Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Should AG Candidates Tell The Truth? - Based on the MCC YP Forum Events

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee helped to promote an event where three of the New York Democratic Attorney General Candidates participated in an open forum, and journalist Greg David moderated the event.

Today, David released a piece on Crain's New York Business, based on the events of the forum held on August 24th.  Namely, he questioned Richard Brodsky, who sat on the panel on that evening.

Please take a look at the article.  The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee is pleased to have been part of this event.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

MCC YPs Profile: Sean Coffey, New York Democratic Attorney General Candidate

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee is hosting a Night with the New York Democratic Attorney General Candidates on Tuesday, August 24.   The event is free for all committee members, and $15 for non-members.  Please tell a friend!


The evening will be moderated by Greg David of the CUNY School of Journalism, and will feature three candidates: Richard Brodsky, Sean Coffey and Eric Dinallo.

Sean Coffey was born in the Bronx in 1956 to Irish immigrant parents. His father, John, was a union carpenter, and his mother, Mary, was a homemaker. To help pay for his education in parochial school, Sean followed in his father’s footsteps and worked as a carpenter’s apprentice, including working on the construction of the World Trade Center.


Sean graduated with merit from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1978. As a Navy officer, he was selected to serve as the personal military assistant to the vice president. After completing his active service, Sean continued to serve for an additional 18 years in the Navy Reserve. Sean retired as a Navy Captain in 2004 with several military decorations.


While working at the Pentagon and in the White House, Sean attended Georgetown University Law Center at night from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1987. In 1991, Sean was sworn in as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Sean eventually returned to private legal practice, and in 2005, was dubbed “Wall Street’s New Nemesis,” as the lead attorney in the WorldCom securities case. He helped to recover over $6 billion for thousands of investors, including the New York State Common Retirement Fund, and in a historic first, required the key wrongdoers to contribute from their personal funds.


Sean and his wife of more than twenty years, Anne Churchill, live in Westchester County with their children Kate, Cameron, and Conor.

MCC YPs Profile: Eric Dinallo, New York Democratic Attorney General Candidate

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee is hosting a Night with the New York Democratic Attorney General Candidates on Tuesday, August 24.   The event is free for all committee members, and $15 for non-members.  Please tell a friend!


The evening will be moderated by Greg David of the CUNY School of Journalism, and will feature three candidates: Richard Brodsky, Sean Coffey and Eric Dinallo. 

Eric Dinallo began as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan D.A.’s office under Robert Morgenthau. He went after repeat felony offenders and put violent criminals behind bars. He took on enterprise corruption and aggressively prosecuted some of the state’s first insider trading cases. As an Assistant Attorney General, Eric led the Investor Protection Bureau and prosecuted fraud and abuse on Wall Street. He resurrected the decades-old Martin Act to investigate conflicts of interest that took advantage of average investors. The groundbreaking casework resulted in the $1.4 billion settlement from the nation’s largest financial firms, including Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Bear Sterns. The case also secured important reforms to protect consumers and prevent the abuses from happening again and helped to transform the Attorney General’s office into the powerhouse it is today.

As Managing Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Morgan Stanley, and the General Counsel at Willis Group Holdings, Eric led internal reviews and audits to certify that the firms complied with regulations to protect customers, acting as an internal watchdog and ensuring that companies played by the rules and treated their customers fairly.

Most recently, as the New York State Superintendent of Insurance, Eric developed a reputation for being what the New York Times called a “regulator not stymied by red tape.” He was responsible for regulating and investigating insurance companies – from auto to life to health – and took his watchdog approach to examine how they treated policyholders. He co-chaired New York’s Universal Health Insurance Task Force, provided access to health insurance for 400,000 uninsured New Yorkers and extended insurance benefits to same-sex couples. And when the nation faced its biggest economic challenge in a generation, Eric played a key role in addressing the global financial crisis by making sure that AIG’s policyholders were protected.

MCC YPs Profile: Richard Brodsky, New York Democratic Attorney General Candidate

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee is hosting a Night with the New York Democratic Attorney General Candidates on Tuesday, August 24.   The event is free for all committee members, and $15 for non-members.  Please tell a friend!

The evening will be moderated by Greg David of the CUNY School of Journalism, and will feature three candidates: Richard Brodsky, Sean Coffey and Eric Dinallo. 

In 2002, Richard Brodsky was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions. It is as Chairman of this Committee that Richard brought the full weight of his talents and vision to bear on reform of state government. In 2009 this culminated with the passage of the Public Authorities Reform Act. It is a sweeping reform of all of New York’s 700 authorities, including the MTA, New York Power Authority, Long Island Power Authority and the Thruway Authority. It has been lauded as the most significant reform of State government in decades.


Not only has Richard created laws to protect the people of New York, he has also served as a chief investigator, rooting out corruption at all levels of government. His investigation into the use of public funds to build the new Yankee Stadium revealed secret and illegal deals between the Yankees and NYC. Richard has consistently fought to level the playing field and to make sure that all public officials are held responsible for their actions.


Richard has taken on investigations of the private sector wrongdoers to protect consumers as well. In the 2006 power outage in Astoria Queens, Richard recovered $40 million for Queens residents after proving that it was Con Edison’s negligence which caused a major blackout.


Richard has been a champion for the environment. In 1993, Richard was named Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Conservation, beginning a tenure that left a lasting impact on our environment and public health. He authored the most dramatic advances in environmental law in decades, including the Environmental Protection Fund (the first dedicated fund for environmental protection in the State’s history which has disbursed billions in land acquisition, park preservation, and clean air and water projects).

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Join Us for a Night With The New York Democratic Attorney General Candidates

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee is pleased to host a Night with the New York Democratic Attorney General Candidates on August 25, 2010, from 7-8:30 pm at 1095 Avenue of the Americas. 

Moderated by Greg David from the CUNY School of Journalism, see candidates Richard Brodsky, Sean Coffey and Eric Dinallo speak in an open forum setting.

If you are a MCC Young Professionals Committee member, the event is FREE; $15 if you are not.  Please register on the site if you have not already. 

Welcome to the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Blog!

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee's (YPC) goals are to provide useful resources for young professionals (21-35 years old) while creating a sustainable and viable environment in Manhattan where young professionals can excel and grow.

If you are an entrepreneur, small business owner or simply looking to make business connections while climbing the corporate ladder, our group may be of value to you.  Please visit our website for more information.