Crain's New York Business

ASKED & ANSWERED Dandapani on how the city can help save hotels PAGE 11

OFF SEASON Businesses near Yankee Stadium are struggling without fans PAGE 3

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JUNE 29, 2020

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As the city reopens, businesses large and small are plotting their comeback, making accommodations for workers and customers alike

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The city’s $3 million plan to help restaurants is getting bad reviews PAGE 4

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FAREWELL

Fairway’s Harlem store, and possibly others, is closing PAGE 5

PPP PRIMER

Here’s how to get your loan forgiven PAGE 6

DON’T BANK ON IT

Banks may shutter some branches, giving landlords another headache PAGE 10

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CORONAVIRUS ALERT

BUCK ENNIS

OFF BASE: Many small businesses near sports venues such as Yankee Stadium are hurting.

Bars and shops near Yankee Stadium facing ‘extinction’ without baseball MLB, as well as Belmont and the U.S. Open, returning without spectators offers little local help

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

Y

ankee Tavern has been around long enough that Babe Ruth occasionally capped off a victory by buying a round for the bar. But after 93 years, the business is at risk of closing its corner location in the Bronx, steps from the stadium’s right-field gate.

Joseph Bastone, whose family has owned the tavern for half a century, said he is losing $5,000 a week without the Yankees home games that pack the bar.

“I’ll have 300 people in here before games start,” Bastone said, “then another 150 to 200 after. That’s all lost.”

As sports slowly return throughout the city—kicked off by the Belmont Stakes June 20—the events are unlikely to help the local economy much until fans can safely return.

From the days of Ruth, businesses on 161st Street could rely on the Yankees to show up each spring and play through to the fall, driving enough visitors and revenue for the seasonal arrangement to work. Yankees Opening Day alone can generate more than $11 million in local spending, according to estimates from the city.

Covid-19 has already cost the Yankees more than 30 home games. Major League Baseball and the players have reached a deal to return for spring training by July 1, but games will return without the fans that keep the shops and

restaurants near the stadium in business.

The 161 Street Business Improvement District, which represents many of the merchandise shops and bars near the stadium, reports there are at least 20 locally owned businesses in the vicinity that are months behind on their rent.

“They are on the brink of extinction if they don’t get help quickly,” said Cary Goodman, executive director of the BID. “Most of these businesses make all their money in a short window in the summer when there is baseball or soccer.”

Little aid

ing. Gibson said on Twitter that her office was working to get officials there soon.

City Councilman Mark Gjonaj of the Bronx, who leads the small-business committee, is pushing for a $500 million fund to help businesses struggling during the pandemic.

The SBS spokeswoman said the department has distributed more than $73 million to 4,000 firms since the start of the pandemic.

Bastone said he is pushing for the city to help businesses such as his by providing rent assistance and forgiving the commercial rent tax that is typically passed along to the tenant.

The U.S. Open is still on for the end of August, but with none of the more than 700,000 spectators who attend each year.

Minus the fans, this year’s tournament will generate nowhere near the estimated $400 million in spending it did in 2014. That loss will sting Queens even more than missing Mets home games and the visitors from Belmont, local officials say.

“Most of the hundreds of thousands who come for the U.S. Open, they come from all over the world,” said Rob MacKay, director of marketing and tourism for the Queens Economic Development Corp.

“Every hotel is fully occupied for the week

“THESE SMALL BUSINESSES CREATE THE AMBIENCE OF COMING TO A BALLGAME”

The 161st Street businesses have received little aid during the shutdown, outside of 10 merchants who have received federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Most did not qualify for the city’s Covid-19 small-business grants, Goodman said.

The city’s Small Business Services commissioner, Jonnel Doris, was expected to visit the district June 25, along with local Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, to discuss ways to help. But the visit was rescheduled the night before, Goodman said, “typical of how the city has treated the neighborhood for way too long.” An SBS spokeswoman said the department is still working out details of the meet-

before and two weeks of the tournament,” he said.

Hard ball Back in the Bronx, the BID has pushed for the Yankees to rescue the businesses frequented by so many of the team’s fans. The team, valued at $5 billion by Forbes last month, could offer loans or help cover part of those businesses’ rent until games return.

“These small businesses create the ambience and environment of coming to a ballgame,” Goodman said. “But they are on the verge of collapse, and the Yankees can help.”

He said he had not received a response from the team's management.

The Yankees worked together with the businesses at the end of 2019, when it appeared a new merchandise deal with Nike would limit the ability of Bronx stores to sell jerseys. The team helped get Nike to make an exception for the local retailers to keep selling official gear—a huge win.

But that victory has prompted some stores to purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of new merchandise—and now they are without customers to sell it to.

Goodman said the Bronx Bombers need to step up for the sake of the businesses in the borough. “We’ve been completely abandoned,” he said.

The Yankees did not respond to a request for comment. ■ JUNE 29, 2020 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3

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FROM THE NEWSROOM | FRED P. GABRIEL | PUBLISHER

New Crain’s data offering makes market research easier LET’S FACE IT: DATA IS KEY. Data helps us find important connections—connections that lead to valuable insights and drive business. With that in mind, Crain’s New York Business is pleased to announce that we’re launching a newand-improved—in fact, an entirely reimagined— data offering.

Found at CrainsNewYork.com/data-lists, the new offering allows data members to create and export their own custom lists from across the entire Crain’s database. They can filter those lists by executive title, industry, company size and more.

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CORONAVIRUS ALERT

Mayor’s restaurant rescue plan falls short of the mark Eateries in hard-hit neighborhoods say grant fund has too many flaws

T

he reopening of Mark Lu’s South Bronx restaurant made for two milestones. June 15 marked the three-year anniversary for his Italian tavern, Porto Salvo, and the first day in three months he had a customer.

When other restaurants jumped to offer takeout following the city’s shutdown, Porto Salvo struggled to call back the workers that were laid off when the pandemic hit. Robust unemployment benefits and fear of

Angueira, who owns three Bronx restaurants. For an owner with a skeleton staff, such as Lu, the program’s maximum award can sustain four full-time employees for just over two months. This doesn’t factor in rent, overhead and taxes.

“Underfunding is just as dangerous as not giving them any money,” Angueira said.

If restaurants reopen without a sufficient stimulus and consumer spending remains low, they could be forced to close again, permanently, he said.

“It’s honestly putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound, and it’s just going to be insufficient,” Angueira said.

The program was built to extend an additional lifeline to resaurant owners, many of whom are nearing the end of their loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, but the stimulus’ rules make it a liability for some.

“UNDERFUNDING IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AS NOT GIVING THEM ANY MONEY” Covid-19 made staying home the better option for Lu’s four employees. Unable to staff to-go services, he decided to go dark.

The Bronx restaurateur managed to restaff since the city entered phase one, but financially, the shutdown has been devastating. Like the overwhelming majority of the city's restaurants, Lu couldn’t make May's rent. He owes taxes, as well as money to vendors and the State Liquor Authority.

On June 11, Mayor Bill de Blasio released a $3 million plan to help owners like Lu. The Restaurant Revitalization Program extends $30,000 to 100 family-owned restaurants in communities hit hardest by Covid-19— mainly in minority neighborhoods—to pay their employees $20 an hour for a minimum of six weeks, then $15 an hour going forward.

The stimulus doesn’t offer enough money, said Alfredo

Reimbursement comes later The $30,000 isn’t doled out upfront. Approved applicants can receive a quarter of their total award in advance, but they have to pay the remainder out of pocket, then wait for reimbursement.

Under normal circumstances, restaurants operate on notoriously thin profit margins. The initial impact of Covid-19, documented in March by the National Restaurant Association, showed that New York restaurants made 58% less yearover-year.

After three months of scraping by on takeout alone—if that—fronting $22,500 isn’t an option for many.

“We don’t have money right now,” Lu said. “We’re running on loans.”

The mayor said business owners would receive reimbursement within two weeks of request, but many of them are leery of spending when a sudden spike in cases could send business tumbling again.

“We don't even know if the second wave is coming," Lu said. “It's just so much uncertainty for us to be putting so much money out of pocket.”

For some restaurateurs, their need outweighs the risk.

Brooklyn restaurant owner Mutale Kanyanta submitted one of the 288 applications the mayor’s office had received as of June 19 for his restaurant, Locals, in Fort Greene, a neighborhood that was not listed as a targeted high-needs zone.

Kanyanta would prefer relief with no strings attached, but he’s not in a position to be picky: He was denied PPP money and economic injury disaster loans and, like Lu, didn’t have the means to offer takeout or delivery.

“Obviously, it'd be great to get all the money in advance, but I just need to get open and figure it out,” Kanyanta said.

In an era of racial reckoning, the stimulus does offer New York City restaurants the chance to reinvent themselves as egalitarian. The program, co-sponsored by One Fair Wage, a nonprofit hoping to end tipped minimum wage, incorporates a pay bump for waitstaff, who are disproportionately women of color.

Tipping point Even after restaurants exhaust their reward, they’re required to pay employees $15 an hour, a $5 raise they have five years to meet. Currently tipped restaurant work is one of the few occupations that doesn’t pay the $15-an-hour minimum.

In states where higher minimum

PORTO SALVO, an Italian tavern in the South Bronx wage for waitstaff had been enacted, the poverty rate for Black and brown women was one-third lower than those living in states with the $2.13 federal tipped minimum wage, a study by the National Women’s Law Center found.

Some owners are on board with the raise. Angueira saw the pay increase as an inevitable benchmark and preemptively adopted it. Lu said fewer customers have meant less in tips for his service staff.

He’s already had to supplement his servers’ pay to meet the minimum, so $15 an hour isn’t a stretch.

“You can't ask workers to come back for subminimum wage when tips are down 75% to 90%. It's just not going to happen,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage.

Still the NYC Hospitality Alliance, a group representing restaurants citywide and a vocal critic of One Fair Wage, says the program’s decision to include a future-looking pay structure in a time of economic uncertainty is unfair to owners.

“You shouldn't put small-business owners who’re in the midst of a crisis in a situation where they may agree to something, because they're in severe financial distress, that they would never agree to under normal

MARK LU

BY SUZANNAH CAVANAUGH

circumstances,” said Andrew Rigie, who heads the restaurant group.

The mayor defended the program's goal of helping underserved neighborhoods and workers most affected by the virus.

“Participating restaurants are committed to helping create more equitable places and making their meals accessible to vulnerable community members,” spokeswoman Laura Feyer said.

Getting in the way Even for those the program could help—restaurants with the means to front most of the award—bureaucracy will get in the way, Angueira said.

“I appreciate that they’re looking at minority-owned businesses, especially in these areas,” Angueira said. “But I am a minority business owner and a lot of us are very momand-pop and hand-to-mouth and don't have the back-office paperwork, financial documentation that is going to be necessary for this.”

Similarly sick of top-down policies, Lu suggested the mayor's office try a novel approach: “If you really want to help the city, have a representative come to us and say, ‘OK, what is that you need?’” Lu said. ■

Vol. 36, No. 24, June 29, 2020—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for bimonthly in January, July and August and the last issue in December, by Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017.

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4 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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IN THE MARKETS

Some Fairway Market locations closing

F

Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium, Brooklyn, NY Turner Construction Company, an EEO Employer, is currently soliciting bids for the Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium from subcontractors and vendors for the following bid packages: BP #34 Electrical Manhole EMH-2 including excavation & concrete work (Bid, Payment & Performance Bond Required) Only bids responsive to the entire scope of work will be considered and, to be successful, bidders must be prequalified by Turner. Certified M/WBE and Small Business (13 CFR part 121) companies are encouraged to submit.

FLICKR/ZACH KORB

airway Market’s location in end for the Fairway loconsidering Harlem is closing for good, cations, and stores in Brooklyn, supermarkets experiQueens and Nassau County enced a huge jump in could shut down within a month, business after the lockaccording to public documents and downs began.

“The surge in sales a person close to the matter.

Except for the Harlem location, was temporary and not all other Fairway stores in Manhat- a good indicator of the tan will survive because they were long-term prospects for acquired by a rival after the grocer the stores or the chain filed for bankruptcy earlier this year as a whole,” a person for the second time. Neither Fair- close to the matter said. way nor its bankruptcy lawyer, Sunny Singh of Weil Gotshal & Manges, Customers moved on returned requests for comment.

Once the city’s most beloved groThe Harlem Fairway was set to cer, whose store openings were begin a store-closing sale last week, treated as major news, Fairway filed according to a federal for bankruptcy in January, court filing. It is expected its second Chapter 11 in to close no later than June four years. Customers had 30, a filing with the state moved on to places like Department of Labor Wegmans or Whole Foods, shows. The store has and Fairway’s comparaabout 165 unionized emble-store sales fell 5% last ployees. Crain’s reported year and its $66 million in April that the store was loss left it unable to service poised to close. its formidable debt load.

Fairways in Red Hook, debt is a hangover AARON ELSTEIN The Brooklyn; Douglaston, from when a private-equiQueens; Plainview and ty firm with no experience Westbury, Long Island, are expect- in supermarkets bought Fairway ed to close by July 17, the company from the founding family in 2007 for disclosed in its labor department $150 million and tried to expand the filing. A person close to the matter business quickly. said a last-minute rescue is possible Fairway’s flagship Upper West for the Brooklyn, Queens and West- Side store was acquired this year as bury stores. The Plainview location part of a $76 million deal with Vilwas to begin a store-closing sale lage Super Market, which pledged to last week, according to a court doc- keep the name and also bought Fairument. way’s Upper East Side, Chelsea, Kips It’s a sad and perhaps surprising Bay and Pelham Manor sites. The

Invitation to Prequalify and to Bid

leases for Fairways in Woodland Park and Paramus, N.J., were acquired by Amazon, which is expected to turn them into Whole Foods. A Georgetown, Brooklyn, Fairway was bought and will become a Key Food.

Fairway’s 35,000-square-foot Harlem store opened in 1995 and was an early sign of the neighborhood’s renaissance. Its wide aisles and large inventory of everyday and gourmet items were a revelation to New Yorkers accustomed to grocery shopping in cave-like conditions.

Village Super Market agreed to buy the parking lot but not the store, which made it harder for another buyer to step forward, and none did. The location houses Fairway’s corporate headquarters.

Rob Newell, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1500, which represents 2,300 Fairway employees, said management bungled the brand by failing to invest in stores and staff.

