Crain's New York Business

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2021

Full coverage starts on Page 19

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DECEMBER 6, 2021

CITY RIPE TO REIGN AS CAPITAL OF FINTECH

Young companies shaping the future of money raise a record $9B as a financial power center pivots

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

T

he declaration came in the summer from a top Silicon Valley investment firm, Andreessen Horowitz: “New York has long been the financial capital of the world, and there’s no question it will be the fintech capital too.”

The firm, known as A16Z—an early backer of Coinbase, Facebook and Lyft—is not the only one interested in New York’s financial technology scene. Fintech startups based here raised more than $9 billion in venture-capital investment this year, through September, topping the funding for the previous two years combined, according to data from research firm Crunchbase.

“There has never been so much support for fintech entrepreneurs and no better place in my opinion—with a concentration of capital and talent—than New York,” said Eli Polanco, founder of Nivelo, a startup focused on moving payroll faster and more securely.

The growth in fintech comes as city jobs in traditional finance

NIVELO CEO ELI POLANCO, one of the startup founders helping to make the city a fintech powerhouse.

BUCK ENNIS

See FINTECH on page 20

TECHNOLOGY

More spying on remote workers draws lawmaker ire As the use of workplace monitoring software climbs, momentum builds in Albany to curb companies’ control

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

T

he number of companies that report using workplace monitoring software—giving bosses a look at their workers’ browsing histories, email logs and

sometimes referred to as “tattleware,” has prompted concern from lawmakers who view it as a threat to privacy and labor rights.

Starting in May, New York employers will See SPYING on page 34

60%

OF COMPANIES report using surveillance software, according to Gartner

$500

THE FINE for companies that do not disclose monitoring software to their employees

© 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC.

NEWSPAPER

VOL. 37, NO. 44

even live computer screens—has doubled during the pandemic.

While employers say they have good reason to keep an eye on what their workers do on the clock, especially with more remote work, the rise of advanced tracking software,

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HEALTH CARE MAKIMAKI’s popular Aki roll

State’s $35M offer clinches agreement between workers and nursing homes

BUCK ENNIS

BY MAYA KAUFMAN

HOSPITALITY

Office lunches pivot from pizza on Friday to sushi on Wednesday

BY CARA EISENPRESS

T

he corporate orders rarely come in on Fridays anymore.

“Friday lunch we used to send 100 pies out the door before we opened,” said Noam Grossman, co-owner of Upside Pizza, which has two Midtown locations. In early November, however, order volume was about 10% of Friday pre-pandemic levels.

With city workers’ in-office schedules changing, perhaps for the long term, restaurants in commercial districts have recalibrated an important revenue stream: the catered lunch.

Such orders, usually large and paid for with company dollars, have long been a way for restaurants and food companies to increase sales and keep their spaces and staff busy during slow service times, including lunch. Midday catering orders can be out the door before the first

of Manhattan’s office workers were in on an average weekday, and just 8% were in every day, according to the Partnership for New York City, which surveys major employers.

If caterers’ experiences are a measure, Friday workplace populations are especially sparse.

Menus, work days changing Solomon Dwyer said that, pre-pandemic, when her company was much smaller, she used to deliver about 10 orders each Friday.

Now there are none.

Across the country, lunch orders placed at restaurants that use the BentoBox technology platform were 8% lower on Fridays between May and September of this year, compared with the same weekday during the first four months of the year.

In place of the Friday go-tos, companies might be branching out in the types of cuisine and the days they order.

Mondays and Wednesdays are the leaders for breakfast tacos, Solomon Dwyer said, adding that her clients like catered breakfasts because they encourage employees to show up on time.

MakiMaki, a sushi take-out spot with two Midtown locations, said catering orders had buoyed the business during the past several months. Sugarfish, a Los Angeles– based sushi chain, has been busy with orders at its locations on East 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue and at West 56th Street and Broadway, co-founder Lele Massimini said.

“Particularly since more people have been coming back to offices we have seen more guests order from our Midtown locations,” Massimini said.

At Great Performances, a catering firm in the Bronx, companies are asking to create special moments, said Jennifer McMahon Eliot, vice president of strategic partnerships.

CLIENTS LIKE CATERED BREAKFASTS TO ENCOURAGE PUNCTUALITY lunch guests enter the dining room.

Those orders are not gone, but they are different. And employers are discovering new motivations for providing food at the workplace.

They’re scheduling catered breakfasts to get people in early and delivering hot pretzels to office desks to create excitement and motivate FOMO-inducing social media posts. They’re ordering chef-designed meals and sushi instead of just bagels and pizza.

Companies are seeking to make great food part of the lure to get employees into the office.

“Food is an easy get,” said Liz Solomon Dwyer, whose Brooklyn-based King David Tacos supplies breakfast items for client meetings and teams.

Attendance in offices is still low.

As of the end of October, about 28%

Options include a cart that dispenses hot pretzels at desks, a pop-up hot chocolate station and a meetand-greet with a high-profile chef.

The strategy, McMahon Eliot said, is to prompt employees to post the happenings on social media and talk up the special moments to colleagues, fostering excitement about being back in the workplace.

Partnership for New York City members do not expect a total office return anytime soon. The organization projects that less than half of office workers will be at their desk on an average weekday by Jan. 30.

Grossman said Upside’s newest location, on East 40th Street, is still hoping for a rush of corporate orders since opening during the summer. Although individuals have discovered Upside, office managers in buildings surrounding the Midtown location have seemed oddly immune to the draw of fresh pizza, he said. Of the 50 buildings in close proximity to the location, he expected that at least one company in each would order lunch each day, but so far they have not.

Some caterers report that the holiday season is providing a pickup in sales.

At Eataly, catering is back to 2019 levels, or even slightly above, said Raffaele Piarulli, North American vice president.

“Companies whose offices are near Eataly are definitely looking for perks for their team, and we are well positioned, and excited, to be one of those perks,” Piarulli said.

For December, BentoBox said it has already received double the catering orders—not just at offices but for social occasions too—compared with this time last year.

Solomon Dwyer said she was beginning to see holiday orders come in, after receiving zero last year. Although breakfast tacos might not seem like typical party fare, she said, her clients bring in the tacos for the morning.

“December is our biggest catering month,” she said. “People eat, and they spend.” ■

M

embers of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East reached tentative three-year contract agreements last week with the operators of 249 nursing homes in the metropolitan area, just in time to avert a 24-hour strike planned for Dec. 1.

The deal hinges on a pledge by Gov. Kathy Hochul to devote up to $35 million per year in state funding to reimburse anticipated cost increases for the union’s health benefits fund, leaders in the nursing home industry said. The fund, which pays members’ health insurance claims, had been a major sticking point in the monthslong negotiations, Crain’s Health Pulse reported.

“As a result of illnesses from Covid-19, these health care workers saw their health insurance premiums more than double compared to other health care workers,” said Avi Small, a spokesman for the governor’s office. “The state agreed to pay the difference between their experience and average increases in order to avoid the pending strike.”

The funding commitment, which Hochul’s office and 1199SEIU did not mention in their announcements of the agreement, is meant to bridge the gap. Heyman said nursing homes will collectively pay about 4.5% more into the health fund. The exact figures are still being finalized.

Contract agreements The agreement stipulates a 3.5% salary increase in the contract’s first year and 3% in each of the fol-

lowing two years, as well as a $1,500 bonus to be paid out in January.

Other changes include adding Juneteenth as a paid holiday and new language to add protected job status for members with 10 or more years on the job and to negotiate future bonuses during public health emergencies.

The union said all but one nursing home—the 134-bed Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center in Orange County—signed on, prompting 48 of the facility’s employees to go on strike Wednesday.

Owner Jerry Wood, who said he negotiates on his own behalf rather than as part of one of the nursing home industry blocs, said the union had not invited him to negotiating sessions. He added that he had not seen a copy of the tentative agreement.

“It’s tough to sign a contract that they haven’t presented to me,” Wood said. “They haven’t even tried to negotiate with me.”

George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU, said the union secured a strong contract that recognized the sacrifices of nursing home workers during the pandemic.

“From raises to an in-hand bonus, workers can rest better knowing their efforts aren’t just being recognized with banners outside of their facilities and catered lunches but with the respect and dignity they have earned as heroes,” Gresham said in a statement.

The contract agreements now await ratification by 1199SEIU members.

1199SEIU represents roughly 325,000 health care workers statewide, including 65,000 nursing home employees. ■

WEBCAST CALLOUT

DEC. 15 A FAIR ROLLOUT FOR RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA With New York’s legalization of adult-use marijuana expected to be up and running by late 2022, the industry could generate north of $4 billion in overall sales. This translates to $350 million in tax revenue. How can the state ensure that communities that historically had been criminalized by marijuana laws have an opportunity to do business in the emerging industry?

VIRTUAL EVENT Time: 4 to 5 p.m.

