Accounting
Teddy Roosevelt Welcome CPAs Back to Wall Street
Former New York City Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, who later served as the 26th President of the United States, was a special guest of honor Wednesday evening at an open house for the state’s largest association of professional accountants.
Dec. 18, 2013
NEW YORK – Former New York City Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, who later served as the 26th President of the United States, was a special guest of honor Wednesday evening at an open house for the state’s largest association of professional accountants.
Well, to be more accurate, an actor portraying Roosevelt (Long Island, N.Y. impersonator Jim Foote) joined more than 300 members, guests, friends and business affiliates of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) at their “Return to Wall Street” event, which celebrates the society headquarters’ return to the Financial District where it was originally founded in 1897.
The Society’s first office was at 11 Wall Street next to the New York Stock Exchange; its new location is right across the street between Trinity Church and Federal Hall.
“For more than 100 years, the NYSSCPA has vitally contributed to New York’s banking, investment and financial industries and ensured high standards in the accounting profession,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a December 18 letter to the Society. “We are delighted to join NYSSCPA as it celebrates moving to its new headquarters and look forward to it and its members benefitting our City’s businesses for years to come.
The Return to Wall Street will feature the food, ragtime music, history (by Roosevelt, who was Police Commissioner in 1897, and Manhattan Borough Historian Michael Miscione) and black-and-white Thomas Edison film reels from turn-of-the-century New York City. The Society’s first president, Charles Waldo Haskins, and others all played large roles at that time in the city government’s planned annexation and consolidation of the eastern Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“We are extremely proud to celebrate our heritage,” said J. Michael Kirkland, NYSSCPA president. “Our move downtown also signifies a leaving behind of old ideas even as we embrace new programs and redefine our organization for future generations to come.”
The Society’s new office space – 36,000 square feet in the historic Banker’s Trust building – features state-of-the-art technology in several conference and classrooms, a web/ audio broadcasting studio and office space for members and the association’s staff. “This is where our more than 60 committees meet, debate and refine the society’s positions on accounting standards that CPAs across America rely on to do their work every day,” Kirkland said.
Besides the official ribbon cutting and unveiling of the Society’s new logo, attendees – including senior representatives of the Big Four accounting firms and New York State Controller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Office – will also toast in dedication of the Society’s Wall of Appreciation, a crystal-engraved donor wall in the Members’ Lounge. The wall was created to recognized those NYSSCPA members and friends who have contributed to the Build-a-Better-Profession campaign that’s focused on ongoing technology upgrades for members’ educational needs; visit www.nysscpa.org/buildabetterprofession.