Meet Our Team

John C. Tsunis, Esq. - Chairman / CEO

Mr. Tsunis, a founder of Gold Coast Bank, received his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law in 1975 and graduated from New York University with honors in Banking and Finance. He has been an attorney since 1977, specializing in banking law, real estate, land use and commercial transactions. Mr. Tsunis was formerly Vice Chairman and General Counsel to Long Island Commercial Bank and a member of its Board of Directors and Executive and Loan Committees. Mr. Tsunis founded the law firm of Tsunis Gasparis, LLP, served as Managing Partner through October of 2014 and remains Special Counsel. Additionally, he is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Charleson Hotels, LLC and Long Island Hotels LLC. Among many philanthropic endeavors, Mr. Tsunis is a Member of the Board of Governors of Touro Law School; President of the Tsunis Foundation, Inc.; Member of the Board of Directors of Gallery North, promoters of regional contemporary art and craft; President of the Long Island Greek-American Chamber of Commerce; Member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic American Bankers Association; Member of the Board of Directors of Long Island Charities; Member of the Board of Directors of Stony Brook University’s Seawolves United, an athletic fundraising initiative;  Advisory Board Member of Neomatrix Therapeutics, Inc. ; former Chairman of the Board of Directors of New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association; and former Chairman of the Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital Task Force.  Mr. Tsunis has also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook and as past President of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce. His accolades include, the Village Times Herald “Man of the Year” in 2011;  2016 honoree at the Long Island Business News’ “Business and Finance Awards”;  named a Long Island Business News “Business ICON” in September 2017;  honored in December 2016 by Ronald McDonald House Greek Division of New York for his charitable work and contribution; honored by the Hellenic Lawyers Association in November 2017; and most notably, honored on Sunday, October 22, 2017 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City where he was elevated by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the high office of Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the oldest and highest honor in Christendom bestowed on laymen. Mr. Tsunis was chosen due to his outstanding service to the Church and as a well-known and well-respected leader of the Orthodox Christian community.

 Mr. Tsunis resides on Long Island, in the Village of Poquott, with his wife and son.

X. Cristofer Damianos – Vice Chairman of the Board

Mr. Damianos, an Organizer and Director of Gold Coast Bank, is a Principal in Damianos Realty Group LLC. , a commercial real estate development company located in Smithtown, N.Y. specializing in the development, management and acquisition of office, retail and industrial properties throughout Long Island.  Mr. Damianos received his Masters of Business Administration from Adelphi University and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics/Political Science from Tulane University.  He is a member of the Association for a Better Long Island (ABLI), the past President of St. George’s Golf & C.C., a Former Trustee of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), a Former Trustee and Vice Chairman of the Board of the Long Island Museums of American Act, History & Carriages, , and a former Trustee of St. Charles Hospital. Mr. Damianos was recently honored by the Smithtown Historical Society for his contribution to the community, as well as Man of the Year by Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and the 2007 recipient of the ABLI Developer of the Year Award. Mr. Damianos is an alumni of The Stony Brook School which his three children also attended.  He currently resides in Nissequogue, New York with his wife and three children.

John R. Repetti, CPA.

Mr. Repetti is a CPA in New York and Florida.  John is the chief executive officer of Bestia Consulting, LLC.  Bestia focuses on several initiatives: Bestia achieves significant cost savings for companies and family offices; and also works with professional service firms to help with firm growth, succession, mergers and acquisitions, labor issues, outsourcing, and technology.  He was formerly a partner and executive committee member of a top 25 CPA firm, and was the CEO of MGI Repetti, a regional CPA firm.  John serves and has served on boards for numerous commercial and not-for-profit organizations, and he serves as an advisor to several venture capital firms.  John is a member of the advisory board for the Alliant Group, the premier specialty tax service provider in the US.  He is the former Worldwide Chairman of MGI World, an international network of 280 accounting firms in over 80 countries around the globe. He is a member of the New York State Society of CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs, the Florida Institute of CPAs and has chaired various society committees. Mr. Repetti received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Fordham University and is a member of the Fordham University Athletic Hall of Fame. John is a life-long student of the marital arts, and has achieved a second degree black belt in American Nihon Jiu-Jitsu.  He currently resides in Glen Cove, New York.

Parviz Farahzad - Director

Parviz Farahzad is a pioneer in bringing large scale Film and Television productions to Long Island in his role as Founder and Operator of Grumman Studios, established in 2009.  Mr. Farahzad also founded Little Rock Construction & Properties Inc. in 1981 which develops, leases and constructs numerous real estate properties on Long Island,  Mr. Farahzad received his Ph.D in Applied Mathematics, as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics from SUNY Stony Book. Prior to developing real estate, Mr. Farahzad worked as an Associate Scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Vermont. Mr. Farahzad’s current focus lies primarily on developing and managing Commercial, Industrial and Multi-Family, Mixed-Use real estate.

