20120430-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 4/27/2012 7:51 PM Page 1 INSIDE THE LIST TOP STORIES LARGEST MINORITY- Retail pioneers OWNED decamp as COMPANIES meatpacking distict ® takes Ugg-ly turn PAGE 17 PAGE 2 The man VOL. XXVIII, NO. 18 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM APRIL 30-MAY 6, 2012 PRICE: $3.00 who saved the Knicks tells how he did it PAGE 3 Australian tourists are good on ya, NY. And yes, mate, that’s the dinky di PAGE 2 Fortune 500’s ‘bamboo ceiling’ persuades many Asian-Americans to start own firms PAGE 13 BUSINESS LIVES supertotto HERDS ON THE STREET day,while he and his colleagues deliver and retrieve Want to win the BY JEREMY SMERD packages by handcart to customers within a five- block radius.The sidewalk is their loading zone and GOTHAM GIGS battle for curbside There are 12,750 miles of sidewalk in New York City. their lobby. Violinist Sarah Mario Rincon’s piece is a 20-foot stretch on East “Every day you gotta be on point,” Mr. Rincon Charness thinks pink business? Get 43rd Street between Lexington and Third avenues. said. “If not, you’re gonna lose.” P. 21 That’s where he parks his FedEx Ground deliv- Private enterprise—legal and not—has always there first ery truck. Not temporarily, but every weekday, all See HERDS on Page 20 ● ANNE FISHER The inside story of how Gilt Groupe grew P. 21 ● GAEL GREENE Clyde Frazier’s f lashy new Zell bends on Banks see restaurant scores with comfort menu P. 23 union construction profit in INDEX rounding NEW YORK, NEW YORK _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _6 Chicago developer lands discount pact NEIGHBORHOOD JOURNAL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _7 with labor on Park Avenue South tower Under pressure, THE INSIDER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _8 midsize institutions SMALL BUSINESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _9 er being developed by Mr. Zell’s BY DANIEL MASSEY Equity Residential on Park Av- VIEWPOINT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _10 stretching to please enue South and East 28th Street ALAIR TOWNSEND _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _11 Sam Zell—organized labor’s bil- will be built with union labor, a CLASSIFIEDS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _18 lionaire bogeyman for the prolifer- building-trades source said. And BY AARON ELSTEIN EXECUTIVE MOVES _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21 ation of nonunion construction in Mr.Zell is getting a discount:Lend bloomberg news THE WEEK AHEAD _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _23 the city—is going union. Lease, the construction manager SAM ZELL had been the target of protests With their profits under tremen- A $190 million residential tow- See ZELL on Page 17 by construction union members. dous pressure from a powerful combination of rock-bottom in- terest rates and sluggish loan de- 18 5 The mayor’s race, Wal-Mart, mand, a number of New York’s small and midsize banks are get- living wage—all in one Greg ting surprisingly creative with their ELECTRONIC EDITION David column. What more results. Consider the case of Astoria Fi- could anyone want? Page 11 nancial Corp., parent of Astoria NEWSPAPER See IN THE MARKETS on Page 4 71486 01068 0 20120430-NEWS--0002,0003-NAT-CCI-CN_-- 4/27/2012 7:52 PM Page 1 IN BRIEF Ugg! Tide of unstylish stores IN A BROADWAY YEAR WITHOUT ANY OBVIOUS CANDIDATES TO TAKE HOME BEST MUSICAL honors, Spider-Man:Turn Off the Dark is seen as a potential dark horse for the 2012 Tony sullies meatpacking’s status Award nominations, to be announced Tuesday morning. Unlike last year—when The Book of Mormon was the obvious front-runner—the field this time around is wide open. “None of Trendy pioneers who CHANGING PLACES IN MEATPACKING DISTRICT the new musicals have knocked any of the critics out, unfortunately,” said Ken Bloom, a put area on the map WHO’S MOVING OUT WHO’S MOVING IN Broadway historian. Since its infamously delayed opening last June, the $75 million getting squeezed out Spider-Man musical—a must-see for tourists— Alexander McQueen* Ugg has been selling out by its mall-ification Ⅲ many weeks. For the Stella McCartney Ⅲ Levi’s week ending April 22, Ⅲ Yohji Yamamoto Ⅲ Sephora BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI the show grossed $1.44 Ⅲ Rubin & Chapelle Ⅲ Kiehl’s million, 80% of its Ⅲ maximum potential. The cleaver may be coming down on the Adam Ⅲ Coach* “Based on consistent meatpacking district’s brief reign as the Ⅲ Jussara Lee Ⅲ Patagonia* robust sales and the city’s capital of cutting-edge fashion. Last Ⅲ Shelly Steffee Ⅲ J.Crew* overwhelming positive feedback from our week, famously unfashionable Ugg, whose groups, Spider-Man could definitely take home ubiquitous shearling-lined suede boots are Best Musical,” said Stephanie Lee, president of seen by many as the antithesis of high fash- *According to sources. Companies have not confirmed. Group Sales Box Office. Other new musicals ion,announced it would be opening a store that have a good chance at Tony honors, on West 14th Street, in the heart of the observers said, are Newsies, the hit Disney neighborhood. sisting that the meatpacking district is still the home of such trendy locales as the production, and Once, a small off-Broadway “[The meatpacking district] has be- a favorite destination for the Jimmy Choo- Standard Hotel. The nightlife, with cock- transfer that has gotten a lot of critical buzz. come a lot more mainstream, with a lot heeled, Prada-clad crowd. tail hot spots like Abe & Arthur’s and the Though Broadway producers won’t admit it on more of the chain stores,”said retail real es- “People say the meatpacking district is Griffin, is another lure. And looming on the record, some may pull the plug on their tate broker Ariel Schuster, executive vice over, and it’s so not the case,” said Lauren the horizon is the 2015 opening of the new shows if they don’t get a nod or two on president at Robert K. Futterman & Danziger, executive director of the Meat- Whitney Museum of American Art on Tuesday. A number of productions could sure Associates. Gansevoort Street. use a Tony boost.The revival Jesus Christ Meanwhile, many of the trendy shops Superstar last week grossed only $658,515, that put the area on the map a decade ago ‘People say the Short Hills on Hudson half of its potential, and the play End of the are vanishing.They are being squeezed out Drawn by all that, mass-market stores Rainbow took in $397,233, just 48% of its by a combination of rising rents and mall- district is over, are swooping in. Along with Ugg, which potential. Ⅲ type retailers now queuing up for space in plans to open its 2,500-square-foot store the neighborhood. Others, fearing the in- and it’s so not this November,retailers including cosmet- creasing mall-ification of the area,are flee- ics giant Sephora, jeans stalwart Levi’s and BY THE NUMBERS ing to cooler locales, such as the neighbor- the case’ skin-care shop Kiehl’s have all moved in. ing West Village or SoHo. To one retail broker,it adds up to one thing: Weekly shift of the city’s economy Several of the district’s pioneering fash- a mix reminiscent of New Jersey’s Short ion houses, including Stella McCartney Hills Mall. CAT’S UP Caterpillar, Apple, 3M and others and Rubin & Chapelle, have already Still more are coming. Brokers report posted surprisingly strong quarterly earnings. Several experts insisted that the housing crash packed up and left. More are likely to fol- packing District Improvement Associa- that everyone from Patagonia and Coach is now history, and consumer confidence rose. low when their 10-year leases come up for tion. “There have always been visionaries to J.Crew and C. Wonder—the new af- renewal. here, and they won’t allow this district to fordable line from Chris Burch—are sniff- become cookie-cutter.” ing around for space.