Crains New York - April 15, 2013 - (Page 3)

John Liu cuts to the Chase The city comptroller takes on Jamie Dimon despite—or because of—his own troubles BY AARON ELSTEIN As a crowd waited outside St. Francis College on a windy Brooklyn night before a Democratic mayoral debate, one of the candidates, John Liu, seized the chance to do some classic retail campaigning. He shook hands with the chilly folks in line, chatted with a protester in a Richard Nixon mask and pounced when five middleschool-age students shyly asked to meet the city comptroller. “What’s your favorite topic?” Mr. Liu asked the kids. “Biology! Did you INVESTMENT know if you crack RETURN on city open an egg, you’ll see a employees’ $43B pension fund for little squiggly white thing against fiscal year ended the yolk? That’s the nucleus. The next June 30, 2012 time you make scrambled eggs, look for that before you start scrambling.” “Are these your students?” he asked a woman watching them. “They’re brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant microbiologists.” “Did they tell you about the whale?” the teacher asked. “Marine biologists!” he gushed. A whale is very much on Mr. Liu’s mind nowadays, but not the kind the teacher was thinking about. In his role as a trustee of the New York City employee pension system, he’s helping lead a campaign to persuade JPMorgan Chase to strip Chief Executive Jamie Dimon of his role as chairman after the bank See COMPTROLLER on Page 19 SoHo joins the top tier as retail rents cross $1K mark Who needs midtown? Shops shell out for square footage in chic nabe BY DANIEL GEIGER Billionaire landlord Peter Brant had a simple message for Prada when it came time for the high-end Italian retailer to renew the lease for its stylish SoHo flagship recently: Pay up. To stay in its Rem Koolhaasdesigned store on the corner of Broadway and Spring Street, Prada did so in spectacular fashion. In February,it agreed to shell out more than $1,000 per square foot for its 10,000square-foot space, the first four-digit rent for a retail store ever recorded south of midtown,and proof positive of SoHo’s emergence as a global des- tination. “Tenants want an alternative to the uptown market,” said Joseph Sitt, who owns properties in midtown as well as SoHo. “There is no good brand that comes to New York City from anywhere in the world that now thinks they can be in only one or the other.” With its shopperclogged sidewalks and growing reputation as one of the city’s capitals of cool, SoHo is taking its place alongside Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue and Times Square as a musthave location for retailers. Last year, Tiffany & Co., famed for its Fifth Avenue flagship, opened a 7,000square-foot location at 97 Greene St., between Prince and Spring streets. In the coming weeks, Balenciaga plans to follow suit, opening a shop a block away at 148 Mercer St. Other luxury brands that have settled in SoHo in recent months include Stella McCartney, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent. “For a long time, there were brands there because it was hip and it was sexy, but they weren’t necessarily making a lot of money,” said Michael Glanzberg, a retail broker with Sinvin Real Estate, which specializes in the SoHo market. “Now there are a lot more shoppers who come and really spend, not just a few Bronx cheers for biz growth The next Billyburg? Low rents lure owners to hip Mott Haven BY ANNIE KARNI The 30-seat dining room at Ceetay, an Asian fusion restaurant that opened last month on Bruckner Boulevard in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, could easily pass muster in a trendy neighborhood like Williamsburg. Mason jars double as light fixtures, and the menu is filled with oddities like “maple and eggplant beef.” Across the street, three entrepreneurs have just signed a lease to open a coffee shop that will double as a tapas bar at night. One block away, first-time restaurateurs Michael Brady and Charles Said are celebrating the first anniversary of their restaurant and bar, the Clock. From there, patrons have a clear view of the “Grand Opening” sign that hangs in the window of the new print shop across the street. Welcome to a slice of the borough that ranks as the city’s fastestgrowing breeding ground for new businesses. Between 1991 and 2011, the Bronx saw a quadrupling in the number of new business incorporations to 4,690, according to a study See BUSINESSES on Page 9 STATS AND THE CITY BROOKLYN HEALTH CARE: The city’s most populous borough faces critical health challenges, according to a new community-needs assessment. 24.8% PORTION OF RESPONDENTS reporting high blood pressure or hypertension. Brownsville/E. Flatbush led with rate of 39.6% 19.9% RESPONDENTS who have asthma. Greenpoint and Brownsville/E. Flatbush each had rates of 30%+ ‘Tenants want an alternative to uptown’ 50% RESPONDENTS who had visited an emergency room within the past two years 3 1M Sources: “The Need for Caring in North and Central Brooklyn,” Brooklyn Perinatal Network; public bankruptcy filings BROOKLYN RESIDENTS covered by public insurance, or 40% of the borough’s population BROOKLYN HOSPITALS that have gone bankrupt since 2005. Interfaith, the latest, had debts of $341M istockphoto darren thompson 1.3% IN THE BOROUGHS BRONX ADDICTED TO NUMBERS? GET A DAILY DOSE AT @STATSANDTHECITY See SOHO on Page 20 April 15, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - April 15, 2013

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
CORPORATE LADDER
OPINION
STEVE HINDY
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: SMALL BUSINESS
THE LISTS
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - April 15, 2013