Alleged Madoff victims include 2,000 Long Island accounts

Among the 14,000 accounts authorities believe lost money in

Bernard Madoff's alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme is that of Adele, from Nassau County, who, with her husband, had invested with Madoff since 1966.

Their lives, she said Thursday, have been upended.

Adele, 86, who asked that her last name and town not be used, said she didn't know how much the couple had lost. She said she would to have to ask her husband, 87, a retired engineer, who was out looking for a job. He also tutors students in math to help bring in extra income.

"For this to happen at this stage of our lives is very difficult," she said.

Adele's is one of nearly 2,000 accounts owned by Long Islanders that appear on a list released Wednesday by Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

The list of 14,000 victims ranges from private individuals to public figures such as Mets owner Fred Wilpon, actor John Malkovich and baseball great Sandy Koufax.

Locally, hundreds of individuals, dozens of trusts and firms, as well as partnerships, foundations and profit-sharing plans appear on the list.

Great Neck appears to be the hardest-hit area, with about 600 accounts invested with Madoff, who is out on $10-million bail and living under house arrest in his Upper East Side apartment. The losses overall have had myriad effects, ranging from the devastation Adele and her husband face to less worrisome impacts for more moneyed investors.

Real estate developer Scott Rechler, the chief executive of RexCorp Realty in Uniondale, said his losses were "relatively immaterial" and would have "no impact" on his projects, including the Lighthouse sports and retail complex, which is to include the Islanders' future home.

Cablevision Systems Corp., Newsday's parent company, was also on the list. However, the Bethpage cable operator said in a statement Thursday that it "has no investments with any of Bernard Madoff's funds and is not aware of any previous investments."

Adele, on the other hand, said that she now does the upkeep around her house because she had to let the cleaning woman go. The couple doesn't eat out anymore; they don't go to the movies and they won't make their annual trip abroad, which has included travels to China and Japan. She said they even had to cancel their newspaper subscription.

Nat Finkelstein, 76, a retired comptroller who splits his time between Maryland and Huntington, said he lost about $500,000 he planned to use to treat his family to such things as trips overseas. He and his wife are considering selling their Huntington condo "to reduce part of my loss."

Finkelstein said that after visiting Madoff's operations as a member of a partnership that invested $20 million, he kept wondering, if Madoff was doing so well, "What is he getting out of us? Why is he taking us on?"

His advice: If something about an investment bothers you, "that should be a warning that you don't need this investment."

This story was reported by staff writers Jim Baumbach, Emi Endo and Patricia Kitchen.