CrainsNewYork.com/DecBizForum

Vol. 37, No. 44, December 6, 2021—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly,except for a combined issue on 1/4/21 and 1/11/21, 6/28/21 and 7/5/21, 7/12/21 and 7/19/21, 7/26/21 and 8/2/21, 8/9/21 and 8/16/21 and the last issue in December. 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. $140.00 per year. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2021 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | DECEMBER 6, 2021

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RETAIL

BUCK ENNIS

CEO GINA BARTASI says her fertility health firm Kindbody expanded to in-person clinics to meet customer demand.

“You can’t implant embryos online.”

Digital-first health startups look to conquer bricks-and-mortar Thriving health tech firms test physical locations as customers’ comfort with in-store visits recovers and retail rents remain low

BY SHUAN SIM AND RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

S

ince Thirty Madison’s founding five years ago, it has grown to a $1 billion private valuation, offering online-based treatments for chronic conditions such as hair loss and migraines. Now the NoMad startup is planning a brick-and-mortar presence—announcing in November that it will open a clinic in Midtown early next year for its hair-loss brand, Keeps.

“When I think about the vision of where the company is headed, this is the first step of how our care model can transition from virtual to physical,” Chief Executive Steven Gutentag said. The location, he added, would provide hair-restoration services beyond the reach of its virtual platform.

“Patients asked us to open this clinic,” Gutentag said.

“We’re not abandoning digital. These patients are still plugged into our core offerings.”

Especially in health care, many local companies that started as digital-first brands have found success with their brickand-mortar strategies, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The key, some said, is understanding how physical locations

can be integrated into the whole customer experience. With more consumers vaccinated and increasingly comfortable with returning to in-store shopping, some digital-native firms have committed to a stronger physical presence in the future.

How to succeed in retail by listening Success with brick-and-mortar, especially during the pandemic, is about meeting customers where they are, said Chi-

A PHYSICAL LOCATION PROVIDES OPTIONS TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMAND rag Kulkarni, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Medly, a pharmacy with digital and physical offerings. The Bushwick-headquartered startup, established in 2017, opened a new location in East Harlem in May, and this year had

expanded into Atlanta, Ga. and Raleigh, N.C. “Digital-first companies break into retail spaces not because they think it’s cool, but because they want to provide a seamless experience for customers,” said Prasad Pola, chief technology officer of Medly. The East Harlem location, for example, came into being because of increased demand from northern Manhattan and the Bronx, he said, and opening a physical location provides options for those areas.

SoHo-based Warby Parker was considered a pioneer in the direct-to-consumer online sales model when it was founded in 2010, delivering trendy, discount eyeglasses frames to customers’ doors. It launched its first store near its headquarters in 2013 and has since expanded to 10 shops in the five boroughs and 154 total in North America. By 2019, the stores were the company’s best driver of sales, capturing 65% of Warby’s $370 million in revenue that year. Last year the revenue mix shifted to 60% online, as shops temporarily closed due to the pandemic.

As shopping shifts back to pre-pandemic trends, and 58% See LOCATIONS on page 6 DECEMBER 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3

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POLITICS

De Blasio set to exit office with significant debts

M

ayor Bill de Blasio is publicly entertaining a run for governor as he prepares to exit Gracie Mansion, and political observers suspect his rationale goes beyond political ambition: He’s hoping to pay down a mountain of debt he accumulated during eight years as mayor.

All told, de Blasio and organizations tied to him owe nearly $2 million. His array of outstanding professional debts reaches nearly $1 million and includes reimbursements to the city for a security detail during his unsuccessful presidential campaign, defense attorneys’ fees and liabilities from past political campaigns.

donors to pay off his debts.

The playbook currently being used by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo—spending leftover campaign funds on public relations and legal representation—could serve as an example to de Blasio if he decides to run for governor, according to John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, a good-government group.

Cuomo has interpreted state election laws to allow him to use some of the $18 million in campaign donations he acquired prior to resigning from office in August.

He is spending it to battle the ongoing fallout from accusations he faces of workplace sexual harassment and using state employees and resources to write his Covid-19 pandemic memoir.

“I really think de Blasio is trying to exploit the same loophole,” Kaehny said, adding that the state Board of Elections’ enforcement and definition of how campaign funds may be spent is so broad that it could include most activities a public official engaged in while in office.

“The prevalent theory is that [de Blasio’s] run for governor is an attempt to raise funds to pay off those debts, because the state campaign fundraising laws are so lax,” he said. “It’s nonsense.”

De Blasio has not announced he is running for governor.

His largest outstanding debt is the money he owes to lawyers at Kramer Levin & Naftalis for representing him between 2015 and 2017 during federal, state and city investigations into whether he violated fundraising laws. De Blasio’s debts to the firm could rise to as high as $435,000, according to digital news platform The City, once interest

payments are factored in for the late payments.

Hundreds of thousands During a Nov. 10 news conference, de Blasio addressed the fact that he owes the law firm at least $300,000, and he said he might set up a legal defense fund to solicit contributions from donors.

“Again, it’s a debt … that I intend to pay,” he told reporters. “Realistically, I don’t … you know, I hope you know enough about me by now to say I do not have a lot of extra resources kicking around. I’m not like my predecessor [Mayor Michael Bloomberg], so I would have to raise the money. But I will over time, and I will pay it off.”

De Blasio also needs to settle outstanding campaign expenses.

The mayor has at least $97,015 in liabilities from his successful 2017 re-election campaign. That includes a total estimated debt of $156,881, according to city Campaign Finance Board records.

De Blasio’s debts include $32,838 to political consultants Kantor, Davidoff, Mandelker and $29,661 to election lawyer Laurence Laufer.

The Campaign Finance Board emphasized that the records haven’t been updated since January 2018.

“On the campaign side, it’s not unusual to have debt,” de Blasio said at an Oct. 14 news conference.

“You pay off your debt. I’ve done it plenty of times. I’m going to take care of this as well.”

A bill drafted this month by City Council member Ben Kallos of Manhattan would require mayors and other elected officials to present a debt repayment plan to the public, together with the terms of their repayment plan, including the length of time for repayment, the interest and if any nonrepayment penalties exist.

“Whenever you have a politician who has a lot of debts, you see a

GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS SAY HE MIGHT RUN FOR GOVERNOR TO RAISE CASH The mayor is also on the hook for personal mortgage payments of $1.1 million for two properties he and first lady Chirlane McCray own in Park Slope—which they refinanced this summer—according to public records. De Blasio’s two homes have a combined estimated worth of $3.38 million, according to realtor.com and Zillow.

“He doesn’t look responsible, he doesn’t look ethical, and he certainly doesn’t look competent as a manager,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a national and city political consultant. “It’s a terrible look.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Watchdogs at Reinvent Albany and Citizens Union predicted de Blasio will run for governor next year in part to raise money from

NYCMAYORSOFFICE/FLICKR

BY BRIAN PASCUS

potential risk for conflicts of interest and corruption, and de Blasio’s no different,” Kaehny said. “The question is whether he can deliver anything in the future to anyone if he’s out of office.”

Police matter Before de Blasio leaves office, he also might need to pay the city for the Police Department security detail he used in 2019 during his run for the Democratic Party nomination for president.

An October report from the city Department of Investigation concluded that the NYPD paid $319,724 for the mayor’s security detail to travel outside of the city during his presidential campaign trips. The costs include flights, hotels, rental cars, fuel and meals and do not yet include salaries or overtime costs, according to the DOI report.

The mayor “has not reimbursed the city for these expenses, either personally or through his campaign,” according to the DOI report,

which added that de Blasio’s deployment of the police during the presidential campaign “reflect a use of NYPD resources for political purposes.”

De Blasio has filed an appeal to the DOI to challenge the debt.

The mayor’s two Brooklyn properties are another weight on his wallet. This year he and his wife secured a $615,342 loan on their residence at 442 11th St. on June 29, after taking out a $543,425 mortgage on their second home down the block, at 384 11th St., on May 28.

His home at 442 11th St. has an estimated value of $1.6 million, according to realtor.com, while the property at 384 11th St. has an estimated value of $1.78 million, according to Zillow.com.

He made an annual salary of $258,750 as mayor and previously reported annual income between $5,000 and $49,000 for three rental units at his two properties in Park Slope, according to a 2017 public disclosure form. ■

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE

BY EDDIE SMALL

A

federal judge has denied an effort by landlords of small New York buildings to throw out the state’s eviction moratorium, describing their arguments as “not only chimerical but disingenuous.”

The decision means that the moratorium will stay in place for now, despite strenuous objections from landlord groups. Currently scheduled to expire Jan. 15, the moratorium has been extended multiple times since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Judge Gary Brown of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn was unpersuaded by the landlords’ argument that the state’s latest extension ran afoul of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down part of New

York’s prior moratorium.

The landlords claimed that, despite the state Legislature’s revisions of the moratorium, they still could not get the necessary information to challenge hardship declarations from their tenants.

