Milstein Family
The Milstein family is led by Howard Milstein, the third generation of one of New York’s leading real estate families.
The Milstein Family exemplifies entrepreneurial stewardship passing from generation to generation. Starting with nothing but his two hands, Morris Milstein founded the Circle Floor Company in 1919. By 1960, Morris’s son, Paul Milstein, had led Circle Floor to success in the New York market, installing floors, walls and ceilings in many of New York’s best known landmarks including Rockefeller Center, the former World Trade Center and the new Madison Square Garden.
Paul Milstein launched the family’s first real estate development project in the 1950s. The Milstein vision was to invest in large scale developments that would serve to anchor and revive ailing neighborhoods. Paul, with his sons, Howard and Edward, developed a keen vision for identifying neighborhoods where they saw extraordinary potential long before most others. Today, the Milstein family owns both residential and commercial properties around the world.
In the 1980s, Howard Milstein further diversified the family’s real estate portfolio and international business holdings into banking. The initiative culminated in 1986 with the purchase of Emigrant Savings Bank. Emigrant, a retail thrift bank founded in 1850 by the Irish Emigrant Society was once the largest savings bank in the nation and is now one of the largest privately held banks in America. Building upon these roots, the Milstein family created New York Private Bank & Trust to serve the needs of other similarly successful families.
Advisory Board – A Record of Success
With over 150 years of combined investment experience, all members of our Advisory Board have created and managed substantial personal wealth with integrity, acumen and consistently remarkable results. NYPBT ensures accountability, transparency and oversight of all investment opportunities. Members of our Advisory Board include: Howard Milstein, Barry Friedberg, and John Hart.
Howard P. Milstein
Howard Milstein is Chairman and CEO of the family’s business operations, including New York Private Bank & Trust Corporation (the holding Company for Emigrant Savings Bank), Milstein Properties, and various Milstein Brothers operations in real estate development and management in New York and Chicago. Mr. Milstein is a founding Partner of FriedbergMilstein, an alternative asset investment manager.
Mr. Milstein served as a member of the Investment Committee for Cornell University’s $4 billion endowment for more than 10 years, and chaired its Real Estate Sub-Committee for more than 20 years, achieving top quartile returns throughout the period and frequently achieving the #1 rating in its endowment universe. He has also guided the investments of the New York Blood Center’s $300 million endowment as Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Milstein’s other civic and philanthropic efforts include: Chairman of the American Skin Association; Trustee Emeritus and Presidential Counselor, Cornell University; and Overseer, Cornell Medical College. He is a member of the Harvard Law School Visiting Committee and of the Executive Committee of the HLS Dean’s Advisory Board.
In Washington, D.C., he serves on the National Board of the Smithsonian Institution and on the Board of the Shakespeare Theater.
Mr. Milstein earned a B.A in Economics, summa cum laude, from Cornell University in 1973 and earned JD/MBA degrees from Harvard University in 1977.
Barry S. Friedberg
Barry Friedberg is the President and Co-Founder of FriedbergMilstein, an asset management firm that has responsibility for investing more than $900 million in leveraged finance assets. FriedbergMilstein was founded in 2003.
Prior to forming FriedbergMilstein, Mr. Friedberg was Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Committee at Merrill Lynch for more than 10 years. From 1985 through 1993, Mr. Friedberg was head of the Global Investment Banking Division of Merrill Lynch. In 1985, when Mr. Friedberg assumed these responsibilities, Merrill Lynch was ranked 6th or lower in the debt, equity, and M&A league tables. By the end of Mr. Friedberg’s period of leadership, Merrill Lynch was #1 in the league tables for all of these products. Mr. Friedberg’s responsibilities also included oversight of the investment activities of Merrill Lynch which included approximately $1 billion of private equity investments and approximately $1.5 billion of leveraged financing for middle market companies. He also, in 1985, initiated the first private placement effort at a Wall Street firm to place limited partnership interests on behalf of financial sponsor clients and was involved in assessing the management teams that Merrill Lynch represented in that marketplace.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Friedberg was head of the Merger & Acquisition Group of AG Becker which Merrill Lynch acquired in 1984.
Mr. Friedberg is Chairman of the Board of the New York City Ballet and a member of its Investment Committee.
He is also a member of the Investment Committee of Boys & Girls Harbor. Mr. Friedberg is a graduate of Princeton University (BA, 1962).
John Hart
Member of Advisory Board, see Executive Profile
Executive Profiles
John R. Hart
John Hart is Vice Chairman of New York Private Bank & Trust Company. He has over 35 years of experience in banking, primarily in Investments and Private Wealth Management. Mr. Hart is responsible for the Capital Markets and Banking Divisions of Emigrant Bank. He serves as a Director of Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc., Emigrant Funding Corporation and Emigrant Agency Inc. Prior to New York Private Bank & Trust, he was a Senior Director of Capital Markets at Meritor Savings Bank.
