Company offered incentives to relocate

Some companies, hearing what New York State offered a Maspeth, Queens-based manufacturer to relocate to Melville, might turn green with envy.

The state offered Karp Associates Inc., a maker of doors, and its sister firm, Flush Metal Partitions, $455,000 -- $345,000 in tax credits and a $100,000 grant -- to bring 120 jobs to Melville.

The Suffolk Industrial Development Agency agreed to waive sales tax on $7 million in equipment purchases and to provide a 10-year tax break on the Melville building's increased property value. In addition, Karp received $14 million from the state in condemnation money. The company has acquired a building on Spagnoli Road.

But company officials Friday said there is more green on the other side of the Hudson, and it may well go to New Jersey.

Empire State Development spokesman Austin Shafran said the $455,000 was "the maximum allowable under state law for the retention of 120 jobs. We did everything possible to keep those jobs in New York."

Karp vice president George Kosser noted the company must move because the company's property was seized under eminent domain. Kosser said New Jersey offered Karp an 80 percent rebate of all state taxes for five years, which he said amounts to $400,000 annually.

Morton Weber, Karp's attorney, said the company is "disappointed" with the state's action and hopes for a further dialogue.

At the moment, Kosser said, it's a standoff between New York and Karp. If the state can't offer more, Kosser said, "there's something wrong with the law."