Crain's New York Business

ASKED & ANSWERED Film Forum head on how the DOB hampers theaters PAGE 7

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BY THE JUDGE Broker fees aren’t going anywhere PAGE 3

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APRIL 19, 2021

CRIME

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES SQUARE Open-air drug use, homelessness and a spiking crime rate threaten recovery at the Crossroads of the World

BY BRIAN PASCUS

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ideo surveillance footage of a violent assault on an elderly Asian-American woman in broad daylight last month shocked the nation. Aside from continuing a pattern of anti-Asian hate crimes across New York and the nation in the past year, the March 29 attack stood out for another reason: It happened just blocks away from Times Square.

Then on April 7, a Kansas City tourist in town for a baseball game was shot near the Crossroads of the World.

The crimes and the resulting publicity could not have come at a worse time—or at a worse place.

As the city tries to reopen from a year of Covid-19 restrictions,

BUCK ENNIS

See CRIME on page 22 JOHN DOHERTY, the owner of the Playwright Irish Pub, struggles to bring in customers due to the recent influx of homeless people in the area.

TRANSPORTATION

Taxi owners demand new city bailout plan after TLC commissioner’s ‘suicide’ gaffe Some medallion owners called for Jarmoszuk’s resignation after the flap

NEWSPAPER

VOL. 37, NO. 15

BY BRIAN PASCUS

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he head of the city Taxi and Limousine Commission last Wednesday apologized to a yellow-cab driver for her “insensi-

© 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC.

tivity” in telling him to stop bringing up his brother's suicide. But the mea culpa landed flat to many underwater taxi medallion owners, who demanded a better bailout plan.

SPOTLIGHT

ONLINE CONTACT LENS RETAILER SEES GROWTH PAGE 23

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Crain’s first reported that TLC Chairwoman Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk told medallion owner Richard Chow to “stop with the suicide thing” after he brought

MORE Taxi chief knocks other bailout plan.

Page 11

up his deceased brother, Kenny—a former owner-driver who was deep in medallion debt and took his See TAXI on page 17

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK

Old and new come together in East Harlem PAGE 6

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CANNABIS

BY EDDIE SMALL

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ne of the main arguments marijuana advocates made in favor of New York legalizing the drug was that neighboring states were beating it to the punch—arguments that intensified once the state’s Port Authority partner and occasional punching bag, New Jersey, voted to legalize pot in November.

New York followed suit at the end of March, and it might have an advantage over New Jersey going forward as both states look to develop their market. New Jersey’s law caps the amount of cultivation licenses

Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes. She saw the issue flare up in other places that have legalized marijuana, and she said she hoped that not limiting cultivation licenses would help keep New York’s dispensaries fully stocked when they open, likely next year at the earliest.

“Places like Canada, it took them almost two years to get regulations in place. When they did open, many of the businesses couldn’t stay open because they didn’t have product,” Peoples-Stokes said.

“That happened in other states as well. You have an advantage when you don’t go first.”

“New York imposes no such restrictions, no such cap on the number of cultivators— which means there will be more supply,” said lawyer Jennifer Cabrera of Vicente Sederberg, a firm that specializes in cannabis law. “So if New York is able to get its licensing process up and running in a reasonable amount of time, they could really get their supply going, which helps their entire market be healthier.”

The cultivation-license policy also aims to ensure that New York’s small farmers get a chance to participate in the cannabis market— and prevent a handful of large players from dominating the industry,

BLOOMBERG

New York could have marijuana-supply advantage over the Garden State

state officials said.

Capping cultivation licenses was a major point of contention between New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s office and that state’s legislature. The limit of 37 in the next two years was a compromise, said Jeff Brown, executive director of New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Brown acknowledged that the limit will be something New Jersey will need to work around, but he stressed that the state has no limit on the amount of licenses that can go to microbusinesses, defined for cultivation purposes as places with 10 or fewer employees that span 2,500 or fewer square feet.

That could help New Jersey avoid running into supply issues despite

“I THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS WE CAN BE SMART ABOUT TOGETHER” during the next two years at 37, but no such limit exists under New York’s law.

That should help New York avoid supply-shortage issues that might bedevil its neighbor. That, in turn, could shore up its market for dispensaries, experts said.

License limits Supply shortages were one of the main issues New York legislators wanted to avoid when crafting the state’s cannabis law, said Assembly

the cap.

“I’m really hoping that we’re able to establish a very diverse marketplace with businesses of all sizes,” Brown said. “The microbusiness provision, specifically, it isn’t necessarily an advantage, but it’s certainly a unique facet of our law that we can utilize to get new entrepreneurs in the market.”

Although New York has no limit on its cultivation licenses now, that could change. The law itself gives that authority to the Cannabis Control Board, which is in charge of implementing the law. The board could decide to limit the number of cultivation licenses.

“We could see license caps in New York,” Vicente Sederberg lawyer Elliot Choi said. “It’s just not mandated, so that’s a big difference.”

Cultivation facilities might seem like a better fit for rural, more spacious parts of upstate New York, but Cabrera said she could see some working in an industrial part of the city as well. The main issue there would be whether aspiring marijuana farmers could find a location

FINANCE

Citigroup to exit 13 countries as CEO pledges ‘fundamental transformation’

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itigroup once upon a time had bank branches all over the world. Soon Citi locations will be found in just the U.S., Mexico and four other nations after new Chief Executive Jane Fraser announced plans last Thursday to leave 13 countries.

“We want to achieve nothing less than fundamental transformation,” Fraser said during her first conference call with analysts since becoming CEO last month. “There’s no dilly-dallying here.”

Fraser said the bank will focus on serving wealthy clients overseas from hubs in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Citi plans to build up its U.S. branch franchise, which is significant in New York and a handful of other cities.

Branches in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Viet-

nam will be sold, she said.

“We simply aren’t the best owners over the long term,” said Fraser, who led global consumer banking before becoming CEO. Citi, which prides itself as the world’s “most global” bank, has been shrinking its retail footprint for many years. It sold its German branches in 2008 and those in Argentina and Brazil in 2016.

The bank still serves companies in those countries, and Fraser said it will continue to do so in the nations where it will soon close its branches.

Closing the gap As with other big banks, Citi enjoyed a healthy first quarter thanks to the stabilizing economy, which enabled the bank to release loanloss reserves. But revenue from Wall Street lines of business fell compared to last year, as did consumer banking. Return on equity, a measure of how profitably the bank deploys its capital, came in at 17%.

Spirit of competition Estimates for recreational marijuana sales have exceeded $1 billion in both New York and New Jersey. The close, fluid relationship between the two states makes it almost inevitable that the two markets will compete for customers.

Brown stressed that the competitive spirit would be concentrated on the business side of the industry and not carry over to the governmental side.

“I think for businesses it’s going to be a competition, particularly for businesses that locate near the borders,” he said. “I don’t see the regulatory frameworks as being competitive. I look forward to collaborating with New York’s regulators. I think there are a lot of things that we can be smart about together.”

Colin Brennan, spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said he is grateful New Jersey and New York are both ending their cannabis prohibition policies.

“We are actively coordinating with them and other regional partners to create common standards that ensure safe and regulated cannabis products are available for responsible use,” Brennan said, “no matter where they are purchased.” ■

WEBCAST CALLOUT

MAY 11 TOP CONTENDERS FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

BLOOMBERG

BY AARON ELSTEIN

the appropriate distance from schools and houses of worship.

“You could have something within the five boroughs,” Cabrera said.

That was below JPMorgan Chase’s 23%—a familiar state of affairs. Fraser vowed to close the gap.

Citi “has been getting rid of assets for going on 20 years, and they’re still talking about doing that,” said Dick Bove, an analyst at Odeon Capital Group. “How long does it take?”

Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo, another longtime Citi watcher, was more encouraged.

“Fraser brings a sense of urgen-

cy,” he said. “Change is afoot.”

Citi officials acknowledged it will take time to steer the bank in the right direction after decades of management changes, strategic shifts and costly errors. Fraser, the first woman to run a major U.S. bank, said a few simple questions will be asked when assessing whether to develop or dump a business.

“Can we win? Can we be well positioned in this?” she said. “We’ve got quite a bit of work to do.” ■

Crain’s New York Business will host a series of mayoral debates, where candidates will have the opportunity to speak on key issues affecting the city. The first event in the series will feature top contenders in the Democratic primary as they address the economy, health and safety, their vision for New York City, quality-oflife concerns and a variety of other pertinent topics.

VIRTUAL EVENT Time: 3:30 to 5 p.m.

CrainsNewYork.com/ MayDebate

Vol. 37, No. 15, April 19, 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.

2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | APRIL 19, 2021

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GETTY IMAGES

REAL ESTATE

Broker fees aren’t going anywhere, judge rules

BY EDDIE SMALL

B

roker fees may remain a fixture of renting an apartment in New York moving forward, according to a recent court ruling.

Judge Susan Kushner of state Supreme Court in Albany ruled that guidance from the Department of State that had prohibited brokers from collecting those fees following the state’s 2019 rent reforms “was issued in error” and represented “an unlawful intrusion upon the power of the Legislature.”

The State Department issued its guidance in February 2020, writing that landlords would have to pay the fees for brokers they hire to lease apartments and banning them from passing those fees on to tenants. The guidance aimed to clarify the state’s rent reforms but sowed chaos and confusion within the real estate industry, which mo-

bilized against it.

The Real Estate Board of New York spearheaded a lawsuit in response to the regulation, arguing that there was no legislative history to support the state’s interpretation of the rent law, and Judge Michael Mackey of state Supreme Court in Albany placed a temporary restraining order on the policy.

Industry celebrates

tection Act,” REBNY President James Whelan said in a statement.

Steven James, Douglas Elliman’s New York City president and CEO, echoed that sentiment.

“This ruling reconfirms that the way New York real estate agents conduct rental transactions is prop-

Kushner acknowledged that was ambiguous but said that, based on the bill sponsor’s memo and comments from Sen. Brian Kavanagh of New York City, the ban was meant to apply only to “application fees, background-check fees, creditcheck fees and any other fees imposed as a precondition to negotiations for entry into a lease agreement.”

“No reference is made to ‘broker’s commissions’ in the statute,” Kushner continued. “Had the Legislature intended to cover broker’s commissions, it would have expressly stated it. The absence of that particular term has meaning and must have been intentional.”

The State Department issued a brief statement, saying it is reviewing the order from the judge and contemplating its next steps. Kavanagh said he plans to review the judge’s decision as well and discuss

“FRANKLY, BROKER FEES ARE AN ENORMOUS BURDEN ON MY CLIENTS”

But New York’s broker fees are back in full force now following Kushner’s ruling, a verdict that REBNY celebrated.

“This decision ensures that thousands of hardworking, honest real estate agents across New York state can earn commissions without fear of unwarranted discipline by the Department of State based on its erroneous interpretation of the Housing Stability and Tenant Pro-

er and fair to all involved in those transactions,” James said in a statement.

The section of the law at issue banned landlords from charging fees for processing, reviewing or accepting an application and included the phrase “or demand any other payment, fee or charge before or at the beginning of the tenancy.”

it with his colleagues, according to his spokesman, Stanley Davis.

Seeking clarity Michael McKee, treasurer of the Tenants Political Action Committee, said he hopes to see the legislature clarify the law to explicitly ban broker fees moving forward.

“It might be that the judge is correct on the law, but she’s wrong on the issue. This whole system is a giant scam,” he said. “My view is that if landlords want brokers to help them find their tenants, the landlord should pay the broker.”

Judith Goldiner, attorney in charge for the civil law reform unit of the Legal Aid Society, likewise described the ruling as “unfortunate” and fairly conservative regarding the purview of the State Department.

