nb30p01.qxp 7/20/2007 7:45 PM Page 1 TOP STORIES BUSINESS Tech demand LIVES returns PR firms New Yorkers follow to the glory days Angelina Jolie far PAGE 2 afield to adopt ® How people meters PAGE 27 are bringing oldies back to NY radio VOL. XXIII, NO. 30 WWW.NEWYORKBUSINESS.COM JULY 23-29, 2007 PRICE: $3.00 PAGE 2 Mayor Bloomberg eyes a clear road on congestion Disaster pricing approval PAGE 3 plans falter News and Post buck national ad trends; Milford after blast Plaza gets redo NEW YORK, NEW YORK, P. 6 Firms scramble to keep operations going; Economic adages busy commercial district paralyzed for optimists who say market will rise der over and over; then the win- STILL FRESH: BY ELISABETH BUTLER CORDOVA dows shattered, and thick, dark GREG DAVID, PAGE 13 Contaminants AND AMANDA FUNG smoke flooded the of- haven’t been found in fice,”says David Bernard, imported first came the terrorist managing director of DB seafood in attacks on Sept. 11, Marketing Technolo- Chinatown. 2001, and then the 30- gies. The 10-employee hour blackout that hit on consulting firm is based Aug. 14, 2003. Each at 370 Lexington Ave., event sent an unmistak- one of the six buildings able message to New closest to the blast. York’s business commu- Mr. Bernard and his BUSINESS nity: Firms have to be colleagues hid under their OF SPORTS prepared to cope with the desks for several minutes. unexpected. Real estate When it became appar- G Suite deals at Now add the Man- at site* ent that the flow of mud stadiums bring teams hattan steam-pipe explo- pouring through the bro- sion of July 18, 2007— ken windows wasn’t abat- into 21st century buck ennis PAGE 17 which paralyzed one of ing, they fled down nine HIDDEN DANGER? the city’s busiest com- 1.6M flights of stairs. G OFFICE All the facts on 20 mercial districts—to the “Some thought the area sports teams list of public emergencies building was going to PAGE 20 that illustrate the fact 91.2K collapse,” he says. G When $300 million Chinese food scare that disaster planning re- RETAIL DB Marketing is lo- mains a work in progress. cated at the corner of East is spare change *In square feet. PAGE 21 “I heard a loud noise Source: PropertyShark.com 41st Street, ground zero spoils business that sounded like thun- getty images See DISASTER on Page 8 AT DEADLINE Reports of tainted food are thinking about scaling FACING UNEXPECTED LOSSES, back their business. And local reg- Shareholders flee NORTH GENERAL HOSPITAL may products put off ulators are stepping up their over- file for bankruptcy or take shoppers; grocers sight of Chinese imports. other steps to reorganize its “Any product from China is go- embattled NYSE finances.The Harlem hospital take items off shelves ing to be second-guessed now,” said Friday that “all says David Cooper, president of restructuring options will be Secaucus, N.J.-based Scandia considered,” although a BY LISA FICKENSCHER Seafood Inc.,a fish supplier for up- Shrinking margins, spokesman declined to say scale restaurants and food markets concerns about when its board planned to mounting concern over tainted in the city. Scandia stopped selling settle on a course of action. imports from China is taking a toll Chinese catfish almost a year ago. pricey acquisitions The hospital agreed to hire a on New York. The reactions come on the pressure stock chief restructuring officer after Grocers including Fairway heels of widely publicized reports it received a visit from the state Market have put up signs telling earlier this year of tainted pet food, Department of Health two customers that the store no longer toothpaste, toys and tires from BY AARON ELSTEIN weeks ago. But board sells certain types of Chinese fish. China. Concern escalated in late members are believed to be Many shoppers say they are avoid- June when the Food and Drug Ad- life just isn’t fair. Ask John See AT DEADLINE on Page 2 ing Chinese food altogether. A ministration banned five types of Thain. Since becoming chief exec- number of importers of Chinese seafood from China—including utive of the New York Stock Ex- shrimp and catfish—found to con- change in 2004, he has lifted the bloomberg news tain carcinogens. company out of the dark ages by 30 JOHN THAIN has a way out of the NYSE 5 Less noticed have been recalls taking it public, pushed the ex- mess: He can snap up a futures exchange. issued by the New York State De- change into bond and option trad- partment of Agriculture & Mar- ing, merged it with Euronext— kets.So far this year,the agency has Europe’s largest exchange They have dumped the shares, ELECTRONIC EDITION recalled 20 products imported group—and gotten slapped in the driving the price down by 20%, See CHINA on Page 8face by shareholders. See SHAREHOLDERS