City Plots Huge Land Deal with U.N. Garment Center Rezoning Shelved
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20100614-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 6/11/2010 8:11 PM Page 1 REPORT HEALTH CARE HE’S THE MR. FIX-IT OF THE HOSPITAL BIZ And now he’s set his sights on Manhattan P. 15 ® Plus: a new acronym! P. 15 INSIDE VOL. XXVI, NO. 24 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM JUNE 14-20, 2010 PRICE: $3.00 TOP STORIES Gulf oil disaster Garment spills into NY lives center PAGE 2 High expectations for NYC’s tallest rezoning apartment tower PAGE 3 shelved Wall Street’s Protests, new views on summer bummer area’s value block plans IN THE MARKETS, PAGE 4 to decimate district Why LeBron James can have his cake BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI and eat it, too after months of protests, New York NEW YORK, NEW YORK, P. 6 City is quietly backing away from a se- ries of highly controversial proposals to rezone the 13-block garment center. Among those was a plan announced BUSINESS LIVES last April that would have taken the 9.5 million-square-foot manufacturing district and sewn it into a single 300,000-square-foot building on West 38th Clocking Street. $10B getty images “We always knew ANNUAL BY JEREMY SMERD that was kind of a CONTRIBUTION to the ridiculous proposal,” New York City in march 2003, executives at software company says Nanette Lepore, a economy Science Applications International Corp. were fashion designer who GOTHAM GIGS CityTime scrambling for a way out of a deal with the city to has been at the forefront of the battle to build a timekeeping system for its 167,000 munic- fight rezoning of the district. Sylvia Weinstock would ipal employees. According to sources familiar with rather eat babka P. 25 A dozen years late, 10 times The contract was worth $114 million. But SAIC the planning process, the city is going G ANNE FISHER on the executives realized soon after taking over the work back to the drawing board and is con- pitfalls of making a its original price, not even from a previous contractor that there was no way they ducting a new study of the neighbor- hobby your job P. 25 could build a system for that amount.The city’s work hood, which it hopes to release this force was too large, its union rules too complex. summer. G MOVERS & SHAKERS half-finished. A twisted tale “We should have killed the deal right there,”says City officials declined to comment. John Authers says,break of the craziest contract ever See CLOCKING on Page 23 See GARMENT CENTER on Page 24 up the banks! P. 26 G GAEL GREENE hits Navy Beach in Montauk P. 27 INDEX City plots huge land deal with U.N. THE INSIDER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _8 Plan: Sell E. Side city properties to diplos OPINION _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _11 REAL ESTATE DEALS PLUS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _13 to fund mile-long park; they get new tower OVERCROWDED: Consultants say that SMALL BUSINESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _14 the United Nations CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _20 nade. The hard part is that it in- needs expansion BY THERESA AGOVINO volves selling two city-owned of- FOR THE RECORD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _22 space. fice buildings, razing a playground HOT JOBS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _25 city and state officials are and constructing a new tower for EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _25 crafting a byzantine plan to raise the United Nations. THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _27 money to close a 21-block gap in The extraordinarily complicat- the East Side waterfront prome- ed proposal is still in its early stages, and it could easily fall apart as it 24 moves forward, given all of the 5 moving parts.Yet officials say it has a chance because it would offer a way to fulfill major,long-held goals ELECTRONIC EDITION for both the city and the U.N.:The international body would finally get the additional building it has NEWSPAPER See CITY PLOTS on Page 24 buck ennis 71486 01068 0 20100614-NEWS--0002,0003-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 6/11/2010 8:00 PM Page 1 IN BRIEF Lynch leading Barnes & Noble t THE NUMBER OF NEW YORK STATE RESIDENTS WHO PLAN TO BUY A HOME IN THE NEXT SIX months was up sharply in May, according to a poll conducted by Siena College Research BN.com’s market share decades, appointing Mr. Lynch chief ex- swallowed up by a cutthroat Institute, reaching the highest level since August ecutive.Since then,the 39-year-old new- bookstore chain. Thanks to 2008, right before the collapse of Lehman in e-books nearly 20%, comer has continued to put the good will Amazon, which has shown no Brothers. According to the monthly poll, 4.7% of of publishers to use—helping BN.com subtlety in its efforts to push consumers in the state plan to buy a home this but one-time Goliath grow its e-book market share to around publishers around, Barnes & year, up from just 3.4% the previous month and is now more like David 20%, placing it a distant second to domi- Noble is now David, with its 3% in May 2009. “There are signs that we are nant player Amazon.com, according Seattle-based rival taking starting to come out of a recession, [and] a lot of to company executives. on the role of Goliath. people are feeling better about their finances,” BY MATTHEW FLAMM Barnes & Noble’s relation- YOUNG says Doug Lonnstrom, professor of statistics and ships with publishers, which BLOOD: Mutual admirers finance at Siena College. when william lynch arrived at Barnes & were not always so friendly, William “publishers ab- Noble 16 months ago to run its online have become the company’s Lynch was solutely want us to named CEO RESIDENT PHYSICIANS AT ST. BARNABAS bookstore and launch its e-book program, secret weapon in its fight to in March. succeed,” Mr. HOSPITAL VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY TO FORM he had no book experience.That was a good survive the digital transition Lynch says. a union after a two-year fight. On Friday, the thing. Publishers were relieved to see that and avoid becoming the book “That’s driving National Labor Relations Board announced a the largest bricks-and-mortar bookseller industry’s Tower Records. their cooperation 119-to-2 vote in favor of the residents and was getting serious about going digital. Gone are the days of the with us in the interns joining the Committee of Interns and In March, the company showed just company being cast as the digital world.” Residents/SEIU Healthcare as their exclusive how serious, as brothers Len and Steve heavy, as it was in the 1998 Nora That cooper- bargaining agent. A hospital spokesman said Riggio handed over the reins of the com- Ephron movie You’ve Got Mail,in ation has taken Friday that it may appeal an NLRB decision pany they had run with an iron hand for which a cute independent shop was the form of some that allowed the vote to be counted. St. Barnabas administrators have maintained an aggressive anti-union campaign. NEW YORK IS A GREAT PLACE TO START A BUSINESS. THAT IS, UNLESS YOU NEED TO New Yorkers work on Gulf cleanup hire an engineer or take out a loan.Those are a few of the complaints levied against the Big Apple in a new study of the startup sector by Engineers, hairstylists, the city’s Economic Development Corp. Overall, New York got high marks. even bakers lend Respondents to an EDC survey credited the hand with oil spill city for a plentiful supply of potential clients, customers and employees, despite Wall Street’s habit of luring all engineering and math talent.