nb17p01.qxp 4/20/2007 7:54 PM Page 1 TOP STORIES Governor ignites Fastest-growing job energy sector in NYC? plan, It’s accounting tackles PAGE 2 ® his critics Publishers seeking PAGE 14 bigger audiences with paperback- only books VOL. XXIII, NO. 17 WWW.NEWYORKBUSINESS.COM APRIL 23-29, 2007 PRICE: $3.00 PAGE 2 Bankruptcy courts ill-prepared for the NYC TRUMPS Regulators next wave of filings PAGE 10 SUBURBIA mull IDB Group Think, Won’t Think and Top Dog More home buyers flocking to city, Think: dangerous pushing prices up in 5 boroughs compliance political foibles and down in burbs ALAIR TOWNSEND, P. 13 Money laundering, Jewish Congress founder Edgar New Yorkers eye BY TOM FREDRICKSON Bronfman Sr. newly reformed securities unit at Bank officials acknowledged issue amid turmoil meeting with representatives of Vietnam; updates during the opening sequence of 1960s sitcom Green the Federal Deposit Insurance Acres, Eva Gabor insisted that she would rather stay in New on the board Corp. and the Manhattan district on India, China York, matching Eddie Albert’s preference for “fresh air” with attorney’s office, as well as state REPORT, PAGE 19 her own love of “Times Square.” Banking Superintendent Richard Forty years later, everyone’s in Eva’s camp. A major shift BY ANNE MICHAUD Neiman.At the regulators’request, has occurred—people are clamoring to live in New York IDB New York will hire an inde- BUSINESS LIVES City, and good economic times mean many can afford to. israel discount bank of New pendent party to assess its anti- York is coming under the scrutiny money laundering operation. ONLINE CRIERS The result: Home prices in the city keep rising, even as the of regulators who believe that it is “The bank will comply,” a national housing bust reaches local suburbs. failing to live up to a 2005 agree- spokeswoman says. Bloggers “The city’s resurgent housing boom has drained some de- are dishing ment to stamp out money launder- State bankers nearly shuttered news and mand from the suburbs,” says Jonathan Miller, president of ing. Regulators are also question- IDB New York two years ago over dirt in appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. “The city has won the ing whether the bank is doing money-laundering issues, but a the nabes See NYC LIVING on Page 8 enough to establish a sufficient December 2005 agreement al- PAGE 35 compliance operation for its new lowed the bank to remain operat- in-house securities unit. ing under a consent order, new The questions come amid tur- owners and new management. moil on the board of directors over Most of the bank’s depositors re- the role played by owner and for- side in Latin America. mer director Matthew Bronfman, At the same time as it grapples son of businessman and World See REGULATORS on Page 8 AT DEADLINE TOY RETAILER FAO SCHWARZ HAS SHELVED ITS SEARCH for a site to launch a second city SEC rules expose store until at least 2008, while executives focus the company’s resources on their prolific CEO perks Fifth Avenue flagship and Las Vegas outpost, as well as their Internet and catalog who work for him. businesses. Executives at FAO Big discounts, trips The details behind Mr. Lund- had been considering the for wives, help on tax gren’s company-subsidized shop- launch of a second city store ping are part of a surge of fresh in- in Manhattan or Park Slope, bills draw investors’ ire formation about how companies Brooklyn. pamper top executives. New rules from the Securi- THE NEW YORK RED BULLS BY AARON ELSTEIN ties and Exchange Com- HAVE SIGNED international star mission are forcing more Juan Pablo Angel from the it’s no surprise that the comprehensive disclosure English Premier League team chief executive of Federat- about perks, which range Aston Villa.Terms of the ed Department Stores Inc. from providing product two-year contract were not makes vastly more money discounts to covering the disclosed, but the Major than the people who stock Terry cost of bringing spouses to League Soccer club already the shelves at Macy’s and Lundgren executive events. has plans to use the 31-year- Bloomingdale’s. Turns out The revelations are rais- Federated old Colombian star to reach his employee discount is Department ing hackles among people See AT DEADLINE on Page 2 much better, too. Stores who figure that lavishly getty images Federated disclosed ear- TOTAL PAY paid executives can afford lier this month that CEO to pick up their own tabs. 17 Terry Lundgren, who re- $16M “There’s no good justi- 5 COMINGNEXT WEEK ceived $16 million in com- PERK fication for these perks,” The film business in New York City is pensation last year, gets says Alexandra Higgins, booming. A Crain’s report examines 40% off any merchandise he an analyst at The Corpo- the growth of INDEPENDENT MOVIE buys at his stores. That’s 