THE LIST AREA’S TOP WOMEN- OWNED COMPANIES CRAIN’S® PAGE 16 NEW YORK BUSINESS VOL. XXIX, NO. 36 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013 PRICE: $3.00 Hotels lose some Super Bowl yardage NFL cuts back on the 18,000 rooms it had reserved for big game; nightly rates take a hit BY LISA FICKENSCHER The Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2 is expected to be a financial win for New York, with hundreds of thousands of people coming to the area. But the hype has not yet translat- ed into the blitz of ho- tel reservations—and LUX IN FLUX: 5-star spots sky-high room rates— supersize the event’s boosters their super had been expecting. suites P. 3 That may be good news for football fans,but hoteliers are hardly cheering. Sources say the National Football League in recent weeks has been elim- inating or scaling back the number of See SUPER BOWL on Page 44 GRAND MASTERS: Brokers Doug Harmon (left) and Adam Spies have racked up billions in property sales this year. fred harper Hard left turn for City The trophy hunters Council Sales duo on track BY DANIEL GEIGER Liberal activists plot to top billion-dollar Sixteen years ago, the so-called Queen of Mean, Leona Helmsley, threw an obscure 2014 agenda with building club in NY. broker by the name of Doug Harmon a helluva big bone. She asked him to sell the few obstacles in sight fabled $5 billion real estate portfolio that she had inherited from her husband Harry. One reason: They “Leona took a chance on me, and it brought me into a whole new world,” said BY CHRIS BRAGG Mr.Harmon of the assignment,which included finding buyers for everything from the AND ANDREW J. HAWKINS know who’s buying Graybar Building next to Grand Central Terminal to the vast Starrett-Lehigh Build- ing overlooking the Hudson in Chelsea. He was just 35.“I was dying for that opportu- Mandatory paid sick leave for all small (and the size of the businesses.A living-wage requirement nity, and I took the time to go through all the paperwork and get to know every single for retailers. Curtailed development bidders’checkbooks) property like the back of my hand.” See TROPHY on Page 43 subsidies. Higher unincorporated business taxes for filers making more 36 than $500,000. A tax hike on hedge- 5 REPORT SMALL BUSINESS fund managers. No matter how the Sept. 10 pri- Not so temporary anymore. Firms lean mary elections shake out, ideas anath- on freelancers to right-size workforces ema to the business community are more likely to become reality starting Page 13 next year, as City Council liberals go NEWSPAPER See LEFT TURN on Page 42 71486 01068 0 EDITOR’S NOTE ¡Ay, caramba! FYICRAINSNEWYORK.COM Maybe you read about last month’s raucous union protests in Mexico City that upended daily life in the Five years later, capital and forced legislators to NYC is still recovering cancel a vote on the heretical notion of evaluating teacher ive years ago this week—on competency.This in a country Sept. 15, 2008—the global where teachers sell or even financial markets went into Glenn Coleman F Lehman bequeath their posts to successors. I cardiac arrest. First, was vacationing 300 miles south- Brothers filed for bankruptcy in the newscom east, in the colonial city of Oaxaca, home of the most largest corporate failure ever. The hard-core elements of Mexico’s teachers’ unions. same day, free-falling Merrill Lynch rushed into the ultimate financial shotgun marriage with How hard-core? Oaxaca’s main square, among Bank of America. A few days later, panic spread to the $3.6 trillion money-market-fund Mexico’s most beautiful, hosts an occupation camp of business when a prominent fund with a lot of Lehman debt “broke the buck.” Then, American aggrieved teachers who’ve been protesting for 35 International Group had to be rescued by the government in the mother of all bailouts. years.This was my fifth visit since my 20s, and as I The repercussions are still echoing. Barclays bought Lehman’s U.S. operations for a song. strolled past the Trotsky posters and acknowledged a Merrill’s brokerage force is perhaps the most valuable business owned by BofA. AIG shrank few familiar faces—“Hola. What’s new?” “Not much, considerably by selling assets to repay its bailout. The money-market-fund business fought off blanco”—my thoughts turned to Michael Mulgrew, most federal reform attempts, but it too is much smaller now. president of the United Federation of Teachers. For About 30,000 Wall Streeters lost their jobs right after the crisis. Just 8,000 have found their the record: Mescal was not a factor; medication for a way back. JPMorgan Chase and other large banks continue to pare staff, even though profits are scraped shin prevented me from imbibing. It’s just quite high again—a benefit of fewer competitors. Seems