‘Downright unconscionable’ A hearing revealed, however, that the landlords made no actual effort to challenge their tenants’ hardship declarations and that they have other methods of pursuing an eviction that they did not use, Brown wrote.

“Thus, while the remedies implemented by the Legislature may be imperfect,” the judge wrote, “there has been no showing, at this juncture, that would entitle plaintiffs to the extraordinary remedy of a pre-

BLOGTREPRENEUR/FLICKR

Federal judge rejects small landlords’ latest attempt to block the state’s pandemic eviction moratorium

liminary injunction.”

The Rent Stabilization Association and a handful of small property owners filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in May, when the state’s eviction moratorium was set to expire Aug. 31.

The landlords called the ban “downright unconscionable” and aimed to have the courts declare it

unconstitutional. The court in June denied their motion to stop the state from enforcing the moratorium.

The U.S. Supreme Court in August struck down part of New York’s eviction moratorium. In an effort to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, the state Legislature passed a new law, allowing landlords to challenge tenants’ hardship declarations and extending the eviction moratorium to Jan. 15.

In September the RSA filed a motion for an injunction against the updated moratorium in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appellate court denied the motion and remanded the case back to the district court in

Brooklyn.

The parties then filed an amended complaint Oct. 15, asking the court for a preliminary injunction to ban the state from implementing and enforcing the extension.

Despite Brown’s emphatic denial of the request in his Nov. 29 ruling, Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, has pledged to appeal the decision.

“The state of New York has created an illusory process where tenants’ unsworn hardship claims still automatically stay eviction proceedings, and the burden then shifts to landlords to have to swear to facts under penalty of perjury that they could not possibly know,” Mastro said. “That’s not due process.” ■

4 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | December 6, 2021

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Finding gold amidst the ashes: Navigating bankruptcy asset sales with experienced counsel

W

hen you’re looking to acquire business assets at a steep discount, a bankruptcy sale can be an ideal option. Despite creditors’ interest in recovering as much as they can from the liquidation of bankruptcy assets, these assets are often available at prices far below their true value.

The rules regulating these sales ensure an orderly and transparent process for bidders, creditors and other stakeholders that can make bankruptcy sales a slow-moving process. Prospective buyers should understand relevant sections of the Bankruptcy Code and consider enlisting the help of experienced bankruptcy counsel to compete with seasoned bidders.

To learn what kinds of opportunities bankruptcy sales can offer and what buyers need to know to avoid pitfalls in the process, Crain’s Content Studio posed questions to an expert in the field: James Sullivan, a partner at Windels Marx. estate, equipment, receivables, inventory, vehicles, intellectual property (patents, copyrights and trademarks), below-market leases and contract rights. In addition, businesses are often sold as a going concern in bankruptcy, including businesses in real estate, health care, retail, hospitality, entertainment, automotive, manufacturing, energy, aviation, telecommunication and mining.

James Sullivan, a partner at Windels Marx.

CRAIN’S: Besides price, what are the advantages of buying assets out of bankruptcy? What kinds of assets can be acquired this way?

JAMES SULLIVAN: Bankruptcy sales offer some significant advantages not available in a non-bankruptcy sale, including the ability to obtain trustworthy information about the business and the assets. There’s also the ability to acquire lease and contract rights over the objection of a lease or contract counterparty (the

CRAIN’S: What’s the difference between buying assets through a confirmed Chapter 11 plan rather than prior to plan confirmation or outside of a plan?

SULLIVAN: There are a few advantages to purchasing assets pursuant to a confirmed Chapter 11 plan rather than prior to or outside of a plan. First, a sale under a plan need not be subjected to a competitive auction process so long as the plan satisfies all of the statutory criteria for approval of the plan. Therefore, buyers of a business or assets who wish to avoid an auction process should request that the assets be sold to them through a plan. Second, Section 1146(a) of the Bankruptcy

“The best way to ensure that buyers are acquiring purchased assets free and clear of liens, claims or other interests is to ensure that any impacted creditor receives adequate prior notice of the sale.”

Bankruptcy Code renders unenforceable most contractual antiassignment provisions); the ability to acquire assets free and clear of liens and other interests despite creditor objection; the ability to avoid payment of stamp and transfer taxes, such as real estate transfer and mortgage taxes; and the ability to avoid successor liability claims from the debtor’s creditors.

Code exempts sales under a confirmed Chapter 11 plan from the payment of stamp or other transfer taxes. For certain sale transactions, the amount saved from avoiding such taxes can outweigh the cost of the entire bankruptcy process.

Virtually any type of business or asset can be purchased out of bankruptcy. Assets commonly sold through bankruptcy include commercial and residential real

SULLIVAN: The best way to ensure that buyers are acquiring purchased assets free and clear of liens, claims or other interests is to ensure that any impacted creditor receives

CRAIN’S: How can buyers be sure they are acquiring the assets free and clear?

adequate prior notice of the sale and that explicit language is included in the sale motion, the sale agreement and the sale order providing that the sale is free and clear of all liens, claims and interests.

Further, including clear “free and clear” language in the sale order requires that creditors object to the sale to avoid the free and clear provision of the sale order. Another effective technique is to request that language be included in the sale order enjoining any efforts by creditors to pursue remedies against the buyer or the purchased assets and providing that the bankruptcy court shall retain exclusive jurisdiction to enforce the injunction even after the bankruptcy case is closed.

However, stalking horse agreements typically include very buyer-friendly terms, including with respect to price. Thus, this “disadvantage” is usually materially outweighed by the many significant advantages to being named the stalking horse.

CRAIN’S: How do buyers position themselves as the stalking horse?

SULLIVAN: A bidder can help position himself or herself as the stalking horse by offering to make a first-priority debtor-in-possession loan to the debtor and then make selection as the stalking horse a condition to making the loan. The bidder can also establish other

loan milestones that move the case in a direction friendly to the lender-bidder. Similarly, a potential bidder could attempt to purchase secured debt of the debtor (preferably at a discount) to use as leverage so as to be named the stalking horse. In addition, the bidder can approach the debtor early in the bankruptcy case (or even before the bankruptcy case is filed) before other bidders come forward.

Finally, the bidder can try to offer the debtor something that other bidders may be unable to offer, such as an agreement to continue the business, keep key management and-or employees in place or assume certain key contracts or liabilities.

CRAIN’S: What are the advantages to being the “stalking horse” bidder? Are there disadvantages?

SULLIVAN: There are a number of advantages to being the “stalking horse” bidder (the initial bid against which all other bidders must compete). First, the stalking horse can draft a form of purchase agreement that is customized to the needs of the stalking horse.

Competing bidders may find it difficult to submit a competing offer that materially differs from the stalking horse agreement.

Second, the stalking horse bidder can obtain a number of special bidder protections, including a breakup fee (from 3% to 5% of the purchase price is typical) and expense reimbursement, if the stalking horse is outbid. Thus, unlike other bidders, the stalking horse is compensated for its time and expenses related to the sale process.

The primary disadvantage to being the stalking horse is that you must set the market by bidding against yourself.

In other words, it is possible that you will miss out on an opportunity to pay less if no stalking horse comes forward.

December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 5

IN THE MARKETS

Another struggling Manhattan office landlord prepares to do battle with an activist investor

LOCATIONS FROM PAGE 3

of Warby’s third-quarter revenue came from stores, the firm is betting big on physical retail. It expects to end 2021 with 35 store openings, its most ever in a single year.

The stores serve as billboards for the brand and typically pay back their cost of leasing and construction within 20 months, co-CEO Dave Gilboa said during a recent earnings call. They also provide a location for eye exams. In-person exams are available at 99 of the company’s stores, Gilboa said.

Space bargain shopping It helps that there are deals to be found from the city’s retail landlords, with the market showing only incremental signs of recovery from pandemic shutdowns. The average asking rent for Manhattan retail space was $605 per square foot in September, the lowest in nearly a decade, according to a CBRE report.

Technology startups, on the other hand, are raising record amounts of cash. Thirty Madison and Medly raised $210 million and $110 million in venture funding, respectively, and Warby Parker listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September with a $6 billion valuation.

Fertility health firm Kindbody, headquartered near Union Square, has raised $122 million to date,

which helped it weather the pandemic, founder and CEO Gina Bartasi said.

Kindbody, launched in 2018, has developed a telehealth platform along with clinics in the Flatiron District and Fifth Avenue. Bartasi said she watched many neighbors, such as fashion retailers, clear out in response to the pandemic.

“It’s not like that with health care,” she said. “We are attractive anchor tenants for landlords.”

The combination of venture capital and low rates for real estate has given some startups incentive to give brick-and-mortar retail a shot, on their own terms.

“If there is a positive that comes from all the challenging things in the retail business because of Covid, it is that a lot of different brands are willing to try new things, because of all the space that is out there,” said Patrick Smith, a vice chairman of JLL’s retail brokerage.

“You have space acting as essentially an incubator for cool new concepts.”

For a store to work best for a webbased brand, Smith said, it needs to provide a product or service that cannot be found online.

