20091005-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 10/2/2009 7:51 PM Page 1 INSIDE REPORT TOP STORIES REAL ESTATE International Deal drought brings perfumeries sniff brokers era of more work for less pay out space on ® Madison Ave. PAGES 13-20 PAGE 3 This year’s VOL. XXV, NO. 40 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM OCTOBER 5-11, 2009 PRICE: $3.00 marathon attracts more Lenox Hill runners, more TV calls end PAGE 2 Forget the Dow. to solo act Why taxi medallions are a hot investment Hospital issues IN THE MARKETS, PAGE 4 RFP for merger, Guess it’s never too affiliation: three early: Let the 2013 are interested mayoral race begin BY BARBARA BENSON THE INSIDER, PAGE 8 after years of struggling financially, Lenox Hill Hos- pital—one of the last inde- buck ennis pendents in the city—is fi- COST-CUTTING: Layoffs and more haven’t put Lenox Hill in the black. nally throwing in the towel. It has issued a request for proposals in the hope of ar- the New York area—North SMOKE AND ranging either a merger or an Shore-Long Island Jewish MIRROR: Former affiliation with one of its Health System, New York- felon and Crazy Eddie stronger rivals, according to Presbyterian and NYU Lan- CFO Sam E. Antar four sources with knowledge gone Medical Center—are of the matter. in the early stages of explor- While Lenox Hill has ing Lenox Hill’s offer. North BUSINESS LIVES been open to affiliation talks Shore-LIJ and New York- GOTHAM GIGS for some time,this marks the Presbyterian declined to Selling magazines ain’t first time it has gone so far as comment. A spokeswoman what is used to be P. 27 to issue an RFP to get a deal for NYU Langone says the done. medical center had an obli- G ANNE FISHER says the CRAZY Three institutions that gation to explore all oppor- twittering generation is now dominate the scene in See LENOX HILL’S on Page 12 missing something P. 27 G MOVERS & SHAKERS Wall Street legend talks about reform P. 28 G WEEK ON THE WEB LIKE A FOX Bloomberg aims Swine flu is back in the headlines P. 30 Guess who’s tipping off the SEC on alleged G GAEL GREENE on a to lasso BizWeek meatpacking newcomer accounting frauds? None other than the guy in a familiar space P. 31 who cooked the books at Crazy Eddie Move part of big push into consumer market INDEX BY AARON ELSTEIN BY MATTHEW FLAMM SMALL BUSINESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _7 sam e. antar knows a thing or three about fraud. CRAIN’S ONLINE POLL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _10 He was chief financial officer at Crazy Eddie, the infamous appli- mayor michael bloomberg is a name ALAIR TOWNSEND _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _11 ance retailer with “insaaaaane” prices that skimmed profits, evaded tax- familiar to millions of consumers. CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _21 es, laundered cash and fudged inventories for a Madoff-esque 15 years Bloomberg LP, the financial news and information company he founded near- FOR THE RECORD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _24 before collapsing in 1987. Mr. Antar pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice ly 30 years ago, is not. newscom EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _27 charges, but avoided jail by turning against the relatives who ran the That may be about to change. ‘The more RÉSUMÉ REVIEW _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _28 business with him. He was the government’s star witness at a 1993 Best known for data terminals used by the brand WEEK ON THE WEB _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _30 Wall Street professionals, Bloomberg is See FROM FRAUDSTER on Page 26 THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _31 widely seen as the front-runner in the race is known, buck ennis to buy BusinessWeek.The winner is expect- the more ed to be announced this week,nearly three scoops 40 months after McGraw-Hill Cos. put its you’re going 5 HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES money-losing magazine on the block. to get’ DESPITE ECONOMIC TROUBLES, the city’s major arts For Bloomberg, the acquisition institutions are attracting record audiences and a big would mark the organization’s biggest —Norman ELECTRONIC EDITION reason is discounting. A report from Crain’s NYC step to date to expand the consumer side Pearlstine Performing Arts conference. Page 9 of its media empire, a goal it set for itself NEWSPAPER See Bloomberg’s on Page 25 71486 01068 0 20091005-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 10/2/2009 7:47 PM Page 1 COLD WELCOME: After serving his IN BRIEF country, Michael Serricchio had JETBLUE AIRWAYS HAS NARROWED ITS CROSS- to sue to get his COUNTRY HEADQUARTERS SEARCH TO TWO job back. cities—New York and Orlando, Fla.—but the contest isn’t just between North and South. City officials late last month led JetBlue executives on tours of sites in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, setting off the prospect of an interborough economic development battle. The lease on JetBlue’s current home in Forest Hills expires in 2012. A spokesman for Queens Borough President Helen Marshall said she is hopeful the borough can hang on to at least some of JetBlue’s 800-plus jobs there. But sources say Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is making a pitch for the new mixed-use development City Point. JetBlue said it will make a final decision early next year. CUNY LAW SCHOOL AT QUEENS COLLEGE HAS THE MOST LIBERAL STUDENTS OF ANY LAW school in the country, and Columbia Business School is the fourth-toughest to get into, according to The Princeton Review’s 2010 The Best 172 Law Schools and The Best 301 Business Schools.The guidebooks feature rankings based ruhe redux/george on surveys of 37,000 students. New York University’s Stern School of Business was the 10th most difficult to get into. NYU’s law school ranked seventh for “best quality of life” and ninth for offering the best career prospects. Unhappy homecoming CRISTYNE L. NICHOLAS HAS BEEN NAMED CHAIRMAN OF BROADWAY ASSOCIATION, A ments), according to the suit. Further- streamlining as an excuse to push out re- nonprofit business advocacy group for the Returning soldiers more,the suit charges,being transferred to servists. Times Square neighborhood whose members an outpost of a subsidiary business would USERRA complaints in the financial are influential officials in the private and public must fight to get hurt his opportunities for promotion. sector have mushroomed since the finan- sectors.The former chief executive of NYC “By law, soldiers should not be penal- cial markets collapsed a year and a half ago, & Co., who now runs a public relations firm, Wall St. jobs back ized for their service, plain and simple,” according to the firm’s data.Tully Rinckey succeeds Dennis Swanson, president of station says Capt. Samuel Wright, director of the currently has 200 active claims against operations at Fox Television Stations, who had law center at the Reserve Officers Associ- Wall Street banks, twice as many as the been chair since 1993. BY HILARY POTKEWITZ ation, an advocacy group. “The fact that a firm handled in all of 2007. job has been filled in no way excuses the In contrast, the number of USERRA leaving a good job at J.P. Morgan to go employer from his duty.” complaints filed with the Employer Sup- sailing in the Persian Gulf was not part of port of the Guard and Reserve, a Defense BY THE NUMBERS James Townsend’s career plan, but the Complaints rise after financial collapse Department committee, was up about 8% Navy Reserve had its own ideas. j.p. morgan declined to comment, but a last year,to 2,664,only slightly higher than Mr. Townsend, a technology director source within the firm says officials are in 2007 but a major improvement from Weekly shift of the city’s economy and senior manager in corporate risk serv- looking into the case and “want to do the 2005, when more than 4,600 cases were FALL ISN’T JUST IN THE AIR, it’s everywhere.