In 1927, at 20 years old, my Great-Uncle Fred Durante, bought a dump truck in our hometown of Corona, New York and hired it out by the day. Then came the Great Depression, and according to the records, the people of Corona did OK because of their work ethic and workmanship skills. In 1931 my widowed Great Grandmother Lizette built our family home in Corona and was truly the Family Matriarch of her 6 sons and a daughter. She instilled the values which still guide our family today. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the WPA - Works Progress Administration - and put America back to work. Over its eight years of existence the WPA put 8.5 million Americans to work. Among them was Uncle Fred who now had 6 dump trucks. In 1952, Fred and his youngest brother, Lou, formed Durante Brothers and continued to rent out dump trucks - adding backhoes, loaders, dozers etc. In 1963 they were leaders in the building of the 1965 World’s Fair at Flushing-Corona Meadow, a block from our Grandma Lizette’s home. My dad, while still in high school, went to work for Durante Brothers. Upon graduation from St. John’s University he took over the operation of the Asphalt Plant (JET ASPHALT) and the Materials Dock.

In the 70’s, rentals no longer played a major role for Durante Brothers. They focused more on the contracting end of the business. They once again evolved and today, thanks to my great uncle “LULU”, and his awareness of the industry, they are a major supplier of recycled aggregates in the New York Area, their city license number is 001.

In 1969, my dad and his brother Tom decided to open a much-needed construction equipment repair business to service the small contractor who could not afford their own shop. Within 3 years it morphed into an extremely successful Equipment Sales, Service and Rental Center. It became the go to supplier for equipment, parts, accessories, and rentals in the New York City Metropolitan Area. Even though I graduated from Iona College and Pace Law School, I received my real education from Durante Equipment Corp.

In 1990, my mom opened and managed our 2nd facility in Hicksville, New York, and I worked there after school. I went on to manage the Flushing Branch and took a major role, along with my Mom and Dad to manage the entire company and our 72 employees. In 2000, we were approached by United Rentals, a major rental conglomerate and the decision was made to rent them our facilities and to sell our company. It was at that time that I decided to go to Law School, and upon graduating I opened my Law Office. Law was OK, but my true love was the Equipment Business.

In 2009, along with my cousin Anthony, we started DURANTE RENTALS and within a year leased the Durante Equipment Building in Flushing, New York, at a fantastic deal – THANKS MOM AND DAD ! Anthony and I met our goal of opening a new location every year and today there are 10 exceptional branches servicing the New York Tri-State Area. Durante Rentals is listed in the INC 5000!

Our dream was to move to Florida, so with my wife Diane and my daughter Daniella we packed up and made the move. I opened DURANTE EQUIPMENT in December 2019 and never looked back.