Great Neck, New York, March 18, 2004 -- BRT Realty Trust (NYSE:BRT) today announced that its Board of Trustees has increased the size of BRT’s Board from six to seven trustees and that Jeffrey Rubin was elected as a Class II Trustee of BRT to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders. At the 2005 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and subject to his being nominated for re-election by the Nominating Committee and the Board of Trustees, Mr. Rubin intends to stand for re-election for the balance of the term of a Class II Trustee, a term expiring in 2007.
Mr. Rubin, 36 years of age, has been President and Chief Investment Officer of Newtek Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ-NKBS) since 1998. Newtek focuses on providing services to small and medium sized businesses. Mr. Rubin also founded Optical Dynamics Corporation, an early stage technology company, where he served as an executive officer and director from June 1994 to December 1997.
The Nominating Committee and the Board of Trustees of BRT determined that Mr. Rubin qualifies as “independent” under the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance rules. The Nominating Committee and the Board of Trustees was advised of the ownership by an “affiliate” of BRT of 250,000 shares of Newtek, representing less than 1% of the outstanding shares of Newtek. The Committee and the Board determined that ownership by this entity of shares of Newtek did not affect Mr. Rubin’s independence and that Mr. Rubin has no material relationship with the registrant, either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an entity that has a relationship with BRT.
Jeffrey Gould, President and Chief Executive Officer of BRT commented that the addition of Mr. Rubin to the Board is very positive for BRT. He commented that “Jeff Rubin’s business experience and his activities as an officer and director of public companies will be extremely beneficial to our company and we look forward to his active involvement with our Board and various committees of the Board.”
BRT Realty Trust is a mortgage-oriented real estate investment trust.
Certain information contained herein is forward looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. BRT intends such forward looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and includes this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. The forward looking statements should not be relied upon since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which, in some cases, are beyond BRT's control and could materially affect actual results, performance or achievements.
Contact: Simeon Brinberg - (516) 466-3100
BRT is a New York-based Real Estate Investment Trust that specializes in the origination and holding for investment of senior and junior commercial mortgage loans secured by real property in the United States. For more information on BRT, please visit our Home Page.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: Materials included in this filing may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements that include the words "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," "continues," "forecast," "designed," "goal," or the negative of those words or other comparable words should be considered uncertain and forward-looking.
Contact: Simeon Brinberg, Senior Vice President - (516) 466-3100
###
Loan Application 
Now you can apply online for any first or second mortgage real estate financing for a vast array of property types under the full spectrum of diverse real estate circumstances