on Page 8 NEWSPAPER 71486 01068 0 CNYB 07-23-07 A 2 7/20/2007 6:29 PM Page 1 NEW WORLD: Marta Karlqvist says PR firm AT DEADLINE Bite Communications wanted to access the Continued from Page 1 city’s consumer tech and unfounded.The department entertainment markets. concerned about the costs of store giant is struggling to bankruptcy.The hospital lost integrate the former May $7.1 million last year. Department Store locations it acquired in 2005 and remade as NEW YORK STATE WILL OPEN ITS Macy’s stores last year. OWN TRADE OFFICE in China this fall in an effort to increase MORGAN STANLEY, WHICH exports.The Empire State ABANDONED the private equity Development Corp., which is business is 2004, is returning to spearheading the effort, the field aggressively by moving declined to say where the office to quickly staff a new unit and will be located. It shares a trade laying plans to raise money for office in China with several its first buyout fund, Financial other Northeastern states, but Week reports in Monday’s issue. economic rivals such as Maryland and Pennsylvania PROFESSIONAL NEWSLETTERS, boast their own outposts. WHICH HAVE TRADITIONALLY survived on subscription THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW revenue, are increasingly YORK AND NEW JERSEY launched accepting advertising, according a letter-writing campaign in to the 2007 edition of the support of Continental Airlines’ Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, bid to operate nonstop flights which will be released this week. from Newark to Shanghai The number of newsletters that starting in 2009.The mass accept advertising has tripled in e-mail encouraged the past five years, to 3,085. businesspeople to write letters Advertisers are drawn by to U.S. Department of newsletters’ ability to reach Transportation Secretary Mary targeted audiences. Legal Peters emphasizing the newsletters remain the leading importance of Shanghai air category, with 1,125 titles. service to the area’s economy. The department plans to award ELIZABETH SETON PEDIATRIC buck ennis four U.S.-China routes for 2009 CENTER HOPES to move to after it hands out one this year Yonkers when its Manhattan and two for 2008. lease expires in 2013.The hospital, located in Chelsea, says RETAIL INDUSTRY SOURCES SAY that it looked at more than 100 PR turned on by tech THAT A SALE OF MACY’S INC. to a properties over the past three private equity firm remains years.The $135 million project likely, although they expect will house a residential pediatric Online niche leads to expansion, search for talent Chief Executive Terry facility on three floors; an Lundgren to seek a deal after outpatient clinic that will the company has made more accommodate 20,000 visits a BY AMANDA FUNG progress in its turnaround year; a home care program; and efforts. A report last week that an 18-bed assisted-living two years ago, Bite Communications’ outpost here consisted of two executives working out Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. residence for elderly members of of their Manhattan apartments. and Goldman Sachs Group its sponsor, the Sisters of Charity were within days of making a of New York.The project faces a Today, the U.K.-based public relations firm rents Madison Avenue digs for its staff of 20, bid has so far turned out to be long approval process. I which it expects will number 25 before the end of the year. “We opened an office here to provide an East Coast presence for clients and to tap into the consumer tech and media and entertainment markets,” says Marta Karlqvist, who has hired THIS WEEK IN CRAIN’S nine people since becoming general manager for Bite New York in November. It’s a good time to be in public relations in the city, where demand for tech-savvy PR See PR FIRMS on Page 9 THE WEEKS AHEAD ----------------10 GREG DAVID ------------------------------------13 THE INSIDER------------------------------------14 SMALL BUSINESS ------------------- 14 People meters to shake up REAL ESTATE DEALS--------------15 NEIGHBORHOOD dial are preparing for a sea change. their advertisers won’t have to rely WCBS’s return to In Philadelphia, the first city to on sample listeners who jot down 29 JOURNAL------------------------------------------15 oldies tied to impact switch to the meters,rock and oldies their listening choices—often from WEEK IN REVIEW -----------------------16 beat other formats, which is why memory—in diaries. The PPM, of new system; CBS also recently dumped its low- clipped to a belt or purse strap,picks REPORT: BUSINESS lower ratings likely rated, all-talk Free-FM and revert- up the signal from any radio it’s near, OF SPORTS -----------------------------------17 ed to K-Rock. providing an automatic record.