Mr. Hart’s charitable interests include serving on the Board of Opportunity International, a global micro-finance organization. He is a director and past Chairman of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding and also former Chairman of the Board of Hope Church in Wilton, Connecticut and of the Christian Heritage School in Trumbull, Connecticut.
Mr. Hart received his MBA in Finance and Banking from Saint Joseph’s University and a BA in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.
George J. Dickson, Jr.
George J. Dickson, Jr. is Executive Vice President of New York Private Bank & Trust. Mr. Dickson has been an executive officer of Emigrant Bank since 1988. He is a founding member of the Bank’s Asset/Liability Committee, managing and advising nearly $5 billion of mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds, preferred stocks, U.S. Government Securities, and municipal bonds.
Mr. Dickson also advises separately managed fixed-income accounts for New York Private Bank & Trust clients. For more than 30 years, he has been integrally involved with all of the Bank’s Capital Markets initiatives, ranging from operating the wholesale money market desk to the highly successful U.S. Treasury, GNMA MBS, and municipal bond trading programs. He created and managed the NYPB&T Municipal Liquidity Fund (MF-1 LP), a special purpose hedge fund designed to capitalize on unique opportunities that arose during the financial crisis.
Mr. Dickson’s civic and charitable interests include, The American Heart Association, Angels In Africa, and Saint John Chrysostom Parish Outreach. Prior to joining Emigrant Bank, he was an Investment Strategist at Meritor (PSFS) Bank in Philadelphia. Mr. Dickson holds a B.S. degree from Drexel University, with a dual major in Finance and Economics, and an M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Neal E. Neilinger
Neal Neilinger is an Advisor To The Chairman of New York Private Bank & Trust. He is responsible for new business development for all divisions and affiliates of Emigrant Bank. Prior to joining New York Private Bank & Trust, Mr. Neilinger held senior roles in the global financial markets spanning the last 30 years. As an Executive Director for Lehman Brothers based in London, Mr. Neilinger was responsible for the trading of all credit including credit derivatives products throughout Europe. In 1997, Mr. Neilinger joined Deutsche Bank as a Managing Director and an Operating Committee Member of their investment bank responsible for the global trading of credit. In 2001, Mr. Neilinger joined Dresdner Bank as Deputy Head of the New York office and later Head of their European Corporate Syndicate. Most recently, he was Chief Investment Officer and Vice Chairman of Aladdin Capital, a $20 billion alternative funds manager based in Stamford, CT.
Mr. Neilinger currently serves on the Board of Directors of Sabal Palm Bank in Sarasota, FL. He is a former Co-Chair of The National Advisory Council for Colonial Williamsburg, former Board Member of the Greenwich United Way and past President and Service Member of The Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol.
James A. Berger
Jim Berger is a Managing Director with New York Private Bank & Trust. He is responsible for new business development for all divisions and affiliates of Emigrant Bank. Prior to joining New York Private Bank & Trust, Mr. Berger spent 23 years in the global insurance market, specializing in the entertainment industry providing insurance and completion bonds for several Academy Award® winning films.
Mr. Berger and his wife support several national charities including the Cancer Support Community, Guiding Eyes for the Blind and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. A graduate of Boston University, he sits on the NYC alumni board of the Questrom School of Business.
Mr. Berger lives in Manhattan with his wife and young son. He is an avid golfer and skier.
P. Christopher Cieszko
Chris Cieszko is a Managing Director and Senior Credit Officer at New York Private Bank & Trust. His primary responsibilities include reviewing and qualifying new business opportunities, negotiating terms and conditions, and underwriting and obtaining credit approvals for all loans. Additional duties include client relationship management and new business development. He has over 30 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Cieszko was the Market President for San Diego Private Bank in San Diego, California, responsible for the successful establishment and expansion of a “de novo” Private Bank.
Before his move to San Diego, Mr. Cieszko was a Senior Vice President and Private Banker with U.S. Trust Company. His responsibilities included relationship management, business development and loan structuring/negotiations. He started with U.S. Trust Company in their New York headquarters’ office in 1993. He relocated to Portland, Oregon to establish the company’s Private Banking office and later moved to Los Angeles to spearhead the development of the Southern California market for U.S. Trust. He previously worked for Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and Chemical Bank in New York.
Mr. Cieszko attended Wake Forest University and is a graduate of William Paterson College. He is a member of the Los Angeles Rotary Club and Rotary International.
William M. (Biff) Folberth III
William M. (Biff) Folberth III, CFP, CFA is a Managing Director of New York Private Bank & Trust. For the past 47 years, he has been a professional in the New York City financial services industry. He spent the first 20 years of his career as an Investment Banker/Corporate Finance officer with Hornblower & Weeks-Hemphill, Noyes; Dean Witter (Reynolds) and Smith Barney Harris-Upham. For the last 27 years he served as Senior Vice President and Investment Counselor in the Rockefeller Center Private Client Service (PCS) Office of the Los Angeles based Capital Group Companies/American Funds Group. As an Investment Counselor at Capital, he was a trusted advisor for 53 relationships for which the firm managed $800 million in 186 separate accounts.