Bartasi agreed and added, “There are things you will still need a clinic for. You can’t implant an embryo online.”

Even with Manhattan’s high rents, going physical is viable— even profitable—as long as cost considerations are baked into what

Mack-Cali Realty’s board last year.

Considering Paramount shares trade at 17% below last year’s takeover offer, it would be tougher for the board to fend off a second approach from Bow Street should that materialize.

Even the mighty SL Green Realty and Vornado Realty Trust could be vulnerable. SL Green shares trade at a 17% discount to the company’s net real estate assets, and Vornado’s at 18%.

The discount is much larger at NYC REIT, which owns 1.2 million square feet of space spread across

the locations mean for a company’s customer experience, Medly’s Pola said.

“Brick-and-mortar cannot merely be a channel to upsell or cross-sell,” Kulkarni said. For it to succeed in today’s climate, he said, businesses need to listen to customers about what retail presences should do for them.

Not all startups are convinced of the need to venture out from the virtual realm, however.

Union Square–based Calibrate, a weight-loss telehealth startup, planned to open meeting centers when it launched in June 2020.

“We knew that there was a community component to metabolic health and weight loss,” Chief Executive Isabelle Kenyon said. “We wanted our members to have a space to build strong personal connections with their team and also their peers.”

But after more than a year of running only virtual programming, the company has changed its position. Calibrate said it occasionally will open a pop-up shop or organize a special event, but it plans to avoid a full commitment to retail space.

“Community and connection does not have to exist only in person,” Kenyon said.

Thinking ahead Consumers have become more comfortable returning to stores, Bartasi said—which has created

eight buildings around the city. In a November regulatory filing, the company disclosed it has breached covenants on mortgages for 9 Times Square, 1140 Sixth Ave. and two other properties.

The company went public six years ago at $25 per share but on Thursday traded at $6.60 per share.

Sapir’s firm controls 2% of NYC REIT’s stock.

Inside baseball He criticized the company for paying $22 million in management fees and reimbursements during

the past two years to a separate firm controlled by the REIT’s chief executive, Michael Weil. Sapir described the payments as a “gross misallocation of capital” and demanded NYC REIT expand its board to include Sharon Stern, an executive at Cedar Realty Trust. The board is structured so that only one director is up for election each year.

“We hope that the board agrees it is in stockholders’ best interests to appoint our nominee,” Sapir wrote, “and avoid the need for a costly contested election at next year’s annual meeting.” ■

FERTILITY FIRM Kindbody started with telehealth then opened clinics in the Flatiron District and Fifth Avenue.

demand for expansion. She added that Kindbody plans to open a new Brooklyn location in April and is eyeing a Westchester or Long Island location next.

The company’s thinking about how to grow a physical presence might have changed, however, Pola said.

“For us, expanding retail is not to compete with traditional brickand-mortar brands but building an experience in a smart and thoughtful way that does not overwhelm the customer,” he said. Medly isn’t trying to build as big a footprint as possible, he said, but is trying to meet customer expectations. That

BUCK ENNIS

THE COMPANY WENT PUBLIC AT $25 PER SHARE AND NOW TRADES AT $6.60

ISTOCK

W

ith their buildings Comrit managing partner, said in a mostly empty and letter.

NYC REIT had no immediate their share prices in the gutter, Manhattan comment. office landlords are attracting a most unwanted sort of tenant: Familiar targets shareholder activists.

Manhattan office landlords, who New York City REIT, which has once controlled what appeared to breached covenants for be the world’s most valumortgages at 9 Times able buildings, these days Square and other properare under frequent attack ties, on Wednesday beby investors who sense an came the latest office opportunity to snap up owner to discover a dissireal estate at bargain pricdent investor has moved es and even seize control in. Israel-based Comrit of the boardroom.

Investments threatened In October, activist into launch a proxy fight vestor Jonathan Litt deunless its nominee is inthat executives AARON ELSTEIN atmanded vited onto the REIT’s Lexington Realty Trust board. get booted out, half the “We cannot sit idly by as the directors be replaced and the comboard continues to allow NYC RE- pany put up for sale. A month earliIT’s balance sheet to erode and the er, Columbia Property Trust fended off an activist investor’s hostile takeover bid by agreeing to be acquired.

A much bigger fish, Paramount Group, in November 2020 turned company’s stock to trade at a dis- down an unsolicited takeover bid count of approximately 86% rela- from Bow Street, an activist hedge tive to net asset value,” Ziv Sapir, fund that seized control of

might mean adjusting the number of retail presences, he said.

Just as the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital health technologies, it also has pushed companies to think about the next iteration of their services, Gutentag said.

“Having a physical location can allow us to provide access to better care and outcomes,” he said. And Thirty Madison’s other brands— Cove, Evens and Picnic—could eventually follow in Keeps’ footsteps by going physical, he added.

“We’re trying to establish ourselves as a premier health company,” Gutentag said, “not just a digital health company.” ■

6 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | DECEMBER 6, 2021

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SPONSORED CONTENT

How geospatial tech is revolutionizing port and airport operations worldwide PRESENTERS

ROBERT GALVIN Chief technology officer, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

JEAN-MANUEL LEJEUNE Head of digital transformation and information management, Dublin International Airport

Our age of globalization is characterized by the movement of people and goods at unprecedented scale and pace. Intent on delivering efficiency, leading ports and airports worldwide are modernizing operations by leaning into location intelligence: the process of mining actionable insights from geospatial data.

The application of geographic information systems (GIS) and related technologies in the transit sphere was the subject of a wide-ranging webinar hosted by Crain’s Content Studio on Nov. 10. The event, titled “2021 Ports and Airports Modernization Summit: The Power of Location Intelligence to Deliver Efficiency, Safety, and Competitive Advantage,” was sponsored by the international GIS pacesetter Esri and moderated by Kristen Kurland, a professor of information systems and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

One of several key themes to emerge was the power of GIS to streamline day-to-day asset management at ports and airports, from monitoring subsurface infrastructure and runway pavement to maintaining fire extinguishers and lighting.

Josephine Pofsky, director of infrastructure information management at San Francisco International Airport, described how a GIS-powered digital twin—that is, dynamic virtual representation of the airport—supplies myriad data points on the airport’s assets in real time.

“Users can see the inside of a building layer by layer, from solar panels to underground utilities,” she said. “We can then perform preventative maintenance by, for instance, tracking patterns in pipe breakdowns on a granular level.”

Not surprisingly, the pandemic precipitated an array of new GIS applications. Some airports developed systems to keep track of aircraft that had been taken out of service. Others used the technology to monitor the status of hand sanitizer dispensers—full, half-full,

RUTGER MANTINGH Senior manager Digital, Data & Analytics, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

MODERATOR

JOSEPHINE POFSKY Director of infrastructure information management, San Francisco International Airport

empty—and dispatch staff to manage them.

Presenters stressed the importance of not viewing information technology as a detached department, instead recognizing the centrality of geospatial technologies to entire transit ecosystems. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, for example, conceives of itself as a tech company that’s in the business of aviation. That’s in part because of the network of smart components on its assets—escalators, conveyor belts, and others—that can be monitored via a dashboard for to-theminute condition updates.

CAITLYN RAINES

LARS WENTORP

Professional services, Esri

CIO and Head of IT, Hamburg Port Authority

more efficient.”

Another frontier in GIS application is indoor navigation capabilities, aimed at ameliorating traveler stress. At Dublin International Airport, passengers can use their phones to see routes to their gates, along with estimates of walking times.

“We also use indoor geospatial data to understand how our spaces are being used,” said Jean-Manuel LeJeune, head of digital transformation and information management at that airport. “Then we tweak operations accordingly to maximize revenue.”

“Enterprise-wide data standards are critical for interoperability. They improve data quality and make data sharing and integration across departments far more efficient.”

-Robert Galvin, Chief technology officer, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey It’s also wise for ports and airports to share geospatial data with external stakeholders early on.

“By allowing architects and engineers to engage with locational data, we empower them to make smarter design decisions,” said Micah Callough, technology director for AEC at Esri.

“If we surface that information right away, we save tremendous amounts of time and resources.”

Crucial to that sort of collaboration are consistent data standards. Robert Galvin, chief technology officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, noted the centrality of such standards to his organization’s decade-long asset management improvement program.

“Enterprise-wide data standards are critical for interoperability,” Galvin said in a keynote address. “They improve data quality and make data sharing and integration across departments far

Several presenters emphasized that the aggregation of raw data is only useful if insight is then derived from that monolith. Keith Fraley, co-founder and CEO of the geospatial consulting company 40Geo, described how data collection followed by application has provided value for the Port of Houston.

“We deployed a network of sensors to automatically detect when vessels are bunkered, or supplied with fuel,” he shared. “That information is then integrated into the port’s billing system, which has led to increased revenue and a better picture of port operations.”