“Frankly, broker fees are an enormous burden on my clients and make it very difficult for them to obtain housing,” she said. ■

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HEALTH CARE

Hospitals find working with diverse businesses strengthens their community ties

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s the Brooklyn Hospital Center enters the next phase of its $1 billion modernization project, it has laid out some key criteria in seeking a development partner— including a commitment to working with minority- and women-owned business enterprises.

“We are looking for someone who could meet not just our financial and expertise needs but also someone whose mission is aligned with Brooklyn Hospital’s,” said Bob Knakal, chairman of New York investment sales at real estate services company JLL, which has been retained to lead the search.

The Fort Greene facility’s construction project involves allocating more than 800,000 square feet of space for hospital use; six build-

vice president of external affairs at Brooklyn Hospital. Sourcing local vendors helps establish stable, lasting relationships between the hospital and the neighborhood it serves, he said.

Economic viability Other health systems have taken note of the important role working with MWBEs and local businesses plays in their surrounding areas.

“Suppliers and vendors we partner with are also our patients,” said Michael Wright, vice president of diversity and health equity at Northwell Health, the state’s largest health system, which serves the city, Long Island and Westchester County.

“Their economic viability translates to our economic viability.”

The economic benefits from working with local MWBE vendors enable better health outcomes too, Wright said. Empowering communities financially allows them to seek better nutrition, care and wellness.

Better financial stability improves mental wellness and helps create generally stronger communities, he said.

Brooklyn Hospital’s project offers many opportunities to include a MWBE component along every step of the way, from construction to supplies, Singletary said. But even

GETTY IMAGES

BY SHUAN SIM

“SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS WE PARTNER WITH ARE ALSO OUR PATIENTS”

after the buildings are erected, the hospital anticipates continuing to engage MWBE vendors and suppliers as the space is filled, Knakal said.

ings for private development, including affordable housing; medical offices; and nearly 48,000 square feet of retail space.

Serving as a resource for the community requires investing in the long-term viability of the hospital, said Lenny Singletary, senior

At Northwell, as the organization grew, it convened a supplier diversity council about four years ago to devise procurement strategies that took diversity and inclusion into consideration, Wright said. The formalized process has helped the health system deepen its invest-

Necessary help

ments in diverse businesses.

Northwell spent more than $92 million in contract with minority-owned businesses in 2019, a 19% boost from the previous year, according to a report shared with Crain’s. When it comes to womenowned businesses, the system spent over $30 million in 2019, 5% growth from the previous year. The businesses were in categories including construction, medical and surgical supplies, purchased services, dietary vendors, nonmedical

and nonsurgical supplies, capital projects and general contracting.

Supporting small and minority-owned businesses will be especially critical this year, Wright said.

“The pandemic has disproportionately affected people of color, women and other minority groups,” he said. “They will need our help more than ever.”

Singletary agreed. “We’re supporting our communities not because we have to, but because it’s the right thing to do,” he said. ■

TECHNOLOGY

How Queens plans to go from under the radar to the city’s cool new tech hub

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abeel Alamgir’s food-ordering company Lunchbox— which has raised $22 million in investments to help Fuku, 16 Handles and other brands sell their fare on their websites—is very much a Queens startup.

Alamgir immigrated to Astoria from Kuwait in 2015 and got his first job bussing tables at the nearby Bareburger, where he eventually became chief marketing officer. He and his founding team at Lunchbox still live in Queens, as do about a third of the firm’s 100 employees.

But for the company’s first corporate office, Alamgir opted for a Manhattan address—something he believed necessary to attract investors.

“As a small company with a lot of insecurities and uncertainty, do I want that office in Manhattan to signal we are a real company?”

Alamgir said. “These are the questions I had to ask myself. And I still don’t know the right answer.”

The numbers back up Alamgir’s concern. Last year Manhattan-based startups secured 95% of

the $18 billion in New York City venture capital investment—the money that fuels young companies.

The rest went mostly to Brooklyn, which is among the fastest-growing startup markets in the country.

Startups with Queens addresses raised just $24.5 million across 15 deals last year, according to data provided by PitchBook, which tracks private market investment.

Angel approach Thomas Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said Queens’ diverse population has plenty of entrepreneurs, but access to capital is a challenge. That’s why the chamber is organizing the launch of an angel investment fund focused solely on Queens companies. The fund, which the chamber hopes will start writing checks next month, would offer investments of up to $100,000 to fledgling businesses. Those companies could then be better positioned to land venture capital to grow further.

“We want to have the pieces in place for someone to say ‘Queens County is the place to launch this startup,’ ” Grech said.

Alamgir said he hopes Lunchbox can be part of that effort. The company’s workforce has spread throughout the country during the pandemic and is fully remote, but he said the firm eventually will open a Queens office for its local employees.

“The same way Sand Hill Road [in Silicon Valley in California] signals that a venture capital firm is legit,” Alamgir said, “I think a Long Island City, Astoria or Queens address can say that ‘this is a cool, new tech company.’”

Borough boost The angel fund is part of a broader effort to grow the industry in the borough. The chamber in February launched a Queens Tech Council that includes Facebook, Google, Cornell Tech and WeWork. Also on the list is Amazon—the company that famously backed away in 2019 from a plan to build a second headquarters in Long Island City amid backlash over the deal’s tax subsidies.

The council—which is backed by Borough President Donovan Richards—wants to use the factors that

drove Amazon to pick Long Island City to spur new tech firms and, post-pandemic, land offices from established companies. Those factors include the borough’s relatively inexpensive real estate, the talent pool and tax subsidies for local job creation.

With many technology companies operating without offices and no clarity on when that might change, the angel fund can focus on helping new businesses launch.

Grech said the fund will prioritize investments in minority- and woman-owned businesses, which tend to receive a disproportionately low amount of capital.

Maker mentality Sunhouse, a startup that makes software and equipment for digital music production, has been operating in Long Island City since 2015 at NYDesigns, an incubator focused on hardware run by LaGuar-

dia Community College. The 30,000-squarefoot incubator has housed more than 100 young companies in its 15 years.

Tenoch Esparza, who helped to found Sunhouse with his brother, Tlacael, said Long Island City offers convenient access to Midtown, with many Brooklyn musicians able to get there quickly via the G train.

Amazon helped bring attention to the neighborhood—Sunhouse’s clients no longer mistakenly think it’s in Nassau or Suffolk County— but Esparza said he believes Queens startups can develop a brand of their own, focused around advanced manufacturing and building physical products.

“We are certainly more under the radar than Manhattan,” he said.

“But the startups we do have are doing a lot of building things, manufacturing, which I think is right in line with the borough.” ■ BLOOMBERG

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

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IN THE MARKETS

A flush JPMorgan is eager to make a deal as the Covid-19 crisis eases

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“IF YOU’VE GOT SOME GREAT IDEAS FOR US, LET US KNOW”

DIMON BLOOMBERG

year ago Covid-19 locked sition] ideas for us, let us know,” he down the economy, and said on a conference call last JPMorgan Chase braced Wednesday. for billions of dollars in losses. Today the banking giant is so Reserve reversals flush that it’s looking to buy someDimon is on the hunt again after JPMorgan reported a stunning thing—almost anything.

“Our cup runneth over,” Chief Ex- $14.3 billion in net income for the ecutive Jamie Dimon said. “The first quarter. That means it earned almost as much in those door is open to anything 90 days as in all of 2013. that makes sense.”

Results were turboDimon was coy about possible targets, but he charged by the release of emphasized that the firm $5.2 billion in reserves set won’t buy a U.S. bank. aside last year for potenRegulators wouldn’t aptially bad loans. Many prove that sort of deal banks are expected to given how large his $3.7 benefit from reserve revertrillion-in-assets bank is sals as the economy after merging over the emerges from its pandemyears with Chase Man- AARON ELSTEIN ic-related coma, and hattan, Bank One, Bear there’s ample fuel left in Stearns and many others. Instead, JPMorgan’s tank. It still has $25.6 Dimon said, he is interested in billion in reserve. beefing up in payments, asset manThe move helped the bank overagement and data. He singled out come weakness in commercial lending, which serves small and midsize businesses and where year-overyear loans fell 2%.

The drop is evidence that whatever small companies might for praise fintech startups, which need, additional debt isn’t it.

JPMorgan also got a big lift from use technology to try to solve a fia 57% jump in investment-banking nancial problem of some kind.

“If you’ve got some great [acqui- fees and a 47% rise in trading reve-

nue, a reflection of how much Wall Street has been booming.

The same forces had investors rubbing their eyes in disbelief after Goldman Sachs reported a 54% jump in quarterly earnings, to about $7 billion.

“That’s not a typo,” said Evercore

ISI analyst Glenn Schorr.

Thanks to its strong position, JPMorgan is moving ahead with expansion plans and will have Chase branches across the continental U.S. by the end of July. Most customers seldom if ever visit a branch, and many banks are paring back,

but JPMorgan officials contend a street presence is still valuable.

Branches bring “incredible value to the commercial bank and the private bank,” Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Piepszak said. “The business case is not just about deposits.” ■

REAL ESTATE

Eli Zabar café moving, expanding Upper East Side location

BY EDDIE SMALL

E

li Zabar’s gluten-free café has leased space for a new and larger location on the Upper East Side.

Noglu, which Zabar and Frederique Jules opened in 2015, is setting up its new location at 1260 Madison Ave., on the corner of East 90th Street. The café inked a 10year lease for 970 square feet of space at the address, and the asking rent was $300,000 per year, according to brokerage Judson CRE. Judson Principal Nicholas Judson represented Noglu and the owner 21 East 90 Apartments Corp. in the deal. The space on Madison Avenue previously was home to the 90th Street Pharmacy, and 21 East 90 Apartments Corp. has owned the property since at least 1977, according to city records.

Noglu is moving to 1260 Madison Ave. from just a few doors down: 1266 Madison Ave. Both addresses, along with 21 E. 90th St., are part of the same approximately

11,000-square-foot lot, city records indicate.

New York’s retail sector was already struggling before the Covid-19 pandemic and has only worsened in the past year. Leasing in Manhattan dropped quarter over quarter and year over year during the first quarter of 2021, the borough’s seventh consecutive quarter of decline, according to the latest CBRE report.

The report also said, however, that retail could see improvement going forward, particularly given the vaccine rollout and reopening of malls, entertainment and sports venues, and indoor dining, which was recently allowed to resume at 50% capacity in the city.

Judson also predicted the city will see a busier retail sector moving forward.

“With the vaccine rollout and the warmer weather in the city,” he said, “we are anticipating more leasing activity from the hospitality sector in residential neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side.” ■

Eugene H. Webb

1918 – 2021 We mourn with great sadness the passing of our esteemed former chairman, trusted partner, and dear friend Eugene Webb.

We extend our deepest sympathies to Eugene’s family and join in mourning their loss.

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WHO OWNS THE BLOCK 340 EAST 117TH

EAST HARLEM CATCHING UP

BY MARRYING THE OLD WITH THE NEW Slowly, change is coming to a once-struggling immigrant enclave

BY C. J. HUGHES

BUCK ENNIS, GOOGLE MAPS

E

ast Harlem, a longtime enclave 2282 SECOND AVE. of immigrants that has been Peter Sareyani, a developer who has been investing wary of gentrification, can in East Harlem for 40 years, opened a glassy 12-unit seem to be taking a slow, luxury rental building here in the summer. Sareyani steady approach to growth. purchased the site, which formerly contained a sin319 E. 117TH ST. Shiny new condominiums and gle-story flooring-supply store, for $2.6 million in apartment buildings have turned up in Two public schools are tucked into this through2015. Installed in the new building’s retail space is the past 15 years in the neighborhood block site. One is P.S. 155, the William Paca an outpost of Fly E-Bike, which sells electric motorcynorth of East 96th Street near the HarSchool, which is named for a signer of the cles and scooters.

