Resident Named Director

Gregory J. Raphael, of Garden City is a founding partner of the New York City law firm of Ryan & Raphael, P.C. The firm specializes in the area of business law with emphasis on representation of individual clients and small businesses requiring an expertise in estate planning, will, trust and estate law, real property law, employment law, and tax law.

Prior to forming Ryan & Raphael, P.C. in 2000, Mr. Raphael was a partner in the law firm of O'Connor, Murphy, Ryan & Seitrz, first as an associate in 19845, then as partner from 1992. Previously, he was a legal intern in the office of the New York State Attorney General.

Mr. Raphael was appointed by Governor George E. Pataki to serve as one of five current directors of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) which monitors and overseas the finances of Nassau County with the power to issue bonds and notes for county purposes, and to impose hard control mechanisms to restore and maintain county fiscal stability.

In addition, Mr. Raphael was recently nominated by the governor, and approved by the Senate, to become a director of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA), which is a public benefit corporation created to advance the state's goal of providing affordable mortgages to low income families. His term expires in 2009.

Mr. Raphael was also nominated and approved by the New York Catholic Archdiocese as a board of director of the Kennedy Child Study Center in New York City. He is a director of the Men's Association of Garden City. He is admitted to practice law in the courts of the State of New York, and the Southern and Eastern Districts of Federal Court. He graduated from St. John Fisher College in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in management, and graduated in 1985 with a J.D. degree from St. John's University.