“They took what was like no other market,” he said, “and made it like every other market.” ■

In order to receive the bid packages, potential bidders must submit a complete Subcontractor/Vendor Prequalification Statement. Prior prequalification submissions that remain current will be considered as previously submitted or may be updated at this time. All bidders must prequalify by the bid deadline July 16, 2020 and submission of a prequalification statement not later than July 2, 2020 is strongly encouraged. All bidders must have an acceptable EMR, and will be subject to government regulations such as 44 CFR and Federal Executive Order 11246. Successful bidders will be required to use LCP Tracker compliance verification software. Note that while this is a New York City prevailing wage project, union affiliation is not required for BP#34.

To obtain further information about contracting opportunities and/or the prequalification package and bid solicitation package/s, please contact Macarena Bermudez (mbermudez@tcco.com or 212-229-6000.)

The date for the virtual public opening at the Turner Construction Company office located at 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York, is July 17, 2019 at 11 am.

REAL ESTATE

NoMad luxury sales offer glimmer of hope for market

BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

B

ullish New Yorkers are buying their way into an uncertain future and giving hope to the city’s sluggish residential real estate market.

Four condos at Madison House, an unfinished luxury development in the NoMad neighborhood, went under contract in the past month at market prices, said Leonard Inzirillo, a Douglas Elliman real estate agent who helped broker the deals collectively worth at least $6 million.

“I feel very encouraged,” Inzirillo said, “because of the sales that we have achieved during difficult times with our office being shut down.”

The 200-unit tower, which is being developed by JD Carlisle, has made $75 million in sales to date and is expected to sell out at more than $700 million. More than 15% of the building has been claimed.

The in-contract units cost between $1.4 million and more than $5 million, although the penthouse

hit more than $25 million.

In a sign of a resurging market, the Madison House units were not discounted, Inzirillo said, and the buyers are local.

Sales drop Manhattan condo sales at those prices fell an average of 70% in May, compared to the same month last year, according to an Elliman report, although the biggest sales gap was for homes between $5 million and $10 million.

The building’s design may be more appealing in a pandemic-ridden city where going out in public is a risk, Inzirillo said. A shared outdoor area, 11-foot ceilings and enormous windows are things that people are realizing they want, now that they’ve spent so much time at home, he said.

Buyers looking at properties outside the city are going to regret it, Inzirillo said.

“Once they’re there, they’re going to realize they miss New York,”

he said. “Everybody wants to be on this tiny island.”

Madison House is still under construction, and residents won’t be able to move in until at least summer 2021, said Evan Stein, the development company’s CEO. The buyers who have already snapped up units signed the deals after only virtual showings and seeing renderings of the building, he said.

In March the pandemic stopped construction in its tracks, Stein said.

Builders stopped work for about 90 days and went back to the project after the city leaped into phase one.

Though the project is now three months behind schedule, Stein doesn’t think the pandemic has hampered sales opportunities.

“The more difficult the selling environment is, the more this building will stand out,” he said.

Like his buyers, he’s betting on the city bouncing back in no time. “Am I going to sit and worry all day about selling these units? No,” he said. “I strongly believe in New York City.” ■

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JUNE 29, 2020 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 5

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CORONAVIRUS ALERT

Here’s how to get your PPP loan forgiven SBA, Treasury Department worked with Congress to make much-demanded changes

BY BRIAN PASCUS

The rule has a second component. Businesses that hire employees back on salaries lower than before the pandemic—because of a decline in business activity or a lack of revenue—will not be penalized on their loan amount as long as they can document their drop in fulltime employee salary was related to Covid-19 restrictions.

T

• The amount one is required to spend

on payroll has shifted. The first iteration of the PPP required small-business owners to spend 75% of the loan money they received on employee payroll before it could be considered for forgiveness. After an outcry from small-business owners, who considered the stipulation restrictive in light of a host of other operating costs, the revised PPP loan shifts that requirement to 60%.

Furthermore, even if a borrowing small-business owner uses less

•

BLOOMBERG

he federal government has finally offered some clarity on how mom-and-pop businesses can avoid repaying their bailout loan—a major sticking point in the Paycheck Protection Program.

In the past month officials in the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department have worked with Congress to make much-demanded changes to the law, which culminated in the PPP Flexibility Act, signed by President Donald Trump on June 5.

With all remaining PPP loan applications expiring this week—June 30 is the last day to apply—here are the changes small-business owners need to know to receive forgiveness on current or future loans.

than 60% of the loan amount on payroll, he or she will still be eligible to have a portion of the entire loan forgiven. The other expenses that can be funded from the remaining 40% of the loan money and still be forgiven are rent, mortgage payments, utilities and interest on loans. Expenses outside this realm are not forgiven.

•

There is a new PPP loan forgiveness “safe harbor” rule. This change in the loan terms protects businesses that were unable to hire employees back

Crain’s Small Business

Crain’s Small Business

Crain’s Small Business

to Feb. 15, or pre-Covid-19, levels from being penalized on their loan amount, as payroll is tied directly to the number of employees an owner can hire or had hired before the shutdown.

Businesses have been given an extension to Dec. 31 to hire back employees they had on staff before February of this year. Basically the “safe harbor” rule applies to those small businesses that are still shut down. They can apply for a full PPP loan and not feel forced to hire back employees when they are not open.

The tools you need to navigate uncertainty Small businesses are scrambling to adapt to a difficult business environment. Crain’s Small Business Toolbox offers critical information and resources to help those businesses not only survive, but thrive.

CrainsNewYork.com/crains-business-toolbox

The requirement to use funds within eight weeks of receiving the loan has been moved to 24 weeks. This is another important change that could have ramifications on how much forgiveness is allocated to small-business owners.

Borrowers who applied for and received PPP funds after June 5 will have 24 weeks (six months) during which they need to spend the money.

Those who received money before June 5 will still have eight weeks from the start of the loan to spend the money if they choose to, as they might find it advantageous to get it off their books. These borrowers are offered the flexibility to receive the 24-week extension.

•

The repayment terms have been extended too. Small-business owners who received PPP money on or after

June 5 will now have five years to repay the amounts of the PPP loan that are not turned into a grant through the forgiveness provisions.

Those borrowers who received PPP money before June 5 must pay their nonforgiven portions of the loan back within two years, although they can work with the bank that provided the loan to get an extension.

Furthermore, the SBA has amended the law to allow deferments on payments on principal, interest and fees associated with PPP loans to the date the SBA remits the loan to the bank. Previously the period was six months from the date of the loan. This amendment keeps the clock from ticking too quickly on when a borrower is expected to pay back these costs.

•

The SBA offers an EZ-Application for eligible small-business owners. This three-page PPP loan application simplifies the paperwork process.

It is available to small-business owners who either are selfemployed or have no employees, did not reduce the wages of their employees by more than 25% or can prove they experienced a reduction in business activity because of the pandemic and did not reduce their business wages by more than 25%. ■

Vornado explores Trump building sales BLOOMBERG

V

ornado Realty Trust is weighing the sale of office buildings in New York and San Francisco co-owned by President Donald Trump’s company, people familiar with the matter have said.

New York–based Vornado said it is exploring options to recapitalize 1290 Sixth Ave. in Manhattan and 555 California St., a prominent San Fransisco tower, according to a statement. The company owns a 70% controlling interest in the partnerships that own the buildings.

The Trump Organization may also sell its stakes in the buildings, some of the people said. Representatives declined to comment.

The Trump Organization’s 30% stake in the buildings has been described as passive, meaning the business doesn’t actively oversee the properties. The San Francisco building is home to tenants including Goldman Sachs Group, KKR & Co., Microsoft Corp. and McKinsey & Co. Neuberger Berman and State Street Bank are among the tenants at 1290 Sixth Ave. Trump’s ownership could add

complications to a potential deal.

Critics have long faulted him for his refusal to sell his business when entering the White House.

Vornado, a major New York landlord run by Steven Roth, has a partnership with Trump in the San Francisco and Manhattan buildings as the result of a series of transactions that began years ago. It started when Trump’s majority partners in a residential project on Manhattan’s West Side sold the development against Trump’s wishes.

Trump, believing the properties could have fetched more, sued his partners, including investors Henry Cheng and Vincent Lo, who then bought 555 California St. and 1290 Sixth Ave. In 2007, while his lawsuit was ongoing, Vornado bought the investor group’s 70% stake in the office buildings for $1.8 billion.

Vornado shares have dropped 27% since the beginning of March, with investors concerned Manhattan office buildings face a long recovery from the pandemic.

The company is spending more than $2 billion to redevelop the area around Penn Station, hoping to draw tenants to an area that is typically bustling with commuters and tourists. ■

6 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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president K.C. Crain senior executive vice president Chris Crain group publisher Mary Kramer

EDITORIAL

associate publisher Lisa Rudy

Mayor’s restaurant rescue fund serves too small a portion

EDITORIAL editor Robert Hordt assistant managing editors

Christine Haughney (special projects), Janon Fisher, Gabriella Iannetta (digital)

Restaurants operate on very tight margins; most of them don’t last even in good times, which these are certainly not.

All of this goes to say that the city’s eateries need help if they are going to survive. They must if New York is going to come back from this plague.

Now comes Mayor Bill de Blasio with his Restaurant Revitalization Program, a $3 million fund set up to assist 100 restaurateurs and their employees in areas heavily damaged by the outbreak, with $30,000 grants to keep them going.

This is an effort to help minority businesses weather the pandemic.

That’s a good thing.

Unfortunately, the program is going to fail because of the way it has been set up and all the strings attached to it.

Under the program (see story on Page 4), restaurant owners must dig into their own pockets first. Only a quarter of the grant— $7,000 at most—will be doled out to businesses enrolled in the program.

The city will reimburse eateries for the rest of the cash within two weeks after they show the proper payroll records.

The city’s restaurants have been limping along for the past three months on a trickle of business from take-out orders. They don’t

THE CITY’S EATERIES NEED HELP IF THEY ARE GOING TO SURVIVE restaurants have been hit particularly hard.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a quarter-million jobs have been lost since March, and only 14,000 have returned so far. Most of these jobs are not particularly high-paying ones to begin with.

Frederick P. Gabriel Jr.

senior editor Telisha Bryan associate editor Lizeth Beltran (digital) art director Carolyn McClain photographer Buck Ennis data editor Gerald Schifman senior reporters Aaron Elstein,

Jonathan LaMantia reporters Suzannah Cavanaugh,

Ryan Deffenbaugh, Gwen Everett, Jennifer Henderson, Brian Pascus, Natalie Sachmechi contributors Ronald DeCicco,

Cara Eisenpress, C. J. Hughes, Steve Krupinski, Danielle McManus Sladek, Mark Yawdoszyn to contact the newsroom: BLOOMBERG

A

nyone who has ever slurped an oyster at Cosenza’s Fish Market on Arthur Avenue knows how important food is to New York City.

Culinary monuments throughout the five boroughs are arguably as iconic and important as Lincoln Center or the Statue of Liberty. A pastrami sandwich from Katz’s, perogies from Veselka, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs at Barney Greengrass, fried chicken and waffles from Melba’s—we’d go on, but we’re making ourselves hungry.

And you get the point: This is a food city.

Every business is suffering because of the pandemic shutdown, but New York’s bars and

publisher/executive editor

have a lot of loose cash sitting around.

If that weren’t enough of a burden, the mayor has further doomed his program by requiring eateries that participate to pay their waitstaff $15 an hour—$5 more than legally required for tipped staff. We believe in waiters and waitresses earning a living wage, but currently this just puts more of the onus on minority businesses to solve a problem that the government is supposed to fix.

For this program to work, the mayor needs to dig deeper to find more money. Three million dollars may sound like a lot, but

it’s a paltry amount in a city of more than 25,000 restaurants.

They all need help.

Most restaurateurs we spoke to don’t disagree with paying their workers more, but now is not the time to force it.

Finally, for a mayor who prides himself on his egalitarian ethos, he should try to be a little more inclusive when casting about for solutions to business problems during the pandemic.

As Bronx restaurant owner Mark Lu told us: It would be nice if the mayor listened to what his constituents wanted instead of telling them what they needed. ■

C

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Diversity in the workplace will make tech companies truly thrive haotic times become calm when people unify around a single purpose.

While protests are organized across the city by people seeking justice and fair treatment, entrepreneurs in the tech industry can take steps in their own businesses to focus on inclusion and diversity.

Inclusion is more than a just action in an unjust world; diverse teams improve the quality of the work and generate more revenue.

There are numerous coding and graphic design schools in our city and state that have helped create the expansion we have seen in the sector. These institutions are why so many companies lease office space in New York City, knowing that the talent they need is already here.

Unfortunately, the data show our industry needs to do more to increase the number of minority and

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female work staff.

The technology and media industry in the city is one of the largest economic engines in the entire state. Around 291,000 people work in this sector, which accounts for roughly $124.7 billion in economic output. Of all the workers in the city’s high-tech industry, only 18% identify as Black or Latinx, and just 24% of them are female. Since the general New York City workforce is 37% Black or Latinx and 50% female, tech industry demographics are literally half as diverse as the city itself.

Diversity is good for creativity and strong governance, and diverse teams make more money.

Different backgrounds and experiences bring diverse perspectives that allow for assumptions to be challenged so better products can be made.

This is true for a variety of projects, but it’s especially true in mo-

bile applications or explainer videos, where human interfaces and designs need to be intuitive for wide-scale audiences. Assembling a team with a breadth of cultural understanding is key to building successful tech projects for a global marketplace.

Vital role Immigrants play a vital role in the national economy, especially in the tech industry. It should not come as a surprise that when immigrants are involved in high-skilled sectors, those teams are more productive.

After my lawyer advised me that starting my own business was the best way for me to live and work in the United States, I had to challenge assumptions everywhere, and I made sure I was making the right moves to become successful. Immigrant employees in media and technology bring that same tenacity and drive to their workplaces.

Most creative processes start with a storyboard, where teams determine purposes and functions and the general flow of information. You think about everything that can go wrong, so you can fix any issues before the first line of code is written.

Assumptions in algorithms are more likely to occur when everyone on the project has similar backgrounds—such as race, gender or religion—because they all think similarly. Homogenous teams stunt the creative process; diversified workforces maximize creativity.

When the tech sector commits to true diversity, businesses will be better run and more productive, with teams that reflect the world around them. ■

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Caroline Petersen is the founder and creative director of Gallery Design Studio.

8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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OP-ED

Reinvent the food chain to empower small farms and ranches

T

he connection between the overconsumption of meat and the negative impact of factory-farming practices on the health of consumers and the environment has been emphasized during the crisis we are living in.

The pandemic shows us how fragile and weak our existing food chain is. Yet it is foolish to declare that vegetarianism is the solution.

It’s important to educate ourselves and be aware of the distinct differences between moderately consuming beef and poultry from small, sustainable farms and grabbing burgers and fried chicken four to five times a week at fast-food restaurants. The consequences are more than just the huge difference in taste and your personal health.

