Moving Around Town

We continue to marvel at what our colleagues will invent, create and grow in the insurance sphere. Of course, not everything grows to full fruition, some things die halfway through their season, a fact of which we are reminded over and over again in our travels in the industry. I can not tell you how frequently individuals mention Empire Mutual Insurance Companyin its early 1980’s hay day. In such a conversation it is typical for a Bob Iaconaor a Don Gabayor an Emilio Miretor any one of a hundreds of others of agents and execs associated with the company’s meteoric growth to talk about all of the players and all of the games taking place at Empire. Lo and behold, we come upon a photograph in the Insurance Advocate’s archives – while seeking some other information –that hearkens back to Empire’s hay day. In the photograph below is New York City Mayor John Lindsay, Manny Levythe editor and publisher of this venerable publication, Milton Kliglerwho was President of Empire and Mort Weinberg, Executive Vice President. The picture commemorates an award given to Milton which is impossible to make out from the small type, no matter how we try to blow it up. Perhaps one of our readers will remember it. What it demonstrates, interestingly, is just how much the former Red Cab Mutual Insurance Company founded in 1932, played a role in the city of New York—enough to have its Mayor (who was the first to address New York City traffic in earnest) attend the function. When we first met the Empire Insurance Group it was located in a building just north of Lincoln Center on Broadway at 66th Street – the same building that housed the original Penthousemagazine and provided staffers with a constant runway of entering and leaving models with flash bulbs (remember those?) fast at work. Ollie Patrell succeeded Kligler and moved the Company to a location that suited a more conservative style: 122 5th Avenue at 18th Street. Andy Attivissimotook over and after him the Company moved  to its “final resting place” at the Metro Center right over the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn. The Company’s story may well be written someday as an example of how the industry functioned in New York in the late 70’s and 80’s and how the auto market moved toward its current state. Empire had an amazing ride and some unforgettable people.