Sareyani said he likes that his new lem River. But they can still seem like a Declaration of Independence from Maryland building is near East River Plaza, a Target-anchored rare sight amid 4- and 5-story former with purported Italian ancestry. It offers preshopping mall on the FDR Drive from Blumenfeld Detenements from the early 20th century. kindergarten to fifth grade for 215 students, velopment Group that opened in 1999. “But I also like Change is in the air, though, along 83 percent of whom are Latino, according to this area because it’s a true neighborhood,” he said.

East 117th Street, the onetime heart of city records. Also on the site is the 11-year-old East Harlem’s Little Italy, which has Renaissance School of the Arts, which teaches more of a Mexican and Dominican sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. presence today.

“East Harlem has struggled historically but is now experiencing its own gentrification cycle,” said Elliot Neumann, chief operating officer of Acuity Capital Partners, which has developed East River Lofts, a 90-unit apartment complex in a long-empty school that began leasing last month. “But I 306 W. 117TH ST. think the neighborhood could benefit from some stability.” Neumann A public housing development for senior citi2287 FIRST AVE. added that he is petitioning state ofzens, this 16-story tower is named for Edward ficials to have 30% of the project’s Corsi, an Italian immigrant who held a series of Patsy’s Pizzeria, which is reputed to have inventapartments designated affordable. high-profile government jobs and ran for mayor ed the to-go slice—firefighters and police officers Operating only intermittently as a as a Republican in 1950. Part of the blockneeded food in easy-to-carry portions, as the stoschool since the 1980s, and derelict through site is the LaGuardia Memorial House, ry goes—was opened here in 1933 by Pasquale in recent years, the beaux-arts forthe heir to a 19th-century settlement house and Carmela Lancieri, when East Harlem was a mer P.S. 85 building has had a long that once offered classes, sports and music lesvibrant Little Italy. Other waves of immigrants to road to conversion. Acuity bought sons to immigrant children. One block of East wash across the neighborhood include the Irish, the site in 2007, but the Great Reces116th Street today is named for Pete Pascale, Eastern-European Jews and Puerto Ricans. In sion scotched redevelopment plans. the house’s director for more than six decades.

1991, in a crime-ridden era, Carmela sold the Construction delays have plagued family business, including three adjacent tenethe project, which broke ground in ment-style walk-ups, to Albanian immigrant Frank 2014.

Brija. Patsy’s also controls a fourth building, No. Marrying the old structure with a 2293, and has other holdings nearby. Today, Brinew wing that wraps the school and ja’s son, Adem, 32, runs the restaurant, which has rises above it, East River Lofts offers expanded with more than a dozen franchises in studios to two-bedrooms with washand around New York. “Everybody is for the neighers, dryers, stainless-steel apborhood getting better,” said Adem Brija, who pliances and other amenities in lives above Patsy’s, like his father and sister. “The a non-doorman building. In 334 E. 117TH ST. question is: Who is it getting better for?” early April, the least-expensive studio was $1,815 per month, This 5-story brick walk-up, which has 10 rental according to StreetEasy. Mindunits, is of a size and style that is typical for East ful of the Covid-era rental marHarlem. In 2016 a limited liability corporation ket’s high vacancy rates, Acuity in Washington Heights paid $3.3 million for the is offering a free month of rent turn-of-the-last-century structure from Sky-Hi on a 13-month lease.

Realty, a company in Paramus, N.J., that is run Overall, average rents in East

by Adonis Mallios. The most recent apartment to Harlem, including condo subtransact in the building, in 2019, was a two-bedlets, were $1,930 per month, 340 E. 117TH ST. room, one-bath railroad-style unit with exposed StreetEasy said. brick walls that went for $1,920 per month, acThis onetime public school has become East RivAcuity is not the only develcording to StreetEasy. er Lofts, a high-end 90-unit offering from Acuity oper betting on the block, Capital Partners, which bought the site in 2007 for which was a hub of drug-deal$11.5 million and has spent $27.5 million to redeing in the mid-1990s. Bookendvelop it. The school’s seller was Arthur Fefferman, a ing its western edge is 2282 Second developer keen on adaptive reuse jobs in Harlem.

Ave., a glassy 12-unit rental building His Rhapsody on Fifth, a 22-unit condominium in a from developer Peter Sareyani that 1917 structure at 2056 Fifth Ave., was the former opened in June. One-bedrooms startGospel Temple Church of America. In an unusual ed at $2,800 per month at the building, which leased up in six months, Sareymove, Acuity is seeking to make 27 of the Lofts’ ani said; three apartments set aside as apartments affordable—which confers tax breaks— affordable were offered at below-marafter construction has ended, as opposed to before ket rents. breaking ground. State officials are expected to de“I believe that in 10 years the area cide on the designation in the next few weeks. “We will be absolutely flourishing,” he said, have never been aggressive about displacing peoadding that the planned extension of ple from neighborhoods,” said Elliott Neumann, an the Second Avenue Q line would be a Acuity principal. “We try to be sensitive landlords.” huge benefit. “I guess I built my building 10 years ahead of its time.” ■

6 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | APRIL 19, 2021

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ASKED & ANSWERED WHO SHE IS Executive director, Film Forum

INTERVIEW BY BRIAN PASCUS

S

BORN Manhattan

ince 1972, Karen Cooper has run one of the city’s last—and most popular—independent movie houses. As executive director of Film Forum, she has overseen three location changes, two forced closings and the expansion of the theater from one screen and 50 folding chairs in a loft space to four screens and 500 seats at its present Greenwich Village location. Under her leadership, Film Forum has weathered the storm of the Covid-19 shutdowns and is now reopening screens this month with socially distanced seating.

What did Film Forum go through when the city shut down last year?

On March 15, 2020, we had our last day, and 24 hours later the governor and mayor said theaters had to close.

We hadn’t the faintest idea it would be a one-year-plus experience. We thought we’d be back in a couple of weeks.

How did you shift your business model?

We had to do a 180-degree turn and show the films we are committed to, but we had to get our brains around doing that as a streaming service. Streaming certainly isn’t what you think about when running a movie house.

It brings in next to no revenue. Our normal box office with in-person tickets would be over $2 million, but streaming brought in a few hundred thousand. But as a nonprofit, our mission isn’t to make money but to show movies.

GREW UP Queens RESIDES West Village

How has business ownership in the city changed in the past 49 years?

AGE 72

I can only speak from the point of view of small theaters, the ones that are no longer with us—Bleecker Street Cinema, the Regency, the Eighth Street Playhouse, Lincoln Plaza, Cinema Studio—dozens that used to exist and don’t exist anymore. I think that’s due to a large extent to real estate values. It’s not highly profitable to use a lot of space for fixed seating and have a big lobby, which the Department of Buildings requires.

EDUCATION Bachelor’s in English, Smith College FAMILY LIFE Cooper is married to animator George Griffin. Their daughter, Nora Griffin, is an artist.

FAVORITE FILM She loves Sweet Smell of Success, calling it “a great New York movie.”

WORDS TO LIVE BY Cooper finds inspiration in the Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Do you wish things were different for arts organizations here?

A city like Paris has huge government support, which is why it can continue running small theaters. Our government has one way of filtering money into the arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and it’s hobbled by a tiny budget. In Europe, there is government support for the arts that doesn’t exist at anywhere near the same scale in the U.S., and as a result we’ve lost small theaters and movie houses and small everything. ■

How helpful were donors?

The response was huge. I mean, it was literally three times what it was the previous year. We’re talking about thousands of people who dug into their pockets because they believe in what we do.

What has it been like to be a female executive for almost five decades?

Being a female executive

HENNY GARFUNKEL

KAREN COOPER Film Forum

is just like being any other kind of executive. It means leading other people, being proactive and trying to look around corners to see what is next. You have to move fast and be decisive. I have to be aware of what’s happening in the world of independent film. But I don’t think there’s anything special about doing this and also being a woman—especially because I don’t wear high heels.

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chief executive officer K.C. Crain senior executive vice president Chris Crain group publisher Jim Kirk

EDITORIAL

publisher/executive editor

As city reopens, clean and trash-free streets should be a priority

editor Robert Hordt assistant managing editors Telisha Bryan,

Janon Fisher deputy digital editor, audience & analytics

2,395 complaints were made in March 2019, according to a report

by Bloomberg.

In an April 4 post on its Twitter account, the Central Park Conservancy marked World Rat Day with the following tweet, “Here in NYC you don’t have to love your neighbor to coexist—rats are part of life in the big city … These city dwellers are highly intelligent & thrive where food & shelter are available—from subway tracks to public parks, where seeds, nuts & insects are abundant.”

That may be true. But in the wake of a pandemic, one that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths in New York City, sanitation and cleanliness should be a top priority.

Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. Facing a budget shortfall resulting from the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council cut $106 million from the Department of Sanitation’s budget in June, leading to reduced trash collection. The city partially restored pickups a few months later, following complaints from the

FROM MANHATTAN SIDE STREETS TO VACANT LOTS IN QUEENS, LITTER ABOUNDS about rodents to the city’s 311 hotline jumped to 2,906 in March, an 80% increase from a year earlier when a citywide lockdown forced restaurants to stop serving customers indoors.

Complaints are also higher than pre-pandemic levels. A total of

EDITORIAL

Jennifer Samuels associate editor Lizeth Beltran art director Carolyn McClain photographer Buck Ennis data editor Amanda Glodowski 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 ALAMY

A

s New York City looks to get back on its feet in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s imperative the city, state and local business improvement districts work together to make our streets less filthy.

From Manhattan side streets to vacant lots in Queens, litter abounds. It’s hardly a new—or even unique—problem, but a clean streetscape is essential for the health and safety of residents and the restoration of the city’s once-thriving tourist economy.

It doesn’t bode well that rodent complaints are on the rise.

Indeed, the number of calls

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business community.

De Blasio three weeks ago announced he would increase dedicated litter basket service by more than 100 trucks per week and restore funding for Sunday litter basket service. The Department of Sanitation has also launched a “Precision Cleaning Initiative,” with borough-based teams targeting problem areas of the city plagued by litter.

While that’s a step in the right direction, the city must also look to engage others in the fight to keep our streets clean. Business

Improvement Districts, for example should take responsibility for controlling litter. The city late last year announced a pilot program called Clean Curbs aimed at keeping residential trash off the streets. As part of that initiative, BIDs were asked to design and build sealed containers to hold the trash.

As restaurants begin to open and Broadway sets it sights on turning its lights on, it’s time to think out of the box about making the city clean and safe to both its residents and tourists. ■

account executives Roland Espinosa,

Kelly Maier, Courtney McCombs, Christine Rozmanich, Laura Warren people on the move manager Debora Stein,

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Ana Jimenez, ajimenez@crainsnewyork

OP-ED

REPRINTS

What to do when e-commerce hubs and neighborhoods meet

director, reprints & licensing Lauren Melesio,

212.210.0707, lmelesio@crain.com PRODUCTION production and pre-press director

Simone Pryce media services manager Nicole Spell

BY GARY TARNOFF AND MEENAKSHI SRINIVASAN

T

he increased popularity of e-commerce and online shopping has generated a need for “urban distribution centers”—depots where goods are brought, packaged, tracked and shipped to provide quick delivery to consumers, sometimes within hours.

During the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of the centers located in or planned for New York.

Once-moribund manufacturing districts now offer an opportunity to reuse old warehouses or develop land for new facilities with the promise of added jobs and increased tax revenues.

