CSS Security Services

Ira Maltz started in the security business in 1972 at the Academy of Music on 14th Street in Manhattan as a security guard. In 1975, he founded CSS (originally Concert Service Specialist, Inc.) at the Calderone Concert Hall on Franklin Avenue in Hempstead. A short time later, Maltz received calls from various venues. Promoter Larry Vaughn hired CSS to handle backstage security at Nassau Coliseum. CSS handled security for Aerosmith after they played the Calderone and did a small theater tour for Aerosmith across the East Coast and a club tour across Long Island at Speaks in Island Park and Hammerheads in Babylon. The Calderone closed in 1980, and Maltz went out on tour with Aerosmith. Maltz was next approached by Richard Flanzer, who produced the Sunset Concert Series at Belmont Racetrack in the summers of 1981 and 1982, to bring in security for rock concerts after the races. When Maltz came off the road, concert promoter Ron Delsener asked him to open the Jones Beach Theater in 1983 and handle security there, where he remained for the next 22 years. Throughout the years, he handled security for many artists and venues, including The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, The Allman Brothers Band, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Brookhaven Amphiteater, SUNY Stony Brook, the Woodstock Festival in Yaphank, Great South Bay Music Festival, the Vanderbilt, and more. Maltz has lived on Long Island since 1965.