Crain's New York Business

ASKED & ANSWERED Piermont chief on how banks are working with landlords PAGE 7

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MARCH 29, 2021

FALL FROM GRACE The story behind the drama at Melrose Credit Union PAGE 3

HEALTH CARE REPORT

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Despite theories about widespread hesitancy to take the Covid-19 vaccine, experts say the city is moving steadily toward herd immunity

BY SHUAN SIM

J

ust the other day, Barbara Felker had to troubleshoot an outreach effort to help seniors sign up for a Covid-19 vaccine.

“We were given a new link to distribute to seniors in this housing complex, and it asked for their mother’s maiden name,” said Felker, vice president of strategic community partnerships at Northwell Health. “There were some who could not remember, and because of that they couldn’t proceed with the process.

BUCK ENNIS

FELKER (left) talking to members of Memorial Presbyterian Church about the importance of getting vaccinated

See IMMUNITY on page 14

HOSPITALITY

Restaurants, tourism prep for a spring awakening An April 1 end to the state’s quarantine rule could bring back domestic travelers

BY CARA EISENPRESS

NEWSPAPER

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ometimes travelers considering coming to the Lotte New York Palace call general manager Rebecca Hubbard to talk about their trip.

“When can I come see you?” they ask, followed by: “When can we do the fun things?”

© 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC.

It’s only recently, Hubbard said, that she has been answering, “Soon.”

“Soon” is just around the corner, thanks to an April 1 end to New York’s quarantine rule for domestic travelers, an ever-larger population of vaccinated Americans, warmer

weather and a meaningful easing of regulations on restaurants and arts venues.

The optimism is tempered by the knowledge that the momentum is still slow compared to the scope of the overall recovery, and whatever steps taken to bring visitors and

employees back are both incremental and experimental.

Occupancy at New York City’s hotels for the week ended March 20 was 51%, down from 87% for the comparable week in 2019, See TOURISM on page 22

GOTHAM GIGS

THE LIST

PAGE 23

PAGE 11

NONPROFIT CEO WORKS WITH HOMELESS AND ABUSE VICTIMS

The area’s largest health care nonprofits 3/26/21 6:13 PM

Paving the Way for Generations to Come Morgan Stanley proudly congratulates our colleagues Tracy Castle-Newman, Elizabeth Dennis, Cindy Dishmey Montgomery, Lisa Golia, Susan Huang, Lisa Shalett and all of the other outstanding honorees named to Crain’s 2021 list of Notable Women on Wall Street.

Tracy Castle-Newman

Elizabeth Dennis

Cindy Dishmey Montgomery

Lisa Golia

Susan Huang

Lisa Shalett

© 2021 Morgan Stanley.

CRC 3500964 03/21 CS 9997456 03/21

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3/25/21 10:29 AM JOB INFORMATION

SPECIFICATIONS

NOTES

ISTOCK, LINKEDIN

TRANSPORTATION

KAUFMAN

NEMEROFF

THE RISE AND FALL OF A TAXI KINGDOM How high school chums and fellow Dead Heads fell out when the medallion market tanked

BY AARON ELSTEIN

I

n October 2015 Robert Nemeroff became a casualty of New York’s crashing taxi industry. After 22 years as marketing director at Melrose Credit Union, the most important lender to cab owners in the city, two executives took him aside and said he was terminated.

“My department wasn’t affordable,” Nemeroff recalled them telling him.

The news stung more because it hadn’t been delivered by Melrose’s chief executive, Alan Kaufman, whom Nemeroff had

known growing up in Merrick on Long Island. Nemeroff and his older brother played basketball with the future CEO in their houses’ driveways, went to JFK High School in Bellmore with him and traveled together around the Northeast while in college to see the Grateful Dead. As adults they attended each other’s family bar mitzvahs, weddings and funerals.

But in recent years Nemeroff and Kaufman had feuded.

They clashed over the decision in 2011 to spend credit union members’ money on the naming rights to the Melrose Ballroom in Astoria, which was owned by a big client who provided rent-free housing to Kaufman.

Perhaps in retaliation, Melrose filed a suspicious-activity report with banking regulators after Nemeroff withdrew about $60,000 from his account in the year before he was let go.

As a human resources worker showed him the door, Nemeroff asked Kaufman why he was being fired.

“His response was, ‘There is nothing I can do about it,’ ” Nemeroff said.

But Nemeroff decided there was something he could do to Kaufman.

See CREDIT on page 22 MARCH 29, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3

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POLITICS

Over 250 city business leaders slam Albany’s plans for higher taxes

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ore than 250 New York CEOs and presidents signed a letter sponsored by the Partnership for New York City, challenging the need for higher taxes in the state.

“The American Rescue Plan, for which most of us advocated, is providing $1.9 trillion in federal funding to eliminate the need for new state and local taxes this year,” the letter reads. “We believe the current budget proposals will jeopardize New York’s recovery from the economic crisis inflicted by Covid-19.”

Signatories include CEOs Howard Lutnick of Cantor Fitzgerald, Roger Lynch of Condé Nast and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group.

makes New York the greatest city in the world,” the letter reads.

The missive’s release comes after the state Legislature said it would aim roughly $7 billion in tax increases at the wealthiest New Yorkers through a variety of measures: higher income taxes, higher capital gains taxes, a second-homes real estate levy and a corporate surcharge.

“Taxing the rich has become a way to redistribute wealth. It’s a fight against income inequality, not the Covid deficit,” said Kathryn Wylde, chief executive of the Partnership for New York City. “The Covid deficit has been filled by the federal government and by better-than-expected tax revenues.”

The federal government is providing $12.5 billion to the state government. The Citizens Budget Commission has estimated that the state will run a $5.9 billion surplus during the next two fiscal years.

The state budget proposed by the Legislature looks to spend $208.3 billion in the next fiscal year, an increase of nearly 18% from the $177 billion this year.

SCHWARZMAN

ship in Albany, with some political experts saying his sexual harassment scandal leaves open the opportunity for the Legislature to raise taxes. The governor has rejected the need to impose a greater tax burden on the wealthiest New Yorkers.

“You have all these new legislators, a number elected with democratic socialist support, who are trying to demonstrate their political bona fides to the left because their job security depends on it,” Wylde said.

But the business community’s stance is not monolithic. A recent Crain’s poll of more than 300

“THESE NEW TAXES MAY TRIGGER A MAJOR LOSS OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY” Schwarzman recently made headlines for pulling in $610 million in compensation last year.

“Significant corporate and individual tax increases will make it far more difficult to restart the economic engine and reassemble the deep and diverse talent pool that

tions to where the talent wants to live and work,” the letter reads.

“This is what happened to New York during the 1970s, when we lost half our Fortune 500 companies, and it took 30 years to recover.”

The letter references the economic situation New York finds itself in due to the pandemic: Much of Manhattan’s office space remains unoccupied, and a majority of employees who used to work in the city now work from home. Some of those homes are not even in the state.

“Many members of our workforce have resettled their families in other locations, generally with far lower taxes than New York,” the executives said. “The proposed tax increases will make it harder to get them to return.”

BUCK ENNIS

BY BRIAN PASCUS

Leadership vacuum Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s troubles have created a vacuum of leader-

small-business owners and executives found that 43% favored a millionaires tax imposed by Albany to help pay for the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

That isn’t stopping CEOs from predicting doomsday outcomes from tax hikes, however. The letter cited the need to avoid creating an economic downturn through higher taxes. It said that would spark urban flight and hamper the city’s growth as happened in the 1970s.

“Ultimately, these new taxes may trigger a major loss of economic activity and revenues, as companies are pressured to relocate opera-

‘Going to leave’ The executives closed their appeal by noting that the relationship between government and business is necessary for the economy to grow. The assumption that Albany will leave well enough alone for the sake of the business community is increasingly unlikely with each day the state moves closer to a new budget agreement, the letter acknowledges.

“They’re going to leave,” Wylde said, speaking for the business community. “All they have to do is cross the border into Connecticut.” ■

SEEKING NOMINATIONS

REAL ESTATE

Real estate worried about co-op tax hike, but legislator says move was unintended

S

everal real estate groups are concerned that a new tax in budget proposals from the Assembly and the state Senate will increase costs on co-op owners. But state Sen. Liz Krueger has framed the effects as accidental and said the Legislature does not plan to raise taxes on the properties.

A state tax on cooperatives was set to expire this year, but the Legislature is instead aiming to increase it, according to multiple real estate organizations. The Assembly bill

als say. Both would be significantly higher than the 2020 tax rates and change the state’s previous plan to reset the tax rate to zero this year, according to the legislation.

“It’s so frustrating because New York no longer has a budget deficit thanks to President [Joe] Biden,” said Stuart Saft of the NYC Homeowners Coalition. “Using our calculations for what this is going to mean for an 80-unit co-op on the Upper West Side, it would increase annual maintenance charges by $750 to $900 per apartment.”

The Real Estate Board of New York also calculated that a 375-unit cooperative in Bayside would have an added tax burden of $40,000 to $48,000, leading to annual maintenance increases between $105 and $125 per unit, while a 30-unit cooperative on the Upper East Side would have an additional burden of about $55,000,

“NOBODY IS PURSUING IT, SO I DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE NEEDS TO BE CONCERNED” would make the tax rate for cooperative housing corporations 0.15% for 2021, while the Senate bill would make it 0.125%, the budget propos-

THE LUNA PARK COOPERATIVE

would advance an effort to significant[ly] raise taxes on co-ops across New York.”

A misunderstanding

APARTMENTS>COM

BY EDDIE SMALL

leading to maintenance increases of about $1,800 per unit.

“There is widespread agreement that the Biden stimulus plan has addressed state and city fiscal needs,” REBNY President Jim Whelan said. “Given the overriding priority to revive New York’s economy by stimulating economic activity and creating jobs and new housing, it is perplexing that state lawmakers

But Krueger, who heads the state Senate’s finance committee, downplayed that concern. She described any potential tax increase on cooperatives as an inadvertent byproduct of the budget process that the Legislature does not intend to pursue.

“I will tell you that none of us actually understood this was caught up in the corporate franchise tax that we were changing, and so this was an unintended consequence,” the Manhattan lawmaker said. “Nobody is pursuing it, so I do not believe anyone needs to be concerned that we are actually going to increase the capital base tax.” ■ Brian Pascus contributed to this report.

DEADLINE TO NOMINATE: APRIL 2 Is your company a top-notch place to work? Tell us what makes it stand out! Crain’s Best Places to Work in NYC awards program recognizes and honors the city employers that show a dedication to their employees’ growth and quality of life. Don’t miss out—this is your opportunity to join the ranks of New York City’s most outstanding companies!

Nominate now: CrainsNewYork.com/ nominations

Vol. 37, No. 12, March 29, 2021—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.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, PO Box 433279, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9681. For subscriber service: call 877-824-9379; fax 313-446-6777. $3.00 a copy; $129.00 per year. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2021 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

4 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

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FOOD & BEVERAGE

BY AARON ELSTEIN

F

or grocers, the hopefully waning days of the pandemic are bittersweet.

Many supermarkets are coming off the best 12 months they ever had, as lengthy lockdowns compelled committed restaurant-goers to learn the joys of cooking. With eateries reopening, items that used to fly off the shelves are starting to linger longer.

“We’ve seen demand slow,” confirmed Gus Lebiak, president and chief operating officer of Krasdale Foods, a wholesaler that supplies West Side Markets on the Upper West Side and C-Town and Bravo

week ended March 7. Frozen vegetables were down 11%, and cold cereal, 8%.

“Rapidly decelerating consumption” is how Evercore ISI analyst David Palmer put it in a recent report, saying Conagra and New Jersey–based B&G Foods were seeing slowdowns in sales.

Boroughs stock up A year ago supermarket shelves were picked clean as panicked shoppers stocked up on toilet paper, dried beans and other staples.

The frenzy abated after a few months, but shoppers kept returning because dining out was impractical if not impossible.

Village Super Market, owner of ShopRite, Fairway and Gourmet Garage, reported a 6.5% jump in the fourth quarter at the same stores, compared with just 0.1% in the same period before Covid-19.

Lebiak said some of the markets stocked by his company enjoyed 8% increases in sales.

“Our stores adapted quickly and captured new customers,” he said.

The phenomenon seems to have

“OUR STORES ADAPTED QUICKLY AND CAPTURED NEW CUSTOMERS” markets all over the city. “Things are going back to normal. I understand people are hungry for a restaurant.”

Items shoppers aren’t quite so ravenous for include canned soup, whose sales declined by 25% in the

taken place largely in the outer boroughs, where residents are less likely to have fled to a second home. Village Super Market reported this month that sales in its Manhattan stores have been “significantly negatively impacted due primarily to residential population migration out of the city and less commuter and tourist traffic.”

The question for grocers now is how many shoppers who stayed loyal during the pandemic will stay that way as outdoor dining becomes feasible again and indoor dining rebounds. In supermarkets’ favor, a lot of stuck-athome people took up cooking. And although the lockdown introduced them to the convenience of online grocery shopping, it also exposed the limitations of the practice. It’s harder to substitute items or try

WE'RE RAISING OUR VOICES TO SAY: THANK YOU, DOCTORS

BLOOMBERG

Grocers see the ‘old normal’ return as restaurants reopen their doors

something new if it’s not right in front of you.

Spice of life Consumers also got reacquainted with products they stopped using long ago. Sales of Crisco, for instance, jumped by nearly 15% after years of decline, Evercore said. The brand, which changed its formula after Mayor Michael Bloomberg

banned trans fats, was acquired last year by B&G from J.M. Smucker for $550 million.

Sales for some food categories remain strong, including snacks and sweets. Spices turn over faster than before, a sign of people perhaps broadening their culinary horizons.

“I think sales are up 10% for spices,” Lebiak said. “There is more or less constant demand for them.” ■

NATIONAL DOCTORS' DAY IS MARCH 30 To the more than 14,200 Northwell doctors who have tirelessly dedicated themselves to treating, protecting and being there for New Yorkers, not just this past year, but always. We thank you wholeheartedly.

Along with our entire frontline staff, you continue to do the important work of ushering in a new tomorrow and raising our sights to brighter days ahead.

Michael J. Dowling President & Chief Executive Officer

MARCH 29, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 5

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Northwell_w580809_Doctor’s Day_2021_Print Ad_Crain’s New York Business_10.25x7 Size: 10.25” x 7”, HP Publication: Crain’s New York Business

3/26/21 5:24 PM

IN THE MARKETS

ABM cleaners to be more visible as return of office workers ramps up

Janitorial services company reports record quarterly earnings, with shares at an all-time high

“PEOPLE WANT TO SEE OUR STAFF AROUND THE OFFICE NOW. IT’S GOOD OPTICS”

BLOOMBERG

A

BM Industries is cleaning around the office now,” Chief Executive Scott Salmirs said. “It’s good up by, well, cleaning up.

