I have no idea why my very, very good friend "Louigie" Van Leeuwen didn't take out a paid ad on this blog (Cheap! $49 per month), but here's a free one for him anyway

Lou Van Leeuwen is a terrific guy who owns (owned?) the custom home builder Greenwich Construction as well as serving as the local Generac distributor. A wonderful friend, the most impressive tale I know about him is actually about his parents, and how Lou came to be born in Half Moon Bay Hospital, Jamaica:

The Van Leeuwens were Dutch, and had been for centuries; they’re also Jewish, and that was all that mattered to the Nazis. They fled, Mrs. Van Leeuwen pregnant with Lou, and walked from Holland, across the Pyrenees and into Spain, where they discovered that the only country still accepting Jewish refugees was Jamaica, so that’s where they sailed. Lou eventually made it to the U.S,, enjoyed a very successful career in corporate America, and then went into building a few decades ago. He still retains his affection for Jamaica, and has several times hosted a fundraiser at the Riverside Yacht Club for the Jamaican bobsled team — it amuses me to think of those team members mingling over cocktails with the usual stuffed-shirt yacht club crowd, but from all accounts they get along beautifully, and everyone has a great time.

So how come he’s started a car service? I haven’t asked him yet, but as I said in reply to the Mickster’s comment in an earlier post, I assume he endured a lousy ride from a local limousine service and, always the entrepreneur, figured he could do a better job and make money doing it. *

*Runs in the family. Lou’s son Ben started a business selling premium ice cream from a food cart in Central Park, and has grown it into an empire of free-standing stores and stocked by some of the best food stores in the country — great ice cream.