Certilman Balin retired partner Balin dies at 86

Hebert Balin, retired partner of Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP, who practiced law for six decades and was one of the first attorneys to introduce land use planning concepts on Long Island, died on January 9th, at Winthrop Hospital. He was 86. He distinguished himself in the areas of commercial real estate, environmental law and land use. His use of urban renewal laws to create well-balanced planned communities has helped shape the region's development. He served as a member of the Central Pine Barrens advisory committee, and was a director of the Association for a Better Long Island and The Long Island Home Builders, a predecessor of Long Island Business Institute. Active in his community, he worked to merge the Nassau and Suffolk divisions of the American Cancer Society and served as chairman of the Nassau division and first chairman of the combined society. He also served on the board of directors of Hope for Youth and as a director of the long Island Aquarium. He had been honored by the Rehabilitation Institute as Man of the Year. Among his most valued professional achievements, Balin included his role in the creation of the law that enabled the Shelter rock Library to be built, as well as his work with the Herricks Union Free School District in the development of both the senior and junior high schools, and the elementary schools. In 2002, Balin was the lead counsel in the purchase of approximately 460 acres of the Pilgrim State Campus. Balin, a resident of Bay Shore, was born on July 3, 1928, in Berlin, Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1939. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan for both his undergraduate and Law degrees. He was admitted to practice in the state of New York; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. The Nassau County Bar Association honored Balin in 2012 for his 60 years of service. In 2010, Balin was honored at the Thirteenth Annual Robert Moses Master Builder Award Gala, hosted by The Foundation for Long Island State Parks and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Appointed in 2004 by governor Pataki. He served as a member and chairman of the Long Island State Park, Recreation & Historic Preservation Commission until 2011. He is survived by his wife Barbara, his children, Wendy (Mark), Kenny (Trinka), Paul (Michelle), Joey, and his grandchildren, Ariella (Jarret), Eliya, Talia, Neely, Jacob, Melanie, Lilly Ann, James, Rebecca and Anna.