To the degree you know optics.”

He hopes to translate those anything about ABM, it’s probably from its blue-uniformed optics into making ABM a better business. staffers who hauled mops and buckets around the Upside of anxiety office, signaling it was time for you to head home The Manhattan-based for the night. company, which serves It turns out that having 100 Manhattan offices people work from home is and New York’s three area terrible for office owners, airports, had $6 billion in but it doesn’t affect the revenue last year. But lives of office cleaners that ABM’s is a low-margin, much. Offices have to be labor-intensive business. kept clean even if almost AARON ELSTEIN Before the pandemic, nobody is working in operating margins were them. And if people are ever going 3%, and last year they were half to return in large numbers, they’ll that. Salmirs’ goal is to take all the need to be convinced they aren’t ambient anxiety about office safety risking their health by touching and channel it so landlords pay a their desk. premium for an essential service For those reasons, ABM, the larg- that in pre-Covid days nobody thought much about.

Last month the company launched its first national advertising campaign, reminding CNBC and Bloomberg viewers that it est janitorial services company in cleans schools, airports and offices. the nation, recently reported record “ABM: Making spaces healthier for quarterly earnings, and its shares you,” it says.

That’s a compelling pitch, but are at all-time high.

“People want to see our staff nobody knows how elevated public

sensitivity to health and hygiene will remain after the pandemic.

There is pent-up demand to burn our masks and get on with things.

Weathering the storm It took three years after 9/11 for air-passenger traffic to recover, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Maybe that is instructive here.

Three years sounds long for landlords and employers trying to get workers back into office buildings.

But it also suggests ABM has time to build a national brand and take advantage of weathering the storm better than many of the businesses it serves. Its 10% decline in revenue last year was nothing like the hit taken by airlines, concert arenas or New York’s big office landlords.

ABM is planning for New York office workers to return to their desk in large numbers in September, depending on how the vaccine rollout goes. When New Yorkers do return to the office, they can expect ABM staff will be visible throughout the day to demonstrate employers care about worker safety.

“What we do is not discretionary,” Salmirs said. ■

REAL ESTATE

Brooklyn investor scoops up three properties in West Harlem for $11 million “HE’S OUT BUYING RENTSTABILIZED BUILDINGS AT A GOOD CAP RATE”

BY EDDIE SMALL

A

limited-liability company linked to Brooklyn investor Howard Hershkovich has purchased three residential buildings in West Harlem for $11 million, property records show.

The firm, listed as HF Morningside LLC, bought 362 and 370 W. 116th St. and 353 W. 115th St. from an entity tied to Hirth Real Estate, according to property records. The three sites are located steps away from one another between Morningside and Manhattan avenues.

The buildings include 64 residential units overall, with 42 at 362 W. 116th St., 12 at 370 W. 116th St. and 10 at the 115th Street location, according to the city. All three properties are 5 stories tall.

Changing regulations?

Hershkovich also recently purchased a five-building, 113-unit real estate portfolio in Far Rockaway, Queens, for $25 million, according to city records. Alpha

not be reached for comment.

Investment sales

362 W. 116TH ST.

Realty Managing Principal Lev Mavashev brokered that deal.

Although Mavashev did not broker the West Harlem deal for Hershkovich, he said the entire Far Rockaway portfolio was rent-

stabilized, and the West Harlem portfolio was largely rent-stabilized as well. Hershkovich is buying the buildings with an eye on the strict regulations around rent-stabilized properties potentially changing in

the future, Mavashev said.

“He’s out buying rent-stabilized buildings,” he said. “He’s buying them at a good cap rate, and it’s a long-term hold.”

Representatives for Hirth could

The past year was an extremely slow one for the city’s investment sales amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but sales volume and transactions were both higher in January compared with January 2020, according to reports from the Real Estate Board of New York. Recent investment sales have included Life Storage’s roughly $36.4 million purchase of the self-storage site at 134-31 Montauk St. in Jamaica and EJS Development’s roughly $32 million purchase of three Upper East Side properties. ■

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ASKED & ANSWERED DOSSIER

INTERVIEW BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

WHO SHE IS Founder and chief executive, Piermont Bank

I

n 2019, before she could possibly know that the world would soon have to pivot away from in-person interactions and toward digital connections, Piermont Bank founder Wendy Cai-Lee set out to open a digital-first financial institution. With the commercial real estate industry turned on its head, the rush of clients looking for financing at smaller banks like Piermont has been good for business.

What was it like to open a bank during a pandemic?

Jokingly, I said to my board and my shareholders, “Well, at least I know that my management team has done very well, because if we can build a bank in the middle of a pandemic, I don’t think we need to go pitch our ability to execute.” I repeatedly tell my team that if nothing else, the pandemic taught us as an institution the need to stay agile, the need to pivot, the need to move fast.

Are customers moving away from larger banks to smaller ones?

Most of our clients actually come from the larger banks.

When it comes time in a situation like this, their clients realize that they don’t get the service, they don’t get the call, they don’t get the attention. When things are going well, it’s easier to overlook that.

What types of projects have you paid the most interest as a real estate lender in the past year?

I’m not sure anybody had any strong appetite for

AGE 46 EDUCATION Bachelor’s in economics, Rutgers University ORIGINALLY FROM Cai-Lee immigrated to the U.S. from her native Shanghai, China, when she was 11.

RESIDES Bergen County, N.J. DO-GOODER Cai-Lee received the Award for the Health and Dignity of Women from the United Nations Population Fund in 2007. She spent over a decade chairing its board and supported its programs in more than 150 countries, with heavy efforts in war-ravaged communities.

BOOK LOVER Her dream is to open a bespoke bookstore with a special reading club for preschool children. She also marks all her books with a personalized stamp. When she lends them to friends, she always expects them back.

ground-up construction loans in the last 12 or 14 months. With that said, we saw a ton of projects coming off construction, meaning they were just getting done and looking for that two-year bridge loan. So we saw a ton of volume in that

space. We saw a lot of activities by existing banks restructuring the loans. That’s why you’re not seeing a lot of nonperforming assets showing up in the marketplace.

Are lenders working with landlords to deal with the distress in the market?

For existing loans that are coming up on maturity, banks were all very proactive in restructuring them. This crisis wasn’t a financial services crisis, unlike 2008 and 2009—that was a bank liquidity crisis. Banks are all sitting on a ton of liquidity, so there was no reason not to find all sorts of ways to support customers. It’s not a true financial crisis in a self-inflicted way. They’re hoping that there will be an answer to this, and as long as they’re strong enough, they said, “We’ll wait it out.”

Why are banks slow to repossess properties?

I always remind people that banks are banks.

They’re not in the business of being a real estate owner. Everybody thinks that banks are quick to take property back, but I’m always shaking my head. No, no, no. We are here to lend you money. That’s how we make money. We don’t make money if we have to take property back.

What projects are you comfortable financing right now?

We’re trying to get comfortable with retail in certain neighborhoods. We as a bank have always been comfortable with industrial. And with how things have pivoted to e-commerce, there’s a lot of opportunity. And especially in the New York area, there’s a shortage of warehouses that are actually available. ■

BUCK ENNIS

WENDY CAI-LEE Piermont Bank

WHO’S NEXT ON THE LIST? Crain’s New York Business will single out 20 up-and-coming professionals who haven’t turned 30 yet. While their names might not be top of mind and they likely haven’t made their first million yet, there’s no denying these young professionals are making a mark on Metro New York.

NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN! DEADLINE TO NOMINATE: April 30 2021

NOMINATE TODAY: CrainsNewYork.com/nominations

2021

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chief executive officer K.C. Crain senior executive vice president Chris Crain

EDITORIAL

group publisher Jim Kirk publisher/executive editor

As the city looks to lure back visitors, it’s not the right time for congestion pricing

Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. EDITORIAL editor Robert Hordt assistant managing editors Telisha Bryan,

Janon Fisher

N

one anytime soon.

As the city seeks to rebound economically from the devastation of the pandemic, it will need to attract anyone who is willing to come in and spend some time shopping and dining. It may be a while before hotels are once again packed with European and Asian tourists, so in the meantime, it should be a priority to beckon back our friends in Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as New Jersey and Connecticut. Part of doing this means acknowledging that they might be more comfortable driving in for the day.

That is why the Biden administration’s effort to fast-track the city’s congestion-pricing plan, which would charge drivers to use the city’s busiest THE CITY SHOULD BE GREETING streets, is not a good idea MUCH-NEEDED VISITORS WITH right now.

OPEN ARMS—AND OPEN ROADS With restaurants struggling to fill tables even at limited area more accustomed to sticking capacity and Broadway theaters, a close to home to find entertainmajor tourism driver, still closed, ment. And there are some in the the city should not be dissuading outer boroughs and suburbs who visitors who might be ready for an have not been on a train since the excursion to Central Park or the first lockdowns began and, Museum of Modern Art. If those frankly, have no desire to experivisitors prefer to drive because ence the novelty of crowding into

associate editor Lizeth Beltran

ew York winters can be especially dark, dreary and depressing—and that’s even without a global pandemic. So it’s no wonder that every spring, city residents and their suburban neighbors begin eagerly hunting for excuses to get out of the house. In normal years, people throughout the tristate area would flock to the city to see a play, pop into stores in SoHo or have a drink on a rooftop. Many of them might land in Midtown after taking a commuter train to Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station, then ride the subway uptown and down.

But the past 12 months have not been normal, to say the least.

Covid-19 has made many in our

art director Carolyn McClain photographer Buck Ennis senior reporters Cara Eisenpress,

Aaron Elstein, Eddie Small reporters Ryan Deffenbaugh, Maya Kaufman,

Brian Pascus, Natalie Sachmechi, Shuan Sim executive assistant Devin Cavallo to contact the newsroom:

www.crainsnewyork.com/staff 212.210.0100 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-4024 ADVERTISING

www.crainsnewyork.com/advertise

BLOOMBERG

account executives Roland Espinosa,

they feel safe in their own cars— even if studies have shown that Covid-19 transmission on public transportation is low—the city might have to bite the bullet for a while.

Congestion pricing won’t happen overnight, but nor will the city’s economic recovery. Studies have shown that local car traffic is nearing prepandemic levels, and it makes sense to want to monetize that. But the city should take this as a sign that those coming

into town do indeed want to drive instead of ride the rails. Instead of giving these much-needed visitors another reason to stay home, the city should be greeting them with open arms—and open roads.

The plan doesn’t have to be taken off the table entirely. Its positive impact on the environment and the economy are clear.

But until the city is bustling with visitors again, we shouldn’t be sticklers about how they choose to get here. ■

W

people on the move manager Debora Stein,

dstein@crain.com CUSTOM CONTENT senior manager, custom content

Sophia Juarez, sophia.juarez@crainsnewyork.com EVENTS

www.crainsnewyork.com/events events and marketing manager

Michelle Sustar, mstustar@crain.com manager of conferences & events

Ana Jimenez, ajimenez@crainsnewyork REPRINTS director, reprints & licensing Lauren Melesio,

PRODUCTION

Albany should roll the dice on downstate casino licenses ith about a week left before the end of the state fiscal year, our leaders in Albany are busy debating how best to finalize the state’s budget. The $15 billion gap that they faced at the beginning of the year has shrunk significantly thanks to action in Washington, D.C., but lawmakers have nonetheless put forth a massive tax hike that would be crippling to our economy.

There’s a better way to close the remaining budget gap in a responsible way. Opening up a fair bidding process for three remaining downstate casino licenses would provide upwards of $1.5 billion in revenue while boosting our economy and encouraging tourism, generating billions of dollars annually in economic activity.

Unlike opening downstate casinos, which bring people to New York, Albany’s tax-hike proposals would encourage office workers

Laura Warren

212.210.0707, lmelesio@crain.com

OP-ED

BY JESSICA WALKER

Kelly Maier, Christine Rozmanich,

and residents who have left New York temporarily to stay away. That would be crippling to the customer base small businesses are relying on to bounce back once the Covid-19 vaccine rollout is complete.

We need patrons for our restaurants, salons, florists and retail shops to come back. We also need large companies, office workers and business travelers, who are outsize contributors to our local economy, to help bring back jobs.

Those jobs will come not by running our customers out of town but by helping to bolster the small businesses that create them.

Downstate gaming is a great way to invigorate our economy.

A recent independent study commissioned by the state that examined multiple scenarios for downstate gaming expansion found that allowing casino operators and developers to bid on three licenses to build and operate casinos in the New York metropolitan

area could easily create $3.7 billion to $4.6 billion in increased economic activity every year.

The economic activity would come from a few different sources.

According to the study, more than 1.5 million tourists from outside the region likely would visit a casino, particularly if it were in Manhattan.

All in Currently, significant money is spent by New Yorkers who visit casinos outside New York. The study estimated that by 2025 New Yorkers could be spending almost $700 million at casinos in Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Allowing downstate casinos to open could bring up to half of that money back to the state.

The opportunities created would include tens of thousands of construction jobs to develop the new facilities as well as the jobs in the casinos themselves. Other area businesses would see a boost, too,

production and pre-press director

Simone Pryce media services manager Nicole Spell SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE

www.crainsnewyork.com/subscribe

as people are drawn back to city hotels, restaurants, theaters and other businesses that have been hard hit by the pandemic.

The New York economy needs all the help it can get as we try to rebound from the pandemic.

Tourism, one of our biggest economic engines, is not expected to rebound until 2025. Casinos could help speed that up.

Our elected officials can seize the chance to boost our economy and maximize state revenue—all without counterproductive tax hikes.

Billions of dollars are at stake.

An open process that doesn’t pick winners and instead encourages as many bidders as possible to propose the best projects is the best way to invigorate our economy while also raising $1.5 billion in revenue in this year’s budget without increasing taxes.■

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CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. chairman Keith E. Crain vice chairman Mary Kay Crain chief executive officer K.C. Crain senior executive vice president Chris Crain secretary Lexie Crain Armstrong editor-in-chief emeritus Rance Crain chief financial officer Robert Recchia founder G.D. Crain Jr. [1885-1973] chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. [1911-1996]

Jessica Walker is president and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

P008_CN_20210329.indd 8

3/26/21 5:33 PM

OP-ED

BY BRET COLLAZZI, SARAH CWIKLA AND JACK ROBBINS

I

n mid-February the City Council passed the Renewable Rikers Act, setting in motion a process to transform the notorious island of jails into a hub of green infrastructure that could modernize energy, waste, and water systems for millions of New Yorkers, reduce carbon emissions and address a racist legacy of locating noxious infrastructure in communities of color.