Half a world away in Hamburg, port authorities use a video wall to monitor ship movements and water depth in real time—details vital to safe and efficient waterside operations. Likewise, other ports are wielding GIS technologies to schedule berths, track arrivals and departures, respond to incidents, and

KRISTEN KURLAND Professor of information systems and public policy, Carnegie Mellon University

reroute as necessary. All this allows for increased monetization of throughput.

“Ports occupy a critical space in the flow of shipping, linking maritime and land operations,” noted Caitlyn Raines, a project manager and consultant at Esri.

“But that intermodality makes expansion and capital investment challenging, since ports are often hemmed in by cities on one side and the sea on the other.”

That’s why capitalizing on existing space with GIS can prove so transformative.

“And the time to invest in that technology is now,” said Daniel Elroi, founder of the geospatial systems consulting firm NorthSouth GIS. “Failing infrastructure is threatening our economy, security, and environment.

Modernization is a national imperative.”

Panelists agreed that as the impact of climate change mounts, ports cannot afford a myopic focus on the present.

“Climate events are inevitable,” said Raines. “They’re going to increase in frequency and intensity. We need to leverage technologies now to think about mitigation and contingencies for tomorrow.”

In a closing address, Esri’s transportation development lead Ian Koeppel highlighted the various ways seaports and airports are applying GIS to transform their operations: to monitor tides in Rotterdam, passenger migration in Oslo, vessel movement in Rouen.

“Organizations at the vanguard of GIS implementation are benefiting from the holistic, data-driven insights it offers,” Koeppel said. “Efficiency, safety, and profitability inevitably follow.”

To watch the recording visit: https://go.esri.com/PortsAirports

December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 7

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

EDITORIAL

publisher/executive editor

Fintech is a rising tide that should be invited to raise New Yorkers’ boats

Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. EDITORIAL editor-in-chief Cory Schouten,

cory.schouten@crainsnewyork.com managing editor Telisha Bryan

D

Tech:NYC member companies.

City officials announced the pandemic-related cancellation of the Summer Youth Employment Program, which provided career exploration and paid work for people ages 14 to 24. Tech:NYC members stepped up to fill the vacuum, creating remote, project-based summer learning for 35,000 participants.

Well done, Tech:NYC. As teachers well know, however, there’s a new batch of learners arriving every year. Programs such as Tech:NYC’s summer enterprise need to be formalized. And computing education should be incorporated into classrooms at all levels, from kindergarten through college and beyond.

THE FINTECH MOMENTUM In February 2020 the Center for an WILL LAST ONLY IF NEW YORK Urban Future published its IS HOME TO A PREPARED, “Plugging In: EDUCATED WORKFORCE Building NYC’s Tech Education and Training Ecosystem” report. Its outgoing executive director of recommendations are worth Tech:NYC, a technology industry revisiting. The authors applaud lobbying group. vital city initiatives such as CS4All “We’re on the right track,” and the Tech Talent Pipeline while Samuels writes in an op-ed for also identifying underserved Crain’s in this issue. She cites as communities. The report calls for evidence a big-hearted effort intensive, career-aligned tech during the summer by 100

deputy digital editor, audience & analytics

on’t underestimate New York City’s hustle.

That’s the message from this week’s cover story on financial technology, or fintech. As reporter Ryan Deffenbaugh informs Crain’s readers, New York is on its way to becoming the fintech capital of the world, outdoing even storied Silicon Valley.

That won’t happen without a vibrant workforce, however.

Bringing New Yorkers along for the fintech ride—making sure everyone has access to jobs in the growing industry—will be one of the biggest challenges in the years ahead. So says Julie Samuels,

Jennifer Samuels 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, Brandon Sanchez, Shuan Sim oped editor Jan Parr,

opinion@crainsnewyork.com executive assistant Brittany Brown

GETTY IMAGES

to contact the newsroom:

training models for working adults that lead to employment in the sector.

Responsibility for tech education and training should not fall to one group alone. School administrators, policymakers, college deans, philanthropists, parents and thought leaders need to get involved as well as business groups and industry leaders.

The city has proven to be fertile ground for fintech growth. It’s now home to more than 1,000 active startups.

Those blossoming companies produce technology that does

amazing things such as building diversified investment portfolios, thwarting credit card fraud and rewarding people for good financial habits. Surely the minds behind such creativity can lend a bit of genius to ensure New Yorkers are prepared to work in the sector.

The city’s ascendance as a fintech capital is a welcome development. However, the momentum will last only if New York is home to a prepared, educated workforce. We all have a stake in the outcome. New York’s prosperity depends on it. ■

W

startups might play. Who knows if the next Amazon is being built right now in a garage in Queens?

We can’t leave that potential to chance. It’s essential that we make New York City a welcoming home for the next generation of startups.

One of the most reliable ways to do that is with business incubators, which provide reduced-price office space, management training, entrepreneurial education, business support services and access to venture capital.

When startups are housed at incubators, the results are promising. Just 10% of startups are successful, but 50% of startups involved with an incubator succeed, according to national statistics compiled by the International Business Incubator Association.

What’s more, 84% of businesses

BUSINESS INCUBATORS OUGHT TO PLAY A BIG ROLE IN NEW YORK’S RECOVERY the comeback as more people re-enter the workforce and the economy opens. But the most intriguing “What if?” in our still-developing recovery comes from the role that fledgling tech

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Who knows if the next Amazon is being built right now in a garage in Queens? e are living in a world that is increasingly techdriven. The trend has been by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Technology is behind many of the ways our world has been upended recently, and it’s likely that our pandemic comeback will owe its success largely to the tech sector.

Established firms and emerging tech companies will play roles in

editors@crainsnewyork.com

manager of conferences & events

OP-ED

BY THOMAS GRECH AND MARC ALESSI

assistant managing editor Anne Michaud

that come out of incubator programs stay in the community in which they were nourished, according to the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship. Every $1 invested in incubating startups in a community leads to $30 in local tax revenue returned.

Political backing It is heartening to see how politicians have emphasized the importance of a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. New York’s mayorelect, Eric Adams, for example, has called for a citywide incubator to fund innovators focused on solving systemic citywide problems.

It’s part of his 100+ Steps Forward proposal.

Adams also has highlighted the need for pushing startups to the outer boroughs—an initiative that can guarantee our economic recovery is a truly diverse, citywide effort.

But it’s not enough to say that startups belong in the outer bor-

oughs. We must make our communities places where people can succeed by supporting the incubators that help them.

Here in Queens, we’re supporting fledgling tech companies through partnerships with incubators, and with our Tech Council, which provides networking opportunities and access to business resources for people just getting started. We’re working to solidify existing Queens incubators while working to attract more.

Many New Yorkers are unaware just how much our city and our business community can do to help fledgling startups succeed.

Let’s spread the word to support our incubators and entrepreneurs.

The business leaders of tomorrow shouldn’t have to go it alone. ■ Thomas Grech is president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. Marc Alessi is executive director of the Business Incubator Association of New York State.

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

8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | DECEMBER 6, 2021

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12/3/21 12:26 PM

OP-ED

BY BRITTNEY PRUITT

I

spend my days helping senior citizens who live in supportive housing and have nowhere else to turn. My job title is housekeeper, but I am much more than that. I meet these individuals at the end of their lives, and it’s important that someone is watching out for them.

I was there with them throughout the darkest days of the pandemic. I feel fortunate I was able to stay employed when so many people across the city lost their job. But it was terrifying, and I watched as many of my tenants died from Covid-19.

I am passionate about my work and feel a deep connection to my tenants. But this job wasn’t easy even before the pandemic. My wages are so low that I have to work two other jobs to make ends meet.

I’m a third-generation New Yorker and can barely afford to remain in the community I grew up in. Most of my friends in this sector have similar stories. We give our hearts

and souls to our jobs, but our dreams are on hold as we struggle to get by.

Many people don’t know that our wages are actually set by the government because nonprofits operate these programs under city and state contracts. The government relies on nonprofits to take on vital work caring for our communities, but despite the clear importance of the services we provide, workers are forced to survive on poverty-level wages.

That must change. This is a key issue of equity, as human-services workers are predominantly women and people of color.

Low pay affects service Human-services workers are some of the lowest-paid workers in the state, even though most are highly educated (two-thirds have some college education; nearly half hold a bachelor’s degree or higher).

They generally make about 71% of what government employees make and 82% of what private-sector

workers receive for the same role.

Low pay also has a devastating impact on the quality of the services the government can provide.

It is challenging to recruit qualified workers, and organizations have high rates of staff turnover. Building a foundation of trust with clients is necessary for making an impact in communities, and progress is disrupted each time someone leaves.

During the past two years we have been called essential, but our poverty-level wages imply we aren't valued by the government, and the people we serve aren’t either. When I came to work at the height of the pandemic, I didn’t receive extra hazard pay. I was putting my life on the line, and I even lost a co-worker to the virus.