Factory farming breeds less flavorful and less nutritious meats, and its negative impacts on the environment are well-documented.

The Environmental Protection Agency reported that agriculture was responsible for 9% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. in 2016. Increased pollution, land degradation, climate change, wa-

ter shortages and loss of biodiversity are all proven results of largescale, unsustainable farming.

Red meat, in particular, has come under fire for its environmental impact—livestock accounts for 14.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions each year. It’s not surprising factory farming has given rise to some aggressive calls for people to eliminate meat altogether.

But jumping to this extreme will kill us.

For eco-conscious consumers considering a vegetarian diet, there’s a better alternative: moderate consumption of wholesome, sustainably raised meats that are good for you and the Earth.

Sustainable farming actually benefits the environment and expands the Earth’s natural resource base. Biodiversity is necessary for the planet to function at all levels.

In animal husbandry, it means encouraging polyculture and raising various species of domesticated animals in a rotation on sylvopastures (pastures where biodiversity of plants and trees is encouraged). The added benefits are plentiful, starting with supporting small farmers who work

hard to do what’s best for the animals and the environment.

Essential animals Biodiversity is key. We have neglected it, privileging monocultures supported by chemicals while depleting the Earth of its necessary nutrients to renew itself. An essential part of this circle of life is raising responsibly domesticated animals.

If we were all to become vegetarians, ranchers and farmers would stop raising these animals that are key to biodiversity.

As a purveyor of meat, I have seen firsthand during this crisis how consumers are looking more and more for better, tastier and healthier alternatives. In fact, the Department of Agriculture says demand for organic goods has shown double-digit growth since the 1990s. Chefs led the way by constantly searching for the best products. And they are the ones who already know that a happy cow is a tasty cow. Consumers and—again soon—restaurant chefs will continue to celebrate the farm-to-table movement and take responsibility for the health of the environment.

We urgently need to reinvent a

AP PHOTOS

BY ARIANE DAGUIN

food chain that will enable responsible small farmers and ranchers to raise their animals through respectful breeding and caring practices. That includes one controversial link: the processing facilities.

Small local abattoirs need to be resuscitated. They are not as efficient as the humongous slaughterhouses and have slowly disappeared.

But they are local to the ranchers (shorter transportation, less stress to the animals) and close to their

local markets.

We also need the last link on the chain: an educated consumer. It is absolutely your prerogative whether to eat meat. To save the Earth, however, we need to continue to eat the right meat. ■ Ariane Daguin is the founder, owner and CEO of food seller and manufacturer D’Artagnan, headquartered in Union Township, N.J.

NOMINATIONS CLOSING SOON!

NOMINATIONS OPEN Crain’s New York Business will highlight Notable Women in Accounting and Consulting, which will publish as a section within Crain’s New York Business in the September 28 issue. This feature is a celebration of women executives working in accounting and consulting who have impacted New York City in major ways and honors their professional, civic and philanthropic achievements.

Nominate today at crainsnewyork.com/notableaccounting2020 Nominations must be completed by the deadline, July 24, to be considered.

Questions? Contact notables@crainsnewyork.com

JUNE 29, 2020 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 9

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CORONAVIRUS ALERT

Banks to close branches and reduce office space as revenue falls

A

year ago JPMorgan Chase opened a 12,500-squarefoot branch on Madison Avenue, complete with state-of-the-art ATMs and a “digital advice bar.” It was a muscular show of faith in the future of branches, and the bank planned to open 400 more in cities where it has little retail presence.

“We’re going right at Bank of America, folks, in Charlotte—their hometown. I can’t wait,” Chief Executive Jamie Dimon told employees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Then Covid-19 hit. Now the 1,714 branches run by Chase and other banks that anchor commercial cor-

branches in the city. It and Bank of America combined have about 9,000 locations nationally.

Joys of digital Past rumors of branches’ demise have proved to be exaggerated. Indeed, across the five boroughs there are more branches—nine, to be exact—than before the financial crisis, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. Even though most customers seldom visit these locations, banks have been reluctant to close them because they feel a visible street presence distinguishes them from the scores of fintech startups offering checking accounts, credit cards and the like.

But rationalizing the need for branches is getting harder now that locked-down customers have been exposed to the joys of digital banking for the past three months.

“We believe this shift to digital service channels will enable branch reductions without losing share to fintechs,” Morgan Stanley said.

Ira Robbins, chief executive of Valley Bank, a New Jersey–based lender with branches in the city, said he believes brick-and-mortar locations will remain important.

But as customers grow more comfortable banking online—Valley has seen a 170% quarter-over-quarter

“THE PACE OF BRANCH CLOSURES WILL ACCELERATE FASTER THAN FORECAST” ridors around the city are looking obsolete—not to mention that they’re suddenly a luxury that revenue-squeezed institutions can no longer afford.

Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report last week that Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest retail bank with 5,300 locations nationwide, could close 10% of its branches. Other big retail banks could do the same, including Chase, which has 367

rise in online banking registrations— some branches will disappear.

“I believe the pace of branch closures will accelerate faster than forecast,” Robbins said.

If significant numbers of branches close, it would be a big blow to landlords, especially those who have seen retail tenants succumb to Amazon.

Office needs But the postCovid-19 changes at banks might not be confined to streetlevel.

They also likely will have to do with reducing office space in the future as they race to match costs with revenues that Morgan Stanley estimates will fall by 6% next year. Some may see drops of as much as 24%.

In such an environment, it is imperative to cut costs, and office space is a logical place to look, especially when banks have discovered many employees can work from home.

“I think it’s surprised everybody, not just at State Street but else-

BUCK ENNIS

BY AARON ELSTEIN

where, how effective one can be in work from home,” State Street Chief Executive Ron O’Hanley said in an April conference call. “And I would have to believe that over the medium and long term, you’ll see us having less space than we do today.”

It isn’t clear where State Street might look to cut space. The institution leases 106,000 square feet at 1290 Sixth Ave., an office tower 70% owned by Vornado Realty Trust and

30% by the Trump Organization.

The weighted average cost for an office is $86.58 per square foot, according to a Vornado presentation last month. At that rate, State Street would pay $9.2 million in annual rent for a single office.

Robbins said Valley Bank expects to cut office space by 20%.

“Organizations need to rethink workplace strategy,” he said. “We will be more thoughtful in the use of office space.” ■

Housing courts reopen; eviction cases resume with restrictions

BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

BUCK ENNIS

H

ousing courts are back in business, but there’s a catch: Eviction proceedings won’t start immediately.

All new eviction cases filed in city Housing Court will be postponed regardless of whether a tenant responds, state Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks has ordered, giving tenants more time to grapple with their new reality.

Originally, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s moratorium put a stop to all evictions and shut down housing courts for the state.

As of June 20, however, only tenants who can prove they have suffered financially from the pandemic are safe from eviction proceedings until Aug. 20. Now that the first protective layer of Cuomo’s plan has expired, everyone else is fair game, although the city won’t see the wave of evictions that tenants are worrying about just yet.

“It’s not like the floodgates to the courts are opening at this moment,” said Richard St. Paul, executive director of the New York City Small

Housing Association.

It could take as long as a year before a tenant is actually evicted for nonpayment of rent, he said.

Twilight Zone Landlords, already suffering from a wave of rent nonpayment during

the pandemic, expressed frustration over the pause.

“New cases are going into the Twilight Zone—they aren’t going anywhere,” said Mitchell Posilkin, chief counsel at the Rent Stabilization Association. To file cases, lawyers previously could go into the

courthouse and get it done quickly, he added.

Now Marks is requiring them to use snail mail, which could take a couple of weeks to get an index number, he said, and then they can try to serve the tenants with papers.

As for cases filed before the pandemic hit, the court is offering only online hearings with a judge and only if both parties have legal representation.

Even with the stay and delays, tenants are worried they will be forced from their home with each step the courts take in the direction of reopening, housing-rights advocates say.

The burden will fall on them to prove the financial hardship they’ve endured because of the pandemic, said Cea Weaver, a campaign coordinator at Housing Justice for All. What makes more sense, she said, is banning evictions to provide relief for tenants and getting state resources for landlords to operate their buildings.

Some renters will have difficulty proving how the pandemic has hurt them financially, she said.

For example, immigrant workers—namely those who are undocumented or working for cash—typically don’t have the paperwork to show that they are eligible for unemployment insurance, which is one of the requirements for avoiding eviction through August, Weaver explained.

Either way, there’s no guidance in the language of the executive order about how to prove financial hardship, Weaver said.

“It’s total chaos,” she said.

No reserves Many of the property owners who are members of the Small Housing Association have tried to negotiate payment plans with their tenants or applied for relief, while others are going to be taking their tenants to court, St. Paul said.

It’s unrealistic for them to continue to give concessions to their tenants, he added.

“Most members of the group don’t have reserves in the capacity to have tenants not pay and stay longer than they’re supposed to,” St. Paul said. ■

10 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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ASKED & ANSWERED

VIJAY DANDAPANI

DOSSIER

normal capacity would be so that you can maintain social safety.

INTERVIEW BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

WHO HE IS President and CEO, Hotel Association of New York City

What will hotel landlords do about the property tax bill they’ll get July 1? What happens if they can’t pay?

A

AGE 62

lmost every hotel in Manhattan has chosen to close while waiting out the pandemic, but Vijay Dandapani, CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, hasn’t missed a day of work. By lobbying the governor to keep hotels open (they were deemed essential) and helping inns navigate record low occupancy rates as tourists and business travelers stay away, Dandapani is working to guide the city’s battered hospitality industry toward its eventual recovery.

GREW UP India RESIDES Harlem EDUCATION Bachelor’s in hotel management, Cornell University NEW HOME Dandapani immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 to attend college.

PREVIOUS WORK In 2015, Dandapani assumed the role of chairman of the board at the Hotel Association; he became its president and CEO in 2017. Before that, he spent more than two decades at the helm of Apple Core Hotels, which operates four inns in the city. He’s been working in the industry for more than 30 years.

What are hotels thinking about right now?

Well, the No. 1 thing on their minds is, How do we reopen? When do we reopen? We were among the first and most drastically affected. Revenue fell to 5% for the first week and still remains some 70% below what it was for the same period last year. The U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting, which usually kicks off our fall business season, is not going to take place. New York City always had the highest occupancy other than Orlando of any city in the country, and those occupancy rates are simply not going to be there for a long, long time.

How are closed hotels preparing to reopen?

Big brands have apps where you can check in ahead of time. You can also pick your room ahead of time, so you will bypass the front desk and go straight to the room.

A majority are going to default because they simply don't have the money. You can’t take blood out of a stone. I realize the city doesn’t have money, and the city’s had an erosion of revenue on a number of levels. Some of the hotels will catch up. Most of them have to work out something with the city. In the normal course of things, there is an interest rate of 18% if you default, and then there is a penalty rate on top of that. Then if a whole year goes by, the city initiates “in rem proceedings,” and the city’s lien takes precedence over any debt or any other lien on the hotel.

What do you think the city should have or could have done to help hotel landlords?

FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS His dad was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force, and Dandapani enjoys flying recreationally.

The few hotels that are already open are doing hand sanitizer stations and temperature checks and providing personal protective equipment. If a customer walks in without a face mask, then hotels will provide one. Meeting spaces will operate at half or a third of what the

We really believe they could have deferred taxes.

It’s not really the city’s fault. I think the city’s trying and the federal government should step in because this is an industry that has 55,000 employees.

That's massive. The city can help us by targeting our cash flow problems on a temporary basis, but certainly we are looking to advocate for the federal government to help.

What will the recovery look like?

Recovery to levels somewhat close to what we had in 2019 is not going to happen until 2024—that’s four years from now. You’re going to see recovery next year from the horrible trench that we find ourselves in this year. Clearly, the moment we have a vaccine or a cure, you'll see travel come back pretty quickly. ■

COURTESY OF HANY

Hotel Association of New York City

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CN019763.indd 1

6/23/20 11:14 AM

NEXT NEW YORK

A

ISTOCK

FTER THREE MONTHS OF LOCKDOWN, New York City is starting to reopen—and not a moment too soon for most of us.

No one knows how long it will take for the city to get back to normal—if, in fact, it ever does. Because we have never been through an event like this before, there is no blueprint to follow, and opinions vary on just what the city will look like six months, a year or even two years from now.

A lot depends on how soon treatments and a vaccine will be developed, which will give workers and consumers the confidence to interact with one another again.

But New Yorkers have not been sitting idly by. From big business to small business, from the city and state governments to cultural institutions, New York has been planning its comeback all along.

This special issue on what’s next for New York highlights the steps businesses have been taking to recover. In addition to stories about the industries most affected by the pandemic, we asked some of New York’s top movers and shakers to tell us what they predict.

We also took a look back at how the pandemic unfolded, through both graphics and photos.

Finally, we asked readers to tell us what they are grateful for after living through months of confinement. Their responses may surprise you.

— Robert Hordt, Editor

JUNE 29, 2020 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 13

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NEXT N E W YO R K

HO

R

VOICES

WORKING TOGETHER, SIDE BY SIDE

Ow

Bill Rudin is co-chairman and CEO of Rudin Management Co. and chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York.

D

REAL ESTATE

Opening the office doors

Landlords take extraordinary measures to ensure safe reopening

BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

A

s the city’s workforce starts trickling back into the barren office buildings, the real estate industry is giving workspaces a post-pandemic makeover.

The changes start with the guidelines for commercial buildings that the Real Estate Board of New York released on June 4. Those guidelines called on landlords to stock up on cleaning supplies, spread out seating in common spaces and require people entering a building to wear masks and have their temperature taken.

But landlords are betting that workers will want to return to the city’s office buildings to collaborate in person, said Bill Rudin, REBNY’s chairman and Rudin Management’s CEO. Rudin is on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY Forward advisory board, which worked on ways the city should reopen, including protocols for building reentry and managing construction sites.

“I think working from home will become part of the ecosystem,” Rudin said. “But you still need to connect.”

Beyond the trade association’s brushstroke guidelines,

“COLLABORATION HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE HAVE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF COMFORT IN THE WORKPLACE” landlords, architects and even lawyers are hard at work to map out in greater detail what lies ahead, from density of offices to running lobby spaces, for the city’s workspaces.

Giving some space The biggest thing on the minds of landlords as employees return to work is how they will handle the new density requirements, said Antonio Argibay, the managing principal at architecture firm Meridian Design. Rows of people working closely together aren’t conducive to safe working conditions, he said, in these times or ever. His firm never endorsed super dense offices, he said, and it’s more important now than ever to give people space.

