Crains New York - July 16, 2012 - (Page 13)

CRAIN’S Business Breakfast Forum: Meet Joseph Lhota CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MTA Join Crain’s New York Business for a discussion with Joseph Lhota, Chairman and CEO, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Mr. Lhota will discuss the MTA’s mounting debt, the upcoming fare hike and his plans to upgrade the nation’s largest transit system. He will be questioned by Crain’s Assistant Managing Editor Erik Engquist and another journalist. bloomberg news EVENT INFORMATION: DATE: Wednesday , September 12, 2012 NEW YORK’S Olympic bid delegation at its final presentation before the International Olympic Committee back in 2005. REGISTER HERE: www.crainsnewyork.com /events-jlhota or call the Events Hotline at (212) 210-0739. PLACE: The Plaza, 768 5th Avenue GREG DAVID What we lost when London won Olympics hen the 2012 Olympics opens in London later this month with a spectacular ceremony in a new stadium built for the event, most New Yorkers watching on television won’t recall that these Games were supposed to have been held in New York. Those who do remember—primarily the businesspeople who worked so hard and gave so much money in the effort to win the Games—will console themselves that, despite losing, the vision of the Olympics changed New York for the better. That’s the conventional wisdom about what we once called NYC 2012, and this theory is partially true. Olympics champion Dan Doctoroff ’s premise was that the Games create both a sense of civic spirit and impose artificial deadlines that allow a city to undertake major projects that would otherwise never be accomplished. His grand scheme to revitalize the city by siting Olympic facilities in underutilized areas—mostly along the waterfront—is slowly being realized on the far West Side, in Brooklyn and elsewhere. Like all conventional wisdom, this theory is also partially wrong. Here’s an eclectic and somewhat lighthearted look at what the Games of the XXX Olympiad would have meant in the city. ● Many New Yorkers would have been off enjoying great vacations. As happened in 2004 when the Republican National Convention was held in the city, many residents would have fled. They also would have been able to rent out their apartments for exorbitant sums to the hundreds of thousands of people coming to the city for the Games—all that money either financing their time elsewhere or bolstering their bank accounts. W The Games would have spurred development ● The Jets would have been a better football team. Remember, the Jets were going to be the permanent occupant of the Olympic stadium with a legitimate claim to be the city’s real football team—with all the prestige and financial gains that would have provided. So, owner Woody Johnson would not have gambled the way he has on highrisk, high-publicity moves, like hiring Rex Ryan or trading for Tim Tebow, in order to compete with the rival Giants. Mr. Doctoroff would have been politically viable. Instead of having a decidedly low-profile role running Bloomberg LP, Mr. Doctoroff would still be dominating the news as he did as the city’s deputy mayor for development (and controversy). He would have left his official job to run the Olympics, and assuming the Games were a smashing success, he would have been well positioned to take on the less than inspiring mayoral candidates the Democrats have assembled so far for 2013. ● Michael Bloomberg would still be mayor, of course. Here’s where history would have been somewhat different, however: The mayor would not have waited until the financial crisis to overturn term limits so he could run for a third term. He would have decided much earlier that he could not have trusted anyone else to make sure the Olympics fulfilled all his hopes. OK,maybe the Jets wouldn’t have been a better team. And Mr. Doctoroff may never have developed the common touch. I think that his central premise would have been true, and the development of the far West Side would have been much further along despite the financial crisis. It is true that the Related Cos. is determined to build a great neighborhood where the stadium was to be.It is also true that it has lured exactly one company to the site. In fact, this is where the conventional wisdom is off base. Despite the financial crisis, the need to complete the Olympic facilities would have spurred development in all the areas Mr. Doctoroff originally targeted. Then the Games themselves would have been a spectacular advertisement for the city’s accomplishment. When the Games are over, New Yorkers should pay attention to the stories about the impact on London and ask themselves what New York really lost. ● TIME: Networking Breakfast: 8:00 - 8:30AM Program: 8:30 - 9:30AM For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Trish Henry at 212-210-0711 or thenry@crainsnewyork.com COST TO ATTEND: $85 for individual ticket(s) if pre-registered before July 24th; $95 thereafter. $850 for table(s) of ten if pre-registered before July 24th; $950 thereafter. You must be pre-registered to attend this event. No refunds permitted. Pre-register online by going to crainsnewyork.com/events. For more information, call the Events Hotline at 212-210-0739. SPONSORED BY: HOST SPONSOR: ADVERTISEMENT 1552 Bway Owner LLC (“Bway Owner”) has agreed to pay the New York City Department of Finance $240,000 pursuant to an agreement with the New York County District Attorney’s Office (“DANY”) related to real property tax filings with the City of New York. Between 2005 and 2010, Bway Owner owned commercial property in Manhattan. In that capacity it licensed space on the billboards attached to the building to private advertisers, thus generating signage income. Bway Owner omitted this signage income on six Real Property Income and Expense statements (“RPIE”), used by the New York City Department of Finance to assess the value of Bway Owner’s real property. In addition, Bway Owner filed protests with the New York City Tax Commission seeking relief in the form of reductions of the assessed value and failed to report the signage income on six Tax Commission Income and Expense statements (“TCIE”). This underreporting was caused by inadequate internal accounting controls and a lack of training and supervision regarding the accurate filing of the RPIEs and TCIEs with the New York City Department of Finance and the New York City Tax Commission. Bway Owner accepts full responsibility for these systemic failures, and accordingly, has agreed to pay $240,000 to the City of New York. In addition, as part of its cooperation with DANY and in order to prevent future inaccurate reporting on real estate tax filings with the City of New York, Bway Owner will examine its internal accounting controls, training and supervision, and make the necessary modifications. Bway Owner recognizes how important it is to New York City and its taxpayers that assessments on real property are based on accurate information so that each taxpayer bears its fair share of the tax burden. http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 16, 2012

Crains New York - July 16, 2012
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business Peopl
From Around the City
Opinion
Greg David
Real Estate Deals
Report: Small Business
For the Record
Classifieds
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - July 16, 2012