Stanley Simon was a director of Vornado when I got here in 1980.⁽¹⁷⁾ After 45 years of service and now at age 87, Stanley will be retiring from our Board at the May Annual Meeting. No director has been more loyal to a company, more devoted to the goal of creating shareholder wealth, nor has worshipped more the god of ethics. Stanley comes to each Board meeting having read every word of every document, resplendent in a bright, some say gaudy tie, cigar-smoking and sharp as a tack. Mike is bemused by the fact that Stanley always asks the single best question at every Board meeting—I am used to it by now. He also asks the unaskable questions. He understands how boards work and how public companies function. He understood corporate governance 40 years before Congress voted 522 to 3 for Sarbanes-Oxley. And he knows how to take measured risks. We have learned a lot from you, old friend. Stanley Simon will be the first trustee emeritus in Vornado's history.

The trustees who oversee Vornado and for whom Mike and I work are smart, wise, committed and involved. They understand our business intimately. They are huge shareholders whose interests are absolutely aligned with all of Vornado's shareholders.

This year our Board is delighted to nominate two new independent trustees, Michael Lynne and Anthony W. Deering. Michael Lynne is Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of New Line Cinema Corporation and

Tony Deering was the long-serving Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Rouse Company. We welcome these seasoned businessmen who will play an important role in guiding our future.

Mike and I and the people who run Vornado are excited about the future. We currently have in-house the ingredients to take Vornado to the next level. When we get the rent increases we think we will in the ton of fine real estate we already own, get the PTO space back on the rent rolls, complete our pipeline of developments, find a good acquisition or two (or ten) and sprinkle in a blockbuster now and then—you can do the math.

In each area of our business, be it 888, Paramus, 2345 Crystal Drive, the Mart, Atlanta, or wherever, Vornado's people worked hard and smart this year—and it showed. Our people polish the Vornado brand everyday. Mike and I appreciate and admire their efforts.