“People supporting dense spaces touted it as collaborative and a good way to induce collaboration,” Argibay said.

“I think collaboration happens when people have a certain level of comfort in their workplace.”

Argibay prefers distancing more than the plexiglass barriers that many experts suggest as a safety measure. In newer floor plans he’s working on, he doesn’t have more than

four people sitting in a cluster. He prefers smaller conference rooms, which keep out large groups, and large conference rooms stamped with adequate distance markers.

Common spaces and perks Landlords are trying to figure out what to do about the common areas and public amenities they invested in extensively in recent years. At Park Avenue Plaza, owner Ken Fisher of Fisher Brothers removed the seating in the building’s glass atrium. He is rethinking a luxury gym he built at another tower.

“I’m not saying that amenities are gone forever,” Fisher said, “but there’s going to be changes in the ways people interact.”

Fisher is considering automatic doors, voice-activated elevators and ultraviolet light in heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems. Letting in more fresh air will be great for the building, said Fisher, pandemic or not. Some of his tenants have asked for thermal testing, which he’s seriously considering. Each testing unit can run several thousand dollars. Argibay is a fan of under-floor cooling, which moves more slowly than a central air system, but won’t blow potential contaminants into the air.

Tenants, however, shouldn’t expect these changes to be implemented on their first day back, Fisher said. In the meantime, he said, more old-school methods, such as marking spots where people should stand in elevators and hiring an elevator operator to push buttons for passengers, will be used.

Fin

It whi

Pacing the return Companies are contemplating staggered shifts, which could take a number of forms, said Richard G. Leland, a real estate attorney at Akerman. Some people could come in Mondays and Wednesdays, he said, while others would come in Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays could be remote days for all, for fairness.

Staggering would reduce traffic and occupancy levels in a building and help people inside keep an appropriate social distance; at the same time it would reduce elevator congestion, now that only a few people are allowed in elevators at the same time.

The real estate industry understands a resurgence in cases in the fall or the discovery of a vaccine will bring more changes. It is trying to remain open to all possibilities. But Fisher believes many of these changes are for the long-term benefit of the building.

“Are these going to be permanent changes?” Fisher said.

“It depends on how long the hangover from this lasts.” ■

14 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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tion abo lulla “W Hem Hol B plan air room Win O help ingt is fo ed t cha nific “O S with pub ple safe city visit you in a “M on,” exec Ask F 123 new PwC and “I sho sup opm Man

6/25/20 5:38 PM

BUCK ENNIS

IN THE PAST THREE months, Covid-19 has created fundamental shifts in the way people do business. From new health and wellness protocols to staggered start times to working from home, we have all adjusted to focus on the safety and well-being of our fellow New Yorkers.

As the curve continues to BILL RUDIN flatten and as we slowly reopen our city, however, I believe that people will want to return to the office.

Why? To solve problems—big and small—we need interaction, collaboration and coordination.

Now more than ever, working together and being together help us effect change and innovate. This is not exclusive to business. If we are to begin to address the large-scale systemic racial and economic inequalities that exist in our country and city, we can do so only by sitting next to each other, engaging, listening and understanding. We cannot do this separated from one another in the privacy of our homes.

Cities exist for a reason—they offer unparalleled opportunities for engaging with a diversity of people, cultures, thoughts and ideas that can’t be beamed into a home office. They are the economic engines that power modern economies, and despite all the previous crises we have overcome, they have grown.

A new survey from the architectural firm Gensler shows that the overwhelming majority of people want to work in the office for most of their week; only 12% of U.S. workers want to work from home full time. The report also found that people want more space for social distancing and an assigned workspace.

The office is the place where mentorship occurs, where young people learn business and social skills.

It is also where companies build brand loyalty and culture. The commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield reports that 70% of Gen Z and 69% of millennials are encountering challenges at home, compared with 55% of baby boomers.

Younger workers develop business know-how by being with people, observing them and working together as part of a team. We cannot do any of that alone, within our own four walls.

Believe it or not, New York City has bucked the trend and major deals are still getting done. Earlier this month, social media giant TikTok committed to 232,000 square feet at One Five One in Times Square—a blockbuster move that’s indicative of the bigger countertrend at play.

The CEOs of Microsoft and Google agree that the future of work won’t be entirely remote. Will the office of the future be different?

The answer is yes: Companies may need more space, and workplaces will seek to reduce density.

On the other hand, we are optimistic that the office building will always be a central hub for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

On almost every Zoom meeting I have been on, all the participants say they can't wait to get back to work and be together again. It will take time, and there will have to be a bridge period, but New Yorkers will be back.

MERIDIAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS PC

BUCK ENNIS

BY A

HOSPITALITY

Reopening the inn

D MERIDIAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS PC

avid Orowitz’s new hotel rising above West 47th Street promises to be a sight in itself. The facade will have an 18,000-square-foot LED sign, and all 669 rooms will overlook Times Square. In addition to retailers and restaurants, an outdoor stage 30 feet above street level will allow performers to sing their own lullaby to Broadway.

“We’re on the most attractive corner of the Western Hemisphere,” said Orowitz, an executive at developer L&L Holding.

But the coronavirus has forced Orowitz to rethink some plans. Ventilation systems may have to change to improve air flow. Guests probably won’t use keys to enter their rooms, which may be cleaned less often during their stay.

Windows may be reconfigured so they open.

Orowitz, a former Trump Organization executive who helped turn the Old Post Office and Clock Tower in Washington, D.C., into perhaps the world’s most famous hotel, is fortunate to have time on his side. His hotel isn’t expected to open until 2022, and he doesn’t think any design changes will affect the project’s $2.5 billion price tag significantly.

“Obviously we’re evaluating things,” he said.

So are the rest of the city’s hoteliers, who are grappling with existential questions, such as how do you make these public spaces, from which people constantly come and go, safe? How many hotels does the city need when the number of visitors is way down? How do you square leaving guests alone in an industry called hospitality?

“Many discussions are going on,” said Vijay Dandapani, chief executive of the Hotel Association of New York City (see Asked & Answered, page 11).

For now, the only certain thing is a city with nearly 123,000 hotel rooms will soon have more. This year eight new hotels with nearly 2,000 rooms are expected to open, PwC found. Next year an additional 25 hotels are expected, and an additional eight for 2022-23.

“If there’s one bright light coming out of this economic shock for existing Manhattan hotel operators, it’s that the supply of both existing hotel rooms and those under development is expected to decrease in the near term,” PwC Managing Director Warren Marr said.

Worker impact The owners’ decisions will affect the lives of tens of thousands of laid-off hotel workers. Many worry that reopened hotels will slash what’s become a major source of middle-class jobs. Enabling guests to check into their rooms using an app could prove a good way to promote social distancing, but hotel staff remain necessary to identify sick guests and get them medical help.

“There’s no question in my mind some hotels will take advantage of technology to reduce staffing,” a hotel union official said.

Industry officials say some hotels are contemplating an end to room service and minibars, although others see those as important amenities for guests wary of dining out.

“If hotels are safer for workers, they’ll be safer for guests,” said Rich Maroko, general counsel at the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council.

“IF HOTELS ARE SAFER FOR WORKERS, THEY’LL BE SAFER FOR GUESTS”

sher ople

ated and l be e of eriouhich on’t

Finding alternatives It’s possible that hotels will be converted for other uses, which could help the city’s housing shortage. But hoteliers

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Letting air in

Whenever guests start coming back, new hotels and perhaps older ones will look different. The most noticeable change may be one that Orowitz is looking into: windows that open.

That feature disappeared in the 1950s, when Lever House, among other state-of-the-art buildings, provided hermetically sealed environments to keep out pollution. Covid-19, however, highlights the risks of people breathing recirculated air and droplets.

Because many Manhattan hotels and office towers are quite wide, creating open windows could be destabilizing when air rushes through one side of the building, said Henrik Schoenefeldt, a professor of sustainable architecture at the U.K.’s University of Kent. Those buildings may have to design new filtration systems that pull air and water droplets up to the ceiling, Schoenefeldt said.

“Natural ventilation is much less expensive,” he said. “If you can combine Covid-19 with a sustainability agenda, we create better buildings.” ■

NEW YORK CITY IS the greatest city in the world.

That does not mean we don’t have challenges.

We are living at the epicenter of a global pandemic while experiencing recent mass protests that call for reforming systems that have pained and deprived people of color for JONATHAN TISCH generations.

This serious time calls for introspection from each of us individually and from the business and civic community collectively. With so many of us hurting for so many reasons, how can we move forward?

Some comfort can be taken and confidence gained by looking at our past. Whether it was in the 1970s, when the city was on the verge of financial collapse, or in 2001, when the twin towers were destroyed, or in 2012, when Superstorm Sandy hit, a common theme emerges: New Yorkers come together and work through the issues, and our city emerges stronger.

Travel and tourism is one of the city’s largest and most important industries, employing hundreds of thousands of women and men, many of whom are people of color and immigrants looking for their piece of the American dream. It generates hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue that support essential services for all New Yorkers.

In the aftermath of 9/11 many predicted the city would never recover. I was honored to serve as chairman of New York Rising, a task force created at the time to help revive our economy through tourism. As a city, we quickly appreciated the emotional healing that culture, restaurants, events and visitors provide. That need for healing is once again palpable.

Travel and tourism led the way to our city’s recovery. This time we are challenged differently. Our restaurants, shops, theaters, museums and cultural attractions have been shuttered for months. Like then, their revival is critical.

Reopening will bring back visitors, and more immediately, it will restore our neighborhoods’ spirit and vitality. It will allow a lot more people to get back to work.

This renewal is essential to New York City’s recovery. The Coalition for New York Hospitality and Tourism Recovery, recently announced by NYC & Co., our city’s official destination marketing organization, was created to help the city rise again.

As a group, we represent some of the city’s most significant economic engines and job creators, but also its heart and soul. The five-borough coalition, which includes hotels, restaurants, cultural and performing arts institutions, Broadway, theaters and attractions, sports organizations, retailers, as well as medical and public health experts, is uniquely positioned to help New Yorkers, and eventually the world, reconnect safely with the city we love.

Diversity is our strength. Together, we can shape a brighter and more equitable future for all as we recommit ourselves to the promise of New York—a place of opportunity that offers something for everyone and a place where everyone is truly welcome.

Jonathan Tisch is chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels & Co. and co-chairman of Loews Corp.

BUCK ENNIS

aid.

may prefer to turn their buildings into offices, because apartment rents and sale prices could be under pressure for a while.

“If your rental income is sliding, why convert to another use that’s not working well?” Dandapani said.

He added that it’s unlikely many hotels would slash prices as they did after 9/11. Back then New York had the world’s sympathy; until recently it was one of the hottest spots for the coronavirus. Indeed, for the more than 60 Manhattan hotels that closed when the pandemic hit, the question is whether it’s worthwhile to reopen at all.

BUCK ENNIS

BY AARON ELSTEIN

the tenKen ildlt at

■

NEW YORK NEEDS THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Owners grapple with ways of making their hotels safe

ferfer-

casmore But erm

VOICES

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NEXT N E W YO R K

VOICES

BIG BUSINESS does not command much affection in New York’s political circles, but that will have to change if our city is going to accelerate its recovery from the economic consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Throughout the pandemic pause, Wall Street and other firms successfully mainKATHRYN WYLDE large tained operations and payrolls by moving swiftly to a remote work from home model. Manhattan was hollowed out, yet the financial system and global commerce continued to function.

What the Covid-19 experience proved is that New York’s largest companies and their employees do not have to be here.

So why should we care?

For one thing, the financial and professional services, media, information and real estate entities that make up the corporate sector directly employ 1.2 million New Yorkers and are responsible indirectly for an additional 2.1 million jobs in small business and construction.

They are a major source of the tax revenue that funds the city budget. Finance and insurance account for 35% of the city’s business income taxes; professional services follow closely behind at 31%.

Finance represents 20% of all private-sector wages in the city and employs most of the top 1% earners, who pay 43% of all city personal income taxes.

In the near term, big companies will not flee the city. They have leases or own buildings here, and they are part of an ecosystem of professional and personal relationships that cannot easily be replaced or replicated. Corporate leaders have homes here and are heavily engaged with the boards of the city’s great cultural, educational and medical institutions.

Most are committed New Yorkers.

The same may not be true of corporate employees, at least half of whom are millennials without long-term ties to the city. Surveys by the Partnership for New York City indicate that only about 10% of corporate workers plan to return to the office during the summer; that number builds up to 30% by the end of the year. Many have settled elsewhere, in larger, cheaper living accommodations, and plan to come back only when they feel safe and can socialize in favored gathering places.

It will be months before a coronavirus vaccine is available and fear of disease subsides. In the interim the restaurants, retailers, vendors and service businesses throughout the city that depend on the corporate office workforce are in severe jeopardy.

We need action now.

Employers and commercial building owners are ahead of the game. They have retrofitted their offices and instituted protocols that guarantee a healthy workplace. Similarly, the MTA has done everything in its power to provide a clean and safe commute.

But the package of incentives is incomplete.

Public officials and community and civic leaders need to signal loudly that corporate workers are valued and will be welcomed back. Assurances that New York is committed to a stable and more competitive personal income tax structure would help, along with a firm commitment to plans for reopening schools in the fall. It is critical that crime is under control, which became a question a few weeks back, when looting took place.

The timely restoration of the more than a million jobs and $9 billion in city tax revenue that was lost to the pandemic is an enormous challenge, but New Yorkers can rise to the challenge if we unify around a plan that draws upon all our strengths, including the talent and resources of our corporate sector.

Kathryn Wylde is president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City.

DE BLASIO

NYCMAYORSOFFICE/FLICKR

BUCK ENNIS

CORPORATIONS ARE CRITICAL TO NYC

POLITICS

Budget troubles

City and state officials contend with a dire future as New York reopens

BY BRIAN PASCUS

A

s New York begins to reopen from the Covid-19 lockdown, the city and the state face multibillion-dollar holes in their budgets.

The city expects a $9 billion shortfall in revenue in the next two years.

“We’re going to be in a horrible budget situation for years,” Mayor Bill de Blasio has said.

Albany’s fiscal house is in no better order. State revenues are projected to be $8.1 billion less than they were in 2019, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said state tax revenues would not return to their March level until 2024.

But to city and state budget experts, even these grim projections seem optimistic.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say we are going to lose $15 billion in projected tax revenue and even closer to $20 billion,” Nicole Gelinas, an urban economics and finance expert at the Manhattan Institute, said of the city’s budget.

Unchecked, the financial crisis will get worse, said E.J. McMahon, research director at the Empire Center for public policy.

