CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS A $2 million toilet is the least of it P. 4 | Albany’s dysfunction explained P. 6 | Mapping Game of Thrones P. 24 NEW YORK BUSINESS®®®® JUNE 26 - JULY 9, 2017 | PRICE $3.00 DOUBLE ISSUE 50 Most Powerful IN NEW YORK VOL. XXXIII, NOS. 26, 27 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM Women Our biennial list is as dynamic as the city these business leaders call home. New to the rankings: Sheena Wright (#41), Patricia Wang (#36) and Lorie Slutsky (#18) PAGE 11 NEWSPAPER P001_CN_20170626.indd 1 6/23/17 8:18 PM CN018201.indd 1 3/22/17 11:02 AM JUNE 26 - JULY 9, 2017 CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS FROM THE NEWSROOM | JEANHEE KIM | ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR IN THIS ISSUE The girls are all right 4 AGENDA 5 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT EDITING CRAIN’S 50 Most Powerful Women list gave me a Proposal to 6 INSTANT EXPERT lot of food for thought these past few weeks. We started in turn Rikers 7 ENTERTAINMENT into runways April, and the presidential campaign and election were still doesn’t fly very fresh. In moments of doubt, I wondered whether Don- 8 WHO OWNS THE BLOCK with these readers ald Trump’s victory demonstrated that women lack power. 9 VIEWPOINTS The fact that he defeated a smart, capable and experienced FEATURES female candidate even after being caught on tape bragging 11 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN about sexual assault was a particularly bitter pill to swallow. But ultimately I’m an optimist. I have to be, as the mother of two bright grade-school daughters. And working on this project proved reassuring. In meeting after meeting to discuss the more than Ultimately I’m an 100 candidates identified by our reporting team, we optimist. I have debated different kinds of power and how to measure “ it. I was drawn to the stories of women who took risks to be, as the mother that paid off. Look at Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kel- P. 24 of two bright grade- JONATHAN ROBERTS ly, who imperiled their careers but brought down two school daughters of the most powerful men at Fox News: its pugnacious 24 GOTHAM GIGS founder and its top-rated host. Also inspiring were the 25 SNAPS four local entrepreneur-activists who seized on the an- 27 PHOTO FINISH ger and frustration that many women felt after the elec- tion and chaired the Women’s March on Washington. Millions around the world CORRECTION joined in a global moment of catharsis—one of the largest protests in history. The W train does not run underneath Flatbush The stories of women who achieved power by helping others were particularly Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. That fact was mis- stated in Asked & Answered, published June 19. compelling. Our three cover subjects embody that ideal. Pat Wang runs Healthfirst, an insurer that covers 1.3 million mostly low-income New Yorkers. Her company’s eye-popping growth in revenue and membership was made possible by the Afford- able Care Act. Lorie Slutsky, president of the New York Community Trust, inspires New Yorkers of all economic means to give and therefore collectively improve the lives of others throughout the city. Sheena Wright, president of the United Way of New York City, represents one of the smallest organizations on the list in terms of financial might. But she is transforming a nearly 80-year-old organization in order to actively address the roots of poverty, and she’s setting measurable goals to help New Yorkers stand on their own two feet. Within all these stories is the idea that time has a dramatic impact on power. ON THE COVER Women move up and down and on and off our list every two years. And power COMPOSITE: BUCK ENNIS pivots. Two of our 50 women were enticed out of retirement to run major New York financial institutions. What I will remind my daughters, and myself, is: Never count yourself out. DIGITAL DISPATCHES DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 7 Go to CrainsNewYork.com SUBMIT Do you know a whiz CRAIN’S FASTEST- kid in New York City? On GROWING COMPANIES Nov. 27 our 20 Under Each year Crain’s recognizes 20 list will celebrate the > the New York–area companies New York area’s youngest with the highest three-year business brains to have revenue growth rate. launched a career or company. Public and private companies Let us know who should be on with at least $10 million in our 2017 list by visiting revenue are eligible. CrainsNewYork.com/ 20Nominate. To get to know SUBMISSIONS our past honorees go to DUE BY JULY 7 CrainsNewYork.com/ CrainsNewYork.com/Fast50nominate. 