By Nathan Duke
Leviton Manufacturing Co., the largest privately held producer of electrical wiring equipment in North America, has moved its headquarters from the Little Neck site where it operated for 36 years to a new locale in Long Island, a spokeswoman for the company said.
The company, which had been at 59-25 Little Neck Pkwy. since 1973, moved its 400 employees from its Queens site to a new headquarters in Melville, L.I., June 15, said Pamela Winikoff, manager of corporate public relations. No jobs were lost in the transfer, she said.
Leviton was founded in 1906 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, before moving to Little Neck, where it was operated out of two large buildings that spanned the Little Neck Parkway.
“When Leviton relocated to the Little Neck facility from its former headquarters in Greenpoint, the facility was considered state-of-the-art,” Winikoff said. “Rather than continue to renovate the existing facility, the decision was made to relocate to a new building that offers many advantages for the workforce.”
The company, the largest North American manufacturer of electrical wiring equipment, was originally formed to produce mantle tips for gas lighting and in 1910 it converted to the production of pull-chain lamp holders designed for Thomas Edison’s new light bulbs. It now produces light sockets, switches and outlets, dimmers, wire, power cables, power cords, wall plates and other electrical products.
Winikoff said a majority of the company’s employees live in the five boroughs as well as in New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island. The company moved out of Little Neck in three different waves, with the final group of employees transferring to the Meville site earlier this month.
She said she did not know which company would take over the Little Neck site.
Dan Andrews, spokesman for Borough President Helen Marshall, said he thought it was unfortunate such a large manufacturer left the borough.
“The city has tax incentive programs to try to keep businesses here and help them expand,” he said. “A problem is that a lot of them don’t know about the programs and we’ve had companies move out of the borough because they didn’t know how to access the programs.”
Community Board 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said the community was concerned about whether Leviton would be able to find a company to take over the Little Neck site during the current economic downturn.
“I think the community would like something that would have very little impact,” she said. “That would be ideal. There’s a concern that it could sit empty for a long time. We want to make sure the company maintains it, so that it doesn’t become a dump.”
Seinfeld said the board and Marshall met with the company two years ago to discuss its move to Long Island, as well as a replacement for the Long Island Parkway site.
“They told us they were looking to lease it to someone who was neighborhood friendly,” she said. “But, so far, they don’t have anything to tell us.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
