Crains New York - June 10, 2013 - (Page 3)

SOURCE DINNER: IN THE BOROUGHS BROOKLYN BOB UNANUE Locals find rebirth as mariners Rowing club reunites neighborhood with forgotten waterways HE PAID HIS DUES: Goya President Bob Unanue got his start working “on the production line.” BY CARA EISENPRESS See SOURCE DINNER on Page 26 See RISING TIDE on Page 19 buck ennis I’m one of the older siblings,so I got an earlier start in the company. When I was 10 years old, I worked on the production line, packing Bicycles aren’t the only personaltransit mode experiencing a new popularity this summer. At noon on alternating Saturdays, a group of hearty Brooklynites begin threading their way along a waterfront stacked with steel shipping containers to a small dock on Newtown Creek in Greenpoint.There they don life preservers,board a score of brightly hued canoes and kayaks—the entire North Brooklyn Boat Club fleet—and bravely paddle out into the murky waters of the waterway before swinging out onto the East River. True,the creek ranks as one of the largest Superfund cleanup sites in the nation, the legacy of the decades when the waterway was lined with oil refineries, but many locals can’t wait to dip their paddles in it. “We’re bursting at the seams with excitement,” said Jens Rasmussen, an actor who last year was one of a group of 10 who founded the club at a temporary site on Ash Street at the foot of the Pulaski Bridge, donated by Broadway Stages, the video production studio that owns the land. Goya grows beyond Hispanics BY LISA FICKENSCHER Bob Unanue, president of Goya Foods Inc., may be the country’s most understated chief of a $1 billion business. The 59-year-old executive from LISTEN to a discussion at CrainsNewYork.com/podcasts Wyckoff, N.J., shuns big titles.“We don’t use CEO,” he said over dinner at a Manhattan restaurant. Afterward, he rushed back across the Hudson River to join the nightshift workers’ Memorial Day weekend barbecue at Goya’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J. Mr. Unanue’s common touch contrasts with Goya’s lofty financials. It is the largest Hispanicowned food company in the U.S., with more than $1 billion in revenue, and the 23rd-largest privately held company in the area, according to Crain’s. Mr. Unanue continues to grow its operations with two new facilities being built in Jer- sey City, soon to be the company’s new headquarters, and Houston, at a cost of nearly $200 million. “These are pretty big undertakings for us and represent the largest investment in the company’s history,” said Mr. Unanue. Since Goya was founded 77 years ago as a specialty distributor serving Hispanic immigrants in New York, the business has transformed into a manufacturer and national conglomerate whose signature cans of beans are sold in big supermarket chains across the country. Some 35,000 stores in the New York metropolitan area alone carry Goya products. Cuomo bets gambling bill will pass before end of the month NYC moratorium, lower tax rate irk some players; memo takes aim at Genting BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS For Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resistance to his plan to legalize casino gambling in New York is attributable to the scary wording of a poll question. But the reality is far more complex than the governor may be willing to admit. The casino debate is rife with conflicting and overlapping agendas. Voters, however, will play the final card. Only 48% of New Yorkers think changing the state’s constitution to allow casino gambling is a good idea, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll. Asked about the lackluster support for his proposal, formally unveiled last week and scheduled for a public referendum this November, Mr. Cuomo said he was unsurprised. Mr. Cuomo paraphrased the poll Only 48% of voters favor an amendment to allow casinos question and New Yorkers’ response in a radio interview last week: “ ‘Do you want to change the state constitution to do gambling?’ ‘No, that sounds bad.’ That’s not an attractive proposition.” But then he admitted, “And that’s technically what we would have to do.” The governor, who shies away from using the word “gambling” to describe his plan,indicated that New Yorkers would respond more favorably to the casino question when offered some context. Given the proliferation of racetrack casinos, or racinos, across the state, he said most residents would agree that “we already have gaming in New York.” Still, Mr. Cuomo faces a steep climb in his quest to persuade first the Legislature and then the public to embrace his plan, which begins with three upstate casinos. It would prohibit any casino from being built in New York City for five years, and would tax casino revenue at 25%— much lower than the current rate for racinos, but several times more than casinos in other states pay. At the same time, the company has retained its family roots, as the fourth generation joins Goya’s ranks. Among Mr. Unanue’s closest colleagues are 16 members of his family, including three of his six children. He tells Crain’s how Goya has evolved over the decades and what’s in its future. How did you rise to the top of the company over your five siblings and cousins? STATS AND THE CITY by Emily Laermer EMERGENCY BREAKS: Because of Sandy, the MTA will close the R train’s Montague tube for at least a year and the G for five weeks and 12 weekends. 81% ON-TIME ARRIVAL rate for the G, ranking second in the system 38,300 PASSENGERS DELAYED by signal failures in the EXPECTED Montague tube AVERAGE each month, up commute wait time 120-fold since for R passengers, Sandy including their new tube-related transfer, up from 6 mins. 11:40 Sources: MTA, U.S. Department of Transportation, Straphangers Campaign 65K DAILY PASSENGERS affected by R train’s closure—more than the Fulton Street stop sees each day $100M+ ESTIMATED COST of repairing the 5,000-foot-long Montague tube between Brooklyn and Manhattan istockphoto Third-gen bean counter talks $200M expansion, discovers pouches are OK, too ADDICTED TO NUMBERS? GET A DAILY DOSE AT @STATSANDTHECITY See GAMBLING on Page 24 June 10, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 3 http://www.CrainsNewYork.com/podcasts

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 10, 2013

SOURCE DINNER
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
DIGITAL NY
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
SMALL BUSINESS
OPINION
STEVE HINDY
GREG DAVID
REPORT: HEALTH CARE
THE LIST
FOR THE RECORD
CLASSIFIEDS
REAL ESTATE DEALS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - June 10, 2013