Crains New York - May 13, 2013 - (Page 10)

IN THE BOROUGHS BROOKLYN Continued from Page 3 open like huge time-swallowing fissures in the line’s schedule, rarely accompanied by any announcement. And then there is the requisite Gtrain sprint,the result of the four-car trains filling only half the station, forcing those at one end of the platform to scramble toward the center. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have heard all the complaints,but they seem inclined to think the “G”stands for “good.” They note that based on data from peak rush-hour traffic that the INCREASE IN the G’s weekday agency reviews ridership from at least three 2011 to 2012 times a year, all is well. The most recent review, NUMBER OF conducted late attendees at a last year, found January rally for that during peak better service hours, G trains come every six to eight minutes. NUMBER OF “The last months dedicated time we looked to MTA’s G review at ridership trends, the level of service on the G was sufficient, but we will continue to analyze it,” said a spokesman. 4.2% 75 6 In the meantime, to alleviate some of the strain on the G, the agency will add two bus routes to the north Brooklyn area beginning in September. Crucially, one will run from Williamsburg up through Greenpoint to Long Island City, Queens, where riders can pick up trains into Manhattan. Pressure on the MTA to improve G service continues to mount. The Riders Alliance, a citywide organization formed last year to fight for better overall transit service, and politicians including state Sen. Daniel Squadron, DBrooklyn/Manhattan, have made fixing the line one of their primary objectives. Armed with recently released numbers that revealed the G logged the fastest growth in average weekday ridership last year of any line in the city, with a growth rate of 4.2%, or 2,000 riders a day, the alliance is organizing rallies and circulating petitions.A January gathering at the Metropolitan Avenue stop in Williamsburg drew 75 people, pushing above all else for more frequent service. In June, the MTA will release the results of a six-month review of ridership data from each of the line’s 21 stops. adrianne knott G is for ‘gripe’ “More and more people depend on the G, which means we’d better make sure the G serves people better,” said Mr. Squadron. “The full-line review will point to what can be fixed now within a limited budget.” He noted earlier successes, including a 2009 review of the F train, which led to newer and cleaner subway cars. Similarly, following a review of the beleaguered L train last year, service was inBROKEN LINK: Subway entrance on Manhattan Avenue creased. Among those hoping for a similar outcome for the G is Annemarie Caruso, a that amount of people.” Greenpoint resident who works as a People who work in the area have visitor assistant at the Museum of their own ways of coping with the vaModern Art. She reports that she garies of the G’s schedule. Sujata has waited as long as 20 minutes Mehta, who along with her husband during rush hour without any an- owns Cinderella Card Shop on nouncements, and that as a result Greenpoint’s main commercial she has to budget as much as an hour thoroughfare, Manhattan Avenue, for her commute to midtown to comes in every morning from Forest avoid being late. Hills, Queens, to open the store at 9. “A lot of the time, it’s weaving More often than not, she drives to my way through the elbows and avoid taking the G, which she said armpits and iPads and trying to find can as much as triple her commute a space or a pole to grab,” said Ms. time because of its unreliability. Caruso, who joined the Riders Al“[Greenpoint] is in an odd liance in January because of her place,” said Ms. Mehta. “Everyfrustrations with the G. “The plat- body’s dependent on the G because form gets very backed up, and it there are no other trains nearby—no doesn’t seem like it’s able to handle alternatives.” Ⅲ FROM AROUND THE CITY BROOKLYN Loaner laptops draw library users The prospect of laptops on loan has Sheepshead Bay residents queuing up to get inside their local libraries. Up for grabs at the Kings Bay and Kings Highway branches are a total of three dozen new computers purchased with a $50,000 fund allocation from the neighborhood’s state assemblywoman, Helene Weinstein. “You transform a library with these laptops,” said Ms. Weinstein, who said she had noticed that some of her constituents,older immigrants from China or Russia, did not have computers. “If you don’t have computer access, you can’t succeed in school or apply for a job.” The wait to use the old desktop models at the two Sheepshead Bay branches used to stretch on for hours.On the new laptops,residents can browse for two hours at a time from anywhere in the buildings. “The library has always been a place to go to do your work,”said Ms. Weinstein.