Over the years, Biff has served as an officer of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board and the Columbia Business School Board of Overseers. He is Co-Secretary of the Class of 1966 at Yale, was Chairman of The Yale Alumni Fund, and is one of the 290 recipients of The Yale Medal, given for lifelong service to the University. He is past Treasurer of The American Foundation of the Blind and Chairman of the Advisory Board of The American Field Service, an organization through which he traveled as an exchange student to Holland in 1961. He has been Troop Committee Chairman, Eagle Scout with Bronze Palm and Ordeal Member of the Order of The Arrow with the Boy Scouts of America. He currently serves as Argentier Emeritus of the New York Chapter of The Commanderie de Bordeaux.
Mr. Folberth received a BS from Yale University and graduate business degrees from both Columbia and Harvard Business Schools. He is a Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
David Marcus
David Marcus is a Managing Partner of Emigrant Partners. Emigrant Partners is a division of Emigrant Bank and is tasked with expanding the Bank’s private wealth business – New York Private Bank & Trust – into cities across the U.S. and abroad.
Prior to joining New York Private Bank & Trust, Mr. Marcus was Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets at E*TRADE Financial. Prior to E*TRADE, Mr. Marcus was Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking and Capital Markets at W.R. Hambrecht & Co. Before joining Hambrecht, Mr. Marcus was a Senior Vice President in the Alternative Asset Group at Lehman Brothers.
Besides his career in banking, Mr. Marcus is an entrepreneur. He was Co-Founder and Head of Sales for WorldStreet, a Fintech company acquired by Thomson Reuters, and was Co-Founder and CEO of HollerMedia Inc., a digital media company.
Mr. Marcus has served on the board of the Del Sole Foundation and is currently an Advisory Board member of A.I. Reverie and Non-Executive Chairman of HollerMedia. He holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from Boston University and is based in Palo Alto, California.
Andrew E. Randall
Andrew E. Randall is a Managing Director of New York Private Bank & Trust in the Cleveland office, where he is responsible for business development and relationship management. Prior to joining New York Private Bank & Trust, Mr. Randall was President of TriState Capital Bank’s Ohio operation, and before that, spent ten years as Executive Vice President & Chairman of U.S. Bank in Cleveland responsible for all business activities in Northern & Central Ohio. He is a former President of U.S. Bank’s Wisconsin operation that held $18 billion in total assets and was responsible for commercial banking activities including consumer and private banking, commercial real estate, asset and treasury management. Mr. Randall also spent 20 years with Bank of America, working in New York, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong and San Francisco. There he held various lending roles and also served as Senior Vice President and Director of Treasury Management responsible for generating annual revenues of $200 million.
Mr. Randall has a number of civic interests, which include Board Member of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Board Member of Cuyahoga Community College, President of the Board of Directors for Park Synagogue and Trustee of Cleveland Clinic. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from Syracuse University and a B.S. in Business Management from Bradley University.
Brian Volner
Brian Volner is a Senior Director with New York Private Bank & Trust, based in Sarasota, Florida. His responsibilities include client relationship management and new business development. Mr. Volner has over 20 years of financial services experience, having held leadership roles in managing teams responsible for commercial lending, asset and liability management, private banking and treasury management. He has developed new markets via loan production offices and “de novo” branches. Most recently he led business development efforts in Southwest Florida, helping to grow a $220 million privately owned company into a $1.7 billion public company traded on the NYSE in less than five years.
Mr. Volner is past Chairman of the Board of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance. He has served on the Board of Manatee Sarasota SOLVE and the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation, where he is currently on the Board’s Executive Committee as Treasurer. Mr. Volner holds a BS degree in Financial Economics from Carson Newman University. He is a graduate of Leadership Manatee and the Florida School of Banking, through the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business.
Christine M. Ford
Christine Ford is a Vice President and Credit Officer at New York Private Bank & Trust. Her responsibilities include credit underwriting of new business opportunities as well as the maintenance and monitoring of the existing loan portfolio. She manages the loan review process, monitors covenant compliance and loan collateral, and is responsible for updating and maintaining bank policies and procedures.
Prior to joining NYPB&T, Ms. Ford spent over 25 years in the banking and financial services industry, primarily in Wealth Management and Private Banking. As a lending officer much of her focus was on mortgage lending to Private Banking clients. She has worked at BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo, and Chase Manhattan Bank. Ms. Ford is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA with a BS in Economics.
Carmen Villa
Carmen Villa is a Vice President and Director of Operations at New York Private Bank & Trust. Ms. Villa manages the client services and operations team that oversees all client activity. Her duties include client onboarding and due diligence, regulatory compliance, and supervision of daily account activity to ensure optimal client satisfaction. Prior to joining the Bank in 2006, Ms. Villa was a custody officer at The Bank of New York where she was responsible for overseeing $740 million in client account assets. She began her career at JP Morgan Chase in 1994, and spent seven years as a custody and banking officer in the Wealth Management Division. Ms. Villa holds a B.S. degree in Material Science & Metallurgy from Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest, Romania.