URBAN SUBURBIA a Record Number of Suburbanites Are Relocating Here—And Bringing Their Lifestyle with Them
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CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS Grumbling over the Grammys P. 7 | THE LIST Top property sales P. 14 | A new twist on rebar P. 20 NEW YORK BUSINESS® JANUARY 15 - 21, 2018 | PRICE $3.00 URBAN SUBURBIA A record number of suburbanites are relocating here—and bringing their lifestyle with them. Professionals such as architect Eran Chen, who designs sprawling apartments, are helping them feel right at home PAGE 16 VOL. XXXIV, NO. 3 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM NEWSPAPER P001_CN_20180115.indd 1 1/12/18 7:36 PM CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE REAL ESTATE BOARD OF NEW YORK AND IS PLEASED TO JOIN REBNY IN RECOGNIZING OUR HONOREES FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY JOANNE PODELL RON LO RUSSO Executive Vice Chairman President, Agency Consulting Group The Louis Smadbeck Memorial The Young Real Estate Broker Recognition Award Professional of the Year Award Member cushmanwakefield.com CN018499.indd 1 1/5/18 12:59 PM JANUARY 15 - 21, 2018 CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS FROM THE NEWSROOM | BRENDAN O’CONNOR | MANAGING EDITOR IN THIS ISSUE Nowhere fast 4 AGENDA 5 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT “NO F TRAINS at this station” has become an all-too- A nursing 6 ASKED & ANSWERED home chain familiar refrain for weekend straphangers traveling to and looks to 7 ENTERTAINMENT from Brooklyn and Queens. While that messaging is per- bounce back 8 INSTANT EXPERT after a state fectly direct, the proposed “travel alternatives” are decidedly investigation less so (see Mass Confusion, page 63). 9 HEALTH CARE Take, for example, the trip my son, Aidan, and I endured 10 VIEWPOINTS a couple of Saturdays ago. We were trying to get from our 12 REAL ESTATE home in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, to the small business I 14 THE LIST co-own on the Upper East Side. We began at the 15th Street/ Prospect Park station, and per the instructions provided FEATURES by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, boarded a If we don’t have a 16 THE CITY’S SUBURBAN VIBE Manhattan-bound D train that was running in place of 20 A NEW TWIST ON REBAR the aforementioned F. Aer passing Jay Street, the D/F functioning subway, switched to the A line, prompting us to change trains at we don’t have a Fulton Street for the 4 or 5 to stay on the East Side. Aer functioning city P. 60 waiting roughly 15 minutes on the packed platform, we Melissa Anelli climbed aboard and were promptly informed of “exten- sive delays on all uptown 4, 5 and 6 trains.” Not to be deterred, two stops later we decided to catch the Q at Canal Street, which, thanks to the glittering new Second Avenue subway—at $2.7 billion per mile, the most expensive in the world—would in theory get us as close as possible to our East 75th Street destination. Seven and a half stops later (did I mention it went local?), we ran into a track re. Aer sitting in the tunnel for about 45 minutes, 60 GOTHAM GIGS we were rerouted back downtown to 42nd Street/Times Square. ere we caught 61 SNAPS the shuttle to Grand Central and then, at long last, the 6 to 77th Street. All told, the 62 FOR THE RECORD roughly 10-mile trip took 2 hours and 45 minutes—longer than 239 runners need- 63 PHOTO FINISH ed to nish the 2017 New York City Marathon. Lucky for me, I’m the boss, so I didn’t have to worry about getting red for being late. But most New Yorkers aren’t so lucky, and while my travails certainly don’t represent the day-to-day norm, such complications are infuriatingly common. Without a functioning subway, we don’t have a functioning city. e decades of neglect and mismanagement that have led to this state of disrepair certainly cannot be blamed solely on current leadership. But it is nonetheless the responsibility of state and city ocials to x it. No two public gures bear more responsibility for doing that than Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and no single task requires more cooperation between them. ON THE COVER Seeing that they have a hard time getting along, maybe they should negotiate PHOTO: BUCK ENNIS while riding the subway from the mayor’s neighborhood, Park Slope, to Cuomo’s East Side oce—on a weekend. at should give them plenty of time to work things out. DIGITAL DISPATCHES Go to CrainsNewYork.com CONFERENCE CALLOUT FEB. 27 READ The de Blasio CRAIN’S admistration rejected the BREAKFAST FORUM $9.6 million incentive package earmarked for > Executive Director Rick