The Renewable Rikers vision— based on a concept plan our three firms developed in 2017 for the Lippman Commission and driven by a broad coalition of advocates supported by Councilman Costa Constantinides—is the embodiment of the concept of environmental justice, a recognition that environmental degradation from both climate change and past infrastructure planning has disproportionately impacted Black and brown communities.

Renewable Rikers offers the opportunity to address all three challenges simultaneously.

The city should move quickly to take advantage of federal funding before the funds are claimed by more shovel-ready, but less shovel-worthy, projects. The city should

study the full range of green infrastructure opportunities and fasttrack those components of the Renewable Rikers vision that can be implemented even before the jails must completely vacate the island in 2027.

Peak demand After months studying the site and consulting with advocates and elected leaders, we arrived at a solution grounded in the principle of environmental justice. The plan has three primary renewable-energy elements: solar power, wastewater treatment and composting.

Solar panels covering a little more than a quarter of the island could generate enough power to serve nearly 25,000 homes and could be built in the near term, even before the jails are fully closed. Combined with large-scale battery storage, the solar facility could allow New York to shut down a dozen fossil-fuel power plants around the city. Those fossil-fuel plants—located disproportionately in communities of color—act like city-scale backup generators, meant to turn on only during periods of peak demand. In practice, though, they operate more frequently, and when they do, they emit twice the carbon dioxide and 20 times the nitrogen oxide of typi-

cal power plants, contributing to higher rates of asthma, heart disease, cancer and other ailments that impact communities of color at higher rates. Closing a dozen of the plants would free up an estimated 200 acres of land, allowing communities to take the lead in determining the best use of that land and to reap the benefits directly.

A state-of-the-art wastewater-treatment facility on Rikers could convert the energy embedded in biosolids—by-products of waste treatment—into electricity or vehicle fuel. The annual electrical energy output would be enough to power approximately 7,000 homes, annually offset more than 20 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions and annually save $60 million in costs to transport the biosolids to landfills out of state. In addition, the facility could replace four aging facilities that occupy 175 acres in the South Bronx, northern Queens, and on Randall’s Island— which could be repurposed for community-serving uses.

A modern composting facility on the island could process all the organic waste generated by households in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, converting the waste to energy and nutrient-rich soil.

Transporting the waste to Rikers by

BLOOMBERG

For an equitable and sustainable Rikers

barge would reduce truck traffic and the air pollution it creates. An energy-from-waste facility could generate enough electricity to power at least 50,000 homes. The modernized facilities and practices could save the city up to $65 million in annual operating costs.

Even with those major facilities, the island still would have room for additional supporting uses including an educational and research facility to teach the science and skills of green infrastructure and provide job training in one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. There also would be room for a center to grow food for local mar-

kets and a memorial to honor the many people who have suffered at Rikers. All told, the proposed uses would create an estimated 1,500 green jobs.

Now is the time to do the planning and secure the funds. Never has there been a better example of the entwining of equity and sustainability, and a chance to simultaneously redress past harms and invest in a better future. ■ Bret Collazzi is a principal at HR&A Advisors. Sarah Cwikla is a senior principal at Stantec. Jack Robbins is a partner and director of urban design at FXCollaborative.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Finance flees New York City, while big tech doubles down To the Editor: The recent report on declining office space in New York City (Feb. 26, “Large companies reveal a growing trend: Big declines in office space”) rightly points to some notable companies ditching their leases, but it wrongly gives the impression that all large companies are taking that course.

Big banks and financial firms might be saying no to office space, but top tech companies are clearly doing the opposite. Stated simply, the largest tech companies in the world—Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google—are expanding their footprint in the city.

In the midst of the pandemic, Facebook purchased 730,000 more square feet in Midtown. Google celebrated the topping-off of its 1.3 million-square-foot St. John’s Terminal development. Amazon announced plans to bring 2,000 employees to the former Lord & Taylor building, which it purchased for more than $1 billion last March.

And Apple nearly doubled its leased space at 11 Penn Plaza.

It’s not just a Manhattan phenomenon. Just weeks ago, Amazon inked two deals for more than 487,000 square feet of warehouse space in Red Hook.

Moreover, the newly formed Queens Tech Council—which includes the borough’s chamber of commerce, Amazon, Google, Facebook and others—should have many feeling good about the potential for growth and new business districts in overlooked neighborhoods.

Those are not small details, and any article exploring the decline of office space should also point to exceptions. The tech sector is one, and its real estate decisions show a clear commitment to New York for years to come.

JULIE SAMUELS Executive director, Tech:NYC To the Editor: Let us distill the Cuomo investigations and controversy and understand why a slim majority still supports the governor remaining in office.

For starters, I have never been a supporter of the Cuomos because they’ve been an integral part of the state’s liberal excesses.

Along with many Republicans and virtually all Democrats I know, I support Andrew Cuomo’s remaining in office, at least until the conclusion of the inquiries.

To be sure, the women’s allega-

tions concern grossly inappropriate and unethical behavior. That said, they are virtually of no legal consequence. Surely I would not want my daughter subject to same, but enhanced policies can make sure that women can say “Knock it off” without sanctions.

That leaves the nursing home– Covid response. Andrew Cuomo wanted to be a singular hero. He used some time to pen a book and revel in an Emmy.

Notwithstanding his outrageous dereliction, unless the attorney general finds specific orders from the governor—in writing or corroborated by others under penalty of perjury—this too shall pass.

The collective fear of those like me revolves around the leftists— the “progressives,” who are out to reduce our lives, educational systems, universities, housing and everything else to “wokeness,” racial “bean-counting” and mass, punitive taxation.

There being, at present, no alternative, it is in the best interest of the taxpayers of this city and state that Andrew Cuomo complete his term of office.

JEFFREY WIESENFELD Great Neck, N.Y.

Redefining what you should expect from your accountant. grassicpas.com

Write us: Crain’s welcomes submissions to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@CrainsNewYork.com.

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MARCH 29, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 9

P009_CN_20210329.indd 9

3/26/21 9:08 AM

Advertising Section

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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

ENGINEERING / ARCHITECTURE

LAW

LAW

Hatfield Group

Greenspoon Marder

Greenspoon Marder

Hatfield Group—the New York-based design-driven engineering firm— hired Rebecca Jones, SE, PE, LEED BD+C as Principal. A recognized industry leader, Jones will oversee the design of innovative structural solutions for Hatfield Group’s institutional, mixeduse, stadium, and multi-family residential projects across the US and around the world. Jones has led high-profile projects, including the 1.8-million-squarefoot tower 10 Hudson Yards and Al Faisaliah, a 100-meter tall tower in Riyadh.

James J. (Jim) McGuire is the New York Managing Partner at Greenspoon Marder.

With over 30 years of experience, he focuses his diverse practice on complex civil litigation, white collar criminal and regulatory proceedings, and international arbitration.

Mr. McGuire has successfully tried over 30 cases to verdict and argued over 25 appellate matters before federal and state courts.

Eric Simonson is a partner in the Corporate & Business practice group at Greenspoon Marder.

Mr. Simonson Simonson provides advice and counsel to companies, both privately held and publically traded, in a range of matters – mergers and acquisitions, joint Patrick ventures, corporate finance, technology transactions, corporate governance, securities, capital raises (including venture capital), internal investigations, and day-to-day business operations, among them.

Michael Patrick is a partner in the Litigation practice group at Greenspoon Marder. He has advised and represented some of the most recognized and well-known businesses and individuals in the world, often when the stakes are high and the outcomes are critical.

LAW

Greenspoon Marder FINANCIAL SERVICES

SVB Leerink SVB Leerink, a leading investment bank specializing in healthcare and life sciences, is expanding the company’s Blake healthcare investment banking franchise.

Barry Blake joins SVB Leerink as the Global Co-Head of Investment Banking.

Mr. Blake will be Minear co-leading the firm’s healthcare investment banking strategy and initiatives, with a focus on Healthcare Services & Technology.

Robert Minear joins the firm’s Healthcare Services and Technology Franchise team as a Senior Managing Director.

Mr. Minear will be focused on leading the firm’s financial sponsor origination efforts to further enhance the firm’s growing leveraged finance business.

Mark Berube is a litigation partner at Greenspoon Marder.

Mr. Berube practices in the area of complex commercial litigation, Berube and has served as legal advisor to Fortune 500 and international business entities in antitrust, bankruptcy, copyright, employment Doerr litigation, RICO, insurance and securities regulation.

Mark T. Doerr is a litigation partner at Greenspoon Marder.

Mr. Doerr’s work focuses on investigating, litigating, and resolving business disputes involving alleged deceptive practices and fraud. Mr. Doerr represents individuals and businesses of all sizes in a range of matters involving breaches of contract, fraud, RICO claims, theft of trade secrets, breaches of fiduciary duty, and First Amendment and Constitutional issues.

FINANCIAL / TECHNOLOGY

NONPROFIT

nate

Safe Horizon

Stephen Milbank, co-founder of Button, will join artificial intelligence shopping assistant nate as Chief Revenue Officer. Millbank will lead nate’s business-to-business API, with the goal of integrating nate’s one-touch universal checkout with social networks and media, transforming the buying experience with greater convenience and speed. Prior to joining nate, Milbank was the co-founder and head of global strategic partnerships for Button, the world’s leading mobile partnerships platform.

Safe Horizon, the nation’s largest victim services agency, appointed Lisa A. O’Connor, PhD as its Deputy CEO and Chief Program Officer. With over 25 years of experience in child welfare, juvenile justice, substance abuse, and social policy, Dr. O’Connor has dedicated her career to helping victims of violence find support and healing. She formerly served as Vice President at The New York Foundling and Assistant Commissioner at NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).

COMPANIES ON THE MOVE

REAL ESTATE

To place your listing, visit www.newyorkbusiness.com/companymoves or contact Debora Stein at 917.266.5470 / dstein@crain.com COMPANY LAUNCHES

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin New York, NY 212-216-8000 www.tarterkrinsky.com Tarter Krinsky & Drogin Enhances Its Services With Amazon Marketplace and Online Intellectual Property Disputes Practice Group.

Our highly experienced team is well-versed in the unique issues that IP owners, Amazon Marketplace sellers, affiliate networks, and online retailers face. The group, comprising partners Mark Rosenberg, Mark Berkowitz, and Tuvia Rotberg, and associate Sandra Hudak, includes lawyers with technical degrees and patent prosecution backgrounds, and together with the support of our corporate and employment groups, is well equipped to assist online businesses with all of their legal needs.

BEB Capital Real estate development and lending firm BEB Capital has named Andrew Levine Chief Legal Officer.

Mr. Levine brings more than 30 years’ experience as a senior banking executive and real estate attorney to the firm, having previously advised leading financial institutions and institutional real estate investors on commercial real estate transactions at Fried Frank, and overseen the French bank Natixis’ multi-billion-dollar portfolio lending program as Head of Portfolio Lending & Underwriting.

INDUSTRY ACHIEVERS ADVANCING THEIR CAREERS Recognize them in Crain’s

PROMOTE. Why not?

CRAINSNEWYORK.COM I SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 I

experts in tax regulation, audit, estate administration, forensic accounting, Few qualities are more vital to the health of any business than financial organizational transformation, advisory services, fundraising and business equilibrium and organizational efficiency. structure. They represent an extraordinary group of professionals from Rarely has the value of both been more strongly felt than in recent months. From stress-tested balance sheets to fast-changing regulations, firms of varying size and renown.

CRAINSNEWYORK.COM I SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 I To find these honorees, Crain’s consulted with trusted sources in the and reconfigured supply chains to “new normal” working arrangements, business world in general and in the accounting and consulting realms in the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged even the strongest of businesses. particular. The nominations submitted by individuals and firms in the New Standing tall within this chaotic breach are the foot soldiers of profesexperts in tax regulation, audit, estate administration, forensic accounting, Few qualities are more vital to the health of any business than financial York metropolitan area were rigorously vetted. Ultimately, each of the acsional service firms, led by accountants and management consultants. organizational transformation, advisory services, fundraising and business equilibrium and organizational efficiency. counting and consulting notables was chosen for her career achievements In selecting the 86 honorees for this year’s list of Notable Women in structure. They represent an extraordinary group of professionals from Rarely has the value of both been more strongly felt than in recent and involvement in industry and community organizations—and at times Accounting and Consulting, Crain’s sought to spotlight the accomplished firms of varying size and renown. months. From stress-tested balance sheets to fast-changing regulations, 28, 2020 I her effortsCRAINSNEWYORK.COM to help New York reboundI SEPTEMBER from the coronavirus. metropolitan area professionals and problem-solvers who keep businessTo find these honorees, Crain’s consulted with trusted sources in the and reconfigured supply chains to “new normal” working arrangements, Read their biographies and learn how the members of this remarkable es churning. The talented individuals presented here are a diverse group, business world in general and in the accounting and consulting realms in the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged even the strongest of businesses. cohort keep the gears of business whirling. skilled at resourceful innovation and disruptive thinking. These women are The nominations by individuals andadministration, firms in the New Standing tall within this chaoticare breach the soldiersofof profesexperts insubmitted tax regulation, audit, estate forensic accounting, Few qualities moreare vital tofoot the health any businessparticular. than financial York metropolitan organizational area were rigorously vetted. Ultimately, each of the acsional service firms, led by accountants and management transformation, advisory services, fundraising and business equilibrium and organizational efficiency.consultants. counting and consulting notables chosenan forextraordinary her career achievements In selecting the 86 honorees for this list been of Notable structure.

They was represent group of professionals from Rarely has the valueyear’s of both more Women stronglyinfelt than in recent andregulations, involvement infirms industry and community organizations—and at times Accounting and Consulting, Crain’s sought to spotlight the accomplished of varying size and renown. months. From stress-tested balance sheets to fast-changing efforts to help New from theCrain’s coronavirus. metropolitan area and professionals andsupply problem-solvers businessTo York find rebound these honorees, consulted with trusted sources in the reconfigured chains to who “newkeep normal” working her arrangements, Read their biographies learn how theand members this remarkable es churning. The talented individuals presented here are diverse group, of businesses. businessand world in general in the of accounting and consulting realms in the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged aeven the strongest cohort the gears of business whirling. submitted by individuals and firms in the New skilled at resourcefulStanding innovation and disruptive thinking.

Theseare women aresoldiers particular.

The nominations tall within this chaotic breach the foot of keep professional service firms, led by accountants and management consultants.