“The government spending side, left alone, increases every year. Spending is not stationary,” McMahon said. “Everything goes up. Everything is designed to increase.”

The retail sector, already in trouble before the outbreak, will experience a death spiral for years as stores shutter and consumers continue to order online, Berger predicted.

Many out-of-work New Yorkers have left the city, he noted, an exodus that could create chaos throughout all sectors of the economy.

“It won’t happen all at once, but it will have a major impact on city activities and an enormous impact on revenues,” Berger said.

Borrowing options The mayor and the governor have pressed the federal government for aid. But the divided Congress and the Trump administration have yet to come to the rescue.

As the city waits for help, de Blasio has asked the state to grant him as much as $7 billion in borrowing authority to meet operating expenses. So far Albany has refused.

Borrowing would be irresponsible, said Berger, who was appointed executive director of the Financial Control Board in 1976.

“You understand that debt has to be paid for, and who is going to pay for it? The future,” he said. “There is nobody who is going to pay for it who has a voice or a vote in that borrowing.”

The experts say that before the city starts taking on debt or makes the case for federal aid, de Blasio, who has increased his budget by $20 billion since taking office, must take an ax to spending.

“I would like to see a hard-ass budget that shows how much can be taken out of present spending,” Berger said before getting in a dig at the mayor’s well-documented fitness routine: “If you can’t take $4 billion or $5 billion from the city budget, then you should stay in the gym in Brooklyn.”

A full-service wage freeze across the city’s union workforce, caps on all executive salaries and furloughs of nonessential municipal employees are in order, the Manhattan Institute’s Gelinas said.

“We really have to go down to the bone in terms of efficiency before we can cut frontline services,” she said.

At the state level, the Empire Center’s McMahon recommends, all public-sector salaries should be frozen for two years. He advocates for cutting school aid to the wealthiest districts and laying off or furloughing workers who are nonessential.

“You have to reduce the workforce,” he said. “It’s not pleasant, but you have to do it.” ■

“THINGS ARE NOT COMING BACK THE SAME WAY AS BEFORE THIS STARTED”

Slow return The state has built-in spending obligations to health insurance for its employees, pension contributions, debt service, school aid, Medicaid and mental health programs.

Even before the pandemic, the state was facing a $6 billion budget gap because of Medicaid expenditures.

Cuomo had closed the gap by cutting expenditures under the government-subsidized health program. But by delaying cuts until the pandemic is over, the problem looms down the road.

It is optimistic, the experts say, to think the financial picture will be rosier by then.

“Things are not coming back the same way as before this started,” said Stephen Berger, an investment banker who helped steer the city through the late-1970s fiscal crisis.

Commercial real estate, a major source of tax revenue for the city, will take a massive hit, because the workfrom-home environment has led companies to rethink their office needs, Berger said.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

How to protect your employees as workplaces reopen

E

ven as the novel coronavirus persists in many areas of the United States, much of the country has been opening back up. Employees are returning to the workplace, and for many, life is regaining a certain degree of normalcy. But it can’t be the same as it was. Employers have a responsibility to consider new workplace policies to reduce the spread of Covid-19. At the same time, they may be extending work-from-home options to accommodate workers with special health risks or simply because they’ve learned that working from home doesn’t hurt productivity.

Crain’s Content Studio turned to Michael McGuire, chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare of New York, to learn how employers can help protect employees’ health in this new normal.

CRAIN’S: How can employers and employees protect against infection in shared indoor and outdoor spaces?

MICHAEL MCGUIRE: Fortunately, there are lots of guidelines that have been made available by both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and local governments and states. As we reopen, we need to continue following the guidelines about social distancing, wearing masks and continuing to wash our hands.

We’ve provided our employers with links to all the local, state and CDC sites so they have one place to get information. ProtectWellTM, a new smartphone app that we’ve launched with Microsoft, allows employees to screen themselves for Covid-19. They

employers should decide how many people can be in an elevator. They should require people to wear masks in common areas. And, obviously, they should keep the office sanitized.

CRAIN’S: What are other factors to consider as you bring employees back to work?

MCGUIRE: You want to make sure people are comfortable with coming back. That’s really important. If you are high risk, or if you are living with someone who is high risk, maybe it’s not safe to come back. As an employer, you need to consider options for those employees, including remote or telework options.

Much of the focus of these last few months has “EMPLOYERS NEED TO THINK been on ABOUT HOW THEY ARE physical health. But SUPPORTING EMPLOYEES ON the pandemic A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH BASIS.” has also affected can answer some questions mental health. We’ve been and receive direction based on through an unprecedented those answers. Do they need period, which has caused a to get a test? Do they need to lot of stress and anxiety. notify their employer or see Employers need to think about their doctor? how they are supporting employees on a behavioral CRAIN’S: What can employers health basis. do to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 at work?

We’ve got an emotional support line set up through MCGUIRE: You need to give our partners and UnitedHealth employees lots of information Group Optum. That number about how they should interact is available 24/7 to all of our with other employees—make members. It’s staffed by mental the guidelines clear. Companies health professionals, who can should have lots of hand support folks as they deal not sanitizer in common areas and only with the physical part high-contact areas. We need to of Covid-19 but also the continue cleaning offices, with behavioral health stress of a focus on high-contact areas the last three months. And, like doorknobs, handrails, of course, going back to work computers, phones, printers means more stress: how do we and elevator buttons. To help get comfortable with being in employees feel comfortable an office again? So you need about returning to work, to support your employees

emotionally, even as you begin discussions about returning to work.

CRAIN’S: What have we learned about how employers can empower their workforces to stay healthy, whether they’re continuing to work remotely or transitioning back to the office?

MCGUIRE: What we’ve learned is that there are a lot of ways to access medical care.

You used to assume that if you needed care, you would either go to the emergency room, urgent care or your primary care physician. But we’ve found that you can access a physician on your phone, your iPad or your computer. Virtual doctor visits and telephonic visits weren’t used much in the past. Now folks are accessing these services — not just for Covid-19, but for anything that typically you see the doctor for. And physicians took to it, too. Doctors’ offices without telehealth capability quickly got telehealth capability so they could keep in touch with their patients and help them avoid the urgent care center or the emergency room.

Michael McGuire, chief executive officer at UnitedHealthcare of New York.

and mental health hotlines and telehealth capabilities.

You want to make sure your employees recognize that they’ve got those options at their disposal. It’s really just staying in front: communicating often and communicating simply. Don’t overcomplicate it.

You also really need to continue promoting wellness, in general, to your employee population.

Health plans built for I spy pinkeye.

We’ve also learned you can use telehealth for mental health services, as well as some physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

Once you use a service like that, you’ll typically use it again. As a result, employers need to think about their telehealth benefit design.

With new interactive tools for Oxford1 members like 24/7 doctor video chats, health plans from Oxford are designed to help your employees get care and support.2 Wherever, whenever. Welcome to the new Oxford — now with even more ways to connect your employees to care.

CRAIN’S: How can employers be proactive in getting their employees access to telehealth services?

MCGUIRE: Like anything else with benefits, it’s about communication. Employees need to know what’s available to them in terms of physical

Encourage them to establish a relationship with a primary care physician if they don’t have one already. When Covid-19 first hit, we heard, “If you think you have it, go to your primary care physician and ask for a test.” Well, if you didn’t have a primary care physician, how did you access that test? This is an opportunity to increase employee engagement in their health moving forward.

oxfordhealth.com

1

Oxford insurance products are underwritten by Oxford Health Insurance, Inc. Oxford HMO products are underwritten by Oxford Health Plans (NJ), Inc. and Oxford Health Plans (CT), Inc.

2

Beginning with 5/1/20 policy effective dates for New York small group (1-100) and New Jersey small group (2-50) fully insured employers.

These plans have exclusions and limitations. Contact the company for complete details.

B2B EI20165631.0 6/20 ©2020 Oxford Health Plans LLC. All rights reserved. 20-166802

NEXT N E W YO R K

HE

H o

VOICES

NEW YORK CITY HAS long been the epicenter of commerce, culture and innovation, welcoming all who seek to know more, be more and dream more.

Most recently we have become the center of the Covid-19 pandemic and an economic crisis that has practically brought the city to a standstill. I know CHARLOTTE that New York, with the continST. MARTIN ued support of elected officials and a revival of the fabled “I Love New York” campaign, will rise beyond this crisis.

Tourism is one of the city’s hardest-hit industries, with projections showing a 20% decrease in international visitors for some time. This sector sustains thousands of people who work in restaurants, hotels and attractions including Broadway.

Our most recent research report indicates that Broadway directly and indirectly sustains 97,000 local jobs. In our last complete season, Broadway was responsible for an economNUMBER OF ic impact to the city of $14.7 local jobs billion, with attendance topping supported by the combined attendance of the Broadway, both New York metropolitan area’s 10 directly and professional sports teams: the indirectly Mets, Yankees, Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Liberty, Giants, Jets, Devils and Nets.

We will need time—months or possibly years—to rebuild our ECONOMIC audiences. We are working with impact of elected officials on the local and Broadway to New York City federal levels to advocate for the substantial financial support required to reopen existing shows, launch new productions and subsidize some of the losses we have sustained.

Broadway is a vital cultural and economic part of this city and New York’s greatest cultural export, important to communities across the country and recognized around the world as the best in live entertainment.

We all need Broadway to come back—and to do that, New York has to come back.

NYC & Co. has been leading these efforts, and support from the Empire State Development Fund will be essential. This support will bring new life to the "I Love New York" campaign, which will remind the world of the wonders that New York has to offer, including the best performers in an industry ready to welcome everyone back to our theaters and our hometown.

Broadway stands ready to support this campaign.

BY THE NUMBERS

97K

$14.7B

Charlotte St. Martin is president of the Broadway League Inc.

Go

BY J

F BUCK ENNIS

BUCK ENNIS

TO THRIVE, BROADWAY AND NEW YORK NEED EACH OTHER

ARTS & CULTURE

Changing the landscape Cultural institutions reinvent their revenue streams

BY GWEN EVERETT

B

efore the pandemic, the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side had a revenue model that was the envy of its peers. The museum paid for 75% of its yearly expenses from ticket sales, events and programs. In an industry where other nonprofits rely on donors and government grants, it was self-sustaining, said Morris Vogel, the museum’s president.

But that business model changed drastically when the coronavirus shut off these income sources and the museum had to turn to philanthropists. In three months it more than doubled its donors, from 2,000 to 5,000, Vogel said.

The museum now aims to generate half of its yearly operating budget through donations and grants.

“To other organizations that weren’t as able to bring in a paying public, we looked like rock stars,” Vogel said. “Now we’re in a place where even if the public wants to, we can’t take their money.”

While the outbreak may have shocked the revenue model for most businesses, it delivered an especially strong blow to cultural institutions—they are scheduled for the later phases of reopening, and they depend on tourists, who won’t soon return in the same numbers. The coronavirus is forcing art institutions to find revenue in new places, and they expect the changes in the revenue model to become permanent.

That means Vogel is looking to monetize parts of the business that he never considered, such as putting up a paywall on its website.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s phase one or phase four. It’s a matter of people aren’t coming,” Vogel said, adding museum goers may be a particularly cautious crowd.

up our doors, it will be in a reduced capacity,” she said.

Take the virtual tours and remote classes the garden offers to schools. The $150 cost was cut to $60. Department of Education grants are making up the difference, said Annie Tan-Detchkov, the garden’s director of education.

In addition, garden officials are applying for a composting grant to cover expenses at the farm they keep on their 39-acre lot.

But there are strings that come with new money sources.

Losing earned revenue means a loss of autonomy, said Susan Lacerte, the garden’s director. Grants and donations usually come with obligations or are designated for certain programs, she explained, but with earned revenue, organizations themselves decide how to spend the money.

Losses for everyone Even wealthier institutions, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are rethinking their business approaches.

While the Met benefits from the earnings of a $3 billion endowment, 46% of the Met’s operating budget comes from earned revenue sources, according to its most recent financial filing. The coronavirus cost the museum nearly $150 million in lost revenue with ticket and retail sales, said Kenneth Weine, a museum spokesman.

Once the museum reopens, Weine said, social distancing measures and a slump in tourism will keep earned revenue down.

The pandemic has been “tremendously impactful,” he said. “We’ve never been closed longer than three days.

We’re going on three months.”

The Met is trying to find ways to offset the decline in tourism. The museum was once the No. 1 destination for Chinese tourists, Weine said. Seventy-five percent of its yearly visitors aren’t even from New York, he noted.

“We need to reintroduce the Met to New Yorkers,” he said.

“IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT’S PHASE ONE OR PHASE FOUR. IT’S A MATTER OF PEOPLE AREN’T COMING”

New money sources It’s not just the Tenement Museum contemplating these changes.

Before the pandemic, the Queens Botanical Garden was working on growing earned revenue to $1 million a year by hosting weddings, implementing admission fees and boosting gift shop sales, said Regina Minerva, the garden’s visitor services manager.

Now, she said, the goal is to find new ways to finance businesses that visitors would have paid for.

“It’s flipped us on our head,” Minerva said, referring to the pandemic.

“In every aspect we’re hurting a little bit, and we’re trying to flip our business model because even when we do open

Long-term recovery Representatives of nearly a half-dozen museums who spoke with Crain’s said reopening doors wouldn’t even begin to overcome the hit to earned revenue.

“We’re expecting, and I think many museums are, that we will probably be in the 20%-25% capacity zone for social distancing reasons alone,” said Adam Weinberg, the Whitney’s director.

Reopening won’t be about making money for quite some time, he said, adding that the museum could even lose money when it reopens to a smaller public. ■

18 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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Hospitals resuscitate thousands of delayed elective surgeries

VOICES

BY JONATHAN LAMANTIA

I’VE BEEN ASKED by many people both inside and outside of health care, what will our world look like after the pandemic?

What will be the impact on businesses? What will be the toll on health care? And most importantly, how will this change us and our communities?

Regardless of your profesMICHAEL sion or societal status, the DOWLING pandemic has been an unrelenting experience with a high price tag. Whether it has been the loss of a job, education, socialization or even loved ones, Covid-19’s expensive tally has spared no one.

But as we have seen numerous times before, we will be stronger and more resilient because of this.

In the days after Superstorm Sandy, confusion reigned about a pathway forward. The overwhelming devastation in 2012 crippled housing and communities, which were washed away in a few hours overnight. While the effects could be felt years after the storm, we are now far safer and much better prepared to handle another natural disaster.

We need to move forward with the same cautious optimism and confidence in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite what we’ve lost, no crisis should go to waste. We need to rebuild safely and smartly and take advantage of the great opportunity to reemerge as the community that we want to and should be.