I’m joining the Human Services Council’s #JustPay campaign in New York and calling for a living wage of no less than $21 per hour; an automatic cost-of-living adjustment on all human-services contracts; and a plan to bring the wages and benefits of government-con-

GETTY IMAGES

Human-services workers—some of our most essential—must be paid a living wage

tracted human-services workers in line with the salaries made by government employees in the same field.

Human-services workers will be even more essential during the post-Covid recovery, as we provide job training, housing support, early childhood education and more. By

ensuring a living wage for the sector, policymakers can invest in New York’s recovery and bring better services and needed income to communities like mine. ■ Brittney Pruitt is a housekeeper at a supportive housing site in Manhattan.

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.

We’re proud to be New York’s #1 ranked children’s hospital. But care goes beyond numbers. That’s why we created the Cohen Children’s Bill of Rights — to ensure our youngest patients feel empowered.

When we raise kids’ health, we raise everyone.

Visit RaiseHealth.com/Kids and see why we’re #1 in New York.

BEING #1 IS ONLY PART OF RAISING KIDS’ HEALTH December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 9

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12/2/21 3:10 PM

THE LIST TOP SBA LENDERS Ranked by dollar value of loans in fiscal year 2021

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

AMANDA.GLODOWSKI@CRAINSNEWYORK.COM

FISCAL YEAR 2020 DOLLAR VALUE OF LOANS (IN MILLIONS)

FISCAL YEAR 2020 TOTAL NUMBER OF LOANS

518-463-2268 nybdc.com

$158.7

94

3111 Quakerbridge Road Mercerville, New Jersey 8619

609-528-8412 rbacloan.com

$55.5

29

FinWise Bank

756 E. Winchester Murray, Utah 84107

801-545-6000 finwisebank.com

$18.2

75

NewBank

146-01 Northern Blvd.

Flushing, New York 11354

718-353-8100 newbankusa.com

$12.6

44

TD Bank, National Association

1701 Route 70 East Cherry Hill, New Jersey 8034

302-351-4560 tdbank.com

$10.8

248

KeyBank National Association

127 Public Square Cleveland, Ohio 44114

800-539-2968 key.com

$8.9

60

Newtek Small Business Finance Inc.

1981 Marcus Ave. Lake Success, New York 11042

855-763-9835 newtekone.com

$8.5

54

Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co.

One M&T Plaza Buffalo, New York 14203

716-635-4000 mtb.com

$6.9

190

Metro City Bank

5114 Buford Highway Doraville, Georgia 30340

888-455-4686 metrocitybank.bank

$5.1

22

Live Oak Banking Co.

1741 Tiburon Drive Wilmington, North Carolina 28403

910-790-5867 liveoakbank.com

$4.7

17

Cross River Bank

400 Kelby St. Fort Lee, New Jersey 7024

201-808-7000 crossriver.com

$4.0

15

First IC Bank

5593 Buford Highway Doraville, Georgia 30340

770-451-7200 firsticbank.com

$4.0

5

Hanover Community Bank

80 E. Jericho Turnpike Mineola, New York 11501

866-541-2431 hanoverbank.com

$3.8

24

Business Initiative Corp. (504-CDC)

851 Grand Concourse Bronx, New York 10451

347-524-4739

$3.6

5

Harvest Small Business Finance

24422 Avenida de la Carlota Laguna Hills, California 92653

949-778-0039 harvestsbf.com

$3.5

11

Dime Community Bank

300 Cadman Plaza West Brooklyn, New York 11201

631-537-8834 dime.com

$3.2

20

Wells Fargo Bank, National Association

420 Montgomery St. San Fransico, California 94104

605-575-6900 wellsfargo.com

$3.1

23

Bank of Hope

3200 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles, California 90010

213-639-1700 bankofhope.com

$3.1

16

New Millennium Bank

222 Bridge Plaza South Fort Lee, New Jersey 7024

201-585-6090 nmbonline.com

$3.0

23

JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association

270 Park Ave. New York, New York 10172

877-242-7372 chase.com

$2.6

42

Peapack-Gladstone Bank

500 Hills Drive Bedminster, New Jersey 7921

908-234-0700 pgbank.com

$2.2

17

1st Colonial Community Bank

1040 Haddon Ave. Collingswood, New Jersey 8108

877-785-8550 1stcolonial.com

$2.2

9

Alma Bank

28-31 31st St. Queens, New York 11101

718-267-2562 almabank.com

$2.0

2

Berkshire Bank

99 North St. Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201

800-773-5601 berkshirebank.com

$1.8

9

COMPANY NAME

LOCATION

CONTACT INFO

Empire State Certified Development Corp. (504-CDC)

50 Beaver St. Albany, New York 12207

Trenton Business Assistance Co. (504-CDC)

Source Source: U.S. Small Business Administration with additional research by Amanda Glodowski. Data spans federal fiscal year 2021: October 2020 through September 2021. The SBA's New York District includes New York City and Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. All figures are for banks' 7(a) loans (loans to businesses unable to secure financing on reasonable terms through normal lending channels) unless otherwise noted as 504 loans (long-term, fixed rate financing for major fixed assets) for certified development companies (CDCs). n/a- Not applicable because the bank did not make applicable loans last year.

WANT MORE OF CRAIN’S EXCLUSIVE DATA? VISIT CRAINSNEWYORK.COM/LISTS. 10 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | December 6, 2021

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12/2/21 3:07 PM

SPONSORED CONTENT

Vaynerchuk has theories about leadership, culture and success—and a track record to suggest they’re worth hearing To kick off its annual CEO Evolution series, Citrin Cooperman couldn’t possibly have found a more suitable candidate than Gary Vaynerchuk, a widely hailed serial entrepreneur, investor and bestselling author.

nice and awesome and care so much about your employees, why do some of them not like you?’”

That began an internal probing process that turned up a problem area for Vaynerchuk: candor.

The series, a string of seminars featuring notable industry leaders, is hosted by the professional services heavyweight Citrin Cooperman with the goal of providing a platform for those leaders to share the experiences and insights that propelled them to success.

Hosting the inaugural event on Veterans Day was Michael Rhodes, the Assurance Practice Leader for the New York City office of Citrin Cooperman who also leads its technology practice. Rhodes spared no praise in introducing Vaynerchuk, who is a Rhodes client.

“I realized that I struggle with being candid, and that this had tripped me up in the past,” he explained. “My lack of ‘kind candor,’ as I call it, was breeding fear, because my employees didn’t know where they stood with me. They worried they might be surprise-fired.”

MODERATOR

GUEST SPEAKER

“Gary is acclaimed as a leading global mind on what’s next in culture, business and the digital landscape,” Rhodes said.

“He’s a forward thinker who recognizes trends early on, as well as how such shifts impact markets.”

Indeed, Vaynerchuk—or GaryVee, as he’s called—is an accomplished angel investor who backed Facebook, Twitter and Uber in their infancies. But he is at heart an entrepreneur who is chairman of his eponymous media and communications holding company VaynerX and CEO of the advertising agency VaynerMedia.

Rhodes began by asking Vaynerchuk how he balances dueling imperatives faced by CEOs everywhere: driving their businesses forward while remaining gracious and likable leaders.

“I do that by leading with emotional intelligence,” Vaynerchuk answered. “I don’t judge others negatively because I don’t judge myself negatively. This idea of being perfect and always correct—it’s a fallacy. Humility is vital.”

Of course, an appreciation of humility need not conflict with having a healthy sense of confidence—something Vaynerchuk has in spades.

“I’m supremely comfortable in my own skin, with how I do things,” he said. “I don’t do business like most people. For example, I like to run years with little profit. You might think I’m crazy—but I’m confident enough to deal with your ridicule or second-guessing.”

Vaynerchuk’s Promethean business instincts were evidenced most recently by his investment in nonfungible tokens in

MICHAEL RHODES

Assurance Practice Leader, New York City office and Technology Practice Leader Citrin Cooperman

the embryonic stage of that market.

“NFTs came out, I understood them, and I moved quickly,” he said. “And we built one of the most successful NFT projects in the world.”

Crucial to that sort of rapid movement, Vanyerchuk said, is an organizational culture that allows for speedy operations.

He contrasts that with the pace of today’s world, which he perceives as intractably sluggish.

“Everyone is overthinking everything, because we’re so divided,” he said.

“There’s a lot going on, and there’s tons of fear and hesitation. You can feel the heaviness in the air.”

So how is a CEO to cultivate an environment that allows for nimble responses to evolving conditions?

Vaynerchuk sees a clear chain reaction: “You need to eliminate fear and lead with kindness,” he said. “That builds a positive culture characterized by continuity and retention—which allow an organization to act fast on its feet.”

To Vaynerchuk, these are principles to

GARY VAYNERCHUK Chairman, VaynerX CEO, VaynerMedia

espouse and live by. In running his numerous businesses, he said, he has held himself accountable only to his employees—and the man in the mirror.

“It sounds like fluffy stuff,” he conceded.