40%discount rate Library, a corporate ELECTRONIC EDITION DISTRIBUTORS and profiles key players. on store twice the rate offered to merchandise governance research group. NEWSPAPER most of the 188,000 people See SEC RULES on Page 8 71486 01068 0 CNYB 04-23-07 A 2 4/20/2007 6:32 PM Page 1 AT DEADLINE Continued from Page 1 a proposal to turn soccer and out to the area’s sizable baseball playing fields on Pier Colombian community, says a 40 into an entertainment spokesman. Nearly 200,000 complex while transferring the Colombian immigrants live in recreational space to two New York and New Jersey, rooftops. About 700 people are according to the 2000 census. expected to protest the plan at a The Red Bulls are initiating May 3 hearing by the Hudson talks with local Colombian River Park Trust.The River business and community leaders Park Trust, a city- and state-run for marketing agreements. public benefit corporation, is weighing two proposals.The KIDVILLE NY, A POPULAR one drawing the heat, submitted MANHATTAN-BASED country club by The Related Companies, for children under age 5 and includes a market, restaurants, their parents, will launch a galleries, theaters, a dog run and franchising effort this summer. athletic facilities.The The club is aiming to sell 250 to opponents support an 500 franchises nationwide over alternative proposal made by a the next five years. Kidville NY joint venture of youth will also open new branches organizations CampGroup and itself; locations in Park Slope, Urban Dove to build a Brooklyn, and TriBeCa are recreational, educational and DOLLAR DIPLOMACY: slated to open in September. cultural facility. Juan Paul Pienaar, a South The company revenues now top African, is among the COMMERCE BANK’S overseas temp workers $10 million. brought in by Weiser. APPLICATIONS to open branches RAPIDLY GROWING AD FIRM FUEL are on hold at the Office of the buck ennis OUTDOOR has bought all of Comptroller of the Currency. Capital Outdoor’s outdoor The OCC declined to approve advertising locations in the city. any new branches for Commerce The Manhattan company in the first quarter as it acquired two billboards and 18 conducted an investigation into wallscapes in TriBeCa, SoHo branch transactions involving Filling the jobs GAAP and NoHo for an undisclosed related parties. Commerce Chief sum. Fuel owns 550 outdoor ad Executive Vernon Hill said he spots in New York. (See related does not expect the holdup to Accounting firms cope with lack of experienced staff article on Page 26.) continue much longer.The bank had planned to open about a PARENTS AND COMMUNITY dozen branches in New York BY TOM FREDRICKSON LEADERS ARE UP IN ARMS about City this year. I cpa firm Mitchell & Titus has added dozens of entry-level accountants in Manhattan over CORRECTIONS the past year. But the firm is so desperate to land about 15 people with a few years of experience Restaurant reviewer Bob Lape gives Valbella Steakhouse two and a half stars. The rating was to supervise them, it’s offering staffers referral bonuses of more than $5,000 apiece. incorrect in the April 9 issue. “We are doing everything humanly possible to hire people,” says Tony Kendall, managing Levien & Co. is a project management firm. It was mischaracterized in the April 16 story “Staff gap pumps up expenses.” partner of the New York office. CB Richard Ellis handled 25 commercial property sales worth more than $500,000 in Welcome to the fastest-growing sector of the New York City economy. Accounting, Manhattan during 2006, for a total of $11,725,658,750. The figures were incorrect in CoStar’s list of top property-sales firms in the April 16 issue. Lee Odell Real Estate Inc. had 14 sales worth bookkeeping and payroll employment in the city grew 8% during the 12 months ended in $116,745,000, making it 15th on the list; the firm had not supplied complete information. March, reaching 56,700, and it has soared 28% in the past two years, according to the New See CPA FIRMS on Page 9 THIS WEEK IN CRAIN’S ALAIR TOWNSEND -------------------13 THE INSIDER------------------------------------ More titles going straight 14 WEEK IN REVIEW -----------------------16 Publishers target Martha Levin. The book will be REPORT: INTERNATIONAL marketed as a gonzo travelogue SOFT SELL aimed at young readers when it ap- young, cost-conscious Rory Stewart’s experience in 2006 BUSINESS --------------------------------------19 pears next March. buyers; agents, shows the sales strength of paper- Faced with stagnant sales and in- backs. The Places in Between, a trade SMALL BUSINESS ------------------- 26 authors lose out tense competition for leisure dollars, paperback original about his travels in NEIGHBORHOOD publishers are increasingly willing to Afghanistan, was published 37 go the straight-to-paperback route.