Crains New York - July 23, 2012 - (Page 3)

IN THE BOROUGHS BRONX Rail plan spurs cheer in Bronx Metro-North stops in four areas seen as big economic boost ALEX RAHAMAN moved his tech firm’s headquarters from London to New York hoping to provide some answers to the advertising riddle. BY HILARY POTKEWITZ Co-op City, the sprawling cooperative apartment complex in the east Bronx with 35 high-rises, assorted townhouses and more than 60,000 residents, has always been tough to get to by train. There’s the No. 5 or No. 6 subway, but their closest stops are nearly a 20-minute bus ride away, and though there’s also an express bus from midtown, its scheduled 45minute run is seldom achieved. “On a bad day, or if you get stuck during rush hour, you can forget it,” said Kenneth Kearns,district manager of Bronx Community Board 10, where Co-op City is located. That’s why he and others are Metro-North so excited about in the Bronx news that the Metro-North Railroad is close TOTAL STATIONS to approving (among three construction of a lines) station at Co-op City. Not surprisingly, the NUMBER OF board, shortly RIDES to/from after being stations last year briefed on the plan by railroad officials, quickPORTION OF ly passed a resoPASSENGERS lution supportheading north ing the project. The response in three other east Bronx neighborhoods that could also get stations has FAMOUS MOVIE also been enthuREFERENCE siastic, and with Marty the Zebra in Madagascar good reason. wanted to use a The idea of Metro-North train adding stations to flee to along the AmConnecticut Sources: Metro-North trak line that Railroad, DreamWorks runs out of Penn Animation Station and links up with Metro-North’s New Haven line in New Rochelle has been a dream of many for years. Only recently, however, pushed by Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and others, has the idea really gathered steam. In the Bronx the potential benefits loom large. Just last month, in a formal pitch to the City Council Transportation Committee, the buck ennis Digging for digital gold NY’s ad-tech startups scramble to unlock potential riches of mobile marketplace BY MATTHEW FLAMM It’s no secret that mobile devices are taking the place of computers. What’s not so obvious is that advertisers are still figuring out how to reach consumers on their smartphones and tablets. That’s why entrepreneurs like Alex Rahaman are in a hurry. There’s a fortune to be made in solving the mobile-advertising riddle. Last year, mobile devices had a 10% share of adults’ media time each day but garnered less than 1% of U.S. ad dollars, according to eMarketer. This year, mobile ad spending is expected to grow by 80%, to $2.6 billion. By 2016, it will be a $10.8 billion business. Hoping to strike it rich in the gold rush, New York-based ad-tech entrepreneurs like Mr. Rahaman are racing to distinguish themselves from each other, and from the so-called first-generation mobile ad divisions of giants such as Google and Apple. “Now is the time to make your mark as the category leader in this space,” said Mr. Rahaman, who in June moved the headquarters of his company, StrikeAd, to the Flatiron district from London.“You wait too long, and that spot gets taken.” ON TRACK Finding the right match The 39-year-old Briton founded his mobile advertising-technology firm in 2010, and spent the next year showing ad agencies how precisely it could match their ads with the right audiences. Identifying consumers and their tastes is a challenge on mobile devices,which often don’t support cookies inside applications or in their browsers. The key to gaining market share is building a better advertising mousetrap, one that enables marketers to utilize mobile’s potential. That can mean targeting users by location, so they can be See MOBILE on Page 24 13 8.1M 2/3 Soda wars are bubbling over Beverage industry tries to whip up opposition to ban on oversize soft drinks BY LISA FICKENSCHER If a majority of New Yorkers are opposed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to limit the size of sugary drinks sold in restaurants and other outlets—as some polls suggest—they are not registering their anger where it would count. According to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, just 600 letters opposing the ban and 15,545 letters expressing support for it were submitted to the agency as of July 20. That’s bad news for the beverage industry, which is trying to whip up a storm of public disapproval, hoping to pressure city officials into abandoning the proposal. The industry is focusing its efforts on July 24, when the city’s Board of Health is holding a hearing on the plan and when the public comment period ends. On Tuesday, the board members will not accept any more written comments, taking the next seven weeks to officially weigh all the information. More than 11,000 pro-ban letters arrived within a 24-hour period late last week, a city spokeswoman said. The board members, who are appointed by the mayor, will announce their decision on Sept. 13 on whether to limit the serving size of sugary beverages such as sodas, teas, fruit juices and sports drinks to 16 ounces. “This is the only opportunity for the public to comment on this proposal, and we are trying to reach the most people in the shortest amount of time,” said Eliot Hoff, a spokesman for New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, a monthold coalition of businesses and others opposed to the ban. The group of movie-theater operators, restaurants and beverage manufacturers is spearheaded and funded by the American Beverage Association.Mr.Hoff is a senior director for APCO Worldwide, a large public relations firm retained by the ABA. Since the mayor made international news by unveiling his controversial plan on May 30, the ABA has mobilized a strong response, spending big money to try to stop what it fears will be a domino effect See SODA WARS on Page 24 bloomberg news See CONNECTED on Page 12 July 23, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 23, 2012

Crains New York - July 23, 2012
Contents
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Small Business
Opinion
From Around the City
Report: Real Estate
Real Estate Deals
For the Record
Classifieds
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About

Crains New York - July 23, 2012