Startups Get Snapped Up
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20111205-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 12/2/2011 8:44 PM Page 1 P1 V7 horiz INSIDE 40 UNDER TOP STORIES FORTY Food banks are NOMINATIONS overflowing, and EXTENDED UNTIL DEC. 9! not in a good way www.crainsnewyork.com/ ® 40under40 PAGE 2 The sketchy math behind tenants’ VOL. XXVII, NO. 49 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM DECEMBER 5-11 2011 PRICE: $3.00 Stuy Town buyout PAGE 2 Startups get snapped up NY jumps to No. 2 in flurry of tech M&A, metro region topped $890 million names such as Union Square Ven- in the third quarter,a level of invest- tures—an early backer of Twitter VC activity, but deals still on small side ment that hasn’t been seen since the and online gaming company Zyn- last days of the dot-com bubble, ac- ga—and by a thriving entrepre- from eBay, and urban hipster par- cording to the MoneyTree Report neurial culture, the tech sector here BY MATTHEW FLAMM enting site Babble tapped Disney from PricewaterhouseCoopers and has bucked general business trends for $40 million. Those deals fol- the National Venture Capital Asso- by remaining a bright spot in the Acquisition fever has hit New lowed 35 acquisitions by various ciation, based on data from Thom- city’s economy. What the L? Why York’s bubbling tech scene. Last tech players in the third quarter— son Reuters. That put New York in “It’s a great time for New York,” month, advertising technology up from eight in the year-earlier pe- the No. 2 spot behind Silicon Val- said Linda Gridley, chief executive Billyburg merchants firm interclick sold itself to Yahoo riod, according to CB Insights. ley—and ahead of Boston—for of banking firm Gridley & Co., curse the weekend for $270 million, recommendation The bug bit investors as well. only the second time in a decade. which specializes in technology NEIGHBORHOODS, PAGE 3 engine Hunch peeled $80 million Venture capital funding in the Buoyed by the success of local See STARTUPS on Page 46 Peninsula Hospital bankruptcy drama: the latest twist U.S. banks PAGE 3 cash in BUSINESS LIVES on Euro thrash Wells Fargo, others swoop as overseas players here swoon GOTHAM GIGS BY AARON ELSTEIN She spins a good yarn with those needles With cash flying out of their vaults ● ANNE FISHER Closing here, bloodied European banks are the tech skills gap P. 49 sounding the retreat from the U.S., providing their New York rivals a ● MOVERS & SHAKERS rare opportunity to seize the busi- Mogul Ricardo Salinas ness being left behind. Pliego shows interest in Anxious depositors have yanked U.S.banking P. 50 CLASS WARFARE: After nearly $200 billion from the U.S. fending off union attacks in ● GAEL GREENE Ode to a branches of European banks this Harlem, Eva Moskowitz is Greek grandmother P. 51 year, according to Nomura Securi- expanding her grade-school ties, depriving the institutions of chain to the Upper West the cash they need to make loans to Side and Cobble Hill. commercial clients. As a result, INDEX loans worth $350 billion are up for buck ennis grabs, mainly big-ticket items like THE INSIDER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _8 aircraft leases or lines of credit to SMALL BUSINESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _9 global corporations.That’s the sort OPINION _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _11 of business craved most by institu- REAL ESTATE DEALS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _12 tions like JPMorgan Chase, Citi- FOR THE RECORD group and relative newcomers to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _25 EVA-LUTION the New York scene, such as Wells TOP SBA LENDERS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _26 Fargo and U.S. Bancorp. CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _44 It’s a striking turn of events: EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _49 Only two years ago, this city’s Charter school champ takes her fight to posher nabes THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _51 biggest banks were facing such See BANKS on Page 47 dle-class Brooklyn neighborhood. BY SHANE DIXON KAVANAUGH As she ran through her background as a city coun- cilwoman and school reformer, critics began to yell, Eva Moskowitz asked the simmering crowd of parents, heckle and interrupt. “I can’t shout over people,” said teachers and public school advocates to quiet down. Ms. Moskowitz, who had also faced opposition and Nearly 100 of them had packed the basement of a li- even a lawsuit earlier this year when she started a brary in Cobble Hill in late October to hear Ms. school on the Upper West Side. ELECTRONIC EDITION Moskowitz—who runs a growing network of high- But the sniping persisted, so Ms. Moskowitz left performing charter schools throughout the city—dis- the basement. It was the first time she’d had to aban- NEWSPAPER cuss the school she plans to open next fall in their mid- See ALL ABOUT EVA on Page 46 20111205-NEWS--0002,0003-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 12/2/2011 9:09 PM Page 1 IN BRIEF Number of needy New Yorkers FACEBOOK WILL MAKE NEW YORK ITS FIRST ENGINEERING HUB OUTSIDE OF THE WEST Coast, and will begin hiring in the new year. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg growing at alarming rate made the announcement on Dec. 2 at the social media giant’s midtown offices, where it employs 100 people in ad sales and global up 37% from the pre- marketing. She declined to say how many Food banks vious three-year peri- engineers would be hired, insisting that the od. Overall, 1.47 mil- number would depend on how much talent the struggle to keep lion New Yorkers, or company could find, but she noted that up with demand one in six, are strug- Facebook would be looking for new offices. gling against hunger. as funding drops “The number of NEW YORK STATE’S FILM AND TELEVISION people in poverty in PRODUCTION INDUSTRY IS PUTTING PEOPLE New York City is larg- back to work.The number of core production BY MIRIAM KREININ SOUCCAR er than the entire pop- jobs in 2010 jumped to 43,000, up 22% from ulation of Philadel- the previous year, according to a new analysis Melissa Doktofsky has been receiv- phia,” said Joel Berg, of labor statistics by the Motion Picture ing so many calls for help at her char- executive director of Association of America. Annual job growth ity lately that her phone system the coalition. “It’s the overall during that period in New York was flat. crashed last week. worst I’ve seen it in a Film executives attribute the gains solely to the Since September, Toys of few decades.” expansion last year of the state’s 30% refundable Hope—which gives new clothes, tax credit for production costs.This year, household items, toys and other Savings run out applications to film here are up 66% over last forms of support to some 65,000 Nonprofit execu- year, with 137 filed to date.They include 91 needy people in the New York tives blame the high motion pictures and a record 26 television area—has been fielding 400 calls a rate of long-term un- series, according to the Governor’s Office of day, up more than 35% from the employment for the Motion Picture and Television Development. n same time a year ago. The requests, increased demand. which had come primarily from Many of the people homeless shelters, now include fam- who were laid off dur- buck ennis BY THE NUMBERS ilies who until recently lived com- ing the recession were fortable lives. living on unemploy- Weekly shift of the city’s economy “This is the largest demand and ment benefits or sav- the most varied demand I have seen ings,which have since HOLIDAY CHEER Many indicators glowed green last week, including those for consumer since I started this in 1994,”said Ms.