LI people on the move

RETAILRobert D. Berger Jr. has been appointed operations director at Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington Station, which is operated by Simon Property Group. The Plainview resident was most recently president and owner of City Air Conditioning and Heating Corp. in Hempstead.

FINANCESusan Janas has joined Citizens Bank as a mortgage loan officer. She will work out of the Garden City office. The Huntington resident was a loan officer at PNC Mortgage in Melville.

Karen A. Hamilton has been appointed executive vice president at Suffolk Bancorp and executive vice president and chief lending officer at Suffolk County National Bank, both located in Riverhead. The Rockville Centre resident was most recently senior manager of commercial lending, loan workout and portfolio review at Astoria Federal Savings.

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ASSOCIATIONS

The Fire Island Association (FIA) announced newly elected officers.

Suzanne Goldhirsch of Seaview and Manhattan was elected president. She's a grant writer at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan.

Hugh O'Brien of Saltaire and Bronxville was named a vice president. He is retired from the real estate industry.

Alex Brash of Point O' Woods and Riverside, Conn., was elected treasurer. He is the northeast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association in Manhattan.

FIA was founded in 1955 to work for designation of Fire Island as a National Seashore and the defeat of a highway proposed to run the length of the barrier island. The group remains an advocate for erosion control measures and environmental preservation. Membership is drawn from approximately 3,500 homes.

Ronald M. Finkelstein has been elected president of the Nassau County chapter of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. The Oceanside resident is a partner at the Melville accounting firm of Marcum.

Mark J.

Epstein has been elected chairman of the Long Island Railroad Commuter Council (LIRCC). The Melville resident is a partner in the Manhattan and Melville law firm of Pazer, Epstein & Jaffe. The LIRCC was created by the state Legislature to research and make recommendations on the LIRR. Epstein has been a rail commuter for 25 years.

LAWAneeba Rehman has joined Valli, Kane and Vagnini in Garden City as a civil rights, labor and employment law specialist. Having received her undergraduate degree at Hunter College in Manhattan, the Valley Stream resident is a recent graduate of Hofstra University Law School in Hempstead.

Oscar Michelen has joined the Mineola and Manhattan-based Cuomo law firm as of counsel and managing attorney of the Long Island office. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, intellectual property and white-collar criminal defense. The Albertson resident was a partner at Sandback & Michelen in Mineola.