The city’s zoning has classified urban distribution centers as a warehouses, which are allowed in districts zoned for intense commercial or manufacturing uses.

The districts, which are typically mapped at the edges of the boroughs and often along waterfronts,

do not allow for residences, dormitories, hotels and other uses that include sleeping accommodations.

New development in the city should be welcomed as a positive change, particularly as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. But there are challenges.

Urban distribution centers often need large stand-alone sites with multiple points of access from streets for trucks and vans, plus proximity to major roads as well as mass transit for employees. However, there is also a demand for smaller hubs closer to consumers in residential and commercial areas—which can utilize local, clean-energy deliveries: walking, bikes, mass transit and customer pickup. These modes of delivery would reduce the use of trucks and vans that double-park and crowd local streets. The smaller hubs often function similarly to post offices which, of course, are found throughout the city. The existing zoning regulations do not allow urban distribution centers in areas

where the smaller centers would most logically be located.

Planning ahead The city should first change two things.

First, we should expand the number of zoning districts where these centers can exist. That would concentrate of the centers in waterfront areas, which often lack the street infrastructure to facilitate efficient delivery.

Second, the city should make distinctions in the types of distribution centers and where they may be located. A single distribution use category could impose unnecessary restrictions on smaller hubs.

Colocating in-person retail establishments with smaller distribution hubs could address new trends in retailing and help retailers diversify their operations and adapt to consumer demands. At the same time, allowing smaller hubs to locate in additional commercial districts would bring them closer to consumers and employees, reducing truck traffic and the pollution and

congestion that comes with it.

To be sure, the concerns of communities about the potential landuse impacts, such as traffic congestion, noise, air quality and the streetscape, will need to be addressed. Moreover, the environmental issues and worker wages will enter the debate of any zoning change.

Now is the time to plan for the future of distribution centers, instead of relying on the vagaries of ad-hoc interpretations and stopgap solutions that result in a high degree of unpredictability for industry partners and communities.

Planning now can ensure the coexistence of emerging uses. Mixeduse neighborhoods are characteristic of New York. With planning, there is no reason why New York cannot accommodate the uses appropriately. ■ Gary Tarnoff is co-chair of the land-use at Kramer Levin.

Meenakshi Srinivasan is a senior land-use and zoning adviser at the firm.

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8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | APRIL 19, 2021

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor: I couldn’t agree more with your editorial (“As the city looks to lure back visitors , it's not the right time for congestion pricing" March 29).

Last week I joined with colleagues in the Assembly as well as business and civic leaders to propose delaying congestion pricing for two years until we are past the pandemic.

Since 2002, I have represented eastern Queens in the City Council (where I served as chairman of the Finance Committee) and the state Assembly. Many of my constituents—especially small-business owners—have no choice but to drive into Midtown Manhattan during peak workday hours and would be adversely impacted by the congestion plan. They are not wealthy, contrary to popular opinion. They are the plumbers and electricians, food-cart owners, construction workers and doormen who keep our city running.

Many have already suffered enough from the economic effects of the pandemic. Now is not the time to burden them further with additional fees.

New York’s entrepreneurs and tradespeople were hurting before Covid-19 from the costs of living and doing business in the greatest city in the world. Now many of

whole, which would be left dealing with more congested streets and dirtier air. We can't afford to allow that to happen.

Traffic is quickly rebounding, and congestion is back— already hitting 90% of pre-pandemic levels while subway and bus ridership remain at 30% and 50% of pre-pandemic levels, respectively. Now more than ever we need to invest in the system that has long served as the alternative to cars and as the great equalizer, and more recently has carried our city and region through the pandemic by moving millions of essential workers to critical front-line jobs.

One need only look at past fiscal crises to see the long-term damage that can be inflicted on our mass transit system, the lifeblood of the downstate region, when needed action is put off. By delaying congestion pricing, the MTA would lose out on $15 billion in badly needed funding for our historic $51.5 billion Capital Program, which plans to invest in new signals on six subway lines, accessibility upgrades at 70 stations, East Side Access, Penn Station Access and the addition of four Metro-North stations in the Bronx, to name a few of its priorities.

We also can't afford to ignore the obvious environmental benefits that come with the Central Business District Tolling Program.

We’ve seen how congestion pricing has helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel consumption in other cities. In London alone, these metrics fell by 20% after a surcharge was enacted on drivers in the city center.

Extraordinary moments such as these require extraordinary vision, and we at the MTA are grateful President Joe Biden shares our ambition. His administration has made that clear through its quick action on congestion pricing and the historic investments in transit outlined in the American Jobs Plan. He and his administration understand this is not the time to bite the bullet; it’s the time to act.

PAT FOYE Chair and CEO Metropolitan Transportation Authority

“WE NEED TO HOLD OFF UNTIL THE CITY GETS BACK ON ITS FEET” them have been severely impacted by the pandemic. We cannot expect them to begin to pay as much as $125 extra per week just to get to work.

It wasn’t fair two years ago, when the Legislature voted for it (against my strenuous objections). It’s more than unfair now. We need to hold off until the city gets back on its feet.

It’s the least we can do.

ASSEMBLYMAN DAVID WEPRIN Queens Weprin is a Democratic candidate for city comptroller.

To the Editor: A recent Crain's editorial (“As the city looks to lure back visitors , it's not the right time for congestion pricing" March 29) wrongly suggests that the Metropolitan Transit Authority should delay implementation of our first-in-thenation Central Business Tolling Program.

This is exactly the type of old, car-centric and NIMBY thinking that would ultimately serve as a blow to both mass transit, which would lose out on billions of dollars needed to modernize an aging system, and the city as a

BLOOMBERG

Let’s pump the brakes on congestion pricing

the pandemic to introduce innovative policies that improve the quality of life and safety in the city and encourage greater use of mass transit. Reducing vehicular traffic through tolling is the proven means to accomplish all of these goals.

Ideally, the pricing zone would be in place by the fall, when we hope to see the city economy recovering and people returning to Manhattan offices. Our surveys of office employers anticipate that more than 80% of returning workers will rely on mass transit, which tolling revenues are intended to support.

The business community has urged the city to control excess traffic congestion with smart tolling strategies for more than a

decade. Studies have demonstrated that the cost of excess congestion in the metropolitan region is some $20 billion a year in lost productivity, time, fuel and added pollution.

Let’s move quickly with the federal environmental assessment process, which we are confident will demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed pricing zone, and build a new normal that results in a more livable city.

KATHRYN WYLDE President and CEO Partnership for New York City To the Editor: Congestion pricing has been in the works for years, and implementation has been delayed because of

federal red tape. But now is the time to finally welcome this intervention, rather than delay it further.

Congestion pricing will be vital to the recovery and revitalization of our neighborhoods. While those coming into SoHo have ample transit options, the daily cross-Manhattan crawl of vehicles through the neighborhood chokes the community with gridlock.

Congestion pricing offers a pathway to design streets and sidewalks that put people first, creating comfortable and compelling public space that supports businesses, meets the needs of residents and is welcoming to visitors.

The city is not going to drive itself out of the pandemic. Congestion pricing is expected to raise more than $1 billion annually— which means the cash-strapped MTA can increase service capacity and accessibility, stimulate the economy, and create jobs while curbing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Further, the plan offers the opportunity to create transformative change for SoHo’s public spaces and support the neighborhood’s recovery.

It is imperative to thoughtfully implement congestion pricing that will incentivize public transit, reduce traffic, strengthen our strained budgets and improve our city’s overall quality of life.

MARK DICUS Executive director SoHo Broadway Initiative

To the Editor: We disagree with Crain’s call for delaying federal approval of a congestion pricing zone in the Manhattan central business districts (“As the city looks to lure back visitors , it's not the right time for congestion pricing" March 29).

On the contrary, we should seize this moment of emergence from

Write us: Crain’s welcomes submissions to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@CrainsNewYork.com. Send op-eds of 500 words or fewer to opinion@CrainsNewYork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, address and telephone number. Crain’s reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity.

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TRANSPORTATION

TLC chief blasts taxi bailout plan supported by state attorney general and city comptroller

BY BRIAN PASCUS

T

he head of the Taxi and Limousine Commission has trashed a yellow cab medallion bailout plan supported by the state attorney general and the city comptroller, calling it “not implementable,” according to a leaked recording.

TLC Chairwoman and Commissioner Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk told taxi medallion lenders on a March 31 group call that the rescue plan now working its way through the state Legislature would not work.

“The plan itself at least sounded good but was not implementable and would create a myriad of issues and complications, especially around foreclosures,” Jarmoszuk said on the recording of the call.

“And the math just didn’t seem to work out.”

The Taxi and Limousine Commission did not respond to a request for comment on Jarmoszuk’s remarks to the lenders.

Both the city and the state are scrambling to find a way to provide financial relief for taxi medallion owners who are drowning in debt from taxi medallion loans that have depreciated in value since Uber and Lyft entered the city’s transportation market nearly 10 years ago.

The TLC chief spoke to at least six lenders during the conference call with the express aim of making them aware of the city’s taxi medallion relief plan. Last month the de Blasio administration announced a proposal that would allow medallion owners to restructure their debt through a $20,000 loan and up to $9,000 in debt payment support through a $65 million fund provided by the federal government in the recent stimulus package.

“We want for this program to achieve a meaningful reduction in principal, reduced interest rates and extended amortization periods,” Jarmoszuk told the lenders.

BUCK ENNIS

Financial relief

“WE NEED ALL PARTIES, INCLUDING ALL OF YOU, TO WORK TOGETHER” Taxi drivers who owe more than $200,000 on their depreciated medallion loan have questioned how $20,000 from the city will motivate any lender to reduce a larger debt amount, a concern that Jarmoszuk seemed to recognize during her call with the lenders.

“We need all parties, including all of you, to work together on these restructured loans,” Jarmoszuk said. “The city is actually committing funds. We’re not going to tell you how to value the medallion asset. We know there isn’t a one-sizefits-all solution for medallion debt.”

During the call, Jarmoszuk re-

$125K

including additional jected the competing leadership from the TLC. plan to fight the taxi medallion crisis proPRICE ceiling Major support posed by the New York proposed in Taxi Workers Alliance— The comments by Jarmoindustry plan for and supported by both szuk are striking because the value of a Attorney General LetiJames and Stringer have medallion loan tia James and Compopenly supported the allitroller Scott Stringer. It ance’s plan. calls on the city or the In fact, the attorney genstate to create a eral’s office dropped an inRATE on loan $125,000 price ceiling vestigation into the TLC that could be for the value of the meearlier this year after it had amortized over dallion loan that could announced an $810 million 20 years, or be amortized over 20 legal notice regarding alle$757 per month years at a 4% rate, so the gations of fraud pertaining medallion owners to the pricing of yellow cab could pay $757 per medallions. month to the lenders.

The attorney general’s office re“It sort of backed into a desired layed to Crain’s in February that it principal amount and mortgage believed the relief package propayment that wasn’t mathemati- posed by the New York Taxi Workcally based,” Jarmoszuk said on the ers Alliance was the best way to recall. “I personally wasn’t able to solve the long-standing fiscal understand or ex- issues plaguing medallion owners.

“This proposal would provide a plain how that plan fiscally fair and responsible way to would work.”

Bhairavi Desai, ex- support the recovery of the taxi ecutive director of medallion industry by guaranteethe New York Taxi ing loans written down to no more Workers Alliance, than $125,000—which is why I confirmed to Crain’s have been working with the city to that she had met with Jarmoszuk in approve it since last year,” James June 2020 and Jarmoszuk was re- said in a statement provided to ferring to her plan in the recording. Crain's.