“But I really believe it. I don’t think nice guys finish last. I don’t think being kind means being walked on. To me, a positive culture fostered by a leader with a high emotional quotient is key to success.”

So central are these ideas to Vaynerchuk’s business philosophy that he shares them in a book (his sixth) he recently wrote. Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success will be released Nov. 30.

In the volume, Vaynerchuk, a New York Times bestselling author, describes the emotion-based soft skills he finds integral to business success. Among them are gratitude, self-awareness, patience, optimism, curiosity and conviction.

Vaynerchuk is frank in his telling of the book’s development. “I was alone one time, thinking—I’m always thinking— and I said, ‘OK, tough guy. If you’re so

This introspection gave Vaynerchuk a chance to correct this shortcoming— and led to a eureka moment about people in business generally.

“It hit me that we all have traits we excel at and traits we don’t,” he said.

“I might be terrible at candor and great with empathy, and you might be the other way around. But if we each work to develop the soft skills that are unnatural to us, the result is a more emotionally intelligent business culture that promotes dynamic operations and, ultimately, long-term success.”

It’s an iconoclastic vision, certainly, but it’s worked for Vaynerchuk. He predicts more businesses will recognize its wisdom in the coming years.

“We’re living through the ‘Great Resignation,’” he said. “Soon young people won’t even be applying to jobs in the first place. Organizations that get serious about creating healthy business cultures are the least likely to get trounced.”

Vaynerchuk’s mission is straightforward: to spark a desire in business executives to lead with kindness.

“I have a robust platform and a compelling voice,” he said. “I want to use them to infuse a measure of humanity into the business world that it hasn’t seen over the last century.

“Citrin Cooperman” is the brand under which Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm, and Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC serve clients’ business needs. The two firms operate as separate legal entities in an alternative practice structure. Citrin Cooperman is an independent member of Moore North America, which is itself a regional member of Moore Global Network Limited (MGNL).

DECEMBER 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 11

THE LIST TOP SBA LOANS Ranked by dollar value of loan approval in fiscal year 2021 BORROWER/LOCATION STATE

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

TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT (MILLIONS)

AMANDA.GLODOWSKI@CRAINSNEWYORK.COM

SBA/CDC SHARE OF LOAN (IN MILLIONS)

BORROWER'S BUSINESS TYPE

THIRD-PARTY LENDER

CERTIFIED DEVELOPMENT COMPANY OR 7(A) LENDER 1

THIRD-PARTY LENDER SHARE OF LOAN (IN MILLIONS)

Rainbow Group of Central Valley Central Valley, New York

$14.7

$5.0 Hotels and motels

Ulster Savings Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$9.7

BH 266 47th St. Realty Brooklyn

$11.1

$4.9 Electrical equipment wholesaler

Dime Community Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$6.2

Poughkeepsie Industrial Park Poughkeepsie, New York

$10.2

$4.6 Plastics packaging film and sheet manufacturing

Investors Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$5.6

Royal Energy Properties Milton, New York

$9.6

$4.0 Nonresidential property managers

Ulster Savings Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$5.6

558 Tiffany Street Bronx

$8.4

$3.8 Site preparation contractors

Sterling National Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$4.7

Bridge Total Realty Inc. Brooklyn

$8.2

$3.6 Pharmacies and drug stores

TD Bank, National Association

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$4.5

$3.6 Charter buses

Truist Bank D/B/A Branch Banking & Trust Co.

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$4.3

Excellent Bus Service Inc. Brooklyn

$8

33 W. 47th St. Manhattan

$7.9

$3.9 Jewelry, watch, precious stone and precious metal wholesaler

KEB Hana Bank USA, National Association

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$4.0

MYM Cook Brooklyn

$7.8

$3.5 Floor-covering stores

Bank Five Nine

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$4.3

723 Bristol Brooklyn

$7.4

$3.3 Gift, novelty and souvenir stores

BankUnited, National Association

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$4.1

Singh & Bhandal Queens

$7.2

$3.2 Cut stock, resawing lumber and planning

KeyBank, National Association

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$4.0

Homegrown Properties Brooklyn

$7.1

$3.2 Supermarkets

Bank of Hope

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.9

AMCI Regence Queens

$6.5

$2.9 Wood product manufacturing

Valley Central Bank

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$3.6

Spruce Gardens Queens

$6.5

$2.9 Home centers

TD Bank, National Association

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.6

108 E. 60th St. Manhattan

$6.4

$2.9 Durable goods wholesaler

Bank of Hope

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.5

Willoughby & Suydam Brooklyn

$6.2

$2.8 n/d

Liberty SBF Fund 19

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$3.5

Anda Realty Queens

$6.2

$3.1 Industrial building construction

Carver Federal Savings Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.1

All In Safety Corp.

New Windsor, New York

$6.1

$2.7 Direct selling establishments

Kearny Bank

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$3.4

$2.7 Residential electric lighting fixture manufacturing

Ulster Savings Bank

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.3

Le Kingston Trois Kingston, New York

$6

119 E. 38th St. Manhattan

$5.8

$2.6 Offices of lawyers

JPMorgan Chase

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.1

545 Manhattan Holding Manhattan

$5.6

$2.5 Professional, scientific and technical services

City National Bank

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$3.1

DTCM Holdings Manhattan

$5.5

$2.5 Offices of physicians

JPMorgan Chase

Empire State Certified Development Corp.

$3.1

Rite Lite Brooklyn

$5.2

$2.6 Durable goods wholesaler

City National Bank

Trenton Business Assistance Co.

$2.5

Source Source: U.S. Small Business Administration with additional research by Amanda Glodowski. Data spans federal fiscal year 2021: October 2020 through September 2021. The SBA's New York District includes New York City and Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. The top loans were approved either under the 504 loan program or the 7(a) loan program. The 504 loan program provides growing businesses with long-term fixed-rate financing for major fixed assets such as equipment, land and buildings. The 7(a) loan program is the SBA's most-used nondisaster financial assistance program because of its flexibility in loan structure, variety of loan proceed-uses and availability.

In cases of tied figures in the total loan amount, borrowers are listed in alphanumeric order. 1--The certified development company listed for each loan is the CDC that handled the loan processing (504 loans only).

WANT MORE OF CRAIN’S EXCLUSIVE DATA? VISIT CRAINSNEWYORK.COM/LISTS. 12 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | December 6, 2021

P012_CN_20211206.indd 12

12/2/21 3:06 PM

RETAIL

BY CARA EISENPRESS

I

n front of the Plaza hotel across from Central Park, 32 animal sculptures now adorn the Pulitzer Fountain.

The sculptures, some of which are animated to dance in circles, are a new, over-the-top decoration in the Fifth Avenue retail district.

The holiday decor is meant to communicate the district’s comeback from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In our minds, Covid is over,” said Jerome Barth, president of the Fifth Avenue Association, the business group that represents the area and commissioned the locally made penguins, polar bears and flamin-

his board for what amounted to an advance on future holiday budgets for the next two years in order to commission the animal sculptures from Harlequin Designs of Brooklyn.

Holiday spirit He also brought back oversized toys he had commissioned last year. Decorated in tinsel and lights, they are meant to entice visitors to stick around Fifth Avenue between 47th and 60th streets, shopping and admiring holiday windows and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, which is scheduled to be lit Dec. 1.

Although the polar bears are charming and the lit-up toy sculptures endearing, the effort is about more than creating holiday cheer after a difficult two years.

Asking rents in the corridor between 49th and 60th streets dropped from $2,697 to $2,461 per square foot between the third quarter of 2019 and the same quarter this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. But that does not fully encapsulate the

“WE CAN FEEL THE DESIRE OF PEOPLE TO PICK UP AND FORGET.” gos, as well as 24 icebergs and 5,000 feet of lighting. “We can feel the desire of people to pick up and forget.”

The association spent “quite a bit more” than in typical years to decorate, according to Barth, who asked

stakes of the district’s holiday comeback effort.

New York City, Barth said, has to use this holiday season to remind global retail brands that Fifth Avenue is the essential place for their flagship stores.

“The stores are mostly part of larger brands,” he said. “They have seen their businesses change in terms of geography—there are strong sales in Miami, for example.

“The question now is how the flow of investment will go. If business is strong here, then we keep the case that a flagship on Fifth is where you need to be if you are a brand that’s best in class.”

While elected officials are expressing concern about a rise in Covid-19 cases during the holidays, Barth said foot traffic on Fifth Avenue seems to grow day by day. A few vacant storefronts will be filled with pop-ups and permanent new retail tenants, he said.

After months of empty streets, Fifth Avenue tenants such as the NBA store remained closed through

COURTESY OF FIFTH AVENUE ASSOCIATION

Fifth Avenue district triples holiday decore spend to signal comeback, boost shoppers’ good cheer

the end of last month, and Valentino and others walked away from their lease. Still others ended up in litigation over millions of dollars in unpaid rent.

Luxury leads On the other hand, luxury brands have done well this year, as wealthy

consumers have bought watches, clothes and home goods.

Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue have invested in ornate holiday decorations for their windows.

