28 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 22, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Leaders honored at Star Network’s
Premiere “Excellence in Real Estate &
Development Awards & Networking Event”
BY ANGELA MATUA The best and brightest in real estate
gathered at Terrace on the Park
on June 14 where they were honored
by the Star Network for their contributions
to the industry.
Honorees in real estate were awarded
for their development, residential, and
commercial accomplishments.
The Humanitarian Award was given
to Joe Mattone, Sr., Chairman & CEO,
Mattone Group. Mattone, a graduate of
St. John’s University in Queens, started
his real estate career in 1955 and
founded his own real estate company
in the 1970s. In addition to his success
in the real estate industry, Mattone has
a long history of philanthropy, serving
as a chair at St. Vincent’s Home and St.
John’s University.
He is also on the board of directors
at Futures in Education, an organization
that helps to raise money for scholarships.
The Rising Star Awards were given to
Xiao Wu (Katie) Qu, Associate Broker
of Prime Realty and Jonathan Talmi,
Principal Broker/Owner, Exit Realty
Next.
“I’m very honored to get this award,”
Talmi said. “It’s great to get recognized
by my peers but more important to
share it with other people in the industry.
I’m a second generation realtor so
it’s just amazing to be here.”
The Shirian family, who own and
operate The Lion’s Group NYC, were
honored with the Excellence in Family
Business award. Albert Shirian founded
the company in 1984 and two years
later, his brother Ramin joined the company.
Aaron Shirian, Albert’s son, is
now the managing director of the company.
The family started building two
and-three family homes in neighborhoods
such as Woodside, Bayside and
Flushing. Their portfolio has expanded
to include large residential projects
in Long Island City, which has seen a
development explosion in the last few
years.
“We have been a business since 1988
when my father and his brother started
and since then we’ve been as family as a
family business can get,” Aaron Shirian
said. “We were raised on construction
sites and raised to be partners so it’s
always nice to be recognized for that.”
The event also featured a keynote
address by Tami Bonnell, CEO of Exit
Realty Corp. International, titled “The
best is yet to come!” Bonnell provided
some advice to attendees on how to
improve day after day, year after year in
every aspect of life.
Those being honored include
Kevin Alexander, President &
CEO, Rockaway Development &
Revitalization Corporation; Satbir
Singh Bedi, Director, Bedi Holdings
USA; Eric Benaim, CEO/President
& Founder, Modern Spaces; Rodney
Bonds, Franchise Developer & Master
Franchisor, Rapid Realty; Veta Brome,
Broker/Owner, EXIT Realty Genesis;
John Ciafone, Esq., The Law Office
of John J. Ciafone, Esq. LLC; Sophia
Constantinou, Vice President of Sales,
Lyons Mortgage Services, Inc.; 91-yearold
Arlington Leon Eastmond, Jr.,
President & CEO, EASCO; Jennifer
Fox, Real Estate Broker/Owner, Century
21 Bay Benjamin Real Estate; Hope
Knight, President & CEO, Greater
Jamaica Development Corporation;
Steven R. Meyer, Real Estate Broker/
Owner, Century 21 Bay Benjamin Real
Estate; Robert Gaskin, Principal, RCGA
Architects; Prianka Kakkar, President,
Search My Title, Inc.; Michael Meyer,
President, F&T Group; Denis Mangan,
Senior Vice President, Commercial
Loan Officer, Flushing Bank; Tyler
Morse, CEO/Managing Partner, MCR
Development; Al Pennisi, Esq., Senior
Partner, Pennisi/Daniels & Norelli
LLP; Dr. Chetachi Nwoga-Ecton,
CEO, Greeco, LLC; Stephen R. Preuss,
Senior Managing Director, Cushman &
Wakefield; Donna Reardon, Licensed
Real Estate Broker Associate/Branch
Manager, Douglas Elliman; Vincent
Riso, Principal, The Briarwood
Organization; Michelle Rosa-Patruno,
Senior Loan Officer, United Mortgage
Corp.; Irena Škoda, ŠKODA Design
+ Architecture; Harry Toor, Senior
Funding Director, Connect2cash; Lily
Tran, Licensed Associate Broker/
Manager, Exit Kingdom Realty; and
The Courier/Photos by Allen Ngai & Arthur De Gaeta
Palmina Whelan, Managing Director,
American Airlines/ Corporate Real
Estate.
“Queens is perhaps the example of a
great area where real estate has thrived
where people have done well and where
the borough has really come to fruition
and has been almost on the par
of Brooklyn which is internationally
renowned,” said John Ciafone, of the
Law Office of John J. Ciafone. “Queens
is right behind it. I think it’s a great
honor. I’m honored to be part of it and
it’s a pleasure to be awarded tonight and
acknowledged among some great people
who have done some great things for
this borough. I think the borough has an
even brighter future ahead.”
In addition, the event included a raffle
where 100 percent of the proceeds were
donated to Candles for Hope, a charity
dedicated to providing birthday parties
for displaced children. For more
information or to donate, visit www.candlesforhope.
org.
Sponsors of the event, in association
with PropertyShark, included: Flushing
Bank, The Mattone Group, CUNY,
EASCO, Cushman & Wakefield, Quontic
Bank, California Closets, National Grid,
Modern Spaces, EXIT Realty, MCR
Development, Lyons Mortgage, United
Mortgage, The Briarwood Organization,
Holt Construction, Twin Peaks, Empire
Promotions, Godiva, HAB Bank and
Broadway Stages, Bethpage Federal
Credit Union and Daily News.
The 2017 honorees of the Star Network's "Premiere Excellence in Queens Real Estate & Development" Awards
