LIGHTS, CAMERA, CATERING! Meet the Mobile Food Makers Feeding New York’S Lm and TV Industry PAGE 12
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THE LIST: Top M&A deals P. 11 | Low-income homeowners’ high stakes P. 14 | Uber’s market share slips P. 16 NEW YORK BUSINESS® FEBRUARY 13 - 19, 2017 | PRICE $3.00 CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS LIGHTS, CAMERA, CATERING! Meet the mobile food makers feeding New York’s lm and TV industry PAGE 12 ALSO: Hidden Figures producer goes all in for Gotham PAGE 8 VOL. XXXIII, NO. 7 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM NEWSPAPER P001_CN_20170213.indd 1 2/10/17 9:14 PM FEBRUARY 13 - 19, 2017 CRAINSNEW YORK BUSINESS FROM THE NEWSROOM | JEREMY SMERD IN THIS ISSUE A project for New York City 4 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 5 HEALTH CARE SOME CONVERSATIONS ARE MEANT TO BE CONTINUED. Crain’s 6 WHO OWNS THE BLOCK published a cover story in the fall exploring the fundamen- 7 REAL ESTATE Film and TV tal challenge facing our city: preparing for a population of tax credit is 9 million New Yorkers. A day later, on Nov. 1, we hosted a 8 ASKED & ANSWERED a tale of two New Yorks morning-long conference on the subject keynoted by Mayor 9 ENTERTAINMENT Bill de Blasio that featured a panel composed of the head of 10 VIEWPOINTS each city transportation agency. Apparently we were just 11 THE LIST getting started. Thursday at the Center for Architecture, the engineering and architectural firms whose ideas for grow- FEATURES ing the city’s housing and infrastructure were published 12 CATERING TO THE STARS in our 9 Million New Yorkers issue gathered for wine, Do we need a 14 BUYERS’ REMORSE cheese and PechaKucha. Wait, PechaKucha? Don’t worry, Robert Moses 16 UBER UNDER I had to look that one up too. The word refers to a Japa- nese solution to endlessly long PowerPoint presentations: or can the visions 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each. That format gave of the Pecha - P. 20 the urban designers a chance to expound on their ideas, Kucha planners ERIN BRIED despite the snowstorm that rolled in earlier in the day. Jeffrey Raven, an architect who helped organize the event take root? through the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, later described what we had started as a “project for New York City.” The ideas themselves varied from the whimsical repurposing of space under elevated tracks to a subway extension to Red Hook that would lead to as many as 45,000 apartments. Crain’s encouraged the designers to think beyond Manhattan 20 GOTHAM GIGS because the so-called outer boroughs will be central to the city’s ability to accom- 21 SNAPS modate another 450,000 residents. The designers agreed. “We’re moving away from 22 FOR THE RECORD the centric megacity and heading to a more distributive one,” said Oliver Schaper of Gensler, which envisioned using existing tracks—some now abandoned—to 23 PHOTO FINISH create more public transit connecting far-flung neighborhoods outside Manhattan. The moderator of the post-PechaKucha discussion, John Shapiro, chairman of the Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, synthe- sized the disparate elements. What they all shared, Shapiro said, was an intention to respect the communities already in place. “And that is the new normal,” he said. When we wrote about the challenge of preparing for 9 million New Yorkers, we also asked whether New York needed another super builder like Robert Moses, who knew how to pull the levers of power to push through big, expensive projects— often at the expense of the neighborhoods affected by them. But can New York meet ON THE COVER the demand of its population growth by empowering the PechaKucha planners, PHOTO: BUCK ENNIS meeting in klatches throughout the city, to implement their ideas of tomorrow? I don’t know the answer, but I’m looking forward to continuing the conversation. DIGITAL DISPATCHES CONFERENCE CALLOUT MARCH 7 Go to CrainsNewYork.com READ Sunset Park, MEET NEW YORK’S Brooklyn, could be the BRAVEST LEADER next Garment District, > NEW YORK CITY has experienced following the exodus a historic drop in fire fatalities. of many companies Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro from Midtown. shares his insights and details his priorities ■ A report from NYU’s for building Furman Center explores on that success. the effects of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 421-a program. THE YALE CLUB ■ After adjusting for cost of living, New York 8 to 9:30 a.m. City software engineers are found to be DANIEL NIGRO, [email protected]. paid less than their counterparts in Austin, FDNY commissioner Boston and Toronto. Vol. XXXIII, No. 7, February 13, 