In selecting the 86 honorees for this year’s list of Notable Women in Accounting and Consulting, Crain’s sought to spotlight the accomplished metropolitan area professionals and problem-solvers who keep businesses churning. The talented individuals presented here are a diverse group,

LAURA PETERSONskilled at resourceful innovation and disruptive thinking. These women are

York metropolitan area were rigorously vetted. Ultimately, each of the accounting and consulting notables was chosen for her career achievements and involvement in industry and community organizations—and at times her efforts to help New York rebound from the coronavirus.

Read their biographies and learn how the members of this remarkable cohort keep the gears of business whirling.

Managing Director and Communications, Media and Technology Northeast Business Leader Accenture

LAURA PETERSON

Laura Peterson’s résumé lists a whopping 10 positions she’s held at the multinational professional services company Managing Director and Communications, Media and Technology Northeast Business Leader Accenture since joining the firm in 2000. In her current role as Accenture the Northeast business lead for communications, media and technology, the enterprising ladder climber presides over a team Laura Peterson’s résumé lists a whopping 10 positions she’s of 3,000 professionals. Peterson is charged with managing a $750 held at the multinational professional services company and Media and Technology Northeast Business Leader million profit-and-lossManaging statementDirector for clients inCommunications, the Accenture since joining the firm in 2000. In her current role as aforementioned sectors as well as the high tech sector. Peterson Accenture the Northeast business lead for communications, media and works with key business leaders among more than 40 clients and technology, the enterprising ladder climber presides over a team Laura Peterson’sstructure. résumé lists a whopping within Accenture’s global management Since 2017, she 10 positions she’s of 3,000 professionals. Peterson is charged with managing a $750 held the multinational professional company has been a board adviser to at Fairygodboss, an online platformservices that million profit-and-loss statement for clients in the since joining the firm in 2000. In her current role as seeks to elevate womenAccenture in the workplace. aforementioned sectors as well as the high tech sector. Peterson the Northeast business lead for communications, media and works with key business leaders among more than 40 clients and technology, the enterprising ladder climber presides over a team Reprinted with permission from Crain’s New York Business. © 2020 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

Further duplication without permission is prohibited. #NB20073 Since 2017, she within Accenture’s global management structure. of 3,000 professionals. Peterson is charged with managing a $750 has been a board adviser to Fairygodboss, an online platform that million profit-and-loss statement nt fo nt ffor or client c clliients clients ts in ts in the tth h he e seeks to elevate women in the workplace. aforementioned entioned sectors as well as as the th he high gh tech sector. Peterson Peterson works with key business leaderss amo among and am a mo mo on ng m more re e tth tha than ha ha han an n4 40 0 cl clients cli li t a nd nd Reprinted with permission from Crain’s New York Business. © 2020 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. within Accenture’s management structure. global gem em ent struct cttu ure. rre e e. Since Siince ince ce 20 ce 2017, 2 2017 201 017 7,, she 7 she sh h Further manag duplication without permission is prohibited. #NB20073 has been that n a board adviser to Fairygodboss, Fairr yg yg god go o od dboss, an online on onl nlline ine e platform p pla latf latfo th t hat seeks to elevate women in the workplace. work orkp place.

LAURA PETERSON

Reprinted with permission permissi ssion from f m Crain’s rain’s New York Business.

Busi Bu in ness ess.. © 2020 Crain Communications Communications Inc. All rights Co hts reserved. reserved.

Furth her duplication without without permission with permission is prohibited. prohibited. # #NB20073 Further

CRAINSNEWYORK.COM I OCTOBER 26, 2020 I

ASKED & ANSWERED

PAT WANG Healthfirst

P

INTERVIEW BY JENNIFER HENDERSON

at Wang, president and CEO of Healthfirst, a nonprofit insurer formed by a group of health care systems, had been working to advance value-based care long before the pandemic. The concept involves paying hospitals and physicians based on their patients’ outcomes rather than on the volume of services they provide. Now, as health care providers face unprecedented financial strain due to the Covid-19 crisis, Wang says such payment arrangements are more critical than ever. Not only do they improve the quality of care for patients—including the 1.5 million plan members Healthfirst serves throughout the city, Long Island and surrounding areas—but they also generate fiscal benefit for the facilities, practices and health centers that serve them.

How does Healthfirst contribute to value-based care?

What you understand as profit in another health insurance company’s balance sheet at Healthfirst is contractually-driven surplus that goes back to the delivery system. Eighty percent of the premiums we get for medical services flows through value-based payment arrangements, which means that providers benefit when there is a surplus in the premium. If less money is spent on fee-for-service claims, the surplus is part of the contractually-obligated payment stream.

What has that meant during the pandemic?

For April through June, we are distributing $250 million in those surpluses [about double that of the same period last year], and we’ve expedited the calculation and reconciliation of those amounts to get them out the door faster because the delivery system really needs it.

Why are value-based payments vital now and in normal times?

In the best of times, we have always been trying to push for this model because it aligns the incentives around trying to keep people healthy and avoiding unnecessary care. The providers are aligned with that goal because they benefit from it if they can reduce avoidable care. Consider Covid-19 to be like a war.

In war times, the model has been a lifesaver because there is this artificial depression of utilization, and that’s why the providers have lost so much money—their revenue has dried up. But because we have these risk contracts, the surplus that is there, that’s what has gone out the door to them.

DOSSIER WHO SHE IS President and CEO, Healthfirst AGE 66 BORN Jersey City RESIDES Manhattan EDUCATION Bachelor’s in history and East Asian studies, Princeton University; J.D., New York University School of Law FAMILY MATTERS Wang is married and has one son who lives in Brooklyn.

GLOBAL TIES She has lived in Croatia, Taiwan as well as China, where she had more than 20 first cousins.

FLARE FOR FOOD Wang has become reacquainted with the joy of cooking as a result of the pandemic.

EYE ON MEDICAID About three-quarters of Healthfirst’s members are Medicaid beneficiaries. The insurer’s initial response to the crisis included having its care managers make sure members had medicine and durable medical equipment to stay at home safely.

BUDGET CUTS Wang says the magnitude of the state’s Medicaid cuts—instituted to pare back on spending growth—is devastating. “Cuts to us as a Medicaid plan are cuts to hospitals.”

What happens when patients again begin seeking services?

We do see utilization coming back, and we have been encouraging our members to get needed care because people have put a lot of stuff off. We have to see whether the bounce back is gigantic or it just brings things back to a steady state. If we go back to a more normal utilization pattern, then the regular incentives of trying to align around good preventive care and avoiding unnecessary care, they just kick in.

How can the city safely bounce back from the pandemic?

Continue doubling down on the public health measures already in place: wearing masks, social distancing and hand sanitation. We know what to do. But I think a singular focus on getting the schools open for full learning should top the list of what we are aiming for. We should measure our success against that goal. As an employer, I can tell you that we will not be able to get fully back to work until the thousands of employees with school-age children can g get their kids back into school. It’s of course better for all children and particularlyy critical for poorer children. The city’s economic recovery is going to hinge on how quickly and how well we can get that done so that parents can resume their normal lives too. As a longtime resident of the city who has watched us recover from rece re reces ecession e cession, ssi ssion, s sion, ion, 9/11 /11 1 and an an nd d Hurr icane Sandy, I believe in the city’s ability to bounce back against the odds. But this recession, Hurricane time e is going ng test te t all a alll of of us, and we should be sober about the need for everyone to contribute to the solution.

What challenges es fface ace the broader insurance industry?

Balancing ncing g the tth he h e need ds and expectations of consumers who need and deserve good health care coverage, expandds needs ing g access s however howeve o er we er we can can and doing it within an increasingly constrained economic environment. This is especially ttrue rue with th hM edicaid, where the state’s budget situation is dire at the same time as people’s needs Medicaid, are increasin ng. Given Giv iven ve ven ve en n that th that at Healthfirst has over 1 million Medicaid members, m member emb embers, s, the p potential impact p state s increasing. of the state’s budget is se es sp s pe p e ecial a lyy con c oncerning. cerning For me, me our priority priority has to be enabling enabl enab bling b blin ling in ng n g as many people as possible po ble to have full possi especially concerning. access to high-quality hig gh-qua g h - alitttyy c h-qua are, and it’s going to be are be a challenge to figure ure e out ou ut how to do that in this this economic environcare, ment. Insurers Insurre errs also al n eed to be mindful of the hurt being experienced nced d by by so o much m need of the provider delivery system.

The value of of our ourr products pro pro prod od ducts relies on having g strong strong doctors, hospitals als and an nd d community co commun communi om om Balancing all of resources. Balancing this in a finan ncially allyy viable al vvia iable way is going to be a challenge. h ll financially ■ Reprinted with permission ission sssiion io on ffrom on rom ro rom om Crains Crain’s rai rains aiins ains in n’s ns ’s New ew w York Yo Y k Bu Busin Business Bus Busi B Business. usin ine n . © 20 2020 2020 0 02 20 2 0 Cra Cr C Crain rraaain in n Communicatio Communications ns Inc. All rights reserve reserved. ed.

Furthe Further rther ther th herr duplication her duplicati d du dupl uplication pl caaation attion tiion ion n withou w without wit witho with ithout out permission ermission rmission missi m mission i io ission ion on is is prohibited. pro proh pr prroh #NB20080

For listing opportunities, contact Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com or submit directly to

CRAINSNEWYORK.COM/PEOPLEMOVES

For more information contact: Lauren Melesio, Director, Reprints & Licensing lmelesio@crain.com • (212) 210-0707

10 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

P010_CN_20210329.indd 10

3/26/21 9:09 AM

THE LIST LARGEST HEALTH CARE NONPROFITS New York–area organizations ranked by 2019 total operating expenses

RANK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 2019/ 2018 (MILLIONS)

% OF EXPENSES ALLOCATED TO PROGRAM SERVICES

% OF EXPENSES USED FOR FUNDRAISING

2019 TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME (MILLIONS)

% OF INCOME FROM PRIVATE SUPPORT 1 ORGANIZATION PURPOSE

ORGANIZATION/ ADDRESS

PHONE/ WEBSITE

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE/ FY 2019 COMPENSATION

Catholic Medical Mission Board 100 Wall St. New York, NY 10005

212-242-7757 cmmb.org

Mary Beth Powers President, chief executive

$587.0 $630.5

98.2%

1.0%

$433.9

97.8% Providing medical and developmental aid to remote, poverty-stricken communities

Doctors Without Borders USA Inc. 40 Rector St. New York, NY 10006

212-679-6800 dwb.org

Avril Benoit Executive director $126,105 2

$454.3 $424.4

85.3%

13.7%

$439.5

94.9% Emergency medical aid to those affected by conflict, epidemics or disasters

Orbis International 520 Eighth Ave. New York, NY 10018

646-674-5500 orbis.org

Derek Hodkey President, chief executive

$376.4 $241.1

95.2%

2.4%

$376.0

12.6% Prevention and treatment of blindness

New York Blood Center 310 E. 67th St. New York, NY 10065

212-570-3100 nybloodcenter.org

Christopher Hillyer President, chief executive $1,791,197

$375.5 $351.0

92.9%

0.0%

$391.2

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 3 International Drive Rye Brook, NY 10573

914-949-5213 lls.org

Louis DeGennaro President, chief executive $823,602

$367.3 $356.5

72.6%

13.2%

$396.2

Planned Parenthood Federation of America 123 William St. New York, NY 10038

212-541-7800 plannedparenthood.org

Alexis McGill Johnson President, chief executive

$302.5 $246.1

69.4%

17.8%

$285.8

Services for the Underserved 3 463 Seventh Ave. New York, NY 10018

212-633-6900 sus.org

Donna Colonna Chief executive $481,590

$254.6 $174.8

85.9%

0.3%

$262.1

2.1% Solutions for people with disabilities, in poverty or facing homelessness

Public Health Solutions 40 Worth St. New York, NY 10013

646-619-6400 healthsolutions.org

Lisa David President, chief executive $370,201 4

$240.1 $252.2

96.9%

0.2%

$242.2

4.2% Health services for the city's most vulnerable neighborhoods

Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services Inc. 135 W. 50th St. New York, NY 10020

212-582-9100 jewishboard.org

John Kastan Interim chief executive $347,577 5

$232.8 $218.2

88.1%

0.6%

$227.3

JDRF International 200 Vesey St. New York, NY 10281

212-785-9595 jdrf.org

Aaron Kowalski President, chief executive

$208.5 $203.6

75.0%

15.0%

$231.8

YAI Inc. 220 E. 42nd St. New York, NY 10017

212-273-6100 yai.org

George Contos Chief executive $714,469

$202.5 $194.0

88.0%

0.3%

$209.7

2.8% Services for the intellectual and developmental disabilities community

National Multiple Sclerosis Society 733 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

212-463-7787 nationalmssociety.org

Cynthia Zagieboylo President, chief executive $564,948

$179.3 $173.7

72.0%

20.4%

$196.9

97.0% Research funding, advocacy and sponsorship of services to help people with multiple sclerosis

ADAPT Community Network 80 Maiden Lane New York, NY 10038

212-683-6700 Edward Matthews adaptcommunitynetwork.org Chief executive $580,983

$172.1 $162.3

92.1%

0.4%

$184.4

Children's Aid 117 W. 124th St. New York, NY 10027

212-949-4800 childrensaidnyc.org

Phoebe Boyer President, chief executive $457,903

$139.3 $131.5

83.0%

3.0%

$128.4

31.0% Promoting lifelong success for children and youth from highpoverty NYC neighborhoods

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research P.O. Box 4777 New York, NY 10163

800-708-7644 michaeljfox.org

Todd Sherer Chief executive $867,280

$136.7 $124.6

86.4%

10.3%

$162.7

96.9% Research funding and improved therapies for Parkinson's disease

WellLife Network 142-02 20th Ave. New York, NY 11351

718-559-0516 welllifenetwork.org

Sherry Tucker Chief executive $409,497

$104.7 $105.5

95.5%

0.2%

$113.6

0.2% Wellness for New Yorkers with disabilities, mental illness and addiction

Developmental Disabilities Institute 99 Hollywood Drive Smithtown, NY 11787

631-366-2900 ddiny.org

John Lessard Chief executive $346,084

$104.4 $99.6

97.0%

0.4%

$110.0

0.7% Services and programs for people with autism and developmental disabilities

Lifespire 1 Whitehall St. New York, NY 10004

212-741-0100 lifespire.org

Thomas Lydon President, chief executive $355,429

$97.7 $99.1

96.7%

0.0%

$100.4

0.0% Assistance and support to help people with disabilities to live independently

