Revamp in Works Appetite for Deal-Making
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20120305-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 3/2/2012 8:06 PM Page 1 INSIDE GREG DAVID: WHAT NYU’S TOP STORIES EXPANSION The last refrain: IS REALLY the rise and fall of ABOUT American Idol ® PAGE 11 PAGE 2 VOL. XXVIII, NO. 10 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM MARCH 5-11, 2012 PRICE: $3.00 DIMON’S CHOICE Upstate farmers digging out of debt from Irene’s floods PAGE 3 He loses money on The fat lady sang, nearly half his retail but now she dances customers. Now, at Koch Theater how to dump them PAGE 2 Court steps into BY AARON ELSTEIN Peninsula Hospital Last Nov. 30, JPMorgan Chase & Co. noti- mess, upending fied federal regulators that it planned to close rescue deal a bank branch in Garwood, N.J., a town of PAGE 4 modest means that calls itself “the industrial center of Union County.” The day before, Chase IN THE MARKETS And you thought your informed those same fees were high: Trading regulators it would open secrets revealed, P. 4 a branch in Pelham Manor, an affluent Westchester County suburb where median income is more than $150,000 per house- hold, according to U.S. Census data. Get used to it. As changes in gov- ernment regulations and consumer BUSINESS LIVES habits make it harder for banks to profit from the bedrock busi- GOTHAM GIGS ness of branch banking, Bravo’s programming See CHASE on Page 20 chief gets an encore P. 21 bloomberg news ● ANNE FISHER Private chef cooks up a tasty business plan P. 21 But changes are coming mostly ● MOVERS & SHAKERS from Mr. Cuomo. The Port’s new The big man on the executive director, Patrick Foye, is J.C. Penney new tech campus P. 22 Port in a storm: an appointee and confidant of the ● GAEL GREENE French governor,and shares his boss’s high takes aim find on 14th Street P. 23 energy, micromanaging style and revamp in works appetite for deal-making. “Pat is a master of the transac- at Macy’s tion—the financial and political INDEX transaction,” said Regional Plan Top-to-bottom shake-up will oust senior Association President Bob Yaro. New chief wages all NEW YORK, NEW YORK _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _6 managers, cut benefits and speed projects “That’s why he was brought in.” THE INSIDER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _8 At a board meeting this month, in big revamping NEIGHBORHOOD JOURNAL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _9 smooth. And the turbulence won’t Mr. Foye will propose to shake up of stores, strategy BY JEREMY SMERD OPINION _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _11 end anytime soon. the organization. He’ll start by de- The governors of the two states manding that nonunion employ- REAL ESTATE DEALS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _12 The Port Authority of New York traditionally assert control over the ees pay a portion of their health BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI THE LIST: TOP EVENTS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _16 and New Jersey, which operated agency, and executives say the goal care premiums; about 93% of the CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _18 quasi-independently in recent of a more transparent organization approximately 7,000 workers pay Two months ago,Ron Johnson,the EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _21 years, is now firmly under the con- that does projects faster and nothing. That will shave just $25 new head of Texas-based J.C. Pen- THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _23 trol of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The cheaper reflects a strategy by Mr. million from a $7 billion operating ney Co.,chose Manhattan’s Pier 57 transition hasn’t exactly been Cuomo and Gov. Chris Christie. See PORT on Page 20 to unveil a radical remake of his 110-year-old department-store chain. The choice of venue—the SMALL BUSINESS REPORT backyard of longtime rival Macy’s—speaks volumes about DIGITAL WORKPLACE Mr. Johnson’s awareness of whom ELECTRONIC EDITION he has to beat to succeed in turning How entrepreneurs can defend themselves around the retailer. against online snark PAGE 13 Mr. Johnson’s plan involves NEWSPAPER See J.C. PENNEY on Page 20 20120305-NEWS--0002,0003-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 3/2/2012 8:09 PM Page 1 IN BRIEF American Idol’s decline: RICHARD PARSONS IS STEPPING DOWN AS CHAIRMAN OF CITIGROUP INC., ENDING A corporate reign that saw the banking giant almost collapse during the financial crisis. A board director for 16 years, the 63-year-old end of era for broadcast TV notified fellow directors on Friday that he doesn’t plan to stand for re-election at the annual shareholders’ meeting set for April 17 in Dallas.The board is expected to elect Michael Show just may be the E. O’Neill, the former CEO of Bank of JUDGMENT DAY: Hawaii Corp., to replace Mr. Parsons. A last of the massive hits Idol judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez Citigroup spokesman declined to comment. as audiences move to and Randy Jackson. METLIFE HAS REACHED A TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH TENANTS TO SETTLE CLAIMS cable, Internet of illegal rent deregulation of the vast Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village BY MATTHEW FLAMM residential complex. In a regulatory filing last week, the insurer, which built Stuy Town Fans of American Idolwill be rooting for their decades ago and sold it to a Tishman Speyer- favorite singers this week as the contest show led investor group in 2006 for $5.4 billion, said moves deeper into the voting rounds. But that it has reached a settlement with the television industry observers have been fo- plaintiff tenants in the case.The pact still must cused on a different sort of competition ever be finalized and then approved by the court. since the seemingly unbeatable Fox hit start- Further details were not made public.Tenants ed its 11th season in January.And there have s sued MetLife and Tishman in 2007, alleging been plenty of upsets. i nn both companies had illegally deregulated units Two weeks ago, CBS sitcom The Big k e n uc while receiving tax benefits known as J-51s. Bang Theory knocked Idol out of first place b for the evening, the first time that’s hap- pened in five years. And last week, NCIS bloomberg news BY THE NUMBERS drew more viewers—another first. Idol’s decline this season marks more NO MORE IDOL WORSHIP than just hiccups in an extraordinary run. Weekly shift of the city’s economy WITH HELP from a season debut that aired after the Super Bowl, NBC’s hit musical For some observers, its sudden vulnerabil- BLUE SKIES Americans earned more and the ity, caused by a double-digit ratings competition The Voice is running ahead of Fox’s fading juggernaut American Idol. economy grew more than was expected in the plunge, signals the end of an era in which fourth quarter. And in a boost to future growth, The American Idol American Idol banks stepped up their lending. broadcast television could produce mas- Voice sive hits (think Cheers, Seinfeld and (Wednesday night) (Thursday night) Friends) on a regular basis. 776K 69% $28K Worn down by competing singing con- 19.8 19.0 17.1 AVERAGE PORTION of AVERAGE tests and audience fatigue, Idol is becom- million million million daily crossings Chase customers annual salary ing one more casualty of the media frag- viewers viewers viewers on MTA bridges with less than of a professional mentation that makes television a smaller and tunnels $100,000 in their dancer Season-to-date average, through Feb. 26 Source: Nielsen in 2011 accounts in NYC medium every year. Source: MTA Source: Chase Source: Dance NYC “This could be the first time in the his- tory of broadcast television that there isn’t arrival of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. the fall, and NBC’s Monday-night Idol a regularly scheduled show—not counting Of the original judges,only Randy Jackson knockoff, The Voice. As Fox executives ac- PEDAL TO THE METAL: The price per gallon of unleaded sports—that averages 20 million viewers,” remained.