“This is helping bring the libraries into the technology age.” —cara eisenpress SMALL BUSINESS M.B.A.s bypass corporate America to join family firms BY CARA S. TRAGER I n August, Rahul Zala will receive his M.B.A. in entrepreneurship at fashion school LIM College in Manhattan—but he has already put his book knowledge to work for him at the uniform clothing business his father started 18 years ago. The company, RK Uniforms in Flushing, Queens, provides garb for a range of civil-service employees, including the city’s uniformed police, corrections officers and emergency medical technicians. In the past two years, Mr. Zala, 26, has opened a store in Jamaica, Queens, and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn,turning RK Uniforms into a three-unit chain. He has expanded the firm’s offerings to custom-made dress uniforms for ceremonial occasions, such as promotions. And courtesy of a contract factory in China, Mr. Zala has established a wholesaling and manufacturing firm, called Shayonara, which supplies uniforms to his family’s shops, as well as to a dozen other specialty retailers throughout the city. In school, Mr. Zala learned the value of vertical integration—getting involved in more than one stage of production—and relying less on middlemen. “That’s what I’m trying to do slowly,” he said. With the two additional stores, the profitable RK Uniforms registered a 35% increase in revenue last year, with just four workers. Shayonara is expected to achieve profitability in PORTION of three years. 46% full-time M.B.A. programs seeing increased application volume in 2012 over 2011 Raising the bar Businessschool graduSource: Graduate Management Admission ates generally Council, global research view their degrees as tickets into the corporate world. But PORTION of graduate degrees in the aftermath that were granted of a recession in business in that pink2010 Source: National Center for slipped many corporate employees, some M.B.A.-touting offspring are forgoing the corporate life for their family-owned businesses. Belén Villalonga, an associate professor of management who teaches a family-business course at NYU’s Stern School of Business, sees many students taking this route. Ms. Villalonga, who joined 10 | Crain’s New York Business | May 13, 2013 21.7% Stern this year after a decade at Harvard University, said the Harvard class in family business that she taught for five years grew from 20 students at the outset to 50 last year, with about 35 students indicating that they were “planning to go into the family business at some point.” It’s not just a tight job market that’s driving the trend. More family-owned businesses are establishing formal policies requiring that family members earn undergraduate and even graduate business degrees and gain work experience at another firm before joining the fold. Families are seeking expertise comparable to what would be required for professionals at competing firms, Ms. Villalonga says. Mr. Zala said he earned his father’s trust by initially taking on small projects, such as designing a flier. “It’s OK to have a big vision,” said Mr. Zala, “but you have to start out small and conservative to show you are capable of taking on a project effectively and successfully.” Andrea Schrager is glad her son, Adam, 35, joined the family firm, which provides facilities and personnel for focus groups. “The fact that he has his M.B.A. and corporate training means that he brings credibility, connections and the big-picture view of our value proposition,” said Ms. Schrager, CEO of the 50-employee Consumer UNIFORM RESULTS: M.B.A. candidate Rahul Zala is putting his knowledge to work for his family’s clothing firm. buck ennis Next-gen executives bring new ideas and fresh connections Centers of New York and New Jersey, which she founded in 1984. New sources of revenue Coming onboard in 2006 after earning his M.B.A. from his mother’s alma mater, the Stern School of Business, and working at financial institutions, Mr. Schrager helped develop the family’s now-profitable 15-employee midtown focus-group facility, New York Consumer Center, which opened in 2007 and is on track this year to increase revenue by 20% over 2012. The company has received a revenue boost from Mr. Schrager’s former Stern classmates, who steer focus-group business his way. “I have close friends in every consumer package-goods company—and that’s huge,” said Mr. Schrager. Ⅲ To sign up for Crain’s SMALL BUSINESS newsletter, go to www.crainsnewyork.com/smallbiz. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/smallbiz

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - May 13, 2013

Crains New York - May 13, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
REAL ESTATE DEALS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
STEVE HINDY
GREG DAVID
SMALL BUSINESS
REPORT: TECHNOLOGY
THE LIST
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - May 13, 2013