American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Inc. 633 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

212-895-7900 weizmann-usa.org

David Doneson Chief executive $179,771

$90.3 $89.7

83.0%

12.0%

$108.2

Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities 807 S. Oyster Bay Road Bethpage, NY 11714

516-822-0028 acld.org

Robert Ciatto Executive director

$89.4 $76.7

97.7%

0.0%

$89.4

Breast Cancer Research Foundation 28 W. 44th St. New York, NY 10036

866-346-3228 bcrf.org

Myra Biblowit President $896,233

$82.1 $76.9

87.1%

9.4%

$79.6

97.0% Advancement of research to prevent and cure breast cancer

Jewish Child Care Association of New York 858 E. 29th St. Brooklyn, NY 11210

917-808-4800 jccany.org

Ronald Richter Chief executive $520,201

$81.7 $82.0

87.0%

1.3%

$86.2

5.0% Welfare and mental health services for vulnerable children and families

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research 666 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

212-450-1500 ludwigcancerresearch.org

Edward McDermott Jr. President, chief executive $991,619

$81.5 $83.7

85.1%

2.1%

$80.5

81.7% Prevention and control of cancer

212-689-9199 smiletrain.org

Susannah Schaefer President, chief executive $469,743

$76.2 $79.3

71.1%

Smile Train 633 Third Ave. P011_CN_20210329.indd 11 New York, NY 10017

0.3% Community blood bank

100.0% Cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients 92.2% Provides reproductive and complementary health care services

11.8% Mental health and social services

100.0% Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy

0.5% Programs and services for people with disabilities

64.0% Orchestrates support for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Feinberg Graduate School in Israel 0.4% Provide opportunities for people with autism and learning and developmental disabilities

MARCH 29, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 11

25.6%

$96.7

82.5% Corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates

3/26/21 9:10 AM

18 19 THE LIST 20 LARGEST HEALTH CARE NONPROFITS 21 22 23 1 24 2 25 3 26 4 27 5 28 6 29 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Nominations are now for Crain’s 15 open New York Business 16 2021 Notable LGBTQ 17 Leaders and Executives 18 CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS 2021 CRA 19 20 21 NOMINATE TODAY: CrainsNewYork.com/Nominations 22 LGBTQ LEADER 23 24 RANK

Lifespire 1 Whitehall St. New York, NY 10004

212-741-0100 lifespire.org

Thomas Lydon President, chief executive $355,429

$97.7 $99.1

96.7%

0.0%

$100.4

American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Inc. 633 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

212-895-7900 weizmann-usa.org

David Doneson Chief executive $179,771

$90.3 $89.7

83.0%

12.0%

$108.2

Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities 807 S. Oyster Bay Road Bethpage, NY 11714

516-822-0028 acld.org

Robert Ciatto Executive director

$89.4 $76.7

97.7%

0.0%

$89.4

Breast Cancer Research Foundation 28 W. 44th St. New York, NY 10036

866-346-3228 bcrf.org

Myra Biblowit President $896,233

$82.1 $76.9

87.1%

9.4%

$79.6

Jewish Child Care Association of New York 858 E. 29th St. ORGANIZATION/ Brooklyn, ADDRESS NY 11210

917-808-4800 jccany.org PHONE/

Ronald Richter Chief executive TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE/ $520,201 FY 2019 COMPENSATION

% OF EXPENSES 87.0% ALLOCATED TO PROGRAM SERVICES

% OF 1.3% EXPENSES USED FOR FUNDRAISING

2019 TOTAL $86.2 ANNUAL INCOME (MILLIONS)

Ludwig Institute CancerBoard Research Catholic Medicalfor Mission 666 Ave. 100 Third Wall St. New New York, York, NY NY 10017 10005

212-450-1500 212-242-7757 ludwigcancerresearch.org cmmb.org

Edward McDermott Mary Beth Powers Jr. President, President, chief chief executive executive $991,619

$81.5 $587.0 $83.7 $630.5

85.1% 98.2%

2.1% 1.0%

$80.5 $433.9

81.7% Providing Preventionmedical and control 97.8% and of cancer developmental aid to remote, poverty-stricken communities

Smile Train Doctors Without Borders USA Inc. 633 Third Ave. 40 Rector St. New New York, York, NY NY 10017 10006

212-689-9199 212-679-6800 smiletrain.org dwb.org

Susannah Avril BenoitSchaefer President, chief executive Executive director $469,743 $126,105 2

$76.2 $454.3 $79.3 $424.4

71.1% 85.3%

25.6% 13.7%

$96.7 $439.5

82.5% children 94.9% Corrective Emergencysurgery medicalforaid to those with cleftby lips and palates affected conflict, epidemics or disasters

Helen International Keller International Orbis 1 DagEighth Hammarskjöld Plaza 520 Ave. New New York, York, NY NY 10017 10018

212-532-0544 646-674-5500 hki.org orbis.org

Kathy Spahn Derek Hodkey President, President, chief chief executive executive $414,704

$75.0 $376.4 $83.3 $241.1

83.3% 95.2%

3.2% 2.4%

$88.2 $376.0

48.3% Prevention Saving andand improving the of sight 12.6% treatment of vulnerable populations blindness around the world

Crohn's ColitisCenter Foundation of America New York&Blood 733 Ave. 310 Third E. 67th St. New New York, York, NY NY 10017 10065

800-932-2423 212-570-3100 crohnscolitisfoundation.org nybloodcenter.org

Michael OssoHillyer Christopher President, President, chief chief executive executive $561,012 $1,791,197

$75.0 $375.5 $73.0 $351.0

81.0% 92.9%

6.5% 0.0%

$73.9 $391.2

89.0% Research, education and patient 0.3% Community blood bank support for inflammatory bowel disease

Population&Council Inc. Society Leukemia Lymphoma 1 Hammarskjöld 3 Dag International Drive Plaza New York, NY Rye Brook, NY10017 10573

212-339-0500 914-949-5213 popcouncil.org lls.org

Julia Bunting Louis DeGennaro President President, chief executive $527,635 $823,602

$69.4 $367.3 $80.9 $356.5

83.2% 72.6%

1.0% 13.2%

$82.6 $396.2

Cancer Care Inc. 3 Federation of America Planned Parenthood 275 Seventh Ave. 123 William St. New New York, York, NY NY 10001 10038

212-712-8400 212-541-7800 cancercare.org plannedparenthood.org

PatriciaMcGill Goldsmith Alexis Johnson Chief executive President, chief executive $377,323

$59.4 $302.5 $57.4 $246.1

92.6% 69.4%

4.8% 17.8%

$99.6 $285.8

96.9% Provides To providereproductive free professional 92.2% and support serviceshealth to anyone complementary care affected services by cancer

Concern for Living 3 Inc. Services for Independent the Underserved 312 463 Expressway Seventh Ave.Drive S. Medford, New York,NY NY11763 10018

631-758-0474 212-633-6900 concernhousing.org sus.org

Ralph Fasano Donna Colonna Executive director Chief executive 4 $414,302 $481,590

$38.5 $254.6 $36.8 $174.8

94.0% 85.9%

0.0% 0.3%

$45.6 $262.1

31.0% Provider offorhousing 2.1% Solutions peopleand withsupport services, supporting disabilities, in povertypersonal or facing growth and independence homelessness

Public Health Solutions

646-619-6400

Lisa David

$240.1

96.9%

0.2%

$242.2

4.2% Health services for the city's

JDRF International 200 Vesey St. New York, NY 10281

212-785-9595 jdrf.org

Aaron Kowalski President, chief executive

$208.5 $203.6

75.0%

15.0%

$231.8

100.0% Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy

YAI Inc. 220 E. 42nd St. New York, NY 10017

212-273-6100 yai.org

George Contos Chief executive $714,469

$202.5 $194.0

88.0%

0.3%

$209.7

2.8% Services for the intellectual and developmental disabilities community

National Multiple Sclerosis Society 733 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

212-463-7787 nationalmssociety.org

Cynthia Zagieboylo President, chief executive $564,948

$179.3 $173.7

72.0%

20.4%

$196.9

97.0% Research funding, advocacy and sponsorship of services to help people with multiple sclerosis

ADAPT Community Network 80 Maiden Lane New York, NY 10038

212-683-6700 Edward Matthews adaptcommunitynetwork.org Chief executive $580,983

$172.1 $162.3

92.1%

0.4%

$184.4

Children's Aid 117 W. 124th St. New York, NY 10027

212-949-4800 childrensaidnyc.org

Phoebe Boyer President, chief executive $457,903

$139.3 $131.5

83.0%

3.0%

$128.4

31.0% Promoting lifelong success for children and youth from highpoverty NYC neighborhoods

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research P.O. Box 4777 New York, NY 10163

800-708-7644 michaeljfox.org

Todd Sherer Chief executive $867,280

$136.7 $124.6

86.4%

10.3%

$162.7

96.9% Research funding and improved therapies for Parkinson's disease

WellLife Network 142-02 20th Ave. New York, NY 11351

718-559-0516 welllifenetwork.org

Sherry Tucker Chief executive $409,497

$104.7 $105.5

95.5%

0.2%

$113.6

0.2% Wellness for New Yorkers with disabilities, mental illness and addiction

Developmental Disabilities Institute 99 Hollywood Drive Smithtown, NY 11787

631-366-2900 ddiny.org

John Lessard Chief executive $346,084

$104.4 $99.6

97.0%

0.4%

$110.0

0.7% Services and programs for people with autism and developmental disabilities

Lifespire 1 Whitehall St. New York, NY 10004

212-741-0100 lifespire.org

Thomas Lydon President, chief executive $355,429

$97.7 $99.1

96.7%

0.0%

$100.4

0.0% Assistance and support to help people with disabilities to live independently

$90.3 $89.7

83.0%

12.0%

$108.2

97.7%

0.0%

$89.4

WEBSITE

$81.7 TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES $82.0 2019/ 2018 (MILLIONS)

0.0% Assistance and support to help people with disabilities to live independently

64.0% Orchestrates support for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Feinberg Graduate School in Israel

0.4% Provide opportunities for people with autism and learning and developmental disabilities

97.0% Advancement of research to prevent and cure breast cancer

% OF INCOME 5.0% FROM PRIVATE SUPPORT 1

Welfare and mental health services for vulnerable children and families PURPOSE ORGANIZATION

30.9% Cure Research to address criticaland 100.0% leukemia, lymphoma health andand development issues myeloma, improve the quality of life of patients

40 Worth St.New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester healthsolutions.org President, chiefEssex, executive most vulnerable New York area includes counties in New York, and Bergen, Hudson and Union$252.2 counties in New Jersey. To qualify for this list, organizations must be tax-exempt 501(c)(3) healthneighborhoods care nonprofits headquartered the NY New10013 York area. Hospitals, health systems, home health care, rehabilitation centers, 4medical practice groups, research institutions and universities are excluded. Data from some organizations includes work in areas unrelated NewinYork, $370,201 to health care. Executives without a listed salary in most cases took the position after the organization issued its Form 990 for the fiscal year ending in 2019. Information is from the companies or 2019 Forms 990. 1--Nongovernmental support. 2-Benoit was Jewish promoted to executive in mid 2019; she previously served as director of communications and fundraising. 3--Includes data from 990s88.1% for two affiliated 0.6% organizations.$227.3 990. 5servedand as social chief program 4--From 2018 Form -Kastanhealth Board of Familydirector and Children's 212-582-9100 John Kastan $232.8 11.8% Mental officer through the Jewish Board's 2019 fiscal year and was named interim chief executive in July 2020. Researched by Chuck Soder (researcher@crainsnewyork.com) Services Inc. jewishboard.org Interim chief executive $218.2 services 135 W. 50th St. $347,577 5 New York, NY 10020

American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Inc. 633 Third This is aAve.special print and New York, NY 10017

212-895-7900 weizmann-usa.org

David Doneson Chief executive $179,771 feature within

digital editorial Crain’s June 7 issue. This feature is a celebration of LGBTQ business professionals Adultshave and Children with LearningNew and 516-822-0028 Robert Ciatto who impacted York City in major ways.

It honors their $89.4 Developmental Disabilities acld.org Executive director $76.7 professional, civic and philanthropic achievements. We are welcoming 807 S. Oyster Bay Road Bethpage, NY 11714 nominations to help us determine those recognized in this feature.

0.5% Programs and services for people with disabilities

64.0% Orchestrates support for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Feinberg Graduate School in Israel

0.4% Provide opportunities for people with autism and learning and developmental disabilities

NOTABLE LGBTQ LEADERS & EXECUTIVES

Breast Cancer Research Foundation 28 W. 44th St. New York, NY 10036

866-346-3228 bcrf.org

Myra Biblowit President $896,233

$82.1 $76.9

Jewish Child Care Association of New York

917-808-4800

Ronald Richter Chief executive $520,201

$81.7 $82.0

212-450-1500 ludwigcancerresearch.org

Edward McDermott Jr. President, chief executive $991,619

$81.5 $83.7

85.1%

2.1%

$80.5

81.7% Prevention and control of cancer

Smile Train 633 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

212-689-9199 smiletrain.org

Susannah Schaefer President, chief executive $469,743

$76.2 $79.3

71.1%

25.6%

$96.7

82.5% Corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates

Helen Keller International

212-532-0544

Kathy Spahn

$75.0

83.3%

3.2%

$88.2

48.3% Saving and improving the sight

858 E. 29th St. TO NOMINATE: APRIL jccany.org DEADLINE 9 Brooklyn, NY 11210

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research 666 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017 12 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

P012_CN_20210329.indd 12

87.1%

9.4%

$79.6

97.0% Advancement of research to prevent and cure breast cancer

87.0%

1.3%

$86.2

5.0% Welfare and mental health services for vulnerable children and families

CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS 2021

3/26/21 9:11 AM

NOTA

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CN020166.indd 1

3/25/21 2:42 PM

HEALTH CARE REPORT FROM PAGE 1

BUCK ENNIS

“Why does the system need to know that to vaccinate people and risk cutting people who didn’t know how to bypass that out of the process?” she asked.

As of March 24, about 12.5% of city residents and 14% of state residents had been fully vaccinated, according to state data. Although reports that certain segments of the population, such as communities of color, are refusing to get the doses persist, experts say the vaccine effort is actually on track. Many of the challenges relate to online access and computer competence more so than willingness to get the vaccine.

Indeed, they believe, the city could achieve so-called herd immunity, in which a community achieves protection from a virus as the majority are vaccinated, by May

much of their vaccination efforts online—availability and eligibility can be obtained through websites.