Carla J. Brooks

Carla J. Brooks is a Managing Director on the Private Equity team of Commerce Street Investment Management. Ms. Brooks has been with Commerce Street since its inception.

Having built a successful career over the last 30 years in bank regulation and oversight, Ms. Brooks has played an integral role in developing Commerce Street’s fund management business. She serves as a member of the Investment Committee for the Private Equity Funds and for Commerce Street Peak Advisors, which provides solutions to 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans. Ms. Brooks held a similar position with its predecessor company, SAMCO Capital Markets, Inc., which she joined in 2002. Her previous positions were with California Federal Bank, FSB, where she was First Vice President of Corporate Acquisitions in the Office of the Chairman; and KPMG, working in both the Regulatory Advisory and the Corporate Recovery Practices. Ms. Brooks spent seven years with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas where she was the manager of applications processing in the supervision and regulation department.

Ms. Brooks was ranked on American Banker’s annual 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance list from 2008 to 2010. In 2009, she was selected as an honoree for the Dallas Business Journal’s Women in Business Awards as one of the region’s most outstanding women business leaders.

Ms. Brooks earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business and economics from Coe College in Iowa and has a Master of Science degree in finance from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a licensed Certified Insolvency and Reorganization Accountant.

Ms. Brooks is a registered representative and has passed the FINRA Series 7, 24, 79, and 66 examinations.

James P. Johnis - President / COO / CLO

Mr. Johnis is a veteran banking executive, with over 40 year’s experience, and a wealth of expertise and knowledge in commercial banking and credit management. He has had in-depth leadership experience across multiple facets of the banking business, including lending, credit risk management, relationship management, special assets and operations. Previously, Mr. Johnis served as Senior Vice President / Senior Commercial Banking Officer at The First National Bank of Long Island in Glen Head, NY, where he was responsible for managing the Commercial Banking Division. While at First National Mr. Johnis served on the Bank’s Executive Committee, on various loan committees, was Chairperson of the Product and Pricing Committee and served as a mentor in the Professional Development Program. Prior to First National Mr. Johnis directed the Suffolk County Lending Division for Marine Midland / HSBC. Mr. Johnis has served as Co-Chairperson of the Smithtown High School Industry Advisory Board, is a member of Risk Management Associates, the Hauppauge Industrial Association, the Long Island Association, and the Advancement for Commerce, Industry and Technology. Mr. Johnis has also been a featured panelist for the New York State Society of CPAs regarding “What Bankers Look for When Considering a Loan Request.” Most recently, Mr. Johnis was appointed as a member to the Department of Financial Services (DFS) State Chartered Advisory Board.  He received his BS in Accounting from Dowling College, is a graduate of the American Bankers Association (ABA) Stonier School of Banking and began his career at Long Island Trust Company where he was formally credit trained. He currently resides in Smithtown with his wife.

Thomas J. Fanning Sr. 

Mr. Fanning, Founding Partner of Heritage Strategies LLC (www.herigagesllc.com), is recognized as an expert in the field of  estate, business succession and life insurance planning for the ultra affluent bringing over 35 years’ experience to the position.

Mr. Fanning, a 1978 Fairfield University graduate and certified estate planner, began his career within the I.F.D. division of CIGNA, a 60 billion financial services leader.  Recognizing that his high net worth clientele desired more sophisticated and focused planning, Mr. Fanning partnered with two former CIGNA colleagues in 1990 and established one of the top national life insurance brokerage firms in the country representing some of America’s most prominent families.

In 2002, Mr. Fanning’s former partnership was acquired by National Financial Partners (NFP), a NYSE listed company, where he remained as President until reacquiring his practice and establishing Heritage Strategies LLC in 2009, one of the only Estate Planning and Life Insurance Family Offices in the country.  Subsequently, Heritage Strategies LLC became one of 140 member firms of M Financial Group (www.mfin.com).  M Financial Group is one of the nation’s leading financial service institutions owning our own reinsurance company while simultaneously partnering with top carriers in the life insurance industry with exclusive life proprietary products.

Mr. Fanning is also a Founder and Director of Gold Coast Bank (www.goldcoastbank-ny.com) and most recently acquired the Franchise rights to PDQ (www.eatpdq.com) for the majority of the Tri-State area.  Initial Investor and Advisory Board of Roar (roar.land).

In addition, Mr. Fanning serves as Chair of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business Advisory Council at Fairfield University (www.fairfield.edu) and Vice Chairman of the Foundation Board of St. Francis Hospital (www.stfrancisheartcenter.com)..