Stringer spoke in support of the “She was the first person we went to. We went to her with a lot of alliance’s proposal during a March hope,” Desai said. “If they didn’t 4 hearing with members of the understand our numbers, why state Senate.

“The New York Taxi Workers Allididn’t they ask for a meeting? They took our ideas and threw them into ance has put forward what my of[the] dustbin.” fice believes is a fiscally sound apThe comments by Jarmoszuk proach,” the comptroller said. “I were recorded by an individual believe that embracing this plan is present on the call who provided the best start.” the recording to Crain’s. At least six Neither Stringer’s nor James’ oftaxi medallion lenders spoke fice answered a request for comduring a conversation that includ- ment regarding the TLC’s criticism ed a minimum of 10 participants, of their support.■

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APRIL 19, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 11

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THE LIST LARGEST RESIDENTIAL SALES City deals between Q2 2020 and Q1 2021, ranked by price BUYERS TAKE THEIR TIME

CHIPPING AWAY AT INVENTORY

DOWNTOWN IS ON THE UP AND UP

The prolonged market time that hit the real estate scene in 2020 is persisting. The first three months of 2021 added an additional two weeks of time on the market to last year’s 138 days.

Listings spiked 18.2% over the past year but are down 12.7% since Q4 2020 as consumers start to act on robust inventory.

Nearly a third (31%) of sales in Q1 were in downtown Manhattan.

Sales in the Financial District and Battery Park City leapt 65% over the past year.

Inventory

% of Sales

Average Number of Days on the Market (NYC)

10K

200

DOWNTOWN 31%

153

WEST SIDE

9K

21%

7,224

150

EAST SIDE 21%

8K

MIDTOWN 13%

100

UPPER MANHATTAN

7K

8% FINANCIAL DISTRICT & BATTERY PARK CITY 50

Q1 ’19 Q2’19

Q3’19

Q4’19

Q1’20

Q2 ’20

Q3’20

SOURCE Corcoran, Douglas Elliman

$1,387 RANK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

6K

Q4’20 Q1’21

Q1’19

Q2 ’19

Q3 ’19

Q4’19

Q1’20

Q2 ’20

Q3’20

Q4’20 Q1 ’21

SOURCE: Douglas Elliman

AVERAGE PRICE PER SQ. FOOT in Q1, a decrease of 9.9% since last year SOURCE: Douglas Elliman

STREET ADDRESS/ UNIT/ NEIGHBORHOOD

PROPERTY TYPE

6% SOURCE: Corcoran

2,633

CLOSED SALES in Q1, a 7% increase from last year and 23% bump from Q4 2020 SOURCE: Corcoran

$1.05M

TOTAL PRICE

TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE

NUMBER OF ROOMS

MEDIAN SALES PRICE of Manhattan units in Q1, similar to price levels seen five years ago.

SOURCE: Corcoran

DATE SOLD

220 Central Park South PH76 Midtown West

Condo

$99.9

8,213

Total rooms: 11 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

July 23, 2020

220 Central Park South V8 Midtown West

Condo

$65.6

7,911

Total rooms: 12 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5

Oct. 9, 2020

220 Central Park South 72 Midtown West

Condo

$63.1

5,935

Total rooms: 9 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

Sept. 4, 2020

220 Central Park South 71st Floor Midtown West

Condo

$62.6

5,935

Total rooms: 6 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5.5

Sept. 18, 2020

220 Central Park South 69th Floor Midtown West

Condo

$61.6

5,935

Total rooms: 6 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

Sept. 3, 2020

220 Central Park South 70 Midtown West

Condo

$61.0

5,935

Total rooms: 10 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

Aug. 19, 2020

12 E. 69th St. Upper East Side

Townhouse

$59.0

16,185

Total rooms: 18 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 9

March 4, 2021

220 Central Park South 65 Midtown West

Condo

$56.3

5,935

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

April 17, 2020

220 Central Park South 68 Midtown West

Condo

$55.5

5,935

Total rooms: 10 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

July 21, 2020

220 Central Park South 64th Floor Midtown West

Condo

$54.0

5,935

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 7

July 14, 2020

220 Central Park South 63rd Floor Midtown West

Condo

$53.6

5,935

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

April 14, 2020

9 E. 71st St.

Townhouse

$51.0

28,000

Total rooms: 40 Bedrooms: 10 Bathrooms: 15

March 8, 2021

Condo

$50.9

5,935

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

UpperYORK East Side 12 | CRAIN’S NEW BUSINESS | APRIL 19, 2021

220 Central Park South

60 P012_P013_CN_20210419.indd 12

Midtown West

7 8 9 1 1 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 29 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 31 2 2 2

RAN

The rese

April 9, 2020 4/15/21 4:54 PM

an. over

ales

%

7 8 9 10 11 12 1 13 2 14 3 15 4 16 5 17 6 18 7 19 8 20 9 21 10 22 11 23 12 24 13 25 14 25 15 27 16 28 17 29 18 30 19 20 21 22 RANK

12 E. 69th St. Upper East Side

Townhouse

$59.0

16,185

Total rooms: 18 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 9

March 4, 2021

220 Central Park South 65 Midtown West

Condo

$56.3

5,935

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

April 17, 2020

220 Central Park South 68 Midtown West

Condo

$55.5

5,935

Total rooms: 10 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

July 21, 2020

220 Central Park South 64th Floor Midtown West

Condo

$54.0

5,935

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 7

July 14, 2020

220 Central Park South STREET ADDRESS/ 63rd UNIT/Floor Midtown West NEIGHBORHOOD

Condo

$53.6

5,935

April 14, 2020

TOTAL PRICE

TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE

Total rooms: 8 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 NUMBER OF ROOMS

9220 E. 71st St. Park South Central Upper PH76 East Side Midtown West

Townhouse Condo

$51.0 $99.9

28,000 8,213

Total rooms: 40 11 Bedrooms: Bedrooms:104 Bathrooms: Bathrooms:155

March 2021 July 23,8,2020

220 Central Park South 60 V8 Midtown West

Condo

$50.9 $65.6

5,935 7,911

Totalrooms: rooms:12 8 Total Bedrooms: 45 Bathrooms: 5

April Oct. 9, 2020

220 Central Park South 11th 72 Floor Midtown West

Condo

$49.0 $63.1

4,847 5,935

Total rooms: 59 Bedrooms: 34 Bathrooms: 45

Aug. Sept.7,4,2020 2020

4220 E. 66th St.Park South Central 871st Floor Upper East Side Midtown West

Co-op Condo

$43.0 $62.6

n/d 5,935

Total rooms: n/d6 Total rooms: Bedrooms: n/d4 Bedrooms: Bathrooms: Bathrooms: n/d 5.5

May Sept.13, 18,2020 2020

150 St. South 220 Charles Central Park 2DN 69th Floor West Village Midtown West

Condo

$41.0 $61.6

6,288 5,935

Total Totalrooms: rooms:136 Bedrooms: 54 Bathrooms: 5.55 Bathrooms:

Jan. Sept.15, 3, 2021 2020

220 Central Park South 7th 70 Floor Midtown West

Condo

$40.7 $61.0

6,977 5,935

Totalrooms: rooms:10 6 Total Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

July Aug.30, 19,2020 2020

220 Park South 12 E.Central 69th St. V10 Upper East Side Midtown West

Condo Townhouse

$40.0 $59.0

3,980 16,185

Totalrooms: rooms:18 5 Total Bedrooms: 36 Bathrooms: 49

Oct. 16,4,2020 March 2021

70 St.Park South 220Vestry Central 12N 65 Tribeca Midtown West

Condo

$36.8 $56.3

4,647 5,935

Total rooms: 98 Bedrooms: 54 Bathrooms: 5.55 Bathrooms:

Dec. April 16, 17, 2020

421 St. South 220 Broome Central Park PH 68 SoHo Midtown West

Condo

$35.1 $55.5

8,000 5,935

Total rooms: 12 10 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 65

Sept.

16,2020 2020 July 21,

263 11th Park St. South 220 W. Central West 64th Village Floor Midtown West

Townhouse Condo

$31.0 $54.0

6,650 5,935

Total rooms: n/d8 Total rooms: Bedrooms: n/d4 Bedrooms: Bathrooms: n/d7 Bathrooms:

Nov. 4, 2020 July 14, 2020

220 Central Park South 3rd 63rdFloor Floor Midtown West

Condo

$30.5 $53.6

5,051 5,935

Total rooms: 68 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

Aug. April 14, 2020

117 69th 9 E. E. 71st St.St. Upper East Side

Townhouse

$30.0 $51.0

11,281 28,000

Total Totalrooms: rooms:n/d 40 Bedrooms: Bedrooms:n/d 10 Bathrooms: Bathrooms:n/d 15

Dec. March31, 8, 2020 2021

53 53rd St. 220W.Central Park South 72A 60 Midtown West

Condo

$29.9 $50.9

4,362 5,935

Total rooms: 5.58 Total rooms: Bedrooms: 34 Bathrooms: 45

Aug. 2020 April 31, 9, 2020

14 11th St.Park South 220E.Central Greenwich 11th Floor Village Midtown West

Townhouse Condo

$28.0 $49.0

7,411 4,847

Total Totalrooms: rooms:115 Bedrooms: 53 Bathrooms: 74

Nov. 2020 Aug. 25, 7, 2020

157 57th 4 E. W. 66th St. St. 88 8 Midtown West Upper East Side

Condo Co-op

$28.0 $43.0

6,231 n/d

Total rooms: 8 Total rooms: n/d Bedrooms: 4 Bedrooms: n/d Bathrooms: 4 Bathrooms: n/d

May 29, 13, 2020

8150 Montague Charles Terrace St. Brooklyn Heights 2DN West Village

Townhouse Condo

$25.5 $41.0

8,830 6,288

Total Totalrooms: rooms:n/d 13 Bedrooms: n/d5 Bedrooms: Bathrooms: Bathrooms: n/d 5.5

Dec. 24, 2021 2020 Jan. 15,

118 76th St. 220 E. Central Park South Upper East Side 7th Floor Midtown West

Townhouse Condo

$25.0 $40.7

13,000 6,977

Total Totalrooms: rooms:226 Bedrooms: 84 Bathrooms: Bathrooms:135

April 30, 2020 2020 July 30,

90 220Morton CentralSt.Park South PH11A V10 West Village Midtown West

Condo

$24.9 $40.0

5,254 3,980

Total rooms: 95 Bedrooms: 53 Bathrooms: 5.54 Bathrooms:

Dec. 23, 2020 2020 Oct. 16,

90 St. 70 Morton Vestry St. PH11B 12N West Village Tribeca

Condo

$24.8 $36.8

4,685 4,647

Total rooms: 9 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4.5 5.5

Dec. 8, 16,2020 2020

421 Broome St. PH

Condo

$35.1

8,000

Total rooms: 12 Bedrooms: 4

Sept. 16, 2020

PROPERTY TYPE

DATE SOLD

The list includes residential sales in the five boroughs of New York City taking place between Q2 2020 and Q1 2021. There is no guarantee that the list is complete. n/d-Not disclosed. Source: Brown Harris Stevens (bhsusa.com). Send feedback to SoHo Bathrooms: 6 researcher@crainsnewyork.com.

