20131202-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 11/27/2013 4:21 PM Page 1 CRAIN’S® NEW YORK BUSINESS VOL. XXIX, NO. 48 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM DECEMBER 2-8, 2013 PRICE: $3.00 Ice,Ice, ice,ice, maybemaybe Now-or-never vote on Bronx GOAL: Ice center CEO and hockey legend armory rink plan Mark Messier says the $275 million complex tests new norms will reap economic for development benefits for the Bronx. BY THORNTON MCENERY If there is one word in real estate circles that conveys the new poli- tics of commercial development in New York, it is Kingsbridge. The name of a long-shuttered Bronx armory, it connotes a semi- nal moment in the annals of city projects. Just as the failed Westway highway proposal of the 1970s and ’80s showed the power of environ- mentalism to kill a project, Kings- bridge did so for the cause of so- called living-wage jobs. In two weeks, almost four years to the day after a mall planned for the cavernous armory was defeat- ed by Bronx politicians, the final chapter in the Kingsbridge politi- cal saga is expected to be written. Having rejected the mall plan for See KINGSBRIDGE on Page 45 buck ennis A big bet on game-changing ADHD treatment deluxe version that will be released heart and lungs. the game,with a control group,is set Brain-to-computer interface tracks kids’ commercially for 8- to That,at least,is the idea.The chil- to begin on the Upper West Side focus; clinical study in city set to launch 12-year-olds next sum- dren, who play for 20 minutes with children at the Hallowell Cen- mer by Waltham,Mass.- three times a week,are part of ter, which specializes in treating at- based startup Atentiv. De- an eight-week school-based tention disorders. at the Churchill School in Manhat- signed for children who have study aimed at assessing the The game, which employs elec- BY MATTHEW FLAMM tan.But as a little bird bounced along trouble paying attention, the impact of the game on their school- troencephalography sensors in the a road on each computer screen, the digital learning device marks work and home life. The headbands to transmit brain-wave Were it not for the black headbands boy and girl were doing something the first implementation of Churchill School, on East activity to the computer via Blue- they were wearing, the two fourth- that seemed straight out of a magic technology developed in 29th Street, is for stu- tooth, may be just the beginning, as graders would have looked like any show: making their characters move Singapore that uses a brain-to- dents with learning dis- Atentiv joins a growing field of other kids playing video games on a simply by paying attention. computer interface to strengthen fo- abilities. neuro-feedback applications. Its break from class one recent morning The game is a prototype for a cus, just as a treadmill works the A clinical study of the effects of See A BIG BET on Page 45 newscom DEADLINE ...IS FRIDAY, DEC.6. Go to FOR NO EXTENSIONS. crainsnewyork.com/ 40 UNDER 40 NO PHONE CALLS. 40nominate to submit NOMINATIONS... NO MERCY. your candidate. NEWSPAPER 20131202-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 11/27/2013 4:22 PM Page 1 EDITOR’S NOTE The great planes FYICRAINSNEWYORK.COM Thanksgiving almost never sparks thankful thoughts about airports— unless you avoided them in your Retailers jingle sales bells travels, or simply stayed home—so in hopes of year-end surge it was interesting last week to see a new report extolling the economic he holiday shopping season is officially virtues of our three major airports. underway—though it seems to have “New York’s metropolitan airports unofficially begun sometime between Glenn Coleman T are incredible economic drivers,” Labor Day and Halloween. declared real estate executive To stoke shoppers’spending, local retailers Joseph J. Sitt, the metaphor-mixing chairman of the Macy’s, Modell’s and J&R opened on Global Gateway Alliance.That’s the civic group he Thanksgiving Day for the first time, while Toys R founded to push for public-sector upgrades at Us and Walmart started offering discounts in early LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty airports. He November.They’re all angling for a bigger piece couldn’t be more correct.The city’s Big Three air of the crucial fourth-quarter pie at a time when buck ennis hubs move nearly 110 million passengers annually, consumer confidence is weak (the Conference Board’s index for November was 70.4, down from and they employ more than 70,000 people. Aviation 72.4 in October), and general economic unease still overshadows shopping lists. operations (including 1,000 air-cargo companies Overall, the season’s sales growth is expected to be … meh, with most experts predicting a 2% based at JFK), capital projects and local spending by to 3% uptick over 2012. Much of the gain will come from e-commerce, where double-digit the trio’s 