The pandemic has unified us in ways few would have thought possible. In New York, for instance, competing health systems pulled together to share resources and best practices, recognizing that we have a shared responsibility to preserve the public’s health.

The very best of humanity has been and continues to be demonstrated. Community support has showered our health care workers each night with a deafening clap out. Organizations have offered food and supplies to those in need. There’s a newfound commitment to our neighbors and families that hasn’t been seen in years.

Covid-19 may have changed our perspectives, fears and desires. It certainly has in health care.

Speaking for Northwell Health, where we have treated more Covid-19 patients than any other health care provider in the U.S., we have seen exceptional unity among our staff and a shared sense of pride and commitment to a focused mission— despite the emotional trauma endured on the front lines. We have both suffered and benefited from it while knowing we will never again be the same.

Recognizing that our lives are changed forever is an essential part of the recovery process.

Persistence and creativity are among the many important lessons we have learned during the pandemic. Forced to respond to rapidly moving targets, our innovative 3D-printing researchers and clinicians transformed more than 300 sleep apnea machines into ventilators, avoiding a potential shortage.

The same ingenuity was shown by 3D printing nasal swabs in response to an overwhelming demand for Covid-19 diagnostic tests. To handle a huge surge in patient volume, we increased capacity in our hospitals by creating nearly 200 beds a day, eventually adding nearly 2,000 in 10 days.

All of these incredible feats underscore what can be accomplished during an emergency.

COVID-19 CAN MAKE US STRONGER, MORE RESILIENT

Governor OKs facilities to resume backlog of financially lucrative operations

BUCK ENNIS

BUCK ENNIS

F

or months Adina Perullo has been waiting to have a surgery that could save her life.

Perullo, a 36-year-old mother of two from Levittown, planned to have an operation in early April to remove her ovaries to prevent ovarian cancer. About a week before her procedure, Perullo was told by her doctor that North Shore University Medical Center in Manhasset had postponed all elective surgeries to divert resources to the pandemic. All across the state, hospitals ceased nonurgent surgeries to comply with a March 23 order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Some patients needing operations deemed safe to postpone, such as those to address heart problems, cancer or hernias, have been waiting months for treatment.

Last year Perullo underwent a double mastectomy after doctors found she had stage-two breast cancer and testing showed she had a mutation in the BRCA-2 gene that puts people at higher risk for several cancers.

“I’ve seen it go from nothing to something virtually overnight,” Perullo said. “That’s where my fear lies.”

The state Department of Health granted New York City hospitals permission to resume nonurgent surgeries June 8—Long Island and Westchester facilities got the green light in late May—but the busiest facilities have thousands of procedures to schedule. Perullo is working with her doctor to find a date for surgery.

Hospitals had been able to perform medically necessary surgeries with wide discretion as to which should be performed. That discretion was needed to avoid adverse effects.

A study from the Annals of Oncology, published online in May, found evidence that modest delays in surgery could significantly affect a patient’s chance of survival. It noted the need for “rapid attention to any backlog already accrued.

Hospitals were balancing performing surgeries with preserving staff and supplies for Covid-19 care. Every patient undergoing and recovering from surgery would lead to the higher use of protective equipment, which was in short supply, and a need for an operating-room ventilator.

Manhattan’s Hospital for Special Surgery, known for its prolific knee, hip and other joint surgeries, said in late May that it had a backlog of about 7,000 patients.

At the peak of the crisis, New York’s operating rooms were mostly dormant. HSS dropped to as low as 8% of its total operating-room capacity during that period. It performed about 35,000 surgeries last year.

Louis Shapiro, its CEO, said the orthopedic hospital created a system for classifying elective surgeries in mid-March ahead of the executive order to halt procedures.

After first working to accept non-Covid-19 patients from other hospitals, HSS made the decision in April to admit positive patients as well, converting its operating rooms into intensive care units.

“These are patients who were canceled for surgery back in March, and what may have been elective then is no longer elective because their condition has deteriorated,” Shapiro said. “Thousands of patients we canceled months ago started to come back slowly.”

As HSS opens up more of its operating rooms, the hospital has needed to thoroughly disinfect areas that served as care sites for Covid-19 patients and replace the anesthesia machines, which had been converted into makeshift ventilators for critically ill patients.

All patients must test negative for the virus ahead of their operation.

COURTESY OF THE PERULLO FAMILY

n ofnt of nnie

HEALTH CARE

THE PERULLO FAMILY

The changes hospitals made to elective surgeries, “while needed to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, potentially threaten the financial viability of hospitals, especially those with preexisting financial challenges and those heavily reliant on revenue from outpatient and elective services,” the authors wrote.

The federal Cares Act included $175 billion in funding for hospitals and other facilities to offset the costs of caring for Covid-19 and losing revenue from postponing surgeries. But more funding targeted toward smaller and independent hospitals may be needed as those facilities typically have less financial liquidity.

Its unclear whether pent-up demand for treatment will lead to higher revenue for health systems.

Several city health systems including Northwell Health and New York–Presbyterian, reported losses of more than $120 million in the first quarter of the year, as they spent more to prepare for Covid-19 while canceling procedures in the last two weeks of March.

Patients could continue to put off some less time-sensitive procedures, especially as the number of New Yorkers with job-based insurance fell in recent months.

Northwell Health saw its surgery volume return in waves as its Long Island and Westchester hospitals received permission to schedule nonurgent procedures weeks ahead of its city hospitals.

The health system worked to ensure it could accommodate social distancing in waiting areas, Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell, said.

“Recovery, as people call it, is in many ways more difficult than managing the crisis itself because we have to come back in a different way and make sure when we bring back surgery and other procedures, we do it safely,” Dowling said.

“The world is going to be quite different in every single medical facility going forward.” ■

“THE WORLD IS GOING TO BE QUITE DIFFERENT IN MEDICAL FACILITIES GOING FORWARD”

Finance factor The drop in surgeries also led to a financial hit to hospitals that rely on that revenue, particularly from orthopedic and cardiac procedures, to stay solvent.

Elective hospital admissions can make up 30% or more of a hospital’s revenue, according to an analysis by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in the medical journal JAMA.

Michael Dowling is president and CEO of Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care system and private employer.

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EDUCATION

VOICES

HARNESS TECH FOR GOOD OF NEW YORK

Pandemic reshapes how medical students learn

WE HAVE A CHOICE IN NEW YORK. The past few months have shed even greater light on the drastic shortcomings and inequities in our civic, economic and social infrastructure. We now have the opportunity to choose between rebuilding our city and state using the same complex KEVIN RYAN patchwork of municipal and social processes that have existed for decades, or we can reinvent the processes by building more collective accountability, embracing and inviting technology and a new class of entrepreneurs to build a future together.

In the past 15 years we have seen monumental innovation in New York’s private technology sector in software, cloud computing, health care, data, direct-to-consumer products and marketplaces, to name a few. But despite these gains, we now need more innovative work that connects the private sector to the public sector to serve residents better.

One way to put it: How much of the city’s 2021 budget proposal of $89.3B could we ultimately save if we substituted longer-lasting solutions for interim payment planning and incremental savings?

The choice to harness technology in government infrastructure is the choice to significantly improve the quality of human lives in the immediate term and across critical areas, such as food access and distribution, criminal and social justice, health care and immigration.

We have the opportunity to create a municipal services network that doesn’t just offer services for services’ sake, but rather one that prioritizes intelligence and connectivity, allowing one service to inform the next—ultimately painting a more complete picture of each resident’s needs and how best to fulfill them.

We could start together in a few areas.

We could examine procurement processes and centralization (touching the $20 billion of goods a year from outside contractors) to see where technology might unlock efficiency.

We could forge partnerships between smaller companies and city and state governments to provide key services to residents with greater efficiency. (Think Department of Motor Vehicles processes, jury duty administration, Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, food stamps and unemployment benefits.)

We could together build new frontiers in education, an area where virtual classrooms make technology an absolutely necessity. We could launch tech-focused job training programs, harnessing resources, talent and lessons from the technology sector to help more New Yorkers access it. There is significant opportunity to increase the speed and intentionality around partnerships among government and private-sector technologists.

Technology companies and new entrepreneurs are ready and willing to help, and we have been for a long time. But it will take an open-minded and committed reexamination of what is possible. It will take implementing these public-private partnerships, relaxing red tape, and being honest with ourselves about which processes and laws are truly needed to protect residents and which are antiquated and intended only to protect an industry.

Providing true innovation to deeply seeded public and social services necessitates that we think in a different way. The call to action could not be more urgent.

Kevin Ryan, an internet entrepreneur, co-founded AlleyCorp, MongoDB, Business Insider, GILT, Zola and Nomad Health, among several other companies.

BY JENNIFER HENDERSON

D

r. Charles Brunicardi, senior vice president and dean of the College of Medicine at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, definitely understood the need for his students to maintain their education during the pandemic.

SUNY Downstate is the only academic medical center that serves the 2.6 million residents of Brooklyn. Most of its patients are people of color with underlying health conditions.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has really had a tremendous adverse effect on the underrepresented population in Brooklyn,” Brunicardi said. “It opens the door for increased studies in social determinants of health, disparities of health and genomic health in Brooklyn.”

New coursework will be part of the new normal that SUNY Downstate is anxious to return to. So will innovations in the way students learn.

SUNY DOWNSTATE/LINKEDIN

BUCK ENNIS

Residents and fellows have been some of the greatest frontline heroes

Hybrid programs In March medical schools were shut down as a result of the pandemic, and faculty and students transitioned to remote learning. Earlier this month Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that medical schools statewide could reopen June 22.

SUNY Downstate has worked diligently to design hybrid programs combining virtual sessions with in-person learning. Later this year students will start clinical rotations again, including some—such as those in the intensive care unit—that will involve Covid-19 patients.

The safety of SUNY Downstate’s 820 medical students has been the top priority in all of the changes, Brunicardi said.

Because medical students don’t have the training to care for patients during their four years of medical school, their redeployment has not been allowed anywhere during the crisis, particularly when weighed against the risk of their potential exposure.

However, residents and fellows have been some of the greatest heroes of the pandemic.

At SUNY Downstate, about 1,000 residents and fellows across more than 50 programs were redeployed to emergency departments, ICUs and internal medicine floors to help ease some of the surge, said Dr. Theresa Smith, director of graduate education.

Though many residents and fellows are starting to return to their regular departments as Covid-19 cases trend down, Smith refers to the coming weeks and months as a pendulum.

“We need to anticipate another surge, whether that is when stay-at-home orders are rescinded or in October, when there could be another peak that coincides with influenza season,” Smith said. “We need to be able to go back to full redeployment at any point in time.”

Out of those 1,000 residents, 3% contracted the disease, Smith said. She attributed the low infection rate to personal protective equipment and regular training.

Dr. David Muller, dean for medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said caring for Covid-19 patients has already become the new normal.

“It is going to be part and parcel of the practice of medicine forever,” Muller said.

One parallel to the current pandemic is the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, he said. In the early days of that crisis, there was not much information, and it was terrifying. Now everyone wears gloves when drawing blood. And everyone will wear PPE when caring for Covid-19 patients going forward.

Muller said medical students are slated to return to campus, and coursework will involve a mix of remote

and in-person sessions for the time being. Third- and fourth-year students will return to clinical rotations.

Telemedicine will need to be a significantly larger part of the curriculum, he said.

However, the focus is not only on coursework.

“The other important reason that we want students to be on campus [is that] we know that a huge part of what students do is outside the curriculum,” Muller said. “They want to interact with the doctors in the emergency room, the operating room. They want to find role models and explore career opportunities.”

Dr. Melvin Rosenfeld, senior associate dean for medical education at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said a phased return of students based on their year of study has begun.

“Parents have entrusted us with their children, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” Rosenfeld said.

Vaccines will be one part of the existing curriculum, which will be expanded as a result of the pandemic, he said.

There also needs to be an even greater focus on studying the factors that contribute to a person’s health, including access to healthy food, he said.

“It’s important that people understand why the social determinants of health affect so many different things,” Rosenfeld said. “While it was part of our curriculum before, it will be made even more robust.”

“THE SKILLS THEY LEARN DURING THIS TIME ARE ONES THEY’LL TAKE WITH THEM”

Getting creative Leaders at SUNY Downstate concur that lessons learned during the pandemic will enhance students' skill sets.

Residents and fellows have gotten creative to continue with their specialty studies. For example, the surgery team was missing out on some of their procedures when everything started shutting down, Smith said. So they went around the ICU and put in chest tubes and IVs. They did all the technical procedures they could.

The anesthesiology team assisted when there was a shortage of respiratory specialists, she added. And the orthopedics team helped flip patients onto their belly for better oxygenation and ventilation, which will be useful training for completing spinal surgeries down the line.

“The skills that they learn during this time are phenomenal and [ones] they will take with them in their future careers,” Smith said. “They're going to be leaders in their field.” ■

20 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Local bank comes through for small businesses and community during COVID-19 crisis

W

hen the coronavirus pandemic hit, Jaye Fox, Director of Development at Bronx Pro Group, was met with the stark reality that every small business was facing: the possibility of having to lay off employees.

Although, for Jaye, she knew the impact of layoffs would affect more than the employees of Bronx Pro Group and their families. As developers, builders, and managers of affordable housing, furloughing their employees would mean ceasing a vital mission that would have a lasting affect on the communities they serve.

To retain their staff and continue to build quality, affordable housing, Bronx Pro Group needed to secure a PPP loan.

RESPONSIVENESS AND PERSONALIZED SUPPORT WERE KEY. Seeking immediate financial assistance, Bronx Pro Group simultaneously reached out to three banks — Flushing Bank, as well as two other banks, including a larger one. With unprecedented numbers applying for PPP loans, Flushing Bank worked closely with Bronx Pro Group to understand their needs and quickly secured their PPP loan.

Jaye Fox said, “Flushing Bank was the only one of the three banks that was able to answer our questions about the PPP from the informed perspective of an experienced SBA 7a lender. Their team was communicative, knowledgeable, and responsive throughout the process, and we are certain this is responsible for the success of our SBA application.”

“Flushing Bank’s PPP team led us through the process with tremendous care, attention, and professionalism. We cannot imagine having done it with any of our other lenders.”

–David Weinman, President, Fabco Enterprises, Inc. Bronx Pro Group’s loan was just one of 343 PPP loans secured by Flushing Bank, for a total of $91,766,000 in PPP loans and counting. In fact, to date, Flushing Bank has successfully funded every PPP loan application, including those of customers and non-customers. Across industries and during the most trying of times, small businesses have once again realized the benefit of working with a local, community bank.

on traditional loans, including lines of credit and mortgages. Additionally, at a time when the health and safety of the community were never more vital, Flushing Bank launched a line of robust digital services. This digital transformation allowed customers to easily bank from the comfort and safety of their homes, any time of day.