263 W. 11th St. West Village

Townhouse

$31.0

6,650

Total rooms: n/d

WANT MORE OF CRAIN’S EXCLUSIVE DATA? VISIT CRAINSNEWYORK.COM/LISTS. Bedrooms: n/d

Nov. 4, 2020

Bathrooms: n/d 220 Central Park South 3rd Floor Midtown West

P012_P013_CN_20210419.indd 13

117 E. 69th St. Upper East Side

APRIL 19, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 13

Condo

$30.5

5,051

Total rooms: 6 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5

Aug. 14, 2020

Townhouse

$30.0

11,281

Total rooms: n/d Bedrooms: n/d

Dec. 31, 2020

4/14/21 5:14 PM

REAL ESTATE

Judge freezes real estate lawyer’s accounts after he and his clients’ money go missing

R

eal estate lawyer Mitchell Kossoff ’s bank accounts were frozen by a state judge after several clients claimed he stole their money this month and then disappeared.

At least six lawsuits have been filed against the lawyer and his firm in the past two weeks, alleging that he was holding more than $5 million in escrow accounts for real estate transactions that he never returned to his clients. None of the plaintiffs have heard from him since last March, or knows where he is, according to the suits.

Unfortunately for his clients, those accounts are mostly empty.

Kossoff has two accounts with Signature that contain $47,726 and $56,585, according to David Grantz, an attorney for the bank. At Valley National, one account is overdrawn, and another contains $7,665, said Patrick Spina, Valley’s counsel.

“I don’t think anyone on this call would be surprised to hear that,” said Kevin Fritz, an attorney representing Prince Street Holdings, a purported victim of Kossoff ’s.

“We can buy coffee, that’s about it,” Spina joked.

A representative for Chase did not attend the conference call, nor did one for Kossoff or his firm.

SSM Realty Group II, a limited-liability company, recently filed a lawsuit against him, claiming $1.3 million in funds put into escrow was never seen again for a deal at 17 Gay St. in Greenwich Village. Also, it alleged a $190,000 loan it made to Kossoff wasn’t paid back. The company has been demanding its money since last March, but Kossoff had fallen off

NONE OF THE PLAINTIFFS HAVE HEARD FROM KOSSOFF SINCE LAST MARCH Justice Jennifer Schecter of Supreme Court in Manhattan last Monday froze three accounts associated with the law firm, at JPMorgan Chase, Signature Bank and Valley National Bank, so that no money could come in or go out until Kossoff ’s whereabouts are determined.

soff ’s wife told lawyers at the firm that he had been hospitalized, and her husband was the only one with access to the firm’s bank accounts, according to an affidavit filed with the court.

‘There could be more’

FLICKR

BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

the grid by April 1.

“The partners have no idea where he was or had gone; and that the other partners had not been able to reach him or his family,” the complaint says.

The list expands Since then others have joined the suit, including landlords 118 Duane LLC and Decker Associates LLC, which are seeking $3.3 million; Prince Street Holdings; and lawyer Louis Giordano and his wife, who

are seeking $250,000.

United American Land, owner of 118 Duane LLC and Decker Associates, sent Kossoff $3.3 million in escrow funds in 2019 to buy out rent-stabilized tenants and, in the case of 118 Duane, demolish the building. In May last year, Kossoff sent back some of the money, but United American demanded all of it this month, to no avail.

Benjamin Movtady of Gatsby Enterprises, which is behind Prince Street Holdings, was told that Kos-

Gatsby had been working with Kossoff to remove tenants from their rent-stabilized apartments at 200 Prince St. and acquire the building. In late March the company wired $525,000 to its attorney to compensate three tenants it was removing from the building. Gatsby eventually demanded the money back, but it never heard from Kossoff.

“I appreciate there are many claimants here, and there could be more,” Schecter said during the hearing, adding that she’d consider all the lawsuits filed against Kossoff before scheduling another hearing.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance reportedly has launched an investigation into Kossoff, but his office declined to comment.

Kossoff could not be reached for comment, and the firm’s website has been taken down. ■

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2021

4/15/21 5:22 PM

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REAL ESTATE

The next return-to-office challenge: Avoiding ‘hybrid hell’

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

I

n their return-to-office plans, employers are increasingly opting for flexible or hybrid options that allow employees to shuffle between the office and working from home.

Managing that hybrid workforce might be just as tricky to figure out as the sudden shift to remote work was 13 months ago.

“A lot of people are under the illusion that since they’ve been operating remotely, they can easily transition to a hybrid workforce,” said Kristine Woolsey, an associate director at Boston Consulting Group.

“That simply isn’t true.”

JPMorgan and Citigroup said in recent memos that many roles in their companies will allow for hybrid work. The published guidelines for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to return 80,000 city workers to offices next month—meant as a symbol of the wider economic reopening—include provisions for flexible schedules and allow telework in some instances.

About 65% of companies are

considering adopting a hybrid work policy long term, according to a survey last month by Boston Consulting Group, on behalf of Zoom.

Employers are fretting, however, about how to manage a workforce spread across several locations. The largest concern is that remote workers will miss opportunities.

“Most professionals learn their job through an apprenticeship model, which is almost impossible to replicate in the Zoom world,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon wrote this week in a letter to shareholders.

Reworking the workplace Some things are easier when everyone is out of the office and on a more level playing field—even with the acknowledgment that comfort with working from home can vary significantly by employee.

“We’ve learned an eight-person Zoom meeting can work fine,” said Harry Ritter, CEO of Flatiron District-based mental health care startup Alma. “An eight-person meeting with four people on Zoom and four in a room may work significantly less well.”

Employers such as Alma want to give employees flexibility without falling into “hybrid hell,” as described by Ritter, in which communication and planning challenges mean no one benefits from having options.

Woolsey said many corporations are newly training managers on how to best incorporate remote and office workers. Office spaces are shifting to embrace adaptability, noted Carlos Martínez, a principal with architecture firm Gensler.

That means individual desks take a backseat to adjustable common spaces, with seating and tables that can be collapsed and wheeled away. Meeting rooms are being equipped with new videoconferencing equipment designed to be more responsive than a simple monitor and webcam. One example is the virtual whiteboard—a large touch-screen monitor that can be edited either in the room or by smartphone and laptop.

“A lot of this stuff was at the fringes and maybe too expensive before this, but demand is driving innovation,” Martínez said.

The adjustments may also mean less office space overall. Office square footage available for sublease in Manhattan reached a two-decade high of 22 million in the first quarter of this year, according to real estate firm Savills.

Some employers are shifting to smaller offices and coworking locations that offer shorter commutes for employees.

“They are saying, ‘There is no more central office. We’re going to have eight locations you can choose from around the city,’” said Anna Squires Levine, chief commercial officer for Industrious, a provider of coworking space.

Getting back Yext, a publicly traded software company with 1,300 employees, recently opened its newly built headquarters in the Meatpacking District. About 60 employees came in last Tuesday out of the roughly 300 the office can accommodate while social distancing.

Those employees do not have as-

BLOOMBERG

Flexible workplaces will bring new challenges for managers

signed desks. Before work they receive a designated workspace after checking in on an app, which also includes a state-mandated symptoms quiz for Covid-19.

“We want to offer flexibility: ‘I’m coming in one day, two days,’ ” said John Houfe, vice president of real estate at Yext. “I may say I want to come in today and then change my mind in the morning. That’s all good.”

Houfe spoke on a Zoom call from a conference room in the roughly 140,000-square-foot office, using an AI-enabled camera that automatically shifted to his voice and movements to keep him on-screen.

“Every room, every private office, there is the ability to connect on Zoom and remotely collaborate,” Houfe said. “But what we really want to get back to is a couple of people sitting with me, having a conversation.” ■

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4/15/21 5:23 PM

FROM PAGE 1

own life—during a recorded March 17 phone call. The agency head had been trying to persuade Chow to accept the de Blasio administration’s $65 million medallion bailout plan.

Jarmoszuk called Chow on Wednesday night to apologize, according to the mayor’s office, and said she “sincerely regretted” any offense or discomfort he might have felt.

Yellow-cab drivers were not assuaged by Jarmoszuk’s apology.

They said her gaffe emphasized the need for a different solution to the medallion crisis.

“What Aloysee said is just so wrong on so many levels,” said Augie Tang, a 36-year-old owner-driver who inherited his father’s taxi medallion six years ago, together

scribed her as “kind of a bully.”

“The taxi drivers are not the most sophisticated people in working out the politics,” said Cabrera, who is vice president of the Yellow Taxi United group. “And the TLC, they’re used to dealing with Uber and lawyers. So the way she treats us, you can tell it’s a different situation.”

Mea culpa Regarding the apology call, TLC spokesman Alan Fromberg said the agency could “confirm that the conversation took place, but we won’t be commenting about a private conversation.”

Chow said he felt better after Jarmoszuk’s apology, but he said it is not enough.

“She should publicly apologize,” he said.

More than an apology, though, Chow and other medallion owner-drivers said they are looking for a better deal than the $65 million debt-restructuring offer proposed last month by the TLC and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“She said they cut the price 50%, but it doesn’t make sense,” Chow said. “The debt is still too high. We cannot pay it back because it’s still too high.”

The average outstanding medallion loan amount is $550,000, according to a survey conducted last year by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a group of 447 drivers.

Chow said many medallion owners are in their 50s, 60s and 70s and

“WHAT ALOYSEE SAID WAS JUST SO WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS” with $530,000 in debt. “I honestly think she should resign.”

Tang said Jarmoszuk’s recorded comments reflect the complex power the commissioner of the TLC has over drivers.

Sergio Cabrera, a taxi medallion owner-driver of two decades with $250,000 in medallion debt, called her comments disturbing and de-

likely will die before they can pay off their debt.

Tang described the pressures cabdrivers face in making their monthly payments, including maintenance costs and car insurance fees. Their business has been hurt by a shrunken marketplace brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the unregulated growth of Uber and Lyft vehicles on the city’s streets.

“With the pandemic, there’s no way we can afford any monthly payment over $800,” Tang said. “It was incredibly hard to survive beforehand. We need a universal solution. We need to bring that debt down to $125,000,” or the ceiling in the NYTWA’s medallion proposal.

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the NYTWA, said there could be room for compromise between her plan—which would use a citystate backstop to cap collective loan amount values at $125,000 per medallion, with $757 monthly payments made over 20 years—and the city’s $29,000 offer to lenders to restructure the outstanding loan amount for each medallion.

“You say to the lenders: ‘Bring down your debts on these numerous medallions and your loans will be guaranteed, and as long as you participate in the guarantee, then you get the $20,000 or $29,000 as a down payment,’” Desai said, adding that the backstop of the city-state fund could serve to guarantee the lender against default or foreclosure.

“At the end is a combination of

JARMOSZUK

NYCMAYORSOFFICE

TAXI

what we’re proposing and the fund they put on the table,” she said.

Transportation experts have suggested alternative proposals. Lou Riccio, city Department of Transportation commissioner from 1990 to 1993, suggested Uber and Lyft’s footprint in the city should be downsized from the current 8-to-1 ratio, and the city should create an app for yellow taxis that could compete with a moderated for-hire vehicle industry.

“Instead of using taxpayer money to correct government mistakes, we should do the right thing,” Riccio said. “And that’s re-establish yellows as the primary service for spontaneous transportation in the city.”

Plan B Christopher Lynn, TLC commissioner from 1996 to 1998, said he believes the only way to responsibly bail out underwater medallion owners is to create a public-benefit corporation, jointly run by the city

and the state, that would issue bonds to cover the outstanding medallion debt. Instead of leaving impoverished individuals to be crushed under the servitude of heavy debts, Lynn said, state bonds should pay off what lenders are owed.

“It makes a hell of a lot more sense than making these poor people suffer for something that you did,” he said, referring to the city.

As medallion-owner drivers look for a more acceptable response to their plight from elected officials, the recent comments by a top administration official have left some wondering if the city understands the role its failed regulatory policies have played in creating the medallion debt crisis.