20 million tourist arrivals and departures jumps are expected. Still, most digital promotions will try to usher shoppers back into stores, generated $63 billion in total economic activity here where consumers tend to drop more money on impulse buys. that supported 450,000 jobs in 2012, according to Electronics and toy retailers should have the most luck this shopping season. Video game the GGA report, produced with the Partnership for consoles, such as the Xbox One (Microsoft Corp. sold 1 million of them in 24 hours) and the New York City.Those 450,000 jobs represent an latest Apple Inc. iPhone models, are topping wish lists. Meanwhile, apparel makers are expected 80% climb from a 2004 tally of the airports’ impact. to be left out in the cold. —adrianne pasquarelli They paid $22.8 billion in wages averaging $51,000, TIME WARNER CABLE A TARGET. Cox dential areas. … “CONGESTION PRIC- which, the new report noted, is higher than 75% of Communications and Comcast ING” IS BACK. A proposal crafted by HOORAY! all incomes in the country. New York’s airports face Corp. are the latest suitors for Time former city Traffic Commissioner PEOPLE huge and even ridiculous challenges (see the column Warner Cable and its roughly 4.5 Sam Schwartz and a group dubbed MAGAZINE million subscribers. Comcast, the Move NYC calls for instituting or names Gov. on JFK’s customs delays on Page 11, for starters), and Andrew Cuomo nation’s largest cable company, is re- increasing tolls in areas with high one of its almost all of them are tied to billions of dollars in portedly thinking about making a congestion and ample public trans- “Sexiest Men infrastructure and technology improvements to help bid for the No. 2 cable operator, ei- portation, and lowering or eliminat- Alive.” ther alone or with John Malone’s ing tolls in transit-poor pockets.Un- meet the demands for more flights and better service. Liberty Media Corp.-backed Char- like Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Considering the total economic payoff tracked in last ter Communications, which ill-fated toll cordon around lower week’s report, these would be billions well spent. expressed interest in Time Warner Manhattan, some revenue generated Cable earlier this year. The takeover would go toward upgrades to roads OY VEY! frenzy comes as the cable industry and bridges to benefit drivers, while PEOPLE deals with rising TV-programming other funds would pay for transit MAGAZINE THIS WEEK IN CRAIN’S costs. … NEVER MIND THAT MERGER. projects. … ROLLING THE DICE. Devel- names Gov. New York law firms opers are drawing up Andrew Cuomo IN THE BOROUGHS-------------------------- 4 Orrick Herrington & plans to win the right one of its ‘I don’t think “Sexiest Men Sutcliffe and Pills- to build four resort- DIGITAL NY------------------------------------------------------5 Alive.” bury Winthrop Shaw we’ll ever like casinos north of IN THE MARKETS----------------------------------6 Pittman called off New York City now their megamerger. give up’ that the state is al- SMALL BUSINESS ------------------------------7 The deal—scuttled —Victoria Sobel, a recent lowed to have seven THE INSIDER -----------------------------------------------8 because of client con- Cooper Union graduate full-fledged gam- who is part of Free OPINION --------------------------------------------------------10 flicts, the firms bling establish- said—would have Cooper Union, a group ments. The state ex- … KATIE DITCHES NETWORK TV. Katie GREG DAVID--------------------------------------------11 fighting the 154-year-old created one of the private college’s decision to pects to award the Couric is heading to Yahoo, where REPORT-----------------------------------------------------------13 country’s 10 largest begin charging tuition gambling licenses by she will anchor the Internet compa- firms, with 1,700 ($19,000 starting next fall) the end of 2014, but ny’s news division. The former host REAL ESTATE DEALS-------------------15 GOTHAM GIGS lawyers and $1.4 bil- after years of financial don’t expect Las of NBC’s Today and CBS Evening CLASSIFIEDS -----------------------------------------42 lion in estimated rev- decline Vegas companies to News, who had a $40 million, multi- David Goldin makes loans to enue. … A RACE TO compete: They’re year deal with ABC, will continue P. 9 NEW YORK, NEW YORK ---------- help business owners. 49 SLOW DOWN. A City Council measure waiting for gambling to be allowed in hosting her ABC talk show through would lower the 30 miles-per-hour the New York City area. Meanwhile, the end of this season. Yahoo has CORRECTIONS speed limit to 25 mph on one-way online gambling debuted in New been on a hiring spree lately, luring John Oringer is the founder and CEO of Shutterstock. His name was misspelled in the streets that don’t have more than one Jersey,with Gov.Chris Christie fore- David Pogue, Megan Liberman and Nov.