Crains New York - December 3, 2012 - (Page 3)

Rodale Inc.’s rocky road Publishing CEO Maria Rodale gets her way, as the two dozen top execs who’ve left since 2010 know well BY MATTHEW FLAMM In her three years as chief executive of Rodale Inc., Maria Rodale has not hesitated to put her stamp on the health and wellness publisher founded in 1930 by her grandfather. New initiatives include a “reinvention” of old stalwart Prevention magazine that will debut in January, and the launch of an organic-lifestyle e-commerce site coming in the spring. The chairman and CEO has also been known to speak her mind in meetings in ways that have flabbergasted seasoned executives, but which she attributes to a belief in being open and transparent. But most conspicuous about Ms. Rodale’s tenure has been the dizzying series of departures of top executives,culminating two weeks ago with longtime Men’s Health Editor in Chief David Zinczenko. A polarizing figure regarded by many former colleagues as either a ruthless selfpromoter or a brilliant marketer, or both, he is nonetheless credited with turning the title into a $160 million business and the company’s biggest source of profits in his dozen years on the job. The question will be whether Ms. Rodale’s unorthodox management style and unpredictable personnel decisions will come back to haunt her, or if she’ll make good on her goal of creating an innovative company with an e-commerce revenue stream that supplants losses in print advertising. Mr. Zinczenko, who declined to comment, had no plans to leave and was surprised by the CEO’s move, according to an insider. But he’s in good company. Along with Rodale Books Publisher Stephen Perrine, who got axed at the same time, some two dozen senior executives have either jumped or been pushed from Rodale over the past two years— a remarkable toll for a publisher with just seven magazines and a books division. Mr. Zinczenko, who had multiple jobs that gave him oversight of much of the company, was an expensive property, earning $1 million in salary and 20% royalties on books he co-authored, like diet blockbuster Eat This, Not That!, according to a former executive. And Rodale, like all publishers, needs to save money. Though the company remains profitable, annuSee ROCKY ROAD on Page 43 IN THE BOROUGHS MANHATTAN The city’s cheesiest ’hood Union Square ripens into commercial center for Gorgonzolas, bries BY KERRY MURTHA Kurt Beecher Dammeier describes Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, his new shop near Union Square, as a “living cheese museum.”The threestory establishment boasts a retail operation and sandwich shop on the ground level where visitors can watch workers separate curds and whey through 18-foot plateglass windows, PRICE PER plus an upstairs POUND for seating area. Hudson Red, a Meanwhile, raw-milk cheese, down in the at Bedford Cheese Shop basement,a dimly lit restaurant operates in a working cheese cellar, surrounded by local batches being aged at a steady temperature of around 50 degrees. Great cheese isn’t just for serving on a cheeseboard, insists Beecher’s founder, who has been selling nearly 200 varieties of hard, soft and inbetween cheese at his spiffy 8,500square-foot store on West 20th Street and Broadway since June of last year. Beecher’s is one of at least a halfdozen artisanal cheese shops to open up in the area in the past two years. Offering everything from pungent Italian Gorgonzolas to creamier domestic bries, Union Square has become a cheese mecca for many New Yorkers. And rather than worry about overkill, the own- $26 MARIA RODALE has been CEO since 2009 of the media company that publishes Men’s Health and Prevention magazines. Her grandfather founded the business in 1930. david neff See CHEESIEST on Page 44 Downtown tourism hurting Local tourist trades suffer with closures of seaport, Statue of Liberty BY LISA FICKENSCHER Two of lower Manhattan’s biggest attractions—the South Street Seaport and the Statue of Liberty, which draw thousands of visitors to the area each day—have been closed since Sandy smashed into the region a month ago. Hundreds of people have lost their jobs at those anchor destinations. Now the surrounding area is feeling the economic impact from the loss of tourists. The retailers, restaurants and tour operators that depend on those crowds are worried that the closures will continue well into next year and feed a perception that downtown has been knocked out cold. Equally troubling to many businesses, there are redevelopment plans for the seaport that are set to begin next year, which will likely mean even more closures and tourism disruption. If travel and tour agencies don’t feel confident that lower Manhattan is a viable destination, bookings for next year could be curtailed. “We are starting THE CHEESE DISTRICT E. 25th St. Hundreds have lost their jobs, and the impact grows to get questions now about whether downtown is open,” said Travis Noyes, senior vice president of New York Water Taxi, a commuter-service operator that also offers harbor tours to visitors. New York Water Taxi had to relocate its fleet to Pier 11 because its hub at Pier 17, where the South Street Seaport is located, is now closed. Seaport Landlord Howard Hughes Corp. is assessing the damage to the pier and has said it will likely reopen by the end of the year. The National Park Service, which operates Ellis and Liberty is- University Pl. lands, is also assessing the damage caused by the storm and has said the islands will remain closed at least through the end of 2012. Ironically, the Statue of Liberty, which had undergone a yearlong renovation, was open just one day before Sandy shuttered the entire island. Compounding downtown’s woes is the fact that many locals have not returned. About 20% of the office space there remains closed, according to real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. What’s more, many businesses are still hobbled, without working phone lines and Internet access. The Marriott Downtown reopened on Nov. 12, but it has no Internet and phone service or even room service, as its restaurant and See CLOSURES on Page 43 EATALY 200 FIFTH AVE. E. 20th St. BEECHER’S HANDMADE CHEESE 900 B’WAY BEDFORD CHEESE SHOP 67 IRVING PL. GORILLA CHEESE TRUCK, OTHERS UNION SQ. GREENMARKET E. 14th St. AGATA & VALENTINA 64 UNIVERSITY PL. E. 10th St. Fourth Ave. Fifth Ave. Union Sq. Park Irving Pl. Broadway December 3, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - December 3, 2012

Crains New York - December 3, 2012
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Opinion
Greg David
Report: Best Places to Work
Classifieds
For the Record
Small Business
Real Estate Deals
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - December 3, 2012