TOP STORIES REPORT New York housing Last chance permits decline; first drop in more to create a than a decade biotech hub PAGE 2 ® PAGE 13 Forget the M.B.A.: Master of Science degrees grab the VOL. XXII, NO. 35 WWW.NEWYORKBUSINESS.COM AUGUST 28-SEPTEMBER 3, 2006 PRICE: $3.00 students, spotlight PAGE 3 Crain’s endorses Businesses in Andrew Cuomo for attorney general Queens face VIEWPOINT, PAGE 8 True or false? darker days City Hall dreams of the White House GREG DAVID, PAGE 9 Many still struggling jennifer chiu after blackout; they Under pressure, nightclubs pitch say officials, Con Ed their own safety Street tries shaky aren’t doing enough measures BY KIRA BINDRIM INSIDER, PAGE 10 mortgage market AND AMANDA FUNG Large firms snap up into the market. In the past three the cold stone creameryin As- BUSINESS LIVES months, Morgan Stanley, Gold- toria served its last scoop of ice lenders on the cheap; man Sachs Group and Deutsche cream on July 17—the day before LIVING IN THE OPEN Bank have each spent hundreds of the power went out in northwest- For two weeks, tennis could face big losses millions of dollars to snap up ern Queens. fanatics’ lives revolve mortgage lenders. Analysts pre- Michael DiStefano had opened around the action if housing lands hard dict that Merrill Lynch will join his branch of the popular franchise neff david in Flushing PAGE 21 the frenzy soon. on 31st Street and Ditmars Boule- ‘KISS OF DEATH’: Michael DiStefano BY AARON ELSTEIN “Everyone on Wall Street is go- vard in October. He was looking expected gains. Now he may lose his home. ing after mortgages,”says Mitchell forward to making $60,000 in July the housing market is a mess. Feldman, president of executive alone. Instead, he is now facing re- Recent statistics show that sales of recruiter A.E. Feldman Associates payment of 10 times that amount tory—ended a little over a month new homes nationwide dived 22% Inc., which places mortgage trad- to his supplier and creditors, and ago. The news crews have moved in July from year-earlier levels, and ers at brokerage firms. the possible loss of his home. on to other stories, but Mr. DiSte- applications for new home loans Investment banks see these ac- “Timing could not have been fano’s ice cream store and nearly plummeted 25%. Meanwhile, in quisitions as a way to lock up a worse,” says Mr. DiStefano, who is 1,000 other small businesses in AT DEADLINE many parts of the country, mort- steady supply of home loans that desperately looking to sell his shop. Long Island City, Astoria, Wood- gage delinquency rates are soaring. they can bundle together and sell “The blackout was the kiss of side and Sunnyside are still scram- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Instead of heading for the exits, to investors for a hefty profit. Fur- death.” bling to recover. SAYS THE WEEKEND EDITION, some of investment banking’s big- thermore, with share prices for The nine-day power outage— For many,it’s a case of too little, approaching its first gest and smartest players are piling See STREET on Page 19the longest in New York City his- See QUEENS on Page 19 anniversary, has attracted 950 advertisers—570 of them entirely new to the paper. Some of them have also placed ads in other issues, producing $20 million in incremental B’way shows play revenue for Monday through Friday editions during the first half, Advertising Age reports today. Dow Jones Executive musical chairs Vice President L. Gordon Crovitz says that Weekend ductions can’t land a theater. Edition is on track to be Production surplus A whopping 25 hopefuls are profitable within a couple of means some lack lining up to conquer audiences this years. season, compared with 17 a year theater space ago, according to The League of IN AN EFFORT TO BEEF UP ITS American Theatres and Producers. MEN’S APPAREL BUSINESS, Seventeen musicals will vie for Lord & Taylor is mailing out BY MIRIAM KREININ SOUCCAR attention, including well-known its first men’s fashion catalog names like Mary Poppins, A Chorus in more than five years.The as broadway sets the stage for Line and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch book will feature only full- its biggest fall season in memory, Stole Christmas, soundly trumping See AT DEADLINE on Page 2 the Great White Way is so crowd- last year’s eight. ed with shows that many new pro- Producers are scrambling to get a piece of an industry that’s coming 35 off a record-breaking year.Even Les 5 Misérables is returning to take ad- vantage of the Broadway bonanza. “On the one hand, it’s wonder- ELECTRONIC EDITION ful,” says producer Stewart Lane, who has been trying since autumn to find a theater for