“Through this crisis, I’ve heard from other small business colleagues and it’s clear that we’ve been treated exceptionally well compared to their experiences with other larger national banks. Flushing Bank has been understanding, flexible, communicative, and helped us move quickly, securing both bank support to our existing loans and relief funds via government interventions.”

–Matthew Viragh, Founder/Executive Director, Nitehawk Cinema SMALL ENOUGH TO KNOW YOU. LARGE ENOUGH TO HELP YOU. In the midst of the pandemic, when many midsize and large banks fell short serving customers, Flushing Bank upheld their community-based approach of “Small enough to know you. Large enough to help you.” Beyond PPP loans, their dayto-day services and commitment to the neighborhood proved ever important to individuals and families.

Through appointment banking, customers met with branch members, as needed, in which they continued to open new deposit accounts, as well as close

“There’s a lot to be said for working with a personal banker who sees your relationship as a partnership, not a transaction.”

–John P. Amalfe, President, AutoPartSource

Beyond financial services, Flushing Bank reached out to their community during the crisis and sent much-needed food donations to frontline healthcare workers.

With more than 90 years of service, ■ Flushing Bank has helped business owners, families, and communities grow and prosper. These challenging times have only strengthened their commitment to customers and the community as a whole. With branches in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and on ■ Long Island, Flushing Bank is ready to answer questions, serve customers, and offer the peace of mind that comes from partnering with a neighborhood bank.

FlushingBank.com Flushing Bank is a registered trademark

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BUCK ENNIS

Second Avenue

by BAR KOGI bustled even before Phase 2 began.

RESTAURANTS

Bringing restaurants to the great outdoors Sidewalks and streets are breathing life into the city’s restaurant scene

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

A

s the city’s 27,000 restaurants seek to reopen, they’re keeping a close and hopeful eye on what business they can bring back through outdoor seating.

Restaurants have responded quickly to Phase 2 of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s economic reopening plan. Tables spilled onto parking lots and sidewalks on June 22, serving customers outdoors in spaces 6 feet apart and requiring diners to wear masks when they are not seated.

Further hope rests on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan for a “massive” expansion of outdoor dining, allowing restaurants to open cafés on sidewalks, closed-off streets, parks and parking lots with a self-certified permit process. That includes a pledge to close off 100 miles of streets to cars and open up space for New Yorkers during the pandemic.

Previously, these outdoor options were often too costly and bureaucratic for restaurants to pursue.

“People are going to be out and about, and businesses need to start generating income,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance.

“We need to recognize that reality and build a system for restaurants to open outdoors.”

Costs and bureaucracy Restaurant owners seem happy to comply with measures that bring back some of the nearly 145,000 New Yorkers who work for their establishments. The New York City Hospitality Alliance estimated that 67,000 restaurant workers lost jobs within the first weeks of the pandemic.

Almost all restaurants surveyed in May by the not-forprofit association said they are unable to pay their rent. A majority of restaurant owners do not think their business can survive with indoor capacity capped—as will be required in a coming phase of the reopening.

To make up the difference, outdoor seating will be crucial. Before the pandemic, fewer than 2,000 restaurants

were permitted to offer sidewalk dining, with most of these establishments located in Manhattan. The mayor’s office estimates that the total will rise to 5,000 due to the push for outdoor dining.

Bellard said. “We could expand into the street to regain not only what our patio is losing in capacity, but the indoor seating we lost as well.”

Sidewalk café limits

Michael Dorf, owner of City Winery, said the company’s Vineyard location at Pier 26 has expanded seating into Hudson River Park. But it will be a long time before the company’s hallmark—live entertainment—can return, given a prohibition until a later phase of the state’s reopening.

“We are desperate,” Dorf said. “We are desperate to serve, start making money again and bring our staff back to work.”

Restaurants outside of residential areas also need a return of office workers to bring back happy hour and lunch business. Adoro Lei, an Italian restaurant in Hudson Square, can set up about 20 seats outside. But filling those tables is dependent on the return-to-work plan from businesses that are expanding locally, such as Google and Disney. According to a survey from the Partnership for New York City, businesses expect just 30% of their employees to return to the office by the end of the year.

“Our busiest days are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from six to midnight,” said Michael DiBugnara, a restaurant partner. “So we are hopeful that a lot of people will be coming back.”

Restaurant owners note that sidewalk cafés are only a small part of the solution, because they offer limited space.

Restaurants are typically allowed up to 4.5 feet off their storefronts to set up tables, but they need to leave at least 8 feet of sidewalk clear.

Those guidelines seem feasible in places like Midtown.

But it is less workable in the outer boroughs and in residential neighborhoods.

Each of the 5 Napkin Burger locations in the city has a sidewalk café of about 30 seats, compared with 100 inside.

The business will need to maximize the capacity of that

“WE ARE DESPERATE TO SERVE, START MAKING MONEY ... AND BRING OUR STAFF BACK.” outdoor area within the state’s guidelines.

“We are looking at 5-foot barriers between tables to see if there is a solution there to get seats closer together,” said Robert Guarino, CEO of 5 Napkin Burger. “If that is safe and feasible, we would love to get as many seats as possible.”

At E’s Bar on the Upper West Side, owner Erin Bellard has set out about 20 seats each summer for the past eight years, part of an outdoor dining scene along Amsterdam Avenue.

She is now able to serve those seats again, but is hoping to get more space on the street to make up for the decreased capacity required for social distancing.

“There have been talks about shutting down streets in restaurant-heavy avenues, and that would be amazing,”

What won’t come back

Lost time The best weather for outdoor dining may have already passed. Serge Becker, who operates several city restaurants, said he still would like to put tables outside in a parking lot near Miss Lily’s 7A Café in the East Village—even if it won’t make up for the lost business indoors.

“Hopefully we can just break even or whatever it is,” Becker said. “It is not the business perspective, but more just the spirit—we need to get some life back, get some energy back.” ■

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New York City’s meetings and events industry prepares for a comeback When Covid-19 struck, many live events in New York City got cancelled or postponed.

Now, with the city reopening gradually, some meeting organizers are transitioning back into holding live events at city venues, while others are innovating in the area of virtual events and live-virtual hybrids.

“People crave people and they want to be together,” said Jessica Rothstein Berman, a certified meeting planner and vice president of sales and marketing for the Manhattan Center, an events, performance and production space in New York City.

Although the events world has not yet returned to its pre-Covid pace, Rothstein Berman has found that a growing number of clients are eager to bring people together under one roof in the near future—with some modifications.

“We have a number of events booked for the fall,” said Rothstein Berman. “They’re still planning on moving forward. Are they going to do it differently? Absolutely.”

With health and safety top of mind, the Manhattan Center has been putting enhanced

HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM

procedures in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It is incorporating masks, social distancing, contactless check-ins, temperature checking, GBAC Star certification and additional sanitizing into events held at the venue.

“We’ve been very proactive with safety guidelines,” said Rothstein Berman. “At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to what people are comfortable with.”

For some clients planning live events, the Manhattan Center has been using its on-site broadcast facility to add a virtual component.

Some, for instance, are holding live town halls where key stakeholders attend in person, but there is also a virtual component, so attendees may participate remotely if they wish. This has been helpful for nonprofit clients who rely on their events for fundraising and now have to meet their annual financial goals with a smaller number of attendees.

“We’re equipped to do that as a turnkey solution,” said Rothstein Berman.

Other players in the meetings and events space are also prepared for a resurgence of live events. “We would expect localized events to make a comeback in the short-term, especially if they can be held outdoors,” said Karen

Shackman, founder of Shackman Associates, a destination management company based in Manhattan.

for virtual events through the end of 2020, as we await a vaccine for the coronavirus. In the meantime, she is seeing a lot of innovation as clients embrace technologies such as Zoom.

“I’m seeing more clients take the leap and do more digital and get really creative,” she said.

Shackman is expecting a significant demand for venues in the New York City area. “For destination corporate-incentive bookings, this For one client recently, she arranged a cooking is the time to be planning for 2021, because experience, run by a celebrity chef, and a once things really open up and meetings are mixology class. “We’re really trying to focus perceived as safe for the health of attendees, the backlog will make it almost impossible to book “WE HAVE A NUMBER OF EVENTS anything at the last minute,” BOOKED FOR THE FALL. THEY’RE she said.

Event planner Alicia Schiro, founder and CEO of ACED IT Events in Manhattan, predicts that many clients will gravitate to larger spaces that allow for social distancing, once they’re ready to go back to live events.

STILL PLANNING ON MOVING FORWARD. ARE THEY GOING TO DO IT DIFFERENTLY? ABSOLUTELY.” Jessica Rothstein Berman, vice president of sales and marketing for the Manhattan Center

“The largest spaces are probably going to be the busiest they’ve ever been,” said Schiro.

“Typically, when you have 100 people, you would not want a space for 5,000. In the past, it would never make sense. Now it makes total sense. You can spread out.”

Schiro said that most of her clients, who are concentrated in the tech industry, are opting

on local restaurants and supporting those businesses,” she said.

These efforts are becoming more advanced, with some productions toggling between a livestream, a video and slides. To ensure the meeting quality is as good as possible, Schiro has been engaging an audiovisual company to ship recording equipment to celebrity chefs.

“We’re getting more sophisticated,” she said.

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Now Offering a Special Broadcasting Package for Your Fall 2020 Event Contact our sales department for more information: • Jessica Berman – jrc@mc34.com | 646-293-1077 • Dimitra Trakellis – dmt@mc34.com | 646-293-1078

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Tracing New York’s journey through the pandemic

A timeline of the battle against Covid-19

BY GERALD SCHIFMAN FIRST PHASE OF FEDERAL RESPONSE

SECOND PHASE OF FEDERAL RESPONSE

The federal government passes its first bill to fight the pandemic: an $8.3 billion deal to fund research and development for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

The second federal bill, the $104 billion Families First Coronavirus Response Act, is enacted into law.

The legislation includes sick-leave provisions and unemployment benefits.

THIRD PHASE OF FEDERAL RESPONSE The $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act is signed into federal law. As part of the legislation, the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program is established to fund small-business loans.

NEW ROCHELLE CONTAINMENT ZONE As New Rochelle becomes the temporary epicenter of the virus in the U.S., the governor announces that a containment zone will be created in the Westchester city from March 12 through March 25.

HOSPITAL EXPANSION The governor mandates that hospitals expand capacity by at least 50%. With approximately 50,000 hospital beds in the state, the measure would have covered only a portion of the 140,000 beds projected to be needed.

FIRST CORONAVIRUS CASE New York reports its first confirmed Covid-19 case: a Manhattan-based health care worker.

3/1

3/3

3/6

3/7

3/10

3/13

3/22

3/23

3/27

3/3

LIFE ON HOLD

SECOND CORONAVIRUS CASE The state reports its second coronavirus case: a New Rochelle lawyer who works near Grand Central Terminal.

3/18

STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED With the state’s caseload building, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declares a state of emergency as part of an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

C

Cuomo’s New York State on Pause policy goes into effect, requiring all nonessential businesses to close and banning all nonessential gatherings. Despite being shuttered, the city goes on to become the epicenter of the world pandemic.

T r t i v s c i

TESTING PERMISSION GRANTED The Food and Drug Administration grants approval to public and private labs to screen for Covid-19, allowing the state to ramp up testing.

STOCK MARKET HITS NADIR The Dow Jones Industrial Average bottoms out at 18,592, a drop of more than 10,000 points from its February high.

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CASELOAD HITS 100,000

REOPENING BEGINS

The city eclipses 100,000 Covid-19 diagnoses, a 53% increase from one week earlier.

Phase one of the city’s reopening commences, thanks to the implementation of a tracing program and diminished caseloads and hospitalizations. Construction, retail and elective surgeries are among the business activities that resume.

COMFORT LEAVES With the worst of the virus’ first wave behind New York, the USNS Comfort leaves Pier 90 on the West Side. Fewer than 200 patients were treated on the vessel.

3/30

STATE BUDGET APPROVED

TESTING BOOM

Cuomo and state legislators agree to a $177 billion budget plan for the coming fiscal year. The budget includes a projected tax-revenue loss of $10 billion as a result of the virus and shutdown.

As its testing capacity continues to expand, the city performs 34,232 examinations for Covid-19, a 62% jump from one week earlier.

4/2

REGIONAL STRENGTH Amid pressure to reopen the economy, New York joins Northeastern states to create a regional reopening plan.

4/11

4/12

4/13

4/24

COMFORT ARRIVES

4/30

5/6

5/27

6/8

6/22

MTA SANITATION

The 1,000-bed USNS Comfort arrives in the city to help alleviate the strain on hospitals. While originally planned to treat noncoronavirus patients, the Navy hospital ship is reconfigured to begin accepting virus-infected individuals in a special ward a week later.

HOSPITALIZATION PEAK

In a historic move for its 24/7 subway system, the city begins to halt service from 1 to 5 a.m. nightly for cars to be disinfected.

The state reaches 18,825 hospitalizations—the eventual apex of the pandemic’s first wave and significantly less than worst-case projections.

THE NEXT PHASE The city enters its second phase of reopening.

Thousands of companies are permitted to welcome back employees to offices provided that social-distancing guidelines are followed.

There are 735 confirmed and probable deaths from Covid-19 in the city. After this, daily fatality counts drop as containment measures prove effective. More than 20,000 city residents eventually will be lost to the disease.

JAVITS CENTER REPURPOSED The Javits Center, which had been transformed from a convention hall into a hospital overflow facility, is approved to treat Covid-19 patients.

PPP EXTENDED The federal government authorizes a $484 billion bill to extend the Paycheck Protection Program and provide more funds for hospitals and tests.

CASELOAD HITS 200,000 Although the spread of the virus has slowed significantly, the city eclipses 200,000 Covid-19 diagnoses.

BUCK ENNIS, GETTY IMAGES, ISTOCK, GOVERNORANDREWCUOMO/ FLICKR

DEATH TOTALS START TO FALL

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Gratitude List

Crain’s asked readers what they were thankful for and what they learned about themselves and others during the lockdown. Here’s some of what they said.

I am grateful to the scores of my college students who checked in on me regularly during the lockdown, not just with well wishes but with genuine offers of assistance to me and to their classmates or families needing help. There is a lot of talk about how today’s college ‘kids’ don’t measure up to previous generations—I’ve been guilty of such grumblings once or twice myself out of frustration—but witnessing how 99.9% of my students handled the massive disruption to their studies and their lives, and how quickly they adapted, gives me great hope for better, brighter days ahead.”

