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What's Driving Nicole CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS NEW YORK BUSINESS® OCTOBER 23 - 29, 2017 | PRICE $3.00 WHAT’S DRIVING NICOLE Inside the unlikely campaign of the woman who would be the city’s rst female mayor PAGE 15 Plus: Republicans have a New York problem PAGE 17 FILM EXECS BALK THE LIST KUSHNERS VOL. XXXIII, NO. 43 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM AT WEINSTEIN- TOP CALL IN INSPIRED POLITICAL THE PR ANTI-HARASSMENT DONORS CAVALRY BILL P. 5 P. 14 P. 18 NEWSPAPER P001_CN_20171023.indd 1 10/20/17 6:41 PM OCTOBER 23 - 29, 2017 CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS FROM THE NEWSROOM | JEREMY SMERD | EDITOR IN THIS ISSUE Don’t ask 4 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 5 ENTERTAINMENT City leaves STARTING OCT. 31, all New York City employers regardless $1 billion 6 WALL STREET in nes of size will be banned from asking prospective employees uncollected about their salary history. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the 8 REAL ESTATE law this year as a way to address pay inequities between 10 ASKED & ANSWERED men and women. 11 VIEWPOINTS Census data show that men in New York City earn more FEATURES than women even when factoring for di erences in educa- tion. Among full-time, year-round workers, men’s median 14 THE LIST: TOP POLITICAL DONORS income was $50,195—$3,865 more than women’s. e dif- 15 A WOMAN APART ference is even more skewed when comparing average 17 NY REPUBLICANS’ PROBLEM wages: Men dominate executive positions in the high-pay If an employer does 18 KUSHNER COS. CALL FINSBURY industries of nance, insurance, real estate and tech. it again, now we I believe men and women in the same job should earn “ the same amount. Will not asking about salary history know it’s intentional, bridge the gap? Most employers already know what they because they are willing to pay. ey o er the salary they think the know the law position and the individual is worth—which remains an art and not a science. e law will help women who hand- icap themselves by honestly telling prospective employers how much they most recently made. e law’s biggest impact will be to set an expectation of fairness. at’s no small P. 25 JOHN CAPO accomplishment. e Harvey Weinstein scandal has shown that women have a ways to go in their quest for equal treatment in the workplace. Melissa DeRosa, 25 GOTHAM GIGS the governor’s secretary, has said sexism is “alive and well” in politics. Republi- 26 SNAPS can mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis, the subject of this week’s cover story 27 PHOTO FINISH (page 15), has spent a career ghting powerful men. Regardless of what the business community thinks of the law, employers must comply with it. e city’s Human Rights Commission, which has been charged with enforcement, can ne companies up to $250,000 and award dam- ages to victims. e agency will be responding mainly to complaints. Last year it received 883, about half of which were employment-related. Already most busi- nesses are banned from doing credit checks on applicants and asking about their criminal history. e chairwoman of the commission, Carmelyn Malalis, told Crain’s during a visit to the newsroom last week that she’s not out to punish. She is likely to rst educate employers and have them post the law. Rather than levy a ne, she could ON THE COVER require compliance training. Second-time o enders, though, won’t be so lucky. PHOTO: BUCK ENNIS “If an employer does it again,” Malalis said, “we know it’s intentional, because they know the law.” DIGITAL DISPATCHES CONFERENCE CALLOUT OCT. 25 Go to CrainsNewYork.com READ Councilman CRAIN’S FAMILY Ydanis Rodriguez said BUSINESS SUMMIT a bill he’s planning > JOIN US WEDNESDAY for our to introduce to second annual family business save taxis is also a summit. This year’s conference conversation starter. looks at what sustains a business He’s calling for cab through the generations. Panelists owners to be allowed to include Douglas Durst, president of operate two taxis with a single medallion. The Durst Organization. ■ Lawyers say the city’s rezoning of Inwood NEW YORK ATHLETIC CLUB in northern Manhattan is leading to tenant harassment as landlords of newly 8 to 10:30 a.m. purchased buildings look to rid themselves [email protected] of rent-regulated apartments. ■ The NYPD is stepping up its training of Vol. XXXIII, No. 43, Oct. 23, 2017—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for double issues the weeks of June 26, July 10, July 24, Aug. 7, Aug. 21 and Dec. 19, by Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third Ave., police to better deal with New Yorkers’ New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing of ces. Postmaster: Send address mental health issues. In the past two years, changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2912. police have killed seven people when For subscriber service: Call 877-824-9379. Fax 313-446-6777. $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. responding to calls of emotional distress. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2017 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. BUCK ENNIS, STEVE FRIEDMAN 2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | OCTOBER 23, 2017 P002_CN_20171023.indd 2 10/20/17 5:29 PM WHAT’S NEW OCTOBER 23, 2017 AGENDAHere’s to you, New York: Changing laws raised the state’s spirits sk businesspeople about what government gets wrong and you will surely get an earful about picayune regulations, pu- nitive nes and onerous taxes. But every so oen the public sector succeeds in making commerce easier without any ap- Aparent downside. When it does, a toast is in order. at is the case with Albany’s eorts to help the state’s cra-beverage TASTE OF industry. Governments since at least the days of the Puritans have been NEW YORK: geared toward restricting the consumption of alcohol, despite its being Cacao Prieto in Brooklyn and ingrained (so to speak) in human culture since hunter-gatherers rst hap- other beverage pened upon fermented fruit. Anachronistic blue laws persisted for cen- makers help local economies. turies, limiting when and where drinks could be brewed, distilled, sold and consumed. Even aer Prohibition ended in 1933, the specter of Al Capone haunted the industry for decades as government ocials seemed Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who took oce in 2011, recognized the indus- consumed by an outdated mission. try’s potential to create urban and rural jobs and enhance communities. He Nonetheless, the business grew immense but came to be dominated in has worked actively on its behalf. In 2013 he signed a bill loosening regu- the U.S. by a few gargantuan companies. When Rheingold and Schaefer lations on smaller breweries that use crops harvested in the state. Last year closed their Brooklyn operations in 1976, the city was le without a sin- Albany overhauled New York’s 80-year-old Alcoholic Beverage Control gle brewery. Today there are several dozen, Law, allowing drinks to be sold before noon and Brooklyn Brewery is the nation’s largest Modernizing archaic alcohol laws has on Sundays and reducing fees on breweries, exporter of cra beer. A reduction in excise wineries, distilleries and cideries, among taxes and the legalization of home brewing the craft-brewing industry hopping other measures. Now the industry is raising helped cra beverage–making proliferate in and distilleries raising a glass its glass to New York. Distilleries declared the 1980s. It was a bumpy ride—hundreds last week New York Rye Week to promote of cra brewers in the city went belly-up in Empire Rye, a new designation for whiskeys the 1990s—but entrepreneurs learned from those failures and got back on with at least 75% of their rye grown in New York. their feet. Growth has been robust ever since, and a number of operations Remnants of New York’s archaic alcohol laws remain, including narrow in the boroughs have even become tourist attractions. For a while distill- restrictions on who can own and operate liquor stores and a ban on wine eries were le behind, but they have been catching up since a 2007 state law sales in grocery stores. But the push for modernization has momentum aided those that use New York–grown grains and fruits. heading into the legislative session next year. Bottoms up! — THE EDITORS FINE PRINT Congress this week is expected to take up the State Department nomination of Steve Goldstein, a New York communications and branding executive who once worked for Dow Jones, as public diplomacy undersecretary. Goldstein also worked for TIAA-CREF as its chief communications ofcer at the same time as former lobbyist Daniel Keniry, who is married to Margaret Peterlin, the secretary of state’s chief of staff. BY GERALD SCHIFMAN STATS 25 WORDS OR LESS PRIME LOCATIONS CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY are lining up to host Amazon’s second headquarters. AND THE You guys voted for a New York has an edge over top contenders Denver and Austin but disadvantages too. “Red Sox fan? It’s like I don’t even know you C anymore.” ITY — Jimmy Kimmel, speaking to a studio Number of city residents with a Portion of the city’s population bachelor’s degree or higher, four % living within a quarter mile of audience in Brooklyn, where he lmed 2.2M times the amount in Austin and 97 public transit his show last week.
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