Crains New York - August 20, 2012 - (Page 2)

STATS AND THE CITY FAST-TRACKING THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE A City Council trio wants to widen the upper boardwalk level of the bridge, where pedestrians and bicyclists are often elbow to elbow. Any changes to the city’s best-loved span will be hotly debated, but here’s where things stand: FYI J CRAINSNEWYORK.COM buck ennis Sources: NYC Dept. of Transportation, WGBH, BrBridge.com PRICES ON PAUSE The pace of hikes in the consumer price index heated up a bit this summer in the local area, but is still far below the level of a year ago. 3.8% 3.8% 3.3% 3.0% 2.7% 2.8% 2.6% 2.6% % change in local CPI, y-o-y 2.4% 1.6% ’12 A S O N D J F M A 0.2% M J 1.1% J Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics ADDICTED TO NUMBERS? GET A DAILY DOSE AT @STATSANDTHECITY THIS WEEK IN CRAIN’S IN THE BOROUGHS-------------------------- 3 IN THE MARKETS ----------------------------------4 THE INSIDER -----------------------------------------------6 OPINION --------------------------------------------------------10 ALAIR TOWNSEND -------------------------11 FROM AROUND THE CITY----12 REPORT: REAL ESTATE -------------13 REAL ESTATE DEALS -------------------14 THE LIST: TOP AIRLINES-----------------------------------16 CLASSIFIEDS -----------------------------------------17 NEW YORK, NEW YORK ----------21 SOURCE LUNCH --------------------------------22 OUT AND ABOUT ------------------------------23 SNAPS --------------------------------------------------------------23 BUSINESS PEOPLE Amy Smilovic raised prices during the recession to stand out. Her risky strategy led to higher sales. P. 8 CORRECTIONS NAVAL-GAZING IN B’KLYN. It may take a dozen years to pull off, but planning is underway for a 50-acre media campus in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, according to The New York Times. It is to be a joint effort of the yard’s largest tenant, Douglas Steiner of Steiner (TV and film) Studios, and his landlord, the cityowned development corporation that runs the 300-acre place. It comes at a time when TV and film production is booming in the city. … GOOGLE’S TRAVEL PLANS. The search-engine giant is snapping up Frommer’s, creator of the famous travel guidebooks, from Hoboken-based publisher John Wiley & Sons for a reported $25 million. Frommer’s will join Zagat, publisher of the ubiquitous restaurant guide, which Google bought late last year. Google aims to draw more eyeballs and ads by becoming the go-to source for travel and local business info. It’s also drawing attention from antitrust authorities. … GREEN REVOLUTION. Surprise, surprise—the city is bringing in a small Philadelphiabased firm to run Central Parks’ Tavern on the Green, once the highest-grossing restaurant in the nation. After more than two years of sitting idle, a revamp of the place will take another year. On a more savory note, the city wants Tavern to cater more to New Yorkers’ tastes, using more locally sourced ingredients. … GRAY LADY TRIES BRITISH ACCENT. Looking for a leg up in the digital realm, The New York Times Co. is bringing in an executive who did just that for a far larger organization across the pond. In November, departing BBC Director-General Mark Thompson will become the Times Co.’s CEO. His track record is superb but a bit odd—the state-owned BBC, after all, has no shareholders nor advertisers, much less a controlling clan like the Sulzbergers. … BACK AT THE INN. Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts is checking back into the 509-room Jumeirah Essex House big-time. Seven years after selling the property to a Dubai-based group, Strategic is buying the place back for $362 million. That looks to be a bit less than it sold the Central Park South hostelry for back in 2005, and is less than many predicted. ... CUOMO’S DAIRY DREAM. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is hoping to make the Empire State nothing less than the nation’s yogurt capital. At New York’s first- HOORAY! A 2.9% AVERAGE raise is in store for New Yorkers at larger firms next year. It’s the biggest in four years. OY VEY! THE CITY’S bike-share program has been delayed yet again—this time until spring, if we’re lucky. ever “yogurt summit,” even the normally crusty Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proclaimed such a thing entirely doable “if we make it our mission.” … AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR PARENT. Crain Communications Inc. is investing in Internet Week NY, and will take over day-to-day management of the 5year-old event. —lauren elkies City Councilman Dan Garodnick has $1.1 million cash on hand for his 2013 campaign for comptroller. That amount was misstated in the Aug. 13 Insider item “Brooklyn contender bides his time.” Howard Glickberg is Fairway’s vice chairman of development. That fact was misstated in the Aug. 13 “Fairway’s IPO feeds growth.” vol. xxviii, no. 34, august 20, 2012—Crain’s New York Business (issn 8756-789x) is published weekly, except for double issues the weeks of July Fourth, Labor Day and Christmas, by Crain Communications Inc., 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI 48207-2912. for subscriber service: Call (877) 824-9379. Fax (313) 446-6777. $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) STORIES TO WATCH THIS WEEK Aug. 20: U.S. Open qualification rounds begin, but without injured Rafael Nadal. Aug. 20: City Planning expected to certify Hudson Square’s 50-acre rezoning proposal. Aug. 21: Barnes & Noble booked to release quarterly earnings. Red ink likely. Aug. 22: Michael Jordan co-hosts Chelsea Piers dinner for President Obama. 2 | Crain’s New York Business | August 20, 2012 ap/ wide world photos 120,000+ MOTOR vehicles cross the bridge daily 4,000+ PEDESTRIANS cross the bridge daily 3,100+ CYCLISTS cross the bridge daily 1984 YEAR bike lane added to the boardwalk 1¢ TOLL 150K pedestrians paid to cross opening day, 1883 Lawsky scores $340M ust eight days. That’s all it took for the New York Department of Financial Services to transform itself from an unknown regulatory fledgling into a heavy hitter. Eight days was all it took for Britain’s Standard Chartered Bank to cry uncle and settle with the department after its superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, accused the bank of handling $250 billion worth of banned transactions for Iranian clients—and threatened to pull its New York license. Critics, including The Wall Street Journal, called Lawsky a grandstander for jumping the gun on a posse of other regulators on the bank’s trail, but in the end he was the guy with the badge who got the bank to cough up $340 million in fines. The question now, of course, is what other sorts of market abuse Mr. Lawsky has his eyes on. Considering his department oversees the local operations of many of the world’s biggest banks and insurers, the pickings are potentially rich. Meanwhile, another New York regulator was throwing his weight around. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman served subpoenas to seven large banks for information regarding possible manipulation of the benchmark global interest rate, LIBOR. The banks served are reported to include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS. In other words, a roundup of the usual banking giants. Mr. Schneiderman, it’s worth noting, is conducting his investigation in concert with his Connecticut counterpart. —aaron elstein http://www.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM http://www.BrBridge.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - August 20, 2012

Crains New York - August 20, 2012
Contents
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Opinion
Alair Townsend
From Around the City
Report: Real Estate
Real Estate Deals
The List: Top Airlines
Classifieds
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - August 20, 2012