“This guy committed suicide because of actions that were taken by the TLC and the city and the mayor,” Cabrera said. “This is a man-made problem that could’ve been solved.

It wasn’t something that no one could’ve done anything about.” ■

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FINANCE

Madoff enjoyed good life at clients’ expense

F

or decades, Bernie Madoff, who died in a North Carolina prison last Wednesday at the age of 82, enjoyed an image as a self-made financial guru whose Midas touch defied market fluctuations. A former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, he attracted a devoted legion of investment clients, including Florida retirees and celebrities such as director Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon and baseball star Sandy Koufax.

But his investment advisory business was exposed in 2008 as a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out people’s fortunes and ruined charities and foundations. He became so hated that he wore a bulletproof vest to court during his trial.

Madoff admitted to swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over de-

At the time of Madoff’s arrest, fake account statements were telling clients they had holdings worth $60 billion.

“He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in-between. He had no values,” former investor Tom Fitzmaurice told the judge at Madoff’s sentencing.

“He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife … could live a life of luxury beyond belief.”

Behind-the-scenes swindle Madoff was born in 1938 in a lower-middle-class Jewish neighborhood in Queens. In the financial world, the story of his rise to prominence—how he left for Wall Street with his brother, Peter Madoff, in 1960 with a few thousand dollars saved from working as a lifeguard and installing sprinklers—became legend.

“They were two struggling kids from Queens. They worked hard,” said Thomas Morling, who worked closely with the Madoff brothers in the mid-1980s setting up and running computers that made their firm a trusted leader in off-floor trading.

“When Peter or Bernie said something that they were going to do, their word was their bond,” Morling said in a 2008 interview.

In the 1980s Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities occupied three floors of a Midtown high-rise.

There, with his brother and later

“HE STOLE FROM THE RICH. HE STOLE FROM THE POOR. HE HAD NO VALUES” cades. He pleaded guilty in March 2009 to securities fraud and other charges, saying he was “deeply sorry and ashamed.”

A court-appointed trustee has recovered more than $13 billion of an estimated $17.5 billion that investors put into Madoff’s business.

MADOFF

GETTY IMAGES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

two sons, he ran a legitimate business as a middleman between the buyers and sellers of stock.

Madoff raised his profile by using his expertise to help launch Nasdaq, the first electronic stock exchange. He became so respected that he advised the Securities and Exchange Commission on the system.

But what the SEC never found out was that behind the scenes, in a separate, locked office, Madoff was spinning a web of phantom wealth by using cash from new investors to pay returns to old ones.

Authorities said that over the years at least $13 billion was invested with Madoff. An old IBM com-

puter cranked out monthly statements showing steady double-digit returns, even during market downturns. As of late 2008, the statements claimed investor accounts totaled $65 billion.

A hated man After several months living under house arrest at his $7 million Manhattan penthouse apartment, Madoff was led off to prison in handcuffs to scattered applause from angry investors in the courtroom.

Judge Denny Chin of U.S. District Court showed no mercy, sentencing Madoff to the maximum 150 years in prison.

“Here, the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff’s crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of irresponsible manipulation of the system is not merely a bloodless financial crime that takes place just on paper, but … one that takes a staggering human toll,” Chin said.

Madoff and his wife took a severe financial hit: A judge issued a $171 billion forfeiture order in June 2009, stripping Madoff of all his personal property including real estate, investments and $80 million in assets that his wife, Ruth, had claimed were hers. The order left her with $2.5 million.

The scandal also exacted a personal toll on the family: One of Madoff’s sons, Mark, killed himself on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest in 2010. Madoff’s brother, Peter, who helped run the business, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2012, despite claims he was in the dark about his brother’s misdeeds.

Madoff’s other son, Andrew, died from cancer at age 48. Ruth Madoff is still living.

Madoff was sent to do what amounted to a life sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex, about 45 miles northwest of Raleigh, N.C. A federal prison website listed his probable release date as Nov. 11, 2139.

Last year Madoff’s attorneys filed court papers to try to get the Madoff released from prison amid the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he had suffered from end-stage renal disease and other medical conditions. The request was denied. ■

HEALTH CARE

As CDC finds outsize Covid hospitalizations among minorities, local experts call for structural changes 14%

BY SHUAN SIM

A

report recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that from March to December last year, Hispanics were disproportionately hospitalized for Covid-19 compared to whites. Area hospital experts echoed similar local trends and said unless structural changes are achieved, these outsize numbers will recur during another crisis.

The report looked at nearly 3.8 million hospitalized patients, including almost 300,000 patients with a Covid-19 diagnosis. In the Northeast, of all Hispanic patients who were hospitalized, 14% had Covid. This is compared to 13% for Blacks, 10% for Asians and 7% for whites. The regional data accounted for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

When adjusted for age, Hispanics were actually hospitalized at 2.7 times the rate of whites, with Asians and Blacks both at twice the rate.

“These numbers from to have poorer access to the CDC confirm what health care facilities, eswe’ve been saying for a pecially during the panPERCENTAGE long time: Longstanding demic. of hospitalized inequalities in socioeco“When Covid-19 hit, Hispanic patients nomics and health access many health clinics that in the Northeast among minorities result communities of color defrom March to in worse outcomes,” said pended on were shut December who Dr. Lynne Richardson, down, and the transition had Covid-19 professor and vice chair to telehealth was not of emergency medicine smooth,” Richardson said. at the Icahn School of Medicine at Even when telehealth options Mount Sinai and co-director of the were available, there were language Institute for Health Equity and Re- and cost barriers to accessing these resources, said Dr. Leora Horwitz, search. associate professor of population Greater risk health at NYU Grossman School of A larger proportion of the His- Medicine.

When Hispanic or Black patients panic community in New York works in essential services and can- are received in a hospital, their not work from home, putting them quality of care has been historically at greater risk for contracting noted to be substantially poorer than that of white patients, Horwitz Covid-19, Richardson said.

Additionally, the Hispanic and said.

“Black patients have been known Black communities have a higher prevalence of chronic illnesses, to be undertreated for pain, and such as diabetes and hypertension, Hispanics have been dismissed as making it more likely for them to being ‘dramatic’ for their symphave complications should they get toms,” she said.

Covid-19, Richardson said.

Collectively, these factors meant Communities of color also tend a Hispanic individual was more

likely to present complications that required hospitalization upon contracting Covid-19, Horwitz said.

Repeating history Both experts concurred that unless structural changes are made, the burden from this pandemic on Hispanic and Black communities is likely to repeat itself during a future health crisis.

Inequities in social determinants of health, including housing, nutrition, day care, job stability and health insurance, are all longstanding areas that have driven disproportionate health outcomes for the Hispanic community, Richardson said.

“The Hispanic community has been observed to have higher emergency department usage rates, and that could be a function of being unable to seek preventive or primary care before a condition gets worse,” she said.

Pushing for communities of color to get vaccinated is only going to solve the current crisis, but the underlying inequities likely mean a disproportionate burden will fall on them again in a future crisis,

Horwitz said.

Some of the changes will be slow.

“We can think about improving insurance coverage, ensuring interpreter services, nutrition support and changes to the environment that improve the underlying health of those communities, but those changes take time,” Richardson said.

Some changes might seem hard to achieve.

“Decades of redlining and opposition to affordable housing in the city, and institutionalized structural racism in health care and the economy—it will take a lot to reverse those things,” Horwitz said.

Perhaps a more immediate yet lasting fix could be achieved through education, Horwitz said.

“Among communities of color, we can impress the importance of diet and exercise, seeking care before an illness becomes worse and staying home if sick whenever possible,” she said. “These might be small-scale changes, but collectively they could be helpful in improving outcomes in communities overburdened by any public health outbreak.” ■

18 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | APRIL 19, 2021

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Notice of Qualification of MSG CHICAGO, 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 06/01/07. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John D. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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.

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LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/ 23/21. Princ. office of LLC: 500 Stanton Christiana Rd., NCC2, Fl. 02, Newark, DE 19713. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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Notice of Formation of PARKSIDE AMHERST RELATED CLASS C, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/18/21. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of PRINCETON AMHERST DEVELOPER, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/18/21. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of N KNOTEL 110 WILLIAM LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/10/21. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 110 E. 59th St., NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207.

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NOTICE OF FORMATION of Str8StackinBulliesKennel, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 03/11/2021. Office Location: BRONX County. SSNY 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: 1036 Manor Ave apt 2C. The principal address of the business shall be located: Online.

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Notice of Qualification of EQ SERVICES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/04/21. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Virginia (VA) on 12/09/09. Princ. office of LLC: 31 Hudson Yards, NY, NY 10001. 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. Cert. of Form. filed with Clerk of the Commission, 1300 E. Main St., 1st Fl., Richmond, VA 23219. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ND Growth Investors II, L.P. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/ 11/21. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/ 08/21. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 9 Great Jones St. Fl. 4, NY, NY 10012. Address to be maintained in DE: Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801.

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Office location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 244 Madison Ave, #1470, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful act.

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 Formation of Ballistic Sprint LLC. Arts of Org Filled with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/21/21. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 151 East 26th St, Unit 4D, New York, NY 10010. Purpose: any lawful act.

C O M P A N Y ’ S

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SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John D. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of MSG LAS VEGAS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/03/21. Office location: NY C ounty. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/09/16. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John D. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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CRIME FROM PAGE 1

perhaps no neighborhood is more important to New York’s rebound than Midtown, whose Broadway marquees and brightly lit billboards are what many tourists think of when they picture the Big Apple.

Quality-of-life issues have cropped up in the area as well— ushered in, locals say, by the transition of hotels from tourist havens to homeless shelters. Restaurateurs and other business owners say they are worried that the old, crime-ridden Times Square is creeping back.

“The perception of crime often precedes the reality of crime. In part that’s because people remember the 1980s and 1990s,” said Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission, who called crime the second largest public health emergency in the city after Covid-19.

Robberies, felony assaults and burglaries are up more than 115% since last year in the Midtown South precinct, which includes Times Square. There have been seven recorded hate crimes in the precinct, including the March 29 assault.

Citywide crime numbers are discouraging as well. There have been more than 90 murders, 350 rapes, 2,690 robberies and 4,700 felony assaults committed this year, according to CompSTAT data from the Police Department. Aside from murder, the rates are below the year-to-date totals of last year—a period that covers the most restrictive period of the pandemic.

“We’ve been here 17 years, and I don’t think we had those type of incidents” until now, said Alan Tobias, owner of Martinique Jewelers on Seventh Avenue by West 49th Street. “Of course I’m worried. The amount of tourism is down 70%.”

Vijay Dandapani, chief executive of the Hotel Association of New York City, recalled Times Square’s bad times from the 1970s to the 1990s. He emphasized the importance of the city’s image to tourists, especially as it emerges from a recession.

“We want to market the city as safe and clean, and these are hugely critical factors we have to get going,” Dandapani said. “Tourists need to be assured they will not be shot and killed and pushed down the subway, and unfortu-

BUCK ENNIS

PAUL BARBEY of Hurley’s Saloon worries about decline.

nately that happens far too often here.”

That perception—however exaggerated—risks sinking the reputation the city’s top tourist district has spent more than 20 years carefully constructing.

Back to the future?

From the mid-1970s until the mid-1990s, Times Square was known for crime, notably drug dealing and prostitution. Movies including Midnight Cowboy and Taxi Driver solidified the image in the public’s consciousness, and the reality sometimes was even more distressing: 2,245 murders were committed in the city in 1990 alone.

But the city transformed during the mid-1990s, to the point that some critics complained about the “Disneyfication” of Times Square.

That is no longer an issue.