However, that leaves out many New Yorkers without technological resources, such as the elderly and some in low-income communities.

It’s important, experts say, that lack of technical access not be conflated with vaccine hesitancy. According to experts, those who may not have signed up yet to receive a vaccine may actually want one.

That includes people of color.

Recent surveys seem to paint communities of color, particularly Black New Yorkers, as hesitant or unwilling to sign up for the doses.

“We hear so often about Black communities and communities of color having vaccine hesitancy, as uptake has been low in those communities,” said Dr. Lynne Richardson, system vice chair of emergency medicine and co-director of the Institute for Health Equity Research at Mount Sinai Health System. “But what’s at play here is a whole lot of other factors relating to digital resources and social determinants of health.”

There are varying degrees at which people might fall in the digital divide, said Dr. Jessica Justman, associate professor of medicine in epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

At the end of the spectrum are people who lack a computer at home or a smart device or do not have internet access or a data plan.

There are probably more than

“CALLERS SAID THEY HAD NO OTHER WAY OF MAKING A VACCINE APPOINTMENT” at the earliest and the end of the year at the latest. That’s a positive sign for the full reopening of businesses and office towers.

Digital divide The city and the state have put

30%

500,000 households in the city that do not have PERCENTAGE access to highof Americans in speed internet a Pew Research or devices, RichCenter survey ardson said. in February who Communities said they would that are most not get a Covid likely to lack vaccine that access also happen to be in the Black and Latino commuLOWEST nity, she said. percentage of a Then comes population that people who would need to might have onbe vaccinated for line access but herd immunity are in so-called digital deserts without stable internet or cell service, said Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, professor of health policy and management at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health. Lower-income neighborhoods that have not seen adequate infrastructure investments tend to fall in this category, he said.

Then there are people with internet and devices who don’t have the technical savvy to navigate online forms, Richardson said. Seniors particularly fall into this group, but it also includes low-income adults who do not routinely use a computer at work or did not have much computer education growing up, she said.

When the vaccines were first available to New Yorkers in late December, the Charles B. Wang Health Center locations in Chinatown and Flushing were among the local facilities tapped as distribution points.

“We got over 7,000 phone calls in two hours, and that shut our phone system down,” said Ken Shieh, its chief strategy officer.

RICHARDSON said low vaccine numbers in minority communities have more to do with difficulty making appointments than reluctance to get inoculated.

65%

BUCK ENNIS

IMMUNITY

Many of the callers were 75 and older and did not speak English.

Staff went through the list and called every single person back.

“Even though it took us weeks, the response we got back was overwhelming,” Shieh said. “They were saying they had no other ways of making a vaccine appointment.”

Working the phones can be key, but it’s also important to have boots on the ground.

“We had someone in the lobby [of a senior housing complex] register folks,” Felker said. When New Yorkers who showed up at a vaccine pop-up site in Queens were

asked, many said they were notified by flyer, she said.

Supply and demand With demand currently outstripping supply, certain innovations don’t actually increase the rate of vaccination; they merely ensure doses are distributed first to people with technical know-how, said Kaushal Challa, CEO of the Charles B. Wang Health Center.

“It’s like searching for a Lady Gaga concert ticket,” he said. “They go to the person who knows how to refresh a site fastest and are gone in seconds.”

In in c ly d said Wan deli er g he s A stric cou “F hea told derl Kau inst

Employers chart unknown waters on

BY MATTHEW FLAMM

L

ike many struggling restaurant owners in New York, Jeremy Merrin has long seen a Covid-19 vaccine as his best chance for getting business back to normal. But he has also heard from some workers that they’ll decline to be inoculated.

That is why for the past couple of months the owner of the Havana Central restaurant in Times Square has been talking to all of his employees about the vaccines—making it clear that the science has shown them to be safe and effective.

“Clearly there are people who trust whoever they listen to on social media and do not believe in what the CDC is saying,” Merrin said. “We’ve begun planting the seeds as a company that getting the vaccine is a good thing.”

It’s still early days for restaurant worker inoculations, so he can’t yet say how well his strategy is working—or what he’ll do if it doesn’t.

Merrin has three metro area restaurants and nearly 150 employees, and Covid infections among staff have proved both worrisome and disruptive. But like many New York employers, he is still trying to find the best path forward.

In December the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that employers could mandate vaccinations, with exemptions for people with disabili-

keep her from getting pregnant. The restaurant revised its policy on exemptions amid the uproar that followed.

Being cautious Most businesses are treading lightly around mandates, according to employment experts.

“You have to factor in not just the law but employee morale and relationships,” said Mark Goldstein, a partner in the labor and employment group in the New York office of Reed Smith. “I do have clients who have adopted a mandatory vaccination policy.

We are still at the early stages of the vaccination rollout, so we have yet to see how that will play out.”

Other companies, he said, plan to encourage inoculations through incentives such as gift cards or personal time off.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach,” Goldstein said.

For some employers, the approach is determined by their

“WE’VE BEGUN PLANTING THE SEEDS ... THAT GETTING THE VACCINE IS A GOOD THING”

BUCK ENNIS

MERRIN

ties or certain medical conditions and for those whose religious beliefs would prevent them from getting one. But Merrin wants to avoid the bad feelings and potential legal issues that might come with a mandate.

Recently the Red Hook Tavern in Brooklyn fired a waitress who refused the vaccine out of fear it could

14 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

P014_P015_CN_20210329.indd 14

3/26/21 9:12 AM

bus M pers and 9/11 con cine “O com he s less if yo you S the viru gest

Stra

E the on A out por cion amo “W ploy wor Liam

plies, he added.

Behind the hesitation

oti-

ripons e of sure ople said rles

ady They w to e in

In fact, the initial low uptake rate in communities of color were largely due to supply issues, Kaushal said. He noted that each Charles B. Wang center location is equipped to deliver 500 doses per day. “We never got supplies close to that level,” he said.

Additionally, the state had set strict guidance about what facilities could vaccinate which individuals.

“For us, we had to prioritize health care providers and were told to stop reaching out to the elderly, even if they were eligible,” Kaushal said. Failure to follow the instructions led to withheld sup-

ers on worker vaccines

ding ding

the elan, a and the eed ents manicy. tagrollthat

n to h inperap-

apheir

business.

Michael Barasch, a partner in the personal injury law firm Barasch and McGarry, which represents 9/11 victims, wants anyone who has contact with clients to get a vaccine—or look elsewhere for work.

“Our clients are often immunocompromised or cancer survivors,” he said. “You can’t meet them unless you’ve had the vaccination, and if you can’t meet them, you can’t do your job.”

Scientists don’t know whether the vaccine prevents spread of the virus, but preliminary research suggests it makes infection less likely.

Strategic choices Employee advocates, pointing to the history of medical experiments on African American patients without their knowledge, say it’s important to understand the suspicion surrounding the vaccines among some people of color.

“We’re going to be asking employers to recognize that some workers have valid concerns,” said Liam Lynch, a safety and health

GOLDSTEIN

BUCK ENNIS

The exfol-

specialist with the nonprofit New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, which is formulating protocols for educating workers. “Education and training programs should come before just immediately firing someone.”

Human resources experts say one solution might be to take a selective approach.

A vaccination mandate “doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” said Theresa Adams, a senior adviser at the Society for Human Resource Management. “An employer can choose strategically for certain groups of employees, based on whether they’re working with the public or working from home.” ■

KIM says revenue at her Midtown practice fell by about a third last year.

BUCK ENNIS

Despite the challenges to access and the inevitability that some New Yorkers will never want to take the vaccine, experts said they are confident the city is on track to achieving the 65% to 80% vaccination rate needed for herd immunity at least by the end of this year, if not earlier.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted in February found that the percentage of Americans who said they would not get a vaccine was at 30%, down from 49% in September, Justman noted. It’s important to keep in mind that these surveys are just a snapshot in time and people do change their minds, she said.

Also, some people may want others to take the vaccine first. Upon seeing it’s safe, they will get a jab themselves, Richardson said. Those who are unsure because of basic concerns, such as side effects, will have their doubts dispelled easily as more people around them become vaccinated, Lee said.

That’s not to say actual hesitancy doesn’t exist. There are certainly dedicated anti-vaxxers, but they are a very small segment of the population, Richardson said.

And, of course, if a local community doesn’t achieve the immunity threshold, an outbreak could occur, Richardson said. The city saw that with the measles outbreak among the Orthodox Jewish community in 2019. But when the city intervened by not allowing children to attend schools unless vaccinated, vaccination rates shot up, she said.

And, hopefully, such events won’t repeat themselves when it comes to Covid.

“I don’t think we would need such drastic measures for this vaccine,” she said. “Most people here want it; they just can’t get it at this point.” ■

As workers shunned city, dentists learned to adjust

BY JONATHAN LAMANTIA

D

r. Mina Kim began to understand what Covid-19 would mean for her Midtown dental practice last March when she heard that patients working in nearby office towers were being sent home.

By March 17, 2020, she had written to patients on Facebook that her office would close except for emergency appointments.

Three days later Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed dental offices across the state to do the same.

Kim wouldn’t begin seeing patients with routine needs again until June.

“Frankly, I thought it would be about a week or so— maybe a month,” said Kim, who lives in Midtown. “I stayed in New York City the whole time. I saw my neighbors leaving with lots of boxes, and that really started to concern me. I knew my patients were leaving.”

She said revenue at her practice on West 46th Street fell by about one-third last year. In the meantime, Kim treated urgent needs via Zoom and consulted with patients who were using teeth aligners while they were confined to their homes.

She treated a few emergency patients in May but needed to furlough her four full-time employees for about a month.

In June economists at the American Dental Association said they expected U.S. dental care spending to fall by 38% in 2020 and 20% this year. Marko Vujicic, chief economist at the ADA’s Health Policy Institute, said spending has been in line with those projections.

president of the New York State Dental Association.

“I have a lot of patients who work in Manhattan, and they're working from home,” Ratner said. “They’ve taken the opportunity to take care of some of the dental work they had been forgoing because they were working full time.”

Ratner said his practice was at or close to capacity after reopening last year. With new constraints that require extra time between patients, he estimated he sees about one fewer patient a day at his office, which specializes in implant, restorative and cosmetic dentistry.

But Dr. Ada Cooper, a dentist on Madison Avenue and East 53rd Street, hasn’t noticed a lasting sea change. She said she has had patients who moved as far away as Chicago return to her office since it reopened in June. Others who live in the suburbs have returned to the city for medical and dental appointments on the same day.

“People are not going to stop going to the dentist,” Cooper said. “They may stop buying luxury shoes because they're working around the computer, but they're not going to stop maintaining their health. There's no question that we would come back.”

Dentists’ offices have fared better than the broader economy with jobs in the sector down just 3.1% statewide in January, according to the latest labor data.

Nonfarm employment was down 11.1% across New York during that period.

“I STAYED IN NEW YORK CITY THE WHOLE TIME. I KNEW MY PATIENTS WERE LEAVING”

Staying home Changes in commuting patterns have Kim worried even as funding from the Paycheck Protection Program has helped her practice’s finances.

“When we reopened, a lot of the patients were not back,” Kim said. “Our patients are mainly in finance or they’re in law, so they were working from home.”

Daily ridership on the Long Island Rail Road was down 75% this past March 15 compared with the average day in 2019; Metro-North Railroad ridership was down 80%. Car traffic isn’t making up the difference.

The change, however, has benefited practitioners in the outer boroughs and suburbs, said Dr. Craig Ratner, a dentist in the Tottenville section of Staten Island and

Volunteer roles Dentists, meanwhile, are contributing on a volunteer basis to the vaccination effort. A state order allows them to administer vaccines under the supervision of a physician, so they can’t give doses at their private practices. Ratner volunteered at Port Richmond High School on Staten Island.

Dentists and dental hygienists became eligible to receive a vaccine in January, a few weeks after workers at hospitals and long-term-care facilities were.

Kim and her staff have been vaccinated, which has helped put patients at ease.

“They’re happy to hear that,” Kim said. “Optimistically, I hope we’re at 80% by the end of the year. Some of my new patients said, ‘My dental office never reopened.’ As stressful as the situation has been, I feel really lucky that we were able to stay open.” ■ MARCH 29, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 15

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INSTANT EXPERT

Shuttered Venue Operators Grant THE ISSUE

THE PLAYERS

1

2

WHAT’S NEXT

5

The money from Shuttered Venue Operator Grants carries fewer restrictions than previous programs. Some might go to encouraging still-shuttered venues to try outdoor performances or experimental shows that they would not have been able to afford otherwise, offering opportunities to both employees and independent contractors who have not been able to find gigs on darkened stages. As of December, the arts industry was the only major city sector still below half of its pre-pandemic employment level, according to a report by the state comptroller. Owner compensation is also permitted.

The money could even flow to consumers in the form of ticket refunds from canceled 2020 events. Under the guidance, “ordinary expenses” are not well defined but seem to include funds for returning money to ticket holders, a move that could build loyalty and even drum up business among audience members on the fence about showing up at live events.

New York City organizations eligible to apply include large and small live music venues, performing arts spaces, museums, movie theaters, zoos, and even botanic gardens. Event promoters are also eligible.

SCHUMER The first priority will be given to businesses which have lost more than 90% of their revenue; after that, priority will go to those who have lost 70% or more. All businesses that apply have to have existed on Feb. 29, 2020, and $2 billion is earmarked for employers with fewer than about 50 full-time employees.

The plan, originally called the Save Our Stages Act, has been supported by politicians and business people across the city. Sen. Charles Schumer joined the Broadway League in September to urge Congress to pass the bill, which originally called for $10 billion in relief. A group of live venue operators called National Independent Venue Association lobbied to get the bill over the finish line.

BUCK ENNIS

The entertainment industry had the longest and most restrictive shutdowns of any other city sector, and for months the operators of live music venues, theaters, museums and movie theaters sought money that would help them survive. On Dec. 27, Congress passed the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, which included funding for these businesses under the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. The more recent American Rescue Plan Act amended and expanded the program’s funding to a total of $16.25 billion.

Nearly three months since the law’s passage, the U.S. Small Business Administration will begin accepting applications from businesses on April 8. The portal for the application opened on March 19, and information about the program and application are now accessible. The money successful applicants will receive will be free to them in the form of grants: no need to pay it back, ever. Individual businesses can apply for up to 45% of their gross earned revenue from 2019.

THE ARTS INDUSTRY WAS THE ONLY MAJOR SECTOR STILL BELOW HALF OF ITS PRE-PANDEMIC EMPLOYMENT LEVEL

BLOOMBERG

BY CARA EISENPRESS

YEAH, BUT…

3

As with some of the other recent government aid programs, the bill was passed long before concrete guidance came out, and venues have had to wait to find out if and when they would qualify. And not everyone does: production management companies, talent agencies, wedding venues, sports stadiums, and “secondary service providers” that help hire contractors for events are likely not eligible.