Barbara W. Callaghan

Barbara W Callaghan is the owner of Mnemba Management and a Director of Gold Coast Bank. Mnemba Management is a real estate investment and consulting company doing business in Long Island, NY. Ms. Callaghan has been in the real estate industry since entering the workforce. Prior to engaging in investment ventures, Ms. Callaghan led teams in the development and construction of multi and single-family residential projects in Port Jefferson Station and Huntington, NY, worked in commercial real estate management in Manhattan and gained experience in the title insurance business on Long Island. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and American Literature from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Dr. Yacov Shamash 

Dr. Shamash is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Vice President for Economic Development at Stony Brook University. His academic administrative experiences have also included service as Dean of Engineering at Stony Brook University, Director of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University, and as Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Florida Atlantic University. He has also held faculty positions at Florida Atlantic University, University of Pennsylvania and Tel Aviv University. Dr. Shamash has been responsible for the establishment of numerous programs and centers involving university/industry/government partnerships at the national and state levels.

Dr. Shamash has served on the Board of a number of public and private companies and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Key Tronic Corp., Comtech Telecommunications Corp. and Applied DNA Sciences Inc. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet) and the Long Island Angel Network. Dr. Shamash received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England. He has authored more than 130 publications and is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Peter Ferentinos

Peter A Ferentinos is Chief Operating Officer of several Companies: Qualco Inc., a re-packer /contract packager of Pool Chemicals; Majestic Industries Inc., a major supplier of seating to the casino industry; Tube Fabrication Industries, LLC, a highly automated production facility providing small machined parts to the Automobile Industry; Pafco Investments, LLC, a private investment financing firm providing funds to small companies for over 15 years. Ferentinos Enterprises, LLC, has several real estate holdings in Passaic, NJ, Logansport, IN and Long Island. Mr. Ferentinos has over 20 years of engineering and engineering management for such companies as Grumman Aerospace, and Control Data Corp. Mr. Ferentinos is a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, and has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University as well as advanced studies towards a Master of Business Administration at Hofstra in Quantitative Analysis. Mr. Ferentinos has been a Trustee of NYIT (New York Institute of Technology) for over 30 years and is also a Trustee of the Long Island Museum.  Peter and his wife Barbara have resided in Smithtown, New York for over 45 years.

Lew Meltzer 

Mr. Meltzer began his law practice in 1965 in Mineola working on real estate matters for Roosevelt Field Mall, including store leasing, shopping center finances and culminating with the leasing and operating agreements for the J.C. Penney Department Store while also practicing tax and corporate law.

In 1970 Mr. Meltzer founded what is now Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP of Mineola.  Lew’s tax and real estate practices expanded to evaluations of real estate investments for clients and today, Lew is the general partner in numerous real estate partnerships and a principal officer of an active real estate development business.

Lew’s managerial abilities and organizational vision have been recognized by the law firm and clients as well.  He is the firm’s Chairman and serves on the Board of Directors of several clients.  He is also the developer of River Run in Maryland, a 408 unit residential country club featuring a Gary Player signature golf course, marina and tennis complex.

Lew is extremely active in public service: He is a director of the Association for a Better Long Island (ABLI), Long Island developers who are concerned about the future of the region; was President of the Harvard Law School Association of Long Island; is a member of the Board of Trustees of Huntington Hospital; was Chairman and President of the Long Island Affairs Forum, an organization he helped found, that brings influential national and international leaders to Long Island to discuss the latest political activities around the world.

Lew was President and is now Chairman of the Bi-County Political Action Committee (BiCPAC), the only federally registered pro-Israel political action committee based and operating in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties.  BiPAC works to strengthen the historic American-Israeli alliance.  Because of Lew’s efforts to promote close and enduring ties between Israel and the United States, in 1991 the Long Island Chapter of the American Jewish Committee selected him as the recipient of its Humanitarian Award and in 1993 the Anti-Defamation League presented to him its most prestigious Americanism Award.

Alan “Buddy” Simmons - Director 

Mr. Simmons is a founding shareholder and director of Gold Coast Bank. He owns local commercial properties, is a New York City licensed Master Rigger, and is President of Budco Enterprises, Inc., which he established in 1985 and specializes in derrick work, high rise & heavy rigging, structural steel engineering & fabrication, and art sculpture installations. In 2001, he installed over 2 million pounds of steel in record time to have the 1/9 subway line open for the one year anniversary of the World Trade Center Collapse. Mr. Simmons is an appointed volunteer for the NYC Department of Cranes and Derricks Rigging Task Force and Advisory Council and the American National Standards Institute, to aid in establishing rigging qualifications and responsibilities in the construction industry. He is also a founding member and Managing Director of the New York City Master Riggers Association. A longtime Little League volunteer and sponsor, Mr. Simmons is actively involved in numerous 9/11 memorials, various local organizations, and multiple trade organizations. For his dedication and continued contribution to the betterment of the local community Mr. Simmons is being honored in 2018 by The Ward Melville Heritage Organization at their annual “Jewels and Jeans Gala.” He resides in Setauket with his wife and has two adult children.