it’ll be a while before Wall Street is the that Mr. Mulgrew made quite an impression during sort of economic force it was just before the crisis. —aaron elstein an October 2010 meeting with Crain’s editors in which he insisted it was impossible for management CBS RETURNS TO TV. A monthlong and the settlement did not require to fairly evaluate a New York City schoolteacher, retransmission-fee dispute between the NFL to admit wrongdoing. The HOORAY! unique flowers that they are, and made clear that his Time Warner Cable and CBS that deal, which applies to retired players SUNNY’S BAR reopened 10 months after school-reform strategy was to wait out the third left millions of cable customers with- with neurological problems, was Superstorm Sandy flooded the Red Hook, out Big Brother and Showtime’s Dex- seen as a win for the NFL,which po- Brooklyn, establishment. Bloomberg term and negotiate a new contract with ter finally ended Sept.2.CBS report- tentially faced billions of dollars in li- the next mayor. Here we are three years later. Voters edly got the lion’s share of what it was ability payments and legal fees if the will soon decide who’ll sit across the table from Mr. asking—payment of as much as $2 case progressed. Criticism of the Mulgrew to haggle over teacher pay, work rules and per subscriber, up from less than $1, league has increased as more former and additional digital rights. The players have been diagnosed with evaluations. And it’s not just his union, of course, but blackout affected more than 3 mil- brain trauma.… GARMENTOS SEW UP every municipal union that’s lined up for the next lion Time Warner Cable subscribers GRANTS. The city gave apparel man- mayor, clamoring for up to $7.8 billion in back pay here and in seven other cities and ufacturers a major lift, with a new under expired labor contracts. My shin has healed. I gave upstart company Aereo a boost. grant program for upgrading facto- OY VEY! (See related story, Page 3) … NYC ries that are headquartered in the five know exactly what I’ll be pouring for myself at home SUES TO HALT SUITS. Mayor Michael boroughs and are at least two years TWO KITTENS on subway Tuesday night as I settle in for the election returns. Bloomberg isn’t giving up on the Po- old. The city’s Economic Develop- tracks caused a lice Department’s ment Corp. and 90-minute controversial use of ‘Speeding Andrew Rosen, suspension of stop-and-frisk. He CEO of fashion the B and Q THIS WEEK IN CRAIN’S trains in sued the City Coun- continues house Theory, have Brooklyn. cil for passing a law to already given the IN THE BOROUGHS-------------------------- 3 allow New Yorkers to be the program $1.5 mil- IN THE MARKETS----------------------------------4 who believe they No. 1 killer on lion to finance new firm owns more than 120 consumer were racially profiled equipment, worker brands. … INVESTORS CHECK OUT THE INSIDER ----------------------------------------------- 6 to sue. The mayor the streets of training and even FOURSQUARE. Two big firms, DIGITAL NY------------------------------------------------------7 says the council over- New York’ rent.… JARDEN BUYS Microsoft Corp. and American Ex- stepped its authority, YANKEE CANDLE. The press Co., are reportedly vying for an BUSINESS PEOPLE ---------------------------8 —City Transportation as state laws govern owner of Mr. Coffee equity stake in Foursquare, the OPINION --------------------------------------------------------10 Commissioner Janette police procedures. … Sadik-Khan, on the machines will soon Manhattan-based social-media site NFL PUNTS ON LITIGA- GREG DAVID--------------------------------------------11 installation of speed provide scented can- that allows users to show people lo- TION. The National dles and home-decor cations they visit. Earlier this year, STEVE HINDY ------------------------------------------11 cameras in school zones Football League products. Jarden Foursquare raised $41 million in SMALL BUSINESS--------------------------13 agreed to pay $765 Corp. agreed to buy debt to bankroll its operations. The THE LIST ---------------------------------------------------------16 million to settle a lawsuit that ac- Yankee Candle, the largest candle firm is also negotiating with venture NEW YORK, NEW YORK cused it of hiding its knowledge maker in the U.S., for $1.7 billion. capitalists to convert its debt into CLASSIFIEDS ----------------------------------------- Daniel Craig is among many 38 about the risk of players getting con- The all-cash deal is expected to boost equity, but talks may not lead to an stars playing Broadway. P. 45 SOURCE LUNCH--------------------------------46 cussions. More than 4,500 players Jarden’s adjusted earnings per share actual deal. and their families brought the suit, by about 10%.