The long list of documentation for applying could also discourage venues from seeking money they badly need. Venues like concert halls need to annotate and submit floor plans and show marketing materials indicating when they would have held events.

There is also some confusion about whether recipients of Paycheck Protection Program loans are eligible. Answers on the FAQ imply that the first round of PPP is irrelevant, but those that received loans after Dec. 27, 2020, would have to deduct the amount of their loans when considering how much to apply for.

The city’s Department of Small Business Services has created Curtains Up NYC, a resource to help businesses with applications.

4

ISTOCK

Though federal and local relief has helped bridge the gaps for many firms, most previous programs did not take into consideration the extremely long shutdowns of this sector. While about 60% of companies in the sector received PPP loans, restrictions on how the money got used and the short term of the covered period has meant that companies could still not afford to stay open, and 60% (though not necessarily the same companies) have closed permanently or temporarily since last March.

The economic impact of live venues on New York is enormous. Broadway alone had 14.8 million admissions in the 2018-2019 season, and the Broadway League says it supports 97,000 full-time equivalent jobs while contributing over $12 billion to the New York City economy.

BUCK ENNIS

SOME BACKGROUND

16 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

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RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE

Judge allows lawsuit accusing owner of NHL’s Florida Panthers of breaking rent laws

A

lawsuit accusing Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola of violating rent-stabilization laws at a Brooklyn Heights building may move forward, a judge ruled last Thursday.

Tenants in Viola’s property at 2 Pierrepont St. sued their ownership entity, 2 Pierrepont Street LLC, last year, alleging that they received free-market leases when they moved in but were supposed to receive rent-stabilized leases instead.

The building had received a temporary exemption from New York’s

ing that the building underwent significant renovations after its sale, exempting it from the rent-stabilization laws. Judge Karen Rothenberg of state Supreme Court in Brooklyn, however, ruled that the evidence they submitted was not convincing enough to refute the tenants’ argument or prove that the building was in especially poor condition prior to its renovations.

She thus denied their motion to dismiss the case.

“The judge is sending a clear signal that this landlord is skating on thin ice, and the victory reinforces that spending a small fortune on legal fees won’t buy misbehaving landlords a win,” said Newman Ferrara partner Lucas Ferrara, a New York Law School professor who is representing the tenants. “Instead of hiding behind technical deficiencies, or loopholes, this owner should just step up, do the ‘sportsmanlike’ thing and make his tenants whole.”

Nine tenants have officially signed onto the lawsuit, which accuses the landlord of overcharging them for rent and asks the court to

NINE TENANTS HAVE OFFICIALLY SIGNED ONTO THE LAWSUIT rent-stabilization laws when Brooklyn Law School was using it for student housing. But the exemption ended after the school sold the building to Viola, who started renting out units in 2019, the lawsuit says.

Attorneys for the landlord attempted to dismiss the suit by argu-

provide the tenants with financial relief and force the landlord to stop violating New York’s rent laws.

The judge’s ruling that the case may proceed is an indication of more systemic problems in the rent laws, according to Housing Rights Initiative founder Aaron Carr, whose group helped investigate the case.

“This ruling is yet another affirmation that New York City’s rent-stabilization program is rife with fraud and that our government is asleep at the wheel,” Carr said.

“This case is not just an indictment of real estate. It is an indictment of our broken enforcement system.”

Representatives for Viola did not respond to a request for comment.

VIOLA

AP IMAGE

BY EDDIE SMALL

High sums In 2017 President Donald Trump nominated Viola to be secretary of the Army. Viola withdrew his name from consideration weeks later.

Viola, who founded financial firm Virtu Financial in 2008, has a net worth of about $3.9 billion, according to Forbes. He purchased 2 Pierrepont St. in 2015 for about $35 million from Brooklyn Law School.

The building stands 12 stories

tall, with 41 units, city records show.

Viola recently closed on the sale of his Upper East Side mansion at 12 E. 69th St., which he sold to British financier Alan Howard for $59 million after initially listing it in 2013 for $114 million, according to multiple reports.

There were no active listings at 2 Pierrepont St. as of last Monday, according to StreetEasy. Rents for apartments in the building during the past two years have ranged from $2,461 for a studio to $15,950 for a three-bedroom unit spanning the entire 11th floor, the website says. ■

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POLITICS

Albany’s recreational pot bill looks to avoid social equity mistakes of other states Legislation calls for creation of Office of Cannabis Management

BY BRIAN PASCUS

B

Seed money The bill calls for the creation of the Office of Cannabis Management, which, together with an advisory board and an equity office, would oversee the goal of granting half of all adult-use marijuana business licenses to individuals who are social equity applicants.

That would include minorities, women, disadvantaged farmers and individuals from communities disproportionately affected by pre-

BLOOMBERG

y offering low-interest loans to minority communities, New York legislators said they believe they have solved the problem of how to legalize recreational marijuana without forgetting those most heavily affected by the war on drugs.

But the legal-marijuana legislation being negotiated in Albany could face the same complications that have plagued other states that have added social equity considerations to their marijuana markets years after opening them.

“For New York, it’s the same pitfalls as elsewhere: the licensing part. Nobody has gotten that right in the entire country,” said Dominic Corva, co-director of cannabis research at Humboldt State University in California. “There is a disproportionate, racialized landscape of ownership. White people with money, or white males, tend to get in.”

By setting up a business-development program that grants preferential licensing status to minority entrepreneurs and by mandating that 50% of tax revenues be invested in a community-development fund for neighborhoods harmed by previous prohibition, New York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act looks to change the paradigm by promoting social equity from the top down.

New York’s bill would offer lowto zero-interest loans made in an MRTA incubator program.

The seed money for the loans would come from licensing fees levied on existing medical-marijuana companies and other non-social-equity applicant operators looking to break into the industry, Moore said. The money from the license fees would move into an account held by the state comptroller, she said, with the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board set up under the law as the entities that would determine the loans.

But the problems that have hit California—which has two provisions with respect to equity and capital in its laws—are bound to affect New York, said Corva, who helps write grants for cities and counties seeking funding for equity programs across the state.

Corva explained that minority entrepreneurs in California have to contend with a whole set of policy intersections that make it difficult to grow their business: license caps in certain jurisdictions, real estate and zoning considerations that are unfamiliar to most entrepreneurs, a lack of money to acquire a physical place of business and the need to partner with outside investors,

“IT’S A FORCE THAT’S COMING UP AGAINST A VERY POWERFUL STATUS QUO” vious cannabis prohibition.

“Nothing like this exists at the state level anywhere else,” said Melissa Moore, New York director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “The big issue we’ve seen in other states is that even with priority licensing, there’s a severe lack of access to capital for priority-licensing applicants.”

Experts argue that because marijuana cultivation, development and distribution are so capital-intensive, it’s not enough to simply grant preferential treatment to some in the allocation of licensing.

There must be financing as well, they say.

who don’t have the patience to wait for regulators to approve social equity licenses.

“It would shock people how few have been given out,” Corva said, estimating that the city of Long Beach has one social equity license, while none of Los Angeles’ social equity licenses are up and running.

“The social equity ownership part of it is not widely successful at this point,” he said.

Corva said he believes New York will eventually find itself dealing with the same problems.

“They’re going to be dedicated to trying to do it, but they’ll be dealing with licensing caps, real estate considerations and basic planning bandwidth,” he said. “They’ll need to accommodate an industry they were never trained to accommodate.”

Push for justice The push to achieve social equity in a nascent adult-use marijuana market is only a recent development, says Jeremy Unruh, senior vice president of public and regulatory affairs at PharmaCann. He said the issue wasn’t seen as urgent five or six years ago.

Unruh explained that when Colorado, Washington and other states began their legalization programs, the industry itself was focused on developing medical-marijuana programs to treat childhood epi-

lepsy and alleviate pain in cancer patients.

“So much of the industry was focused on that,” he said. “Only as more eastern state medical markets began the transition to adult use have we seen social equity rise to level of prominence.”

Last year both Colorado and Washington passed legislation aimed at rectifying a lack of social equity licensees in their adult-use laws. There are concerns that the western state markets are too saturated with established operators for the retroactive changes in the legislation to make much of a difference.

“Washington and Colorado and California, who legalized for adult use many years ago, are saying, ‘Oh, shoot, we missed it back then and we need to bake some social equity into our programs today,’ ” Unruh said.

New York’s MRTA looks to grant 50% of state revenue derived from taxing legal cannabis to communities disproportionately affected by a history of cannabis arrests, convictions and prohibition, according to Sen. Liz Krueger’s office.

After various costs for running the regulatory offices are taken off the top of revenue collection, the Community Grants Reinvestment Fund in the MRTA would allocate revenue through a grant development program, whose applicants for business and community in-

vestment would need to be approved by regulators.

“It’s really long past time for New York,” said state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who supports the MRTA. “We’ve finally gotten to the place where the things we care the most about—namely the criminal justice aspects—are at a place where people feel it’s fair.”

There’s no guarantee New York’s ambitious goals will work, however. Illinois mandated social equity funding into its legislation last year, but the Land of Lincoln’s marketplace has been plagued by a flawed regulation model that has stymied the oversight process.

“Illinois’ structure is sound, but the state’s execution has been ham-handed,” Unruh said. “It’s not corruption. It was state actors who had no real experience in competitive licensing processing.”

And even after mandating licenses to certain parts of the population and granting taxation revenue to specific communities, the rapid growth of private adult-use and medical-marijuana companies and the various capital concerns could slow down the calls for social justice.

“It’s a force that’s coming up against a very powerful status quo, which is to favor financial capitalism over small business, and that’s tied to the racial ownership question,” Corva said. “The structural racial issues are obvious.” ■

18 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

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POSITION AVAILABLE

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE TO PURCHASERS OF HESS HEATING FUEL OIL

Financial Analyst (Alma Bank, New York, NY). Coordinate w/sr. mgmt. to GHYHORS WKH %DQN·V DQQXDO EXGJHW LQFO XSGDWLQJ WKH ORQJ WHUP IRUHFDVWV 6WUDWHJLF 3ODQ $SSO\ Z UHVXPH WR /DQFH %HQQHWW $OPD %DQN WK $YHQXH 6XLWH /RQJ ,VODQG &LW\ 1< 1R UHOR DYDLO 1R UG SDUW\ responses. EOE.

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Mail to: Iliana Germosen, 50 Broad Street, Suite 403, New York, NY 10004 & note Job ID#

Principal Consultant (PA Consulting Group, Inc. – New York, NY) Work on operating model dsgn and org chg

This Notice has been authorized by the Court to advise you that a class action is pending on behalf of all persons or entities in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island who, between March 2009 to March 2013, purchased Hess No. 4 fuel oil or Hess No. 6 fuel oil and received and paid for an adulterated product containing non-Hess used and/or waste oil.

The lawsuit is pending before the Honorable Jennifer G. Schecter, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Mid Island Management of Queens and Carnegie Park Associates, L.P., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, against Hess Corporation, Defendant, Index No. 650911/2013). Plaintiffs allege that heating oil delivered to them by two independent third party trucking companies contracted by Hess was adulterated with waste oils and other oils of a lesser value that were mixed into the ordered grade of fuel oil by those trucking companies and another third party oil company, so that the delivered product did not meet the standards of the parties’ contracts and that Hess customers thereby were caused to overpay for the product.

Defendant has denied the allegations and has asserted defenses. On February 17, 2021, the Court ordered that the case may proceed as a class action and designated GROSSMAN LLP as counsel to the Class. This Notice is not an expression by the Court of any opinion as to the merits of any claims or defenses by the parties to the lawsuit.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS LAWSUIT Make sure to read this section carefully to understand your options.

1.

REMAIN IN THE LAWSUIT If you do nothing in response to this Notice, you may be a member of the Class if you received Hess No. 4 or Hess No. 6 fuel oil which was adulterated. This may allow you to get money or other benefits that may come from a trial or settlement of this class action lawsuit. You will be bound by all of the orders and judgments that the Court issues whether fa vorable or not.

2.

ASK TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THE LAWSUIT If you ask to be excluded from this class action lawsuit, you will retain the right to sue Defendant separately and on your own behalf.

If you are excluded, you will not be entitled to a share in any money or other benefits that the Class may obtain from Defendant from either a trial or a settlement in this lawsuit. If you exclude yourself from this class action lawsuit in order to start or continue your own lawsuit against Defendant, you should talk to your own lawyer soon because your claim may be subject to a statute of limitations.

To exclude yourself from the Class you must send a request by mail stating that you wish to be excluded. Be sure to include the name of the purchaser of the fuel oil, address, and telephone number. The Request for Exclusion must be postmarked no later than JuO\ 2, 2021, and sent to: LINDSAY E. HOGAN, GROSSMAN LLP, 745 Fifth Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10151 For further information about the case you may call or email Lindsay E. Hogan at GROSSMAN LLP, (646) 770-7445, lhogan@grossmanllp.com. You may also view all filings with the Court at: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/CaseSearch. Enter the characters provided. That will then take you to “case search” where you can enter the Case Number: 650911/2013. That will take you to the docket.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT

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SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail a copy of process against LLC to 310 E 46th St,#9G, NY, NY 10017.R/A US Corp Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228 Purpose: any lawful act

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ITALIA REALTY, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/15/21. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o BSB Associates Ltd., 201 Moreland Road, Suite 3, Hauppauge, NY 11788. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of Fairview Property Group LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/1/20. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in NJ on 9/23/20. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served & mailed to: 348 Fairview Ave, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009.

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NOTICE OF FORMATION NXTTHING RPO, LLC Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on October 21, 2020. Office location: NEW YORK County. LLC formed in Ohio on Mach 22, 2019.

SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is: 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005. The principal business address of the LLC is: 7298 Upper Clarenton, Drive South, New Albany, Ohio 43054. Ohio address of LLC is: 7298 Upper Clarenton, Drive South, New Albany, 0hio 43054. Certificate of LLC filed with Secretary of State of Ohio located at: 22 North Fourth Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

SUSHI LAB LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/16/2021. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 132 W 47th St, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of Upper90 Partners SPV GP II, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/11/21. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/23/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 114 W 26th St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10001. Address to be maintained in DE: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4 Dover DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of EW DIRECT 1 NASSAU, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/04/21. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/02/21. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF AfroConex LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/22/20. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is: 119 Payson Ave, Apt 6E, New York, NY 10034. The principal business address of the LLC is: 119 Payson Ave, Apt 6e, New York, NY 10034. Purpose: any lawful act or activity

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Notice of formation of Moments In Time Chef and Caterering LLC. Arts of Org. Filed with Secy. of State of NY on 11/18/2020 NY County SSNY. Agent upon whom process to be served and copy mailed of process against LLC to 1885 Adam Clayton powel BLVD 1A NY NY10026 for any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of Skydance Animation East, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 0 3/11/21. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Connecticut (CT) on 03 /09/21. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Jesse Sisgold, Skydance Media, 2900 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404, also the principal office address. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 165 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106. Purpose: any lawful activities.