Cotton Aetna in its move to the will discuss the Port Authority’s Meatpacking District. Fol- three major airports, plans for lowing the CVS acquisition a new bus terminal and other of the health care giant, infrastructure priorities. Aetna will maintain its Connecticut headquarters. NEW YORK ATHLETIC CLUB ■ Brooklyn Assemblywoman Pamela Harris was charged with embezzling city funds desig- 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. nated for her community group. [email protected]. ■ A $1.2 million subsidy from the mayor will create just two jobs, according to a report. Vol. XXXIV, No. 3, Jan. 15, 2018—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for double issues the weeks of Jan. 1, June 25, July 9, July 23, Aug. 6, Aug. 20 and Dec. 24, by Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing ofces. Postmaster: Send address changes to Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, PO Box 433279, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9681. For subscriber service: Call 877-824-9379. Fax 313-446-6777. $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2018 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. BUCK ENNIS JANUARY 15, 2018 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3 P003_CN_20180115.indd 3 1/12/18 8:50 PM JANUARY 15, 2018 AGENDAA failing grade for the city’s new energy-efficiency scoring system hen Mayor Bill de Blasio was called out for taking SUVs on 11-mile jaunts to Brooklyn for his morning work- outs, he derided the criticism as “cheap symbolism.” He could not have been more wrong, as he lost the con - denceW of environmentally conscious New Yorkers and gave license to his 8.5 million constituents to be sel sh rather than preserve the planet for fu- ture generations. But if he’s bothered by cheap symbolism, he should look no further than legislation he signed this month forcing large buildings to post letter grades re ecting their energy use. e concept is good: Use the threat of public shaming to inspire de- SCARLET LETTER: The city will force 1 Bryant Park, one of the most environmentally friendly buildings, to display a C grade. velopers and landlords to make their buildings energy-e cient. (If the mayor had to wear a scarlet letter 24/7 for overusing SUVs, he would start taking the subway.) But the law, which requires most buildings measuring 100—get a B, so the vast majority will have no hope of improving the let- 25,000 square feet or more to display letter grades starting in 2020, misses ter grade they must display to the public. the mark. Some of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the city Even worse, the grades don’t take into account many factors that make will get a B, which—given that 93% of restaurants earn an A for food safe- a building sustainable. Reducing fossil-fuel use by installing solar panels, ty—New Yorkers consider a failing grade. One World Trade Center, which for example, has little or no e ect on the score. One Bryant Park uses an earned LEED Gold status from the U.S. Green Buildings Council for its on-site, clean-burning cogeneration plant; shi s power use to o -peak environmental performance and sustainable hours with a thermal ice-storage system; design, will get a lowly B. One Bryant Park, The legislation does not take into captures rainwater to ush toilets; o ers the Durst Organization’s LEED Platinum account many factors that make a convenience to mass transit; and features tower, will be sullied with a C. For a restau- building sustainable a plethora of other earth-friendly bells and rant to score that poorly, it basically has to whistles that don’t bene t its score one bit. have rats scurrying about in plain view. But they do attract tenants, who have lled e de Blasio administration, which worked with the City Council to the building to the brim—thus lowering its grade. cra the law, acknowledges that it is not a comprehensive measure but De Blasio and the City Council need to come up with a metric that says it is one of many tools the city is using to prod building owners to fairly re ects a building’s energy e ciency. Slapping a C next to a LEED conserve energy. In most cases, however, it won’t work. Buildings that Platinum rating will discredit both metrics, confuse the public and ac- receive an Energy Star score of 50 to 90—a huge range on a scale of 1 to complish nothing. — THE EDITORS FINE PRINT The de Blasio administration’s budget still includes $1.2 billion in revenue for the future sale of 1,650 new taxi medallions, an average price of $728,000. But medallions have not been worth that much since mid-2014, when Uber started making a dent in taxis’ market share.