Gotham Gets Its Just Desserts
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20100802-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 7/30/2010 8:19 PM Page 1 INSIDE Mayor Diana TOP STORIES Taylor, The latest online anyone? fashion victims: —Greg David on why he’s taking vintage shops ® her seriously PAGE 2 Page 11 Apartment builders rediscover a source VOL. XXVI, NO. 31 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM AUGUST 2-8, 2010 PRICE: $3.00 of low-cost money PAGE 2 NY economy Jonathan Segal, king of the night is chugging PAGE 3 Feds dangle even as U.S. $130M, energizing upstate, downstate loses steam PAGE 3 We’re where action is, Lower Manhattan creating nearly 10% of residents eye new jobs in first half unused 9/11 funds PAGE 4 BY DANIEL MASSEY Charlie Rangel’s after more than a year in which CUNY fundraising Greenhouse IT couldn’t land a single sales meeting, the company has finally THE INSIDER, PAGE 8 gotten its foot in the door at city busi- nesses over the past three months to pitch its workstation, server and net- work-management services. “The good news is, companies are ready to talk,”says Simon Binder,man- aging partner.“The bad news is, they’re still reluctant to make decisions.” Local executives like Mr. Binder are frequently turning to the phrase “cau- tious optimism” to describe the glim- mers of light they see in the recovery. Yet when the rebound here is compared with what’s happening in the rest of the BUSINESS LIVES U.S., a brighter picture emerges: New York City has capitalized on growth in a GOTHAM GIGS SEEDS OF CHANGE: Negotiations over See LOCAL ECONOMY on Page 27 the lease at a rebuilt market—and Oscar Blandi, he of the reining in an aggressive city agency— $600 haircut P. 29 face “some difficult days,” says co-op G ANNE FISHER on co-president Matthew D’Arrigo. artists adding business buck ennis Gotham talent to repertoire P. 29 G MOVERS & SHAKERS Riverkeepers’new gets its just keeper,Paul Gallay P. 30 G GAEL GREENE reveals desserts her repeat faves P. 31 FOOD FIGHT Not every city street INDEX Overcrowded, overregulated Hunts Point has a new bakery. It produce vendors threaten to pull up stakes just seems that way IN THE MARKETS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _4 NEW YORK, NEW YORK _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _6 BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI SMALL BUSINESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _12 prison than a bustling $2 billion center of commerce BY LISA FICKENSCHER NEIGHBORHOOD JOURNAL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _14 that supplies 60% of the city’s fruit and vegetable needs. The facility, the biggest such market in the cupcakes may be the cake du jour, but REAL ESTATE DEALS PLUS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _16 the terminal Produce Cooperative Market at world, is so run-down that when it rains, drivers Big Apple bakers are betting on a wider CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _23 Hunts Point in the South Bronx is a tough place to cannot avoid stepping down from their trucks into variety of goods.New retail bakeries are FOR THE RECORD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _26 do business. ankle-deep water because the uneven ground by the rising up across the city,and their offer- EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _29 Surrounded by a 10-foot metal fence topped loading docks is full of puddles. ings run the gamut from comfort THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _31 with barbed wire, the 112-acre property—with its “The place is 43 years old. It needs a major face- food—frosted red velvet cake, sour squat, 1960s-era buildings—looks more like a See HUNTS POINT on Page 28 cream apple walnut pie—to exotic fare—orange wasabi mousse, black sesame cream puffs. 31 “A lot of times, people go into our 5 REPORT CFOS shops looking for cupcakes, but they’re Turnaround gurus work with less pleasantly surprised they can get a lot ELECTRONIC EDITION to do more for struggling firms P. 19 more than that,” says Marc Lino, co- founder of Billy’s Bakery. The seven- year-old business is growing fast. It be- NEWSPAPER Highest-paid finance chiefs P. 21 See NY’S JUSTDESSERTSon Page 27 photo:taylor flickr/joseph mehling dartmouth 71486 01068 0 20100802-NEWS--0002,0003-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 7/30/2010 8:20 PM Page 1 IN BRIEF Vintage stores out of fashion THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF FILM, THEATRE & BROADCASTING, WHICH OVERSEES SHOOTING permits and tries to entice producers to work than they were three years ago. here, has become part of the newly created Online retailers like eBay, Etsy bagging Once thought of as dirty, used and Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. cheap, vintage has undergone a recent The new agency will also absorb NYC customers with lots of low-priced couture makeover. Celebrities like Jennifer Lopez Media—the city’s television, radio and online and Rhianna, along with Hollywood styl- network—and the Office of Digital Brooklyn-based online marketplace that ist Rachel Zoe,have breathed new life into Coordination. It will aim to use social media BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI has taken the retail world by storm during these old-school fashions,prompting con- and other digital tools to enhance its five-year existence. “It started as hand- sumers to search out the one-of-a-kind communication with the public and raise the in june, Alyssa Pallett shut down her made, but now there are over 100,000 vin- items.Now,the cost of some vintage goods profile of the new media industry through dream business—an 1,100-square-foot tage items listed there.” can exceed the price of brand-new cloth- partnerships with the city. Katherine Oliver, vintage designer-clothing store on the ing at mass-market retailers and even who has been commissioner of the film office Lower East Side’s Allen Street—after less Bigger selection higher-end stores. since 2002 and president of NYC Media since than 10 months of operation. Eva Weiss make that 750,000. Etsy’s vintage wares “Vintage no longer has that stigma of April, has been named commissioner. closed her seven-year-old vintage shop, represent more than 12% of the site’s total being secondhand and tatty,” says Chris- Beauty Crisis,on East 7th Street at the end products. eBay’s vintage apparel and acces- tene Barberich, editorial director at Refin- A PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH AN OPEN-AIR of last month, and Hannah Kurland just sories listings number close to 460,000. ery29, an online shop that also provides MARKET ON A MILE-LONG STRIP UNDER THE closed Marmalade on Ludlow Street a Other sites,such as Nasty Gal and Archived commentary. Metro-North tracks along Park Avenue—from week ago. Similarly, Love Saves the Day Vintage, are dedicated to the sector. In addition to bargain prices, some on- East 111th Street to the Harlem River at East and Atomic Passion shuttered last year. “It’s all about selection,” says Britt line marketplaces offer details of an item’s 133rd Street—would boost small businesses in The list goes on. Beemer, founder of America’s Research heritage, a plus for consumers eager to a neighborhood with too few reasonably priced It’s not just the recession hanging these Group. “Vintage customers can’t find know the history of the product they are storefronts, according to a study released last high-end thrift shops out to dry.They also something locally, but when they go on- purchasing. week by the Center for an Urban Future.The blame online retailers like Etsy and eBay. line,they find it’s cheaper and the selection “The people who are pursuing vin- plan, tentatively called La Marqueta Mile by its “The prices on Etsy kill me,” says Ms. is so much broader.” He adds that 74% of tage—that’s a big part of why they’re buy- author, the Harlem Community Development Weiss, referring to competition from the consumers are more price-sensitive today ing it,” adds Ms. Barberich. Corp., would house as many as 900 vendors in Of course, not all vintage stalls ranging from 80 to 160 square feet. stores face extinction. Brick- and-mortar survivors like Screaming Mimi’s in NoHo have developed strategies BY THE NUMBERS that include using the Inter- net to boost sales.