20 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | MARCH 29, 2021

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Notice of Qualification of KNICKS HOLDINGS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/03/21. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/19/15. NYS fictitious name: MSG KNICKS HOLDINGS, LLC. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

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FROM PAGE 3

He filed a whistleblower complaint with federal regulators, detailing an “environment of financial abuse and mismanagement” at the credit union. His information found its way to the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which charged Kaufman with three counts of bribery and conspiracy. The trial began March 16. The former king of New York taxi finance faces years in prison if convicted.

“Robbie recklessly put a train in motion, and nobody knows where it will stop,” said Tom Canova, an intellectual-property lawyer who has known Nemeroff and Kaufman for about 50 years. “This is a dysfunctional personality at work. His unjustified resentment and jealousy bred a pathological level of vindictiveness. All Alan ever did was help him.”

Nemeroff declined to comment on those remarks.

On the trial’s second day, he entered the courtroom, briefly locked eyes with Kaufman’s wife, Debi, and took his seat at the witness stand, surrounded by plexiglass. He gazed down and quietly explained why he blew the whistle on his childhood friend.

“I was concerned about the safety and soundness of the credit union,” Nemeroff said.

“That is a lie,” Debi Kaufman hissed under her breath.

Bubble, toil and trouble Melrose Credit Union was started by Alan Kaufman’s grandfather in 1922 as a nonprofit whose mission was to provide business loans at affordable rates. In the 1960s Kaufman’s father started making loans to taxi owners when medallions, the city-issued permits to drive a cab, cost about $5,000 apiece. At its peak Melrose had

TOURISM FROM PAGE 1

according to STR’s latest release.

The figure is up about 10% from the week of Feb. 14—an increase that is in line with the seasonal growth in tourism between February and March in recent years. (The comparisons are complicated by the fact that there are fewer hotel rooms now than in 2019, although more are opening every week.)

At the Palace, Hubbard said, the weeks ahead show an uptick in bookings, whereas last year’s forecasts showed decline after decline.

Two weekends ago, there were 145,000 people coming through Times Square each day, compared with 88,686 per day through February, according to the Times Square Alliance; last year on weekends in March, average daily foot traffic was around 340,000.

Tourism and its related industries were struck hard by the coronavirus, lockdowns and yearlong restrictions on travel. Some 22.3 million people visited New York last year, down from 66 million in 2019—leading to an enormous loss of jobs in the accommodations sector. The numbers were down 68% between January 2020 and January

interest rates to 4%.

The city this month said it plans to distribute up to $65 million in federal relief funds to assist drivers.

The plan would provide up to $20,000 in interest-free loans to those who own a medallion. But that’s of limited help, considering cabbies have an estimated $500 million in debts.

Transportation analyst Charles Komanoff said he thinks Uber drivers should be forced to help rescue desperate taxi owners by paying a congestion tax for driving around Manhattan.

“It’s about rebalancing equities,” Komanoff said. “Obviously you can’t put the genie back into the bottle.”

25,000 members and $2 billion in assets, all run from a Queens office with 50 employees. It was the sort of place where customers would give staff members $25 checks as Hanukkah presents.

“I was a little embarrassed [by one of the $25 checks] and took it to my supervisor,” testified former controller Robin Myers, who was told she could keep the modest gift.

Melrose prospered as the value of a taxi medallion soared from $200,000 in 2002 to $1.1 million in 2014. To keep monthly payments low for borrowers, Melrose offered 50-year medallion loans with the presumption they would be refinanced every two or three years. It was a sound strategy so long as medallions kept rising in value.

Medallion loans represented a dangerous 80% of Melrose’s portfolio, but the credit union had a hefty $400 million in reserves— which seemed enough to cushion against the worst crisis anyone could foresee.

But no one predicted the rise of Uber, which New Yorkers started using to hail rides in 2011. Uber’s 100,000 gig workers decimated the livelihoods of the city’s 13,000 medallion owners.

Some ruined cabbies killed themselves. Years later, public officials are still grappling with how to help cabdrivers, who sometimes offered their homes as collateral for medallion loans.

“The city advertised that this was a better investment than the stock market, and the future medallion owners believed them,” said state Sen. Jessica Ramos of Queens. “The city created this bubble and did nothing to help them.”

Some—including city Comptroller Scott Stringer, a candidate in the upcoming mayoral race—have endorsed a plan put forth by drivers to cap their debts at $125,000 and limit

MELROSE BY THE NUMBERS

the Rangers. CBS Radio, the Jets and Madison Square Garden flew Kaufman to Paris, Hawaii and the Super Bowl in New Orleans on their dime.

Kaufman allegedly used credit-union funds to pay his retired father a $5,600 monthly consulting fee, which most board members didn’t know about, and he billed the credit union for trips and limousine rides for himself and his family. His customers, many of them immigrant drivers working punishing hours to pay down their debts, were subsidizing his lifestyle.

“It was a family-run business but not a family-owned business,” said

Ira Goldstein, a former the dirt he had. Regulachief of staff at the city tors soon swarmed the Taxi and Limousine office.

Commission.

“That’s In 2016 the board fired where the trouble startKaufman and thwarted his attempt to collect an ed.” $8 million exit package Nemeroff and AMOUNT in assets held by the taxi that two friendly direcKaufman butted heads lender at its peak over the CEO’s big martors had awarded him keting idea: buying the two years earlier. Asked naming rights to the how Kaufman reacted to Melrose Ballroom, an the news, board member Astoria concert venue.

Laurie Benjamin told the NUMBER of members of Kaufman saw the deal as jury: “He called me a Melrose Credit a path to expanding f**king a**hole.”

Union at that time their customer base beIn 2017 regulators seized and liquidated yond taxi owners. NemMelrose. The 95-year-old eroff countered that few would see the Melrose sign because nonprofit lender’s failure cost the the ballroom was located on a quiet federal credit-union insurance fund side street. Nemeroff deemed the about $700 million.

Alan Plafker, a former Melrose exrights worth no more than $50,000.

But Kaufman paid $2 million to ecutive and a friend of Kaufman, the ballroom’s owner, Tony Georgi- said the credit union could have ton, who was president of a large found a way out of its financial probtaxi fleet and one of Melrose’s big- lems had regulators given it time. gest clients. When Kaufman was “The clock didn’t run out. They getting divorced and facing hefty pulled the plug,” Plafker said. “We alimony and child-support were the good guys in a business costs, Georgiton bought a with a lot of predators.” condo in Jericho, Long IsGeorgiton pleaded guilty and in land, for $630,000 and let January was sentenced to three the CEO live in it rent-free. years of probation. Prosecutors In return, Kaufman is al- wanted him imprisoned for two leged to have personally ap- years, but the judge said he proved $185 million in loans wouldn’t do that to a 63-year-old to Georgiton at rates unavailable to man when the Covid-19 pandemic most clients. Both men were indict- was running wild.

Kaufman, 62, might not be so ed by the U.S. Justice Department.

“This case is about bribes,” Assis- lucky if convicted. The coronavirus tant U.S. Attorney Michael McGin- appears less rampant now, and nis told jurors at the start of there are vaccines.

Whatever the jury decides, the Kaufman’s trial. “You scratch my bond forged long ago between back; I’ll scratch yours.”

“Why are we here?” defense at- Kaufman, Nemeroff and Canova is torney Nelson Boxer asked. “Mr. broken. Canova was thinking about Kaufman never made a corrupt that when he came across a recorddeal with Mr. Georgiton.” ing of a Grateful Dead song the guys used to dance along to: “He’s Gone.”

Ratting out “Rat in a drain ditch, caught on a A few days after getting his sever- limb,” the lyrics go. “You know betance package, Nemeroff got in ter, but I know him.”

“Robbie is gone,” Canova said. touch with the National Credit Union Administration and dished “He is the rat in the drain ditch.” ■

On a recent Wednesday, SoHo mainstay Balthazar reopened with a large outdoor setup; reservations are going two weeks in advance.

That follows the February reopening of the Peter Luger Steak House, in Brooklyn.

The Luger opening could signal the beginning of a rebound in food tourism, according to reservation platform Resy, because it is a restaurant that typically brings in a large number of new Resy users—a hint they could be tourists.

On average, daily diners at New York restaurants that use Resy have doubled since early February, with total volume at about half of what it was prepandemic.

Restaurants that once attracted

business diners and international tourists say that business will not be the same until they return.

“We have always gotten a mix of customers,” said John Meadow, founder and president of LDV Hospitality, which runs Scarpetta and American Cut, among others. “Now there is no mix. All restaurants are neighborhood-centric restaurants.”

Meadow said he hopes to do 80% of 2019’s sales at his restaurants, excluding bars.

Tourists are beginning to head to cultural institutions too, especially the outdoor ones, as exhibits return. At the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, artist Yayoi Kusama’s installation of monumental flowers and other immersive natural experiences is due to open April 10, after being postponed from last spring. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been open since August, with recent weekend attendance hitting 7,000 after months of averaging about 4,000. It released

Family matters Business at Melrose was humming when Kaufman succeeded his father as chief executive in 1998.

Nemeroff was spending $1 million annually advertising on WFAN and 1010 WINS, as well as sponsoring

$2B 25K

“ROBBIE RECKLESSLY PUT A TRAIN IN MOTION—NOBODY KNOWS WHERE IT WILL STOP”

2021. NYC & Company is projecting that 36.4 million visitors will arrive this year.

So although a 2019-style tourism world won’t be here at least until the return of Broadway and large corporate gatherings—which are not likely to be in full force before fall—some observers say domestic leisure tourists and regional visitors looking to eat out and enjoy museums or ferry rides are beginning to make an impact in terms of dollars spent and confidence built up that New York is fun to visit again.

“Why people will come to New York is [that] there is a great desire for human contact,” said Mitchell Moss, professor of urban policy and planning at New York University.

“People want to do things!”

Old haunts Hubbard is pointing potential returnees to the city’s restaurants, which now may host diners at 50% capacity indoors; with outdoor setups, some almost can offer prepandemic levels of service. In recent weeks Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Café, for example, have reopened after closing completely in the fall. A recent Thursday was the first day Gramercy Tavern offered its well-known tasting menu since last March.

BUCK ENNIS

CREDIT

its first video advertising campaign aimed at encouraging more visitors, especially people from around the region.

Statue Cruises, which operates ferries to Liberty and Ellis islands, has seen positive signs in recent weeks, with March weekend ridership hitting about 25% of historical visitation, up from 5% to 10% last July. The Intrepid reopened on a recent Thursday. The High Line soon will be in full bloom. And the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park is set to open March 29.

So far more than half of visitors are day-trippers from within 50 miles. Some might have begun to stay the night, though: The hotel occupancy rate on March 20 was 65.4%, according to STR, 15% higher than the week’s average.

For people from farther away, there’s an interest in experiencing a less-crowded city. Certain oncemobbed retailers can feel like personal-shopping adventures, and a museum visitor can linger in front of a favorite artwork with no one blocking the view.

“There’s a curiosity of what New York is like now,” Hubbard said, adding to the pleasurable prospect of “just being able to come back and support the city they have always loved.” ■

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GOTHAM GIGS

BUCK ENNIS

FIELDS has been a social worker for roughly 30 years.

NATHANIEL FIELDS AGE 55 GREW UP East New York RESIDES White Plains EDUCATION Bachelor’s in history, SUNY Oneonta; master of social work, Fordham University FAMILY MAN Fields is married with three children: two daughters—one with a Ph.D. and one graduating from college this year—and one son going to college this fall.

MAKING PAYROLL A challenge in the nonprofit world is ensuring that the workers receive enough support to succeed. “The nonprofit sector is tough,” he said. “You want the best people possible, but you unfortunately can’t always pay what those folks deserve.”

SELF-HELP Fields said it is important for social workers to take care of themselves if they want to effectively take care of their clients. He makes time to exercise and take walks.

Offering much-needed support

A nonprofit CEO focuses on services for the homeless, survivors of abuse

BY EDDIE SMALL

S

ince he was a child, Nathaniel Fields has recognized the importance of community support.

The 55-year-old was born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn, at a time when his neighborhood and others in the city were struggling with high levels of unemployment and crime.

“We were in the midst of that, but we had a very strong block association president, and he really helped us,” Fields said. “While we weren’t immune to all the things happening all around us, it did give me an early opportunity to really see when people work together to support each other despite the chaos that it can predict a better outcome.”

Fields went to school for social work, and his career spans roughly 30 years in the sector. In 2012 he became CEO of the Urban Resource Institute, which provides services

for domestic violence survivors and homeless families. Fields is proudest of spearheading this dual focus since taking the reins of the Lower Manhattan organization.

Under his leadership, in 2013 the group started the People and Animals Living Safely program, which encourages those in abusive relationships to leave them by guaranteeing that they will be able to take their pets along.

“We were the first and remain the only organization in New York City, when we think about victims of domestic violence, to create a co-sheltering environment with both people and pets,” Fields said. “We recognized that over 48% of victims of domestic violence wouldn’t leave an abusive relationship because they were fearful of what would happen to their pet.”

The program has placed 251 families and 346 pets in homes since it launched. URI opened its first entirely animal-friendly domestic vio-

lence shelter in Brooklyn in 2018 with 30 apartments and spaces dedicated to pet grooming.

Amid their many hardships, the vast majority of domestic violence survivors have been affected by economic abuse, according to URI. The group works with them on issues such as credit and job preparation to help them achieve financial independence. URI plans to expand its work in part by opening an Economic Empowerment Center in Manhattan later this year.

Spending an entire career in a field as challenging as social work can become wearisome, which Fields readily acknowledges. However, he stressed that the victories he and his colleagues are able to achieve more than outweigh the frustrations, especially when his team is able to see their impact on someone going through a crisis.

“To partner with that person as you see them heal and flourish is just amazing,” he said. ■

“TO PARTNER WITH THAT PERSON AS YOU SEE THEM HEAL AND FLOURISH IS JUST AMAZING”

MARCH 29, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 23

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