Crains New York - June 11, 2012 - (Page 3)

STATS & THE CITY MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG’s proposed 63 ban on the sale of plus-size sugary drinks coincided with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession. These efforts raised the questions: How much soda is bad? And how much pot is not so bad? And are the two related? (Think: the munchies.) Meanwhile, the mayor doused an idea to require bikers to wear helmets, and a labor dispute at Belmont racetrack was resolved days before an expected Triple Crown bid. In each case, statistics told the story. —ANDREW J. HAWKINS THE TOTAL NUMBER of average-size marijuana joints a person could 2:15 DAUNTLESS DUO: Savanna co-heads Nicholas Bienstock (left) and Christopher Schlank have a taste for complex stuff. display in public without being subject to arrest, under a proposal by the governor. While High Times magazine says a joint weighs 0.5 to 0.75 grams, marijuana-legalization group NORML says 0.4 grams is enough. So, 25 grams—Mr. Cuomo’s decriminalization maximum, worth about $350 on the street—could yield 63 joints. Dude, that’s a lot of weed. HOURS AND MINUTES buck ennis 21 of walking (at a 2.5mph clip) it would take a 150-pound person to burn the nearly 600 calories in a 51-ounce sugary soda, the largest size offered by AMC Theatres. A ban on the sale of such drinks 16 ounces or larger at Health Department-regulated businesses would put a serious dent in the movie-theater industry. AMC, which has nine locations in the five boroughs, also offers 32- and 42-ounce sodas, but patrons get free refills with a purchase of the largest size. BICYCLISTS KILLED in the city Savanna sees gold in gnarliest deals Troubled buildings? Bad debts? Doesn’t stop these prolific NY property buyers BY THERESA AGOVINO Real estate investment firm Savanna struck again last month,scooping up 576 Fifth Ave., a tarnished jewel box of a building on the edge of the diamond district, in the sort of complex transaction that has become its hallmark. It grabbed the property’s defaulted mortgage at a discount and worked out a deal to Realty Corp., acquired more in the period, take over the 1906 building while simultane- according to RCA Analytics. ously negotiating with the “A lot of buyers say they landowner to forgive other want these hairy deals, but SAVANNA’S 2012 debts and OK the transaction. that’s a lot of hogwash,” said NYC PURCHASES Now Savanna plans to pour David Schechtman, a principal 15 E. 26TH ST.: 150,000 at brokerage Eastern Consolimillions into renovating the square feet of office/retail 72,000-square-foot site. dated. “There aren’t a lot of space on floors 1 to 8 By using a strategy that companies that know how to do topped by 12 floors of typically begins with buying them.” residential condominiums up the debt on troubled The allure of such deals is 40 MERCER ST.: 24,000- easy to understand. Complicasecond-tier buildings and square-foot retail condo then using that position to tions drag down prices, which take control, Savanna has in turn gives buyers the possi576 FIFTH AVE.: 72,000square-foot office building blossomed into the city’s secbility of far fatter profits.Savanond-most-prolific post-rena targets returns of 20%—a cession acquirer of office multiple of what plain-vanilla buildings, buying 10 properties since 2009. transactions provide these days. The lure of See SAVANNA on Page 23 Only the city’s largest landlord, SL Green 80 last year, nine more than in 2010. About 2,000 bikers are hospitalized statewide after crashes each year, 38% with brain injuries. But the mayor opposes requiring helmet use, perhaps worried that it would discourage participation in the bike-share program he’s launching this summer. Bike commuting in the city has risen 14% since 2010—little wonder, then, that Citigroup will spend $41 million to sponsor the bike-share rollout. THE NUMBER of racetrack workers whose labor dispute June 11, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 3 photos: bloomberg news, istock at Belmont Park could have jeopardized the bid by I’ll Have Another (who was later retired) to become only the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown. The New York Racing Association announced a deal with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which the track employs. NYRA’s remaining problem is at nearby Aqueduct Racetrack, where almost 20 horses have died since the opening of Resorts World Casino last fall.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 11, 2012

Crains New York - June 11, 2012
Table of Contents
Local hospitals suffer growing pains
Meet two of the busiest property buyers in town
Sin City: Pot, pop and ponies, by the numbers
New York, New York
Brooklyn Heights morphs into retail hot spot
The Insider
Real Estate Deals
Viewpoint
Greg David: Why city’s med centers must merge or die
Small Business
Plus: NY’s top hospitals list
Classifieds
For the Record
Tourists’ ticket to exclusive events
How to overcome the tech talent shortage
Executive Moves
Dewey partner down but not out
Hot and spicy at Singapura
The Weekahead

Crains New York - June 11, 2012