My great uncle Fred Shapiro founded Howard Beach Electric in 1927 and his business survived through the difficult depression years. During the late 1930s and 40s as the depression wound down, the company wired many of the new homes being built in the south Queens area, and Rockaway in particular.

After WW II, returning veterans needing places to live, and the residential market realized an unprecedented growth. Howard Beach Electric played a major role in this revitalization, flourishing as the company raced to meet demand.

As one of these returning veterans settling back into civilian life, my father, Milton Ostroff, began working with the company. As the years went by, Milton had a desire to branch out into other areas of electrical work, and so founded M. Ostroff Electric in 1961. The focus of the residential market in the 1960s became centered on the need for adequate wiring for the now affordable air conditioner. So while the bulk of Ostroff Electric’s work continued in the residential arena, he expanded from serving new houses to work within the growing alteration market.

I joined in 1967 as an electrician working in the field but left soon after to serve in the Air Force. When I returned home in 1972, it was to a very depressed residential market. So I worked through the 70s, fine-tuning my residential electrical skills, and looking for new areas of opportunity. During this time, I began to collaborate with many designers, architects and decorators and learned a tremendous amount about the design-based approach these professionals brought to each project. I soon built a reputation for providing innovative solutions that aided the particular need of these prestigious projects. Taking a designer’s aesthetic and adding my technical experience proved to be the perfect combination for a successful finished project. I found this work satisfying and rewarding and so developed the new focus of Ostroff Electric.

With 30 working electricians, the 80s found M. Ostroff Electric an industry leader in the renewed Manhattan residential market. While the 90s offered many new challenges because of technological advancement, it also created a need for an even more technical and knowledgeable staff. Again, Ostroff Electric developed this expertise to meet the ever growing and changing high-end residential marketplace.

In 1996, my son Kevin, who has a business degree from C.W. Post College, joined me at Ostroff Electric. With Kevin's entrance began the 4th generation of our company's residential electrical contracting business. We are also proud to count on the talents of Dennis Kelly, General Superintendent. Dennis is a long time employee who started at M. Ostroff Electric in 1985 at the age of 20 and is now also a junior partner. His expertise is respected industry-wide, and his knowledge of dimming systems and high-end residential work is second to none.

We look forward to serving the high-end residential electrical market for another 74 years.

Sincerely Yours,

Warren Ostroff
President