2017—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for ■ Seven additional TV series are filming double issues the weeks of June 26, July 10, July 24, Aug. 7, Aug. 21 and Dec. 18, by Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third in New York City this year. That comes Ave., New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send after a record 52 prime-time episodic TV address 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. series were filmed in the city during the (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2017 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. previous season. BUCK ENNIS, AP IMAGES 2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | February 13, 2017 P002_CN_20170213.indd 2 2/10/17 9:13 PM WHAT’S NEW FEBRUARY 13, 2017 AGENDATrump’s travel ban is bad for New York business he nation is certainly divided over President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, which federal courts have placed on hold. e president’s fans love it, and his critics are up in arms. But unease is palpable among city business leaders, Tespecially in the hospitality and technology sectors, that Trump’s travel ban will hurt their bottom line. Some have become vocal in their opposition. e rst problem with the order, which barred refugees from every- where and travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries for several CLOSING TIME: NYC businesses months, was a sudden and sloppy execution that led to confusion, protests could lose and courtroom reversals. Businesses detest uncertainty, and many felt an the ability to attract talent immediate impact. e Guides Association of New York City’s bid to bring and customers an international convention here lost—to Tbilisi, of all places—because of from overseas. fears that visitors would not get visas. Manhattan restaurateur Tom Col- icchio lost a lucrative private-dining reservation because his guests could 120 days the order was to remain in e ect. not enter the country. While Trump might argue that one of Colicchio’s What the Trump administration should have done—and should do would-be patrons might have carried out a deadly terrorist attack on the now rather than appeal the court rulings—is examine the current vetting U.S., not a single visitor from the seven nations nor any refugee ever has. process while it continues, as new administrations have done in the past. ere was no urgency to change the At the same time, the government should policy overnight, given the success of vis- Hundreds of the city’s tech leaders consider the impact any change will have on itor screening, which vets refugees for 18 terrorism and the economy, which Trump to 24 months and involves 12 to 15 federal have registered their objections has repeatedly promised to improve. Even a agencies. e handful of terrorist incidents publicly. Others should weigh in, too cursory survey of hotel and restaurant own- since 9/11 have come from Americans who ers, tech company CEOs, airline executives, radicalized themselves, some of them angry over perceived slights to convention-center managers and university presidents here in the presi- Muslims—a scenario that the Muslim-focused bans, even if not restored, dent’s hometown would reveal that the ban might signi cantly damage might have already made more likely to happen in the future. their ability to attract foreign customers, students and talent. Hundreds Indeed, the ill will and fear caused by the executive order and the tens of the city’s tech leaders have already registered their objections publicly. of thousands of visa revocations it spawned are reverberating all over the Other industries should weigh in as well, privately if they prefer. We can world, not just in the targeted nations, and will last well beyond the 90 or protect our city and nation without damaging businesses. — THE EDITORS FINE PRINT The Big Apple Circus may be back in town for the holiday season. Compass Partners LLC made the winning bid, $1.3 million, at a closed bankruptcy auction for assets including the circus’s performance equipment and intellectual property. The Sarasota, Fla.–based investment rm beat out a bid by Bello Nock, a popular longtime Big Apple Circus performer. The deal is pending approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. BY GERALD SCHIFMAN STATS 25 WORDS OR LESS FREEDOM FARE THIS FALL THE Metropolitan Transportation Authority is slated to test a Freedom Ticket providing a AND THE CITY discount for riders from Brooklyn and southeast Queens who transfer We need to keep between the Long Island “ Estimated price of a one-way Rail Road and subways the Garden a $ Freedom Ticket, versus $12.75 for an and buses within place that is safe 6.50 intracity peak-time LIRR and subway trip city limits.