20under20. ■ SIGN UP Stay on top of business news Vol. XXXIII, Nos. 26, 27, June 26 - July 9, 2017—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for by subscribing to our email newsletters. double issues the weeks of June 26, July 10, July 24, Aug. 7, Aug. 21 and Dec. 18, by Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third From the Morning 10, which lands in your Ave., New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address inbox by 8 a.m., to our 4 p.m. Daily Alert, changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2912. For subscriber service: Call 877-824-9379. Fax 313-446-6777. $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. our newsletters have you covered. All our (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2017 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. newsletters are free, except Health Pulse. BUCK ENNIS JUNE 26, 2017 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3 P003_CN_20170626.indd 3 6/23/17 9:40 PM WHAT’S NEW JUNE 26, 2017 AGENDACity projects should not take forever and a day very City Council member discovers soon after taking of- fice that public projects take far more time and money than they should. They find as well that no amount of kicking and screaming changes this, even for work funded by their own Ediscretionary dollars in their own districts. Phone calls, hearings, press conferences, reports—nothing makes much difference. Some elected of- ficials attempt to address the underlying problems before giving up and focusing on getting their playground rehabs done before they have to leave COSTLY LOO: This 400-square-foot office. After all, term limits send most of them packing after ... eight years. restroom took the When Councilman David Greenfield was first elected, he resolved to city seven years and $2 million to upgrade all 13 parks and playgrounds in his Borough Park–based district, build. where recreational space is treasured because many large families squeeze into small homes. The councilman told the Parks Department’s borough commissioner is leaving his post in late June on a sour note: A month commissioner of his plans. “He laughed at me,” Greenfield recalled. “He earlier Councilman Brad Lander reported that 44% of current projects said, ‘You cannot fix every park. You don’t understand how long it takes.’ ” with budgets over $25 million are severely late, and 43 of the 44 projects Greenfield does now: A single, 400-square-foot park restroom he fund- that are both way behind schedule and well over budget are managed by ed has cost $2 million. After more than seven years in the works, it is still that agency. In April a Center for an Urban Future analysis of library and not open for business. Yes, Greenfield’s cultural projects found their median con- constituents have been holding it in since One study found library and cultural struction cost was an outrageous $930 per 2010. A frustrated contractor working construction projects cost twice as square foot—about double that of new of- on the job explained one reason why: fice space—and took an average of more “If I want to change a nut, I have to get much as building private office space than four years to complete. Mayor Bill permission —in writing—from the Parks de Blasio must search far and wide for a Department.” As of June 23 the comfort station was completely built but, commissioner who has the talent and determination to fix this. fittingly, remained closed for lack of a Department of Buildings inspec- Greenfield and other council members have not given up. They recent- tion. “All I wanted to do was spruce it up,” Greenfield said of the old john ly held six hearings, grilling city officials for hours but not seeming to get the city overhauled. “I’ll never fund a bathroom again.” anywhere. A new bill would create a task force to implement soup-to-nuts But a $2 million toilet is the least of it. Most city agencies’ capital work reform of capital projects. That’s great, but legislation should not be neces- is orchestrated by the Department of Design and Construction, whose sary to make the mayor do his job. — THE EDITORS FINE PRINT Hispanics account for nearly 1 in 5 New Yorkers, but their representation among health care workers is much less: 6.2% of doctors and 6.3% of nurses. Whites, Asians and blacks are overrepresented among nurses. But the biggest discrepancy is among Asian doctors. About one-quarter of physicians in the state are Asian, though Asians are 8.2% of the state population, Center for Health Workforce Studies data show. BY GERALD SCHIFMAN STATS MANY NEW YORKERS WHO aren’t living a life of luxury 25 WORDS OR LESS NOBODY HOME need assistance with housecleaning, child care and home care, but cost stands in their way.