his new musi- NEWSPAPER COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU? Producers of A Chorus Line (top) and High Fidelity See B’WAY SHOWS on Page 20 (bottom left) found stages for their musicals. Princesses (bottom right) may have to debut on DVD. 71486 01068 0 AT DEADLINE Continued from Page 1 22.The $10 million musical was priced items, differentiating it written by Alain Boublil and Building downturn from the department store’s Claude-Michel Schonberg, who annual Father’s Day catalog. wrote Les Misérables and Miss slowdown in construction because The company, which Federated Saigon.To help generate City issues fewer there is less land available, and the recently sold to NDRC Equity excitement, the producers are housing permits; land that is out there continues to rise Partners for $1.2 billion, is launching the first webcam for a in price,” says Stephen Kliegerman, shipping the book to more than Broadway show which will show developers cut back executive director of development 500,000 homes. behind-the scenes action from a and marketing at Halstead Property. preview run in Chicago. Many developers are looking at THE FEDERAL AVIATION BY TOM FREDRICKSON pieces of property and deciding ADMINISTRATION says it will NOKIA HAS SIGNED UP THE NEW against building on them because the continue to limit total flights at YORK TIMES CO. and CBS Radio residential construction in numbers no longer make sense in a La Guardia Airport to 75 an as media partners as it sponsors New York City is headed for its first market where developers cannot hour but will urge carriers to use Wi-Fi rollout in 10 city parks. annual decline in more than a decade. count on further steep rises in sales larger aircraft as part of a plan to Manhattan startup WiFi Salon In the first seven months of the prices. A Halstead client Mr. reduce chronic delays.The FAA won the installation contract year, the city has issued permits to Kliegerman declined to identify re- also wants carriers to eliminate two years ago and began service developers to build 3% fewer resi- cently passed on developing a 20-unit smaller jets it says are clogging in six areas of Central Park last dential units than in the same peri- jennifer chiu condo building in the West Village. runways.The FAA and the Port week. It put Battery Park City od of 2005, according to U.S. Cen- The units would have to sell at $2,000 Authority of New York and New online earlier this year. sus Bureau data. ago,” says Gary Barnett, president a square foot,reflecting a high-water- Jersey complain that 46% of the While the number of units in of Extell Development Corp., one mark price that may not hold. flights at La Guardia are being EXPANDING ITS LINE OF READY-TO- Brooklyn and Queens continued to of the city’s largest residential de- “It wouldn’t be impossible to at- flown on planes with 50 or fewer EAT DINNERS, FreshDirect is rise—although at a fraction of last velopers. tain those numbers, but no reason- seats. Airlines could lose some introducing a line of meals in year’s pace—the other boroughs all able investor would bank on it,” Mr. slots if they fail to comply. October with acclaimed chef recorded dips. In Manhattan, the Not since Bill Clinton Kliegerman says. Terrance Brennan of restaurants numbers slumped 13% for the peri- forecasting company McGraw- Construction costs have only ex- WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC INC. Picholine and Artisanal. Among od to a total of 4,986, which trans- Hill Construction anticipates that acerbated developers’ woes. In the HAS FORMED a country music the selections are boneless rack lates to 12 fewer buildings going up. the value of large apartment build- last three years, construction costs, publishing joint venture called of lamb with orzo ratatouille Many observers say the latest ing construction in the New York including labor, have risen about Biggest Picture Music. Warner and Moroccan-spiced salmon. numbers mark a major turning point City area will rise this year by 4%, 35% in New York City. An index Music Group’s lucrative Prices have not been set. after years of robust growth in resi- down steeply from last year’s 23% based on the cost for three key build- publishing arm signed the deal dential construction in the city.The jump. The company predicts a 7% ing materials—Portland cement, with songwriter and producer EQUITY OFFICE PROPERTY rising cost of land, materials and fall in the total value for next year. 2-by-4 lumber and structural Keith Stegall and music TRUST’S highest-ranking construction has made many large The last time the city saw a de- steel—has increased 9% in the city executive Alan Kates.