— Marco DeSena, lecturer, Baruch College, City University of New York

“I AM A SENIOR WHO LIVES ALONE. I AM GRATEFUL FOR MY LITTLE TORTOISE, WHOM I CAN HOLD AND CARE FOR AND WHOSE ANTICS ENTERTAIN ME. HE GIVES ME COMPANIONSHIP AND A CHANCE TO TOUCH A LIVING BEING WITHOUT FEAR OF GETTING SICK.” — Leona

“GRATEFUL FOR THE KINDNESS OF A NEIGHBOR WHO DELIVERED AND LEFT FRESH EGGS FROM HER HENS.” — Fran Gardner

I am grateful for my health. I did not catch the coronavirus, but I had some serious medical needs in the last five months. NYU Langone Medical Center closed surgeries just before I was to have a stone removed from my kidney. I also had problems with my feet. Langone literally protected me from getting the virus. They made numerous exceptions to see me in off-hours.

And yesterday, after several months, the procedure was complete, bringing an end to all of this. I saw in action our first responders pay attention to those in our community.”

— Barre Flynn, business manager, Onyx Healthcare Solutions

During Covid-19, I have—like most people—been working from home. Every day I spend an hour either jogging or bicycling around my town, Greenburgh, New York. I have cycled or biked on streets that I never appreciated before. I enjoy the landscaping, trees, flowers, architecture and beauty of the community more than I ever did. I even appreciate the deer and wildlife I encounter. I look forward to my daily hour of cyclingjogging, and after three months I keep looking for new streets to explore.”

— Paul Feiner, Greenburgh town supervisor

I’m in recovery for over 33 years, and the topic of gratitude is certainly my favorite. From the time I entered recovery, it was always important for me to have a gratitude list. My list always begins with: ‘I’m grateful to be alive. I’m grateful to be clean and sober.

And I’m grateful for my family, my friends, my career and my music.’ ” — Peter N.

I have been grateful for the gift of time to connect with family and friends (virtually and by telephone). I set up happyhour dates with friends and colleagues that I had not spoken to in several years. I am grateful for the time to take two courses online, one offered by Yale and another by Johns Hopkins. I am grateful for the time to read and to meditate and exercise daily. I have been conscious about using this time constructively as I am not sure when I will have two and a half months off from work again.”

— Michele August

I am grateful that University Settlement’s adult literacy program stepped up quickly to move our English as a Second Language students from the physical classroom to the virtual classroom. In addition, recognizing the added work that would be involved, they increased our pay hours slightly. I am grateful that my class of low-intermediate students have stayed the course, despite losing their jobs and having to deal with homeschooling their children.”

— Lynne Hayden-Findlay

“I AM THANKFUL FOR EVERY NEW YORKER WHO STAYED ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS CRISIS, SUPPORTING LOCAL MERCHANTS AND KEEPING A CORE COMMUNITY ALIVE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. WHETHER YOU’VE BEEN IN THE CITY YOUR WHOLE LIFE OR JUST GOT HERE, IF YOU STAYED, YOU NOW HAVE THE ‘REAL NEW YORKER 2020’ BADGE, AND NO ONE WILL EVER DOUBT YOUR LOVE OF THIS CITY.”

— Nicholas Colas

I have more respect and admiration for my autistic son, Matthew. My husband and I have had the task of teaching him about our world and the best ways to communicate, understand and participate in all our daily activities. I always knew that he worked hard, but I never really understood the fortitude and patience he devotes to being a part of ‘our world.’ He is an inspiration!”

— Claudia

“I AM GRATEFUL THAT WHEN I ASKED PEOPLE VIA SOCIAL MEDIA TO SEND PUZZLES AND WORD GAMES TO OUR HOMEBOUND TENANTS, I HAD BOXES IN MY OFFICE THE NEXT DAY. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THEIR KINDNESS IN THE TIME OF QUARANTINE.” — Wilson Kimball, president and CEO, Yonkers’ Municipal Housing Authority

I am grateful for the Visions staff, that they trust enough to share their feelings honestly about systemic racism, the senseless murder of Black people and the deep hurt and despair over the lives lost from Covid-19 of so many people of color. [We have] a diverse staff representing people of color, people with disabilities and LGBTQ people, [and] we live in a world filled with discrimination. I am grateful that we can work together to create a better, fairer and safer world.”

— Nancy D. Miller, executive director and CEO, Visions/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Job sites and workplaces of the future with Lehrer Cumming

A

s New York City continues Phase 1 of reopening, the design, construction and development industries are mapping out how the future workplace will look and how buildings, regardless of their age, will need to change. To gather greater insight, Crain’s Content Studio spoke with Gavin Middleton, chief operating officer at Lehrer Cumming, which advises owners planning or already involved in large-scale construction projects. It focuses on new building construction, major adaptive reuse and complex developments. Middleton is a design and construction executive with 25 years’ experience in North America, the Caribbean and Europe. His expertise is in managing logistically complex mixed-use programs from inception to final delivery and closeout.

Lehrer Cumming has 120 team members across five offices, working on behalf of clients undertaking more than $25 billion worth of construction in the academic, cultural, commercial, residential and health care fields, as well as in the hospitality, retail and infrastructure sectors.

It is a division of Cumming, a global project management and cost-consulting company.

CRAIN’S: Projects that were shut down or slowed in the spring are now open again. How have the initial days of reopening gone so far?

GAVIN MIDDLETON: I think all of us who participate in New York construction have been both encouraged and heartened by what we have seen in these first few days back. The trades have shown a deep desire to return to work and abide by the new return-to-work plans that have been put in place by general contractors.

Construction managers have been responsive to the guidelines provided by

protocols and wellness checks are being diligently enforced on all the jobs I have visited.

New York City has responded positively, and there is a strong back-to-work push across job sites.

One thing we are learning here is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution: Each construction site or work environment is affected very differently, depending on the logistics of the job, and all participants need to continue to work together to find unique solutions.

While there is a natural and understandable wariness to resuming work during a pandemic, New York City’s

“WE ARE ENCOURAGED BY THE DAILY NUMBER OF TRADESPEOPLE BACK AT WORK AND PERFORMING AT HIGH PRODUCTIVITY LEVELS.” state and city agencies and have carefully considered what a safe and efficient work environment should look like for this return. The high level of energy has been very noticeable on the job sites I have visited during the past few days, and we are encouraged by the daily number of tradespeople back at work and performing at high productivity levels even as they learn an adapted way of working. The numerous initiatives, including staggered starts in the morning, have greatly improved the safe vertical movement of workers and materials on our high-rise projects. Additional hygiene

construction and development industries have stepped up across the board to deliver job-site environments that make workers feel confident returning to work.

CRAIN’S: What changes need to be made to buildings in the city to make traditional high-touch areas in office environments safer for employees?

MIDDLETON: Concern around high-touch areas and communal office items are a huge talking point in the industry on a national level, not just here. Lobbies, bathrooms, office kitchens and elevators are being

targeted to be as hands-free as possible.

We have numerous projects that are in the process of upgrading entry doors, security check-in screening, elevator operation, security turnstiles and card readers.

New technology that uses facial recognition is being installed to help cut additional contamination possibilities and touchpoints.

Bathrooms are being overhauled, especially in older buildings, throughout the city. Fixtures, bathroom stalls, soap dispensers, entry doors and hand-drying areas are being modernized to become hands-free.

CRAIN’S: Given the current financial uncertainties, what should owners be thinking about if they are contemplating construction projects?

MIDDLETON: If construction slows, there will be enormous opportunities to secure better pricing. Quality subcontractors in most key trades are looking for a 2021 backlog and beyond, so owners will have opportunities to assemble top-tier teams for their projects. We also are seeing a growing interest at all levels of the general contracting community for new projects. Key executives, superintendents and project managers are going to be available on the general contractor-construction manager side of the industry, and these highly regarded teams consistently deliver successful projects, which present a real value

Gavin Middleton, chief operating officer at Lehrer Cumming

proposition for owners who can advance work during this period of uncertainty.

We also will continue to see the consistent advancement of additional prefabrication for many components of the job off-site, in factory

and shop environments. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing trades are showing great creativity in this regard, and while the off-site shift was already underway before the Covid-19 pandemic, it will only accelerate, given today’s unique circumstances.

TRUSTED ADVISORS OW N E R A DV I S O RY, CO ST CO N S U LT I N G A N D P R OJ E CT M A N AG E M E N T S E RV I C E S

I NQ U I R E NOW

V A L U E . I N T E G R I T Y . R E S U LT S .

NEXT N E W YO R K

Scenes from the pandemic

Photographs by Buck Ennis

28 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section To place your listing, visit crainsnewyork.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

CONSTRUCTION

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FINANCIAL SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Clune Construction

Clune Construction

Clune Construction

Dime Community Bank

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Jake Tozour has recently been promoted to Vice President, Senior Project Manager at Clune Construction. Jake is involved in all phases of the project, from pre-construction through project close-out, and has trained staff to be capable and client-focused. Jake has been at the forefront of developing and growing the Banking and Healthcare divisions in New York.

Jessica Doyle has been named Vice President, Regional Marketing – New York at Clune Construction.

With 11 years of marketing experience in the AEC industry, Jessica is the leader of Clune’s marketing efforts within the New York region. In addition to her marketing experience, she also has a background in photography and architecture.

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from New York University, and a Master of Architecture from Boston Architectural College.

Clune Construction is happy announce that Mike Garafola has been promoted to Vice President, Senior Superintendent. Mike has 25 years of construction industry experience, and played a key role in establishing Clune’s New York Mission Critical team.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology. Mike holds several professional certifications including the OSHA 10 Hour and 30 Hour, 4 Hour Scaffold Certification, and Electrical Safety Certificate.

Stuart “Stu” H. Lubow has been promoted to President of parent company Dime Community Bancshares, Inc., and Dime Community Bank. In his new role, Mr. Lubow, previously Chief Banking Officer with responsibility for the Business Banking division, will add reporting responsibilities for Retail Banking, Information Technology, Operations, and Marketing. Mr. Lubow has been a banking executive for over 40 years.

John Romano has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Officer of parent company Dime Community Bancshares, Inc., and Dime Community Bank.

In his new role, Mr. Romano will continue with responsibility for Business Banking and add reporting responsibilities for Retail Banking, Municipal Deposits, Operations and Support Department (OSD) and Facilities. John joined Dime in October 2017 as Senior Vice President, Business Banking with extensive community banking experience.

HEALTH CARE

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Gorman Health Group

Transit Wireless

Kate Rollins, MSN, RN, has been named GHG’s Senior Vice President of Population Health & Clinical Innovations, where she will lead efforts to help clients improve clinical outcomes & quality while lowering costs. Kate is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with expertise in oncology, infectious diseases & a focus on caring for vulnerable populations. She has 20+ years of experience in clinical strategy development, program development, implementation, operations & performance management/evaluation.

Transit Wireless, a leading 5G neutral host fiber infrastructure company, announced that Julia Hanft has joined the company as general counsel. She will report directly to Melinda White, chief executive officer of Transit Wireless. Ms. Hanft will lead the legal organization and serve as corporate secretary to the Transit Wireless Members Committee.

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ANNOUNCE

YOUR BIG NEWS IN CRAIN’S!

Crain’s People on the Move showcases industry achievers and their companies to the New York business community.

For more information, contact Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com or submit directly to Crainsnewyork.com/people-on-the-move

Advertising Section

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

30 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | JUNE 29, 2020

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CLASSIFIEDS PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Qualification of CITIPACE HOLDINGS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/14/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/14/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, c/o Pinta Capital Partners, 485 Madison Ave. #202, NY, NY 10022. DE addr. of LLC: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of HEADY CREEK, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/20. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 182 E 75th St., NY, NY 10021. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

FOREX NURSERY LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/20/2020.

Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Corporate Filings of NY, 90 State St., Ste 700, Office 40, Albany, NY 12207.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Advertising Section

To place a classified ad, Call 212-210-0189 or Email: jbarbieri@crainsnewyork.com

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Data Engineer (Citadel Americas LLC – New York, NY) Crdinat the dsgn, dvlpmnt & maintnnc of cmplx data ingstn prcsses & data prdcts that assist in the invstmnt rsrch prcss. F/T. 5HTV 0VWU¡V GHJ RU IUJQ HTYOQW LQ CompSci, Eng, Physics, Math, Stat, (FRQ RU UHO à G (GX WUDLQ¡J RU H[S PVW LQFO à OZ¡J VIWZU HQJ SUIUP¡J GDWD PLQ¡J WUQVIUPWQ DV ZHOO DV :HE GDWD H[WUFWQ V\VW GVJQ LQFO WUQVOW¡J EXV UHTV LQWR V\VW IQFWQOLWV EOG¡J FOHDU XVU LQWUIDFV SUJUP¡J LQ 3\WKRQ GDWD VWUFWUV DOJUWKPV FRPS DUFKWFWU ELJ GDWD SUFVV¡J FORXG WHFK LQFO 6SDUN +DGRRS $:6 6 GDWDEDVH GYOSPQW LQ 06 64/ 6HUYHU +3 9HUWLFD 6QRZà DNH RU 0RQJR'% 5HVXPHV &LWDGHO $PHULFDV //& $WWQ (5 /( 6 'HDUERUQ 6W QG )O &KLFDJR ,/ -RE ,'

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PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Formation of PAB Special, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/18/19.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: the Company, 163 W. 74th St., NY, NY 10023. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of JDB Special, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/18/19.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: the Company, 163 W. 74th St., NY, NY 10023. Purpose: any lawful activities.

ANNOUNCING

THE NEW AND IMPROVED

Notice of Formation of MBB Holdings, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/17/20.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 400 E. 56th St., Apt. 11L, NY, NY 10022. Purpose: any lawful activities.

FORECLOSURE SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS IN TAX LIEN FORECLOSURE–SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF NEW YORK – NYCTL 2018-A TRUST, and THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON as Collateral Agent and Custodian for the NYCTL 2018-A Trust, Plaintiffs, TAHIR, et. al., Defendants. Index No. 153231/19. To the above named Defendants –YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action within twenty days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service or within thirty days after service is completed if the summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. Plaintiffs designate New York County as the place of trial. Venue is based upon the county in which the property a lien upon which is being foreclosed is situated. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an order of the Hon. Lucy Billings, J.S.C., entered on February 27, 2020. The object of this action is to foreclose a tax lien covering the premises located at Block 1010 Lot 1637 on the Tax Map of New York County and is also known as 157 West 57th Street, Unit 46B, New York, New York.

Dated: February 27, 2020

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