicts of interest. The plan was to buy up the toxic bonds to try to restore stability to the housing market.

So far, most of the money is sitting in reserves and not being used. There are two schools of thought: one is that the money should stay put as security for our government, Wall Street, and everyone's psyche — a statement to the world that we are solid, liquid, and strong; the other school of thought is that the money should be spent — invested, earning interest, and stimulating the economy.

This Trickle-Down Theory of Economics has been the underlying rationale of the Bush Administration's eight years in office. A derogatory term applied to Reaganomics, or Supply-Side Economics, Trickle-Down Economic Theory states that tax cuts for the wealthy will merely "trickle down" to the bottom groups. The actual result is that the rich benefit at the expense of the economy. Similar criticisms were raised about the supply-side tax cuts enacted by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon in 1921 but not for those made by John Kennedy in the 1960s. Supply-side cuts involve cutting taxes across the board, but most dramatically for those in the top tax brackets. The rationale was that those who paid the most taxes would then be able to reinvest their tax "savings."

Paulson does turnaround:
The fate of the Bailout money remains unclear.

Just weeks after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sold Congress on a $700 billion plan to bail out the ruined financial industry, he's reversed course. Now, instead of buying banks' troubled assets — the strategy that Congress approved — he wants to inject cash into banks directly, the way Britain has done. It's the strategy Paulson should have pursued in the first place. It is the only way to quickly capitalize banks, and, hopefully, to beat back the army of lobbyists that have descended on Capitol Hill in the hopes of getting a piece of that $700 billion pie for whatever industry they might happen to represent.

Perhaps Paulson came to this conclusion when he realized that, far from slowing the financial crisis, his ill-defined Troubled Asset Relief Program was too much trouble to launch and hadn't managed to stop the financial crisis from shifting from Wall Street to Main Street. Now we have an ill-defined plan to capitalize banks, nonbanks, credit card receivables, auto loans, student loans and housing loans instead. Remind us how this is supposed to work again?

As the next stage of the massive package to rescue the financial sector and get the frozen credit markets working again on Tuesday, Oct. 14 (came and went). The announcement came the day after Paulson called in the heads of six major banks and pressed them to "voluntarily" back Treasury's plan to devote $250 billion of the $700 billion recently approved by Congress to buy direct equity stakes in financial institutions in return for senior preferred shares.

At a press conference in the Treasury's ornate Cash Room, Paulson announced that nine large financial institutions "have already agreed to participate in the program." The agency plans to use half of the $250 billion to buy preferred shares simultaneously in a handful of the country's largest banks, according to a source closely following the discussions. This source expects the rest of the $250 billion — which is the amount of the first tranche Congress authorized Treasury to spend — to be invested quickly in other banks. After that, Treasury would ask Congress to authorize the next $100 billion in funding it approved.

Paulson said banks that sell shares to the government will "accept restrictions" on executive compensation, including a ban on golden parachute exit agreements while the government holds the bank shares. Taxpayers will also get warrants for common shares. And the banks will be expected to "continue and to strengthen their efforts to help struggling homeowners who can afford their homes avoid foreclosure."

"Our goal is to see a wide array of healthy institutions sell preferred shares to the Treasury and raise additional private capital, so that they can make more loans to businesses and consumers across the nation," Paulson said in the statement. "At a time when events naturally make even the most daring investors more risk-averse, the needs of our economy require that our financial institutions not take this new capital to hoard it, but to deploy it."

The new strategy — give the money to the banks!
Who's getting what?

Among the firms expected to get funding under this plan, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America were to receive $25 billion apiece, Wells Fargo was to get between $20 billion and $25 billion, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were down for $10 billion each, and the Bank of New York and State Street were slated for $2 billion to $3 billion apiece. Now the problem is that people are losing their homes because they can't pay their mortgages, so we give money to the banks, but they aren't going to apply it towards our mortgages, are they?

6 top Goldman Sachs Executives waive this year's bonus.

Pressured by an almost unprecedented financial meltdown and a gathering outcry over executive pay on Main Street, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reportedly will pay no bonuses in 2008 to its top management — a move that may set the precedent across a troubled Wall Street. Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, whose bonus last year was $106.5 million, and six other top officials told the board's compensation committee they did not want a bonus because of the company's poor performance this year. The decision means the seven company leaders will receive an annual base salary of only $600,000.

Does anyone know what they are doing?

The answer to the question of "Will the Government's Bailout work?" depends upon who is actually being bailed out. Economists and the media will argue this until the Economy settles or recovers, and then everyone will line up to accept the blame — I mean the credit. Someday when the economy stabilizes, or even when we head back into prosperity and economic growth, then we will pick heroes and villains. History will be the decider.

What we do know for certain right now is that no one knows what will work and what won't. We are in virgin territory, uncharted waters. The hope is that we give enough time for something to work, and that we have the courage to accept the "growing pains" that must be involved for it to work. The problem that we face right now, amongst others, is the tendency of our government to look for Band-Aid remedies — quick fixes that make everything appear better quickly, which, more often than not, merely put the problem over for later. Our children and our children's children are inheriting a world that has been "looted" — its resources depleted and straddled with a huge debt. It is incumbent upon the new Administration, the new Congress, Wall Street, big OIL, and all of us to stop looking for the quick fixes; to stop trying to squeeze the last dollar out of every opportunity with no regard as to the consequences to the WORLD, and to begin putting the common good first.

Lasher is a 4th-generation Staten Islander and a land developer on Staten Island who has been developing vacant land for over 30 years. He has won numerous building awards and many say that he is responsible for the renaissance in Westerleigh in the 1980s after he renovated its worst eyesore into its brightest star on Watchogue Road. "Lasher can see things that no one else sees in land," said Chris Reno, co-owner of Our Island Real Estate. We are thrilled that we were able to convince him to join to head up our land division.

Additionally, since the onset of the crash of the Sub-Prime Mortgage and Credit Church, Lasher has been tracking every foreclosure that is owned by the banks and currently on the market. Continuing another family tradition begun during the great depression, Lasher has been buying and selling bank-owned real estate. Lasher visits every property and writes a report. He is probably the most knowledgeable person on Staten Island regarding all of the foreclosed properties available. If you are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity of a lifetime, Lasher is certainly the only person to call.

Our Island Real Estate was founded over 3 years ago by Scott O'Brien, Chris Reno, and Michael Gentilesco, Managing Broker, to better serve the needs of home owners and prospective buyers here on Staten Island. Our island gives our clients a no-nonsense approach. When listing a property, we try to help the homeowner understand the true value of their home, so the property can be sold in a timely manner, which benefits them both financially and emotionally. We have set up a sales team of successful, hardworking professionals who work around the clock to help people find the home of their dreams. "They are dedicated to their clients and go to extremes to find exactly what they are looking for," says Gentilesco.

Our Island Real Estate was proud to once again be part of the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life which began on June 13. Although this important fundraising event has already concluded, donations are always welcome. For more information, call 718-273-7700 or visit the official website.

Our Island recognizes the differences between the various neighborhoods and the ethnic diversity that goes along with our growing population. By having a centrally located office, professionals at Our Island serve our clients in a truly unique manner. We are well informed about Staten Island and all it has to offer, and we possess in-depth knowledge about the individuality of each and every neighborhood. Therefore, we're more suited to meet the individual needs of every client at Our Island.

At Our Island Real Estate, we take great pride in our community and our fellow Staten Islanders. That pride is the foundation upon which our company has been built. We truly believe that Staten Island is a great place to call home!