“I feel bad for the homeless and drug addicts, but it’s ruining the look of Midtown and the other parts of the city,” said Paul Barbey, managing partner of Hurley Saloon on West 48th Street for the past 21 years. “I love Midtown. It used to beautiful. Now it’s just a shell of what it used to be.”

Barbey’s comments echo the complaints of small-business owners who say the area’s drug-use epidemic and homelessness surge can be traced to policies initiated by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zombieland As Covid-19 began to surge through the city in March 2020, de Blasio’s team decided it was imperative for public safety to keep coronavirus infections from spreading in crowded homeless shelters. Individuals and families—along with recently released detainees from Rikers Island—would be housed in hotels that were empty because of the pandemic.

Without customers or tourists during the lockdown, more than 130 commercial hotels across the city were used for temporary housing to relocate 10,000 individuals from shelters, according to the city Department of Social Services.

More than a year later, 12,000 adults are residing in New York hotels.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency pays for 75% of the contract hotels signed to administer the voluntary program; the city pays the other 25%, Dandapani said. The program brought in $1.5 billion in revenue last year for his group’s 62 participating members, he said, as opposed to $11 billion in 2019 from tourists.

“None of the hotels wanted to be in the homeless shelter business,” Dandapani said while insisting there was no other option: “There isn’t really any business to speak of.”

The DSS has given no timetable as to when the hotel housing program will end, only that the department “will be guided by the science and data.” The mayor said

WITHOUT BROADWAY, TIMES SQUARE RESTAURANTS STRUGGLE AT PERGOLA DES ARTISTES, a 58-year-old French restaurant near Times Square that used to attract French Canadian tourists on their way to Broadway plays, the doors are closed and a sign hangs in the window with a note about when the family-owned spot expects to reopen.

“Dear Friends,” it says. “Pergola des Artistes will be closed until Broadway reopens.”

That could be a long time. Diana: The Musical is the first major show to announce an opening date this year—and it’s Dec. 16. The city is planning for a September Broadway reopening, but no major shows have announced dates that early.

Pandemic-related shutdowns universally clobbered the city’s hospitality businesses, but reopenings have been slower in Times Square than in more residential areas. Half of all Times Square eateries are still shut, according to Tom Harris, acting president of the Times Square Alliance. The ones that have reopened say that without Broadway theaters and the tourists who go to them, they can’t get back to normal revenue levels any time soon.

At the Havana Central restaurant on West 46th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, revenue is creeping up and has just hit nearly 50% of pre-Covid sales, said Jeremy Merrin, founder and CEO. Takeout and delivery sales are higher than ever, he said, but that doesn’t make up for all the lost business.

Out-of-towners used to fill the Cuban restaurant for much of the day, including big tour groups and smaller parties that would come in to eat before or after a Broadway show.

Merrin said business now is concentrated on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, whereas anecdotally it used to be split between tourists and theatergoers on weekends and local businesspeople and theatergoers on weekdays.

“Thursday picks up a little bit, but there is no strength to it,” Merrin said. Lunch, which used to account for about 35% of total sales, now makes up about 10%, he said.

Many New Yorkers who used to patronize the restaurant don’t any longer because their offices are shut, he said.

“There’s no bar, no happy hour,” he said. “You have some of the biggest corporations in a four- or fiveblock radius, but they are not bringing their people back.”

He said he remains in negotiations with his landlord. He had renewed his lease for 10 years beginning in 2019 and said he will close and move on without a deal.

Tourism in the city is increasing, but slowly. In March there were about 110,850 daily visitors to the Times Square area, about a third of the 322,125 from March 2019. At the end of March, hotel occupancy was at 40% of pre-Covid times—a number that accounts for the total number of 2019 rooms, many of which are in now-shuttered hotels. Some Times Square hotels have been converted to shelters for homeless people.

Times Square locals are providing a boost to BarDough on West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, owner Nick Verses said. He opened BarDough in September 2019 after a career in technology.

The pizza bar is on a block that is participating in the city’s Open Streets program, wherein the street shuts down to cars in the afternoons and evenings.

“People who live on Ninth and 10th avenues came out, and we got to know the community,” Verses said. Those residents now return for takeout and to dine in, he said.

He has the advantage of being related to his landlord, who has given him a break on rent, and he works as a porter at the restaurant at least three times each week to keep labor costs down.

At Havana Central, a few regulars who used to come before or after theater are coming back, even without Broadway tickets in hand, now that they have been vaccinated, said Steve Tommy, the general manager. That’s hopeful, he said, but things have not returned to normal: “We’ve lost the noise, the exuberance, — CARA EISENPRESS the live music, the spontaneous dancing.”

the city needs to vaccinate the homeless population before it can move the people back to traditional shelters.

“There’s a sense of urgency, but we have to do it safely,” de Blasio said during an April 6 news conference. “We will get a timeline for you as soon as we can.”

Since the mayor’s housing policy began last year, neighborhood business owners argue, drug use has increased.

“It seemed like out of nowhere we started seeing people injecting right in front of the bars,” said Michael McNamee, a business owner with six restaurants in Times Square. “The only way to describe it to you was like zombieland: people naked, no clothes on, high as a kite.

That’s a daily occurrence. I’ve never seen it in 15 years.”

Not all homeless people are drug users or criminals, but there is a link between homelessness, unemployment and crime.

“The No. 1 predictor of recidivism is employment,” said Aedan Macdonald, program manager of the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Poverty is the main cause of New York’s recent crime surge, he said.

“If people don’t have the opportunity to earn a living wage, we see that is a serious driver of incarceration,” Macdonald said. “Economic

justice and opportunity are just so essential to this.”

Brandon Elliot, the man arrested in the attack on the elderly Asian-American woman in Times Square, was living in one of the converted hotels. He was out on parole after being imprisoned for killing his mother.

“It starts with the mayor. He’s let the city go,” McNamee said. “Landlords can’t understand why it’s happened and why it continues to happen.”

The city defends its program. “We are proud that our strategies have ensured that New Yorkers experiencing homelessness receive the same protections from the pandemic as New Yorkers fortunate enough to social distance at home,” DSS spokesman Ian Martin said.

No easy answers Criminal justice experts say the recent increase in crime has been brought on in part by public policy decisions.

“I don’t see this crime wave pulling back for a while, absent some big changes in governmental policy,” Aborn said, “and I don’t see an appetite out there for that.”

The City Council and the mayor approved a budget in the summer that cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget, and this year the council introduced multiple reforms aimed

at overhauling the department. The moves come after Albany passed legislation instituting bail-reform laws and the council voted to close the Rikers Island jail complex.

“People are absorbing that information. They see the government responding to reforms and not violent crime,” Aborn said. “That’s quite problematic, and that will fuel the fear.”

It remains to be seen if the crime rate will hamper New York tourism.

The number of visitors fell from 66.6 million people in 2019 to 22.3 million last year, according to NYC & Company, which forecasts 36.4 million tourists this year.

A concern for the Times Square business community is what happens if the city fully reopens and the drug use and violent assaults associated with the homeless population persist in the section of the city with the most hotels per square mile.

“This is a beautiful tourist area.

You want tourists coming back here eventually, and homeless shelters are not a good look,” said John Dougherty, owner of the Playwright Celtic Pub on Eighth Avenue at West 46th Street. “I don’t know where they [homeless people] belong, but they don’t belong in the middle of the city when you’re trying to build a business and make people feel safe. That’s not the answer.” ■

22 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | APRIL 19, 2021

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SMALL- BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

BUCK ENNIS

ALOVIS

FOCAL POINTS

ONLINE CONTACT LENS RETAILER EYES GROWTH Pandemic boosts sales for revamped family eyewear business

BY MATTHEW FLAMM

T

he Alovis family has been in the vision care business for more than a century. But Ryan Alovis, a fourth-generation scion and the chief executive of LensDirect, can safely say that his forebears have never experienced growth the way his online contact-lens retailer has in the past year.

Riding the pandemic-induced shift to online shopping, the Garden City, N.Y.–based company saw its sales increase in 2020 by nearly 240% over the $6 million it posted the previous year, as thousands of customers made LensDirect their new contact lens provider.

Its growth outpaced the red-hot national market for e-commerce sales, which grew 44%, to $861 billion, according to Digital Commerce 360. The company’s challenge will be to stay on its upward curve once the pandemic subsides and consumers choose whether to go back to stores or not.

“We believe that consumer behavior has changed in a meaningful-enough way to cement our growth,” Alovis said. “But this year we plan to invest more in our technology.

We’ll be pulling every lever under the sun.”

Alovis traces his vision care lineage to a great-grandfather who sold eyeglass frames from a pushcart on Delancey Street early in

COMPANY NAME LensDirect FOUNDED Ken and Allen Alovis launched the company in 1992 and sold it in 2003. It was purchased back by Ryan Alovis in 2009.

FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES About 30

the last century. The next two generations built a small chain of Manhattan eyeglass shops, of which one location remains. Then in 1992 Alovis’ father and uncle launched LensDirect as a mail-order offshoot for contact lens sales, but its growth stalled, and they sold it a decade later.

Alovis bought back the company in 2009 with cash from a magazine discount-subscription service he’d founded and began rebuilding. Facing competitors on all sides, he focused on customer service, launching an auto-refill subscription program and assigning customers dedicated account reps.

New products included an eyeglass lens replacement service, a Delancey Street line of frames and the John F. Kennedy–inspired, Hyannis sunglasses brand. Eyewear now makes up about 10% of sales, he says.

With the pandemic, Alovis ramped up his already aggressive online marketing program; expanded the customer service department; launched more products, such as Virtual Try-on, for modeling frames online; and added an extended payment plan.

“Covid was a great catalyst for the early levels of growth,” Alovis said. “But we maintained that growth by reinvesting constantly.”

Personal touch?

LensDirect’s situation is in marked contrast to what brick-and-mortar eyewear re-

tailers have experienced, especially those in Midtown and the Financial District, where office buildings remain mostly empty.

Their sales are around 50% below their norm, says Viola Kanevsky, a Manhattan-based optometrist and the president-elect of the New York State Optometric Association.

In residential neighborhoods, they’re down about 20%. Kanevsky, whose practice includes a walk-in eyewear shop, sees a silver lining for brick-and-mortar stores, however.

“Because of Covid, I think people miss the personal interaction,” she said. “We have people coming in who used to shop with Warby Parker or other online retailers, and they say: ‘We like your service better, and your glasses last longer.’ ” She added that more and more local retailers are providing online options.

Shoppers seeking the human touch may help retailers rebound. But recent consumer surveys suggest that, as the pandemic recedes, e-commerce businesses will keep a lot of their gains.

“Probably about half of the increase during Covid will remain there, but it differs by category,” said Cara Wang, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who co-authored a study on shifts in shopping behavior.

She predicts that online retailers in the medical supplies category, which includes contact lenses, will hold on to more than

CEO Ryan Alovis 2020 REVENUE $20 million PRODUCT MIX The company sells contact lenses as well as eyeglasses, frames and sunglasses. The website features a platform to try on glasses virtually.

GROWTH STRATEGY The company has focused on customer service, the adoption of new technology and the Alovis family’s roots in the vision care business.

WEBSITE lensdirect.com

two-thirds of their sales growth.

In-store shopping in other categories, such as groceries, may rebound quicker because the process is more enjoyable, she said. “But people really don’t shop for medical supplies for fun,” Wang pointed out.

Alovis isn’t done with transforming LensDirect. He’ll be launching an augmented reality app for trying on frames online. And he has not ruled out a Manhattan location to showcase the eyewear collection.

“We want to be the company that people think of when they want their contact lenses, their glasses, their sunglasses,” he said. ■ APRIL 19, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 23

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