Down the Stretch Comes Genting Richest Cultural Groups ID'd
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20100719-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 7/16/2010 7:16 PM Page 1 INSIDE ALBANY MATH AND POLITICS TOP STORIES Alair Townsend on City, automakers why budget won’t add up are trying to Greg David on an upstate power play hail Taxi of ® Tomorrow PAGE 11 PAGE 2 The most annoying VOL. XXVI, NO. 29 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM JULY 19-25, 2010 PRICE: $3.00 union leader in NY? PAGE 2 Down the The new revolving door: Hedge funds stretch WANTED: A JOB hiring SEC alums Longtime home-care PAGE 3 coordinator Milagros comes Cruz-Acosta is still As Goldman settles, looking for work. it loses its luster Genting IN THE MARKETS, PAGE 4 Malaysian casino giant Ricky Martin came is sudden front-runner out this spring. Now, he’ll write about it for Aqueduct purse NEW YORK, NEW YORK, PAGE 6 BY AMANDA FUNG AND DANIEL MASSEY the odds are high that a Malaysian gambling and resorts company that wasn’t even in the bidding two months ago will win the prize to develop and op- erate a racino at Aqueduct Racetrack. Genting New York, part of the Kuala Lumpur-based casino giant Genting Malaysia Berhad, emerged as a dark horse in May with a bid to revive the aging racetrack. Now that two of the other contenders have been reject- ed by the state’s official vetters,Genting is the last one in the long and winding race to build a 4,500-video-slot-ma- chine facility in Ozone Park, Queens. Little-known locally,Genting is be- BUSINESS LIVES See AQUEDUCT on Page 22 GOTHAM GIGS Shall Wii Dance? P. 25 G ANNE FISHER reveals Richest the secret behind Vita Coco’s success P. 25 buck ennis G MOVERS & SHAKERS cultural Brooklyn Botanic president keeps garden in the green P. 26 groups ID’d G GAEL GREENE gets oriented at Annisa P. 27 After St. Vincent’s Who’s up, who’s down in first-ever ranking INDEX 3,500 laid-off workers try to cope; doctors of NYC’s institutions VIEWPOINT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _10 land jobs, but lose malpractice insurance SMALL BUSINESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _12 BY MIRIAM KREININ SOUCCAR NEIGHBORHOOD JOURNAL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _14 ing her out on interviews with hospitals and clinics, BY MIRIAM KREININ SOUCCAR REAL ESTATE DEALS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _14 she hasn’t found a job. it comes as no surprise that the Met- Ms. Cruz-Acosta has spent much of her life ar- ropolitan Museum of Art is the largest FOR THE RECORD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _19 four months ago, as St. Vincent’s Hospital Man- ranging home care for patients who want to die in their cultural institution in the city. But who CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _20 hattan was imploding, Milagros Cruz-Acosta was own beds. She worked at Cabrini Medical Center for would have thought that the city’s three HOT JOBS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _25 laid off from her $40,000-a-year position as a home- 35 years, coordinating care for 90 patients at a time. library systems—the New York Public EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _25 care coordinator for its hospice. She was given just Two years ago,her group was bought by St.Vincent’s. Library, the Brooklyn Public Library THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _27 one week’s severance.And although her union,1199 Losing her job so suddenly has upended her life. and the Queens Borough Public Li- SEIU UnitedHealthcare Workers East,keeps send- See LIFE on Page 22 brary—would all rank in the top 10 when measured by budget size, beating major landmarks like Carnegie Hall. 29 5 REPORT ART & CULTURE The list—which ranks the top 100 cultural groups and is sponsored by Adventures in management, from Harlem Crain’s New York Business and compiled ELECTRONIC EDITION theaters to midtown museums PAGE 15 by the Alliance for the Arts—is be- lieved to be the first such snapshot of PAGES 17-18 the city’s nonprofit cultural institu- NEWSPAPER A new Crain’s list See CULTURAL on Page 16 71486 01068 0 20100719-NEWS--0002,0003-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 7/16/2010 7:57 PM Page 1 IN BRIEF CONSTRUCTION LABOR UNIONS AND MANAGEMENT COMPANIES HAVE REACHED A Hailing a NY cab, deal to extend a program that lowers construction costs by 15% on average until the end of March 2011. Under terms of the original deal, contractors agreed to shave their profit City challenges automakers: THE TAXI OF TOMORROW margins while unions adopted work rule Some of the potential features changes, such as agreeing to work eight-hour Reimagine the taxi for next days instead of seven. It was hoped that the on the next generation of NYC cabs cost-saving program, which only applies to decade—and beyond private projects, would help spark moribund construction projects, although some observers DUTY CALLS Big, bright LED question its impact.There are many stalled BY JEREMY SMERD signs that say when a taxi is for projects across the city, and very little hire and where it’s going nongovernment construction is in the works. in a meeting with automakers in January, the Bloomberg administration pitched an ambitious idea to STRUGGLING CULTURAL GROUPS IN LOWER reinvent one of the city’s most ubiquitous symbols: the taxi. MANHATTAN MAY SOON GET SOME RELIEF. Scrap the 16 different car models that make up today’s TAP-AND-GO TOUCHSCREENS The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is 13,000-cab fleet and create what city officials call the Taxi for easier payments, route in discussions to release the remainder of its of Tomorrow.Make it “small on the outside,but large on the changes, communications cultural and community enhancement funds to inside,”one City Hall aide said,more fuel-efficient and eas- neighborhood organizations—an amount ier to climb into.It’s got to ride 150,000 potholed city miles. sources say is around $28 million. A spokesman Paint it yellow, of course, but above all, they said, build an for LMDC acknowledged that the issue had icon,something that could help city government market the been discussed, most recently on June 24. A essence of Gotham itself. working group of trustees including Kevin “We want people to be able to look at this cab and in a Rampe, Julie Menin, Carl Weisbrod and Kate glance say,‘New York City,’” a Bloomberg aide told the au- Levin was created to establish guidelines for how dience, according to a transcript. to distribute the funds and to whom.This round At least five automakers submitted proposals in May to of grants would be the third from the LMDC to become the brand behind the new icon. Ford, Nissan and cultural and community groups. In 2007, it gave General Motors have each delivered plans, according to of- out more than $37 million to 33 nonprofits, ficials at those companies. (The globe’s No. 1 automaker, including the Museum of Chinese in the Toyota, declined to bid on the project, a spokesman says.) Americas, New York Downtown Hospital, and Karsan,a Turkish manufacturer that builds vans for Peu- the public schools in Lower Manhattan. geot, also submitted plans. And a Miami-based company Another $35 million was doled out in 2005. called The Vehicle Production Group, or VPG, is also be- lieved to have bid. Its wheelchair-accessible vehicles are partially financed by T.Boone Pickens and a company of his that builds refueling stations for cars that run on com- BY THE NUMBERS pressed natural gas. The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission and the au- Weekly shift of the city’s economy tomakers declined to discuss the proposals.But early details A SENSE OF CLOSURES Congress approved a are emerging based on interviews with current and former massive overhaul of the rules governing Wall city officials, industry executives and design consultants, as Street.