“Last year there was creativity but not budget,” Barth said of their windows. ■

Serving the travel, tourism, hospitality, real estate and transportation industries with dedication and pride Public Relations, Government & Community Affairs, BID Development & Expansion, Special Events & Promotions, Destination Marketing, Sports Promotion THE 'ZERTS

Cristyne L. Nicholas CEO

BAR

www.nicholaslence.com

George Lence President

December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 13

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12/2/21 3:08 PM

ASKED & ANSWERED

INTERVIEW BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

WHO HE IS Founder and CEO, Tusk Holdings

A

lthough Bradley Tusk was most often in the news this year for his consulting firm’s work on Andrew Yang’s Democratic primary campaign, it was also a big year for his venture firm. Tusk Ventures’ investments in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and smart-lock company Latch paid off as both firms went public. Launched in 2016, the venture fund has become the top focus of the man called “Silicon Valley’s favorite fixer.”

Eric Adams says he wants to make the city a cryptocurrency hub. What do you make of that goal?

I’m really happy to see it. What he has to figure out is, what role can he play to be useful? The city does not have any real regulatory authority over crypto. If I were Eric, I would ask the heads of all the major exchanges and companies to meet with me and say, “I want to make New York City the home of crypto, just like traditional finance was our backbone for well over a century. What do you need?”

What regulatory issues are you keeping an eye on?

In Albany, there’s the sharing economy and worker classification. New York hasn’t really dealt with that in one way or the other. There could be state legislation around autonomous vehicle testing or the further expansion of virtual gaming. With that said, the goal [for lawmakers] in an election year is generally just to get in and out as quickly and smoothly as possible.

AGE 48 BORN Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn RESIDES Gramercy, Manhattan EDUCATION Bachelor’s in creative writing, University of Pennsylvania; J.D., University of Chicago Law School VIRTUAL VOTING Tusk Philanthropies in September announced a $10 million grant to a group that will develop a system for online voting.

GOTHAM BOOK PRIZE A New York-focused book contest co-launched by Tusk last year; the inaugural winner was Deacon King Kong.

RESTAURANT REC His go-to spot near the office is Union Square Cafe.

How come the early excitement around the Yang campaign did not translate into a primary victory?

The zeitgeist completely changed (from the start of the race). Recovering from Covid was all anyone was thinking and talking about, and that was what mattered.

Andrew Yang as a tech entrepreneur— high-energy with a vision—was really the right person for that moment. About halfway through, two things happened: The vaccines arrived, which is a very good thing,

but nonetheless, people's concerns about Covid decreased significantly. Two, crime and violence spiked. In any municipal election, when crime is high, that’s the only issue that matters. Eric Adams was very much the right person for that moment.

What tech sectors are you focused on?

The stuff to me that is the most interesting is the whitespace where there is no existing procedure. That could be crypto, drones, AI, autonomous trucks—sectors where it is less about preventing entrenched interests from shutting us down and more about “what should the regulation be?”

What's driving the increase in tech startups going public?

The markets are really hot and are eager to absorb companies. The SPAC phenomenon has driven people to find companies and bring them public. And there is so much money in VC right now, and funds are so big. A company that maybe three years ago would be worth $500 million is today worth $5 billion.

Union Square Ventures investor Fred Wilson wrote a warning about overheated early-stage startup valuations. What do you think?

We’re obviously still investing at a very rapid clip— this is the job. There are times you have to say to yourself, “Get over it. The valuations have changed.” At the same time, it does not excuse all common sense.

If you're saying, "OK, I'm going to pay for a Series A company valuation of $150 million, and then if all of a sudden the world returns to reality, how much am I really going to make on this?” Every VC fund is having this debate, especially at the early stage, about how much is too much. ■

BUCK ENNIS

BRADLEY TUSK Tusk Holdings

DOSSIER

CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS 2022

BLACK LEADERS & EXECUTIVES

Nominate Notable Black BLACK LEADERS & EXECUTIVES Leaders & Executives

RK BUSINESS 2021

Crain’s New York Business is proud to announce Crain’s 2022 Notable Black Leaders and Executives, a special print and digital editorial feature on Monday, February 21, 2022 that will profile notable black leaders within the New York City business community. Help us determine 2022’s honorees who are making an impact on our business landscape.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

EMPIRE BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD ANNOUNCES

THE 2021 EMPIRE WHOLE HEALTH HEROES Empire BlueCross BlueShield honors exceptional New Yorkers who are bringing the city back New York City has survived the pandemic lockdown, and it is now focused on reopening safely. Stores, restaurants, theaters and museums are welcoming visitors once again.

In many cases, students are back in the classroom. Employees are returning to the office.

who battled on the front lines and led the charge to test and vaccinate, so that children could get back to learning and employees could get back to work.

The honorees come from nonprofit organizations and government agencies that have had to adjust their operations to meet the new realities of the This year’s honorees include pandemic. They provided accurate physicians and nurses, researchers information and education and and other health care professionals safely delivered everyday services

that many New Yorkers need.

The lineup of heroes wouldn’t be complete without honoring those private-sector leaders, from fields as diverse as restaurants and real estate, who are doing their best to help their employees and customers feel secure, and their communities prosper.

Here are the 2021 Empire Whole Health Heroes, who provide daily inspiration.

MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER

The metropolitan area’s rebirth couldn’t have happened without close collaboration among nonprofits, business groups and the public sector. Empire’s second

Whole Health Heroes awards honors those New Yorkers who have shown enormous leadership, creativity and resilience in putting their organizations back on the road to financial stability, providing a safe environment for both employees and the public, and meeting the unique health care challenges of a staggering public health crisis.

Cira Angeles Founder and CEO, L.A. Riverside Brokerage Inc. Cira Angeles, who operates a taxi, livery and for-hire, vehicle-focused insurance brokerage, stands out for leveraging her relationships in business, health care, politics and city government to revitalize the industry amid the pandemic. To incentivize drivers to come back when ridership was down, Angeles partnered with the leading insurance carriers in the taxi, livery and for-hire vehicle industry to fund the dissemination of personal protective equipment and the installation of temporary partitions. She also worked with the city Taxi and Limousine Commission to develop a paid for-hire transportation program, which included delivering food to the elderly and transporting essential workers. On May 8, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed her to the Surface Transportation Advisory Council, where she was a critical link between the de Blasio administration and the livery vehicle industry.

Esther Babady Chief and clinical microbiologist, clinical microbiology service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Esther Babady used her vast expertise in clinical microbiology and molecular diagnosis of infectious diseases to prepare Memorial Sloan Kettering to face the coronavirus and keep employees and patients safe.

When tests were extremely scarce in early 2020, Babady and her team developed New York City’s first Food and Drug Administration-authorized Covid-19 test. With a test in place, Memorial Sloan Kettering was able to independently test and trace thousands of its employees and patients in the metropolitan area. To further expedite the testing process and protect health care workers, her team developed a self-collected saliva test that proved as effective at detecting the virus. When it became clear that the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, was beginning to mutate, Babady and her team took the lead in testing for numerous variants and sharing that information with the city’s health care leaders.

Michael Bice Colonel, New York Army National Guard

Karen Boorshtein President and CEO, Family Service League

Noah Bruun Chief operating officer, Medly Pharmacy

Until June 2020, Michael Bice was the Joint Task Force Javits incident commander overseeing logistics at the Javits center, an alternative treatment site for Covid-19 patients.

When he was called back to duty on Jan. 12 of this year to set up the Javits vaccination site, he became incident commander for what was known as Operation Gotham Shield. Bice oversaw 630 National Guard military personnel and an additional 400 civilian employees of Joint Task Force Javits. The men and women who worked at Javits made a tremendous contribution to New York’s efforts to control the coronavirus, Bice told task force members July 9. Not only did they vaccinate thousands of city residents, he said, but the logistics operation based at Javits distributed vaccines and medical supplies across the state.

Rising to the challenges of the pandemic, Karen Boorshtein is successfully leading a team of more than 700 employees in providing children and adults with more than 60 quality care programs at 20 locations. Boorshtein continues to focus on the safety and health of the Family Service League’s front-line professionals and support staff while providing continuity of care via telehealth and in-person visitation for thousands of New Yorkers. The social services agency delivers mental health counseling, addiction treatment, housing, trauma counseling, education, and family and senior support services. Boorshtein has developed successful alliances with Northwell Health, among other community-based organizations. The agency recently opened the Fay J. Lindner Health and Wellness Center in Bay Shore, which integrates mental health care, substance addiction treatment, pharmacy needs and primary care medicine.

When Covid-19 first tore through the city in March 2020, Noah Bruun, the chief operating officer of Medly Pharmacy, stepped up to bring health care services and employment opportunities to the low-income neighborhoods most affected by the pandemic. Bruun led efforts to expand Medly’s business and increase pharmacy access. Under his leadership, Medly opened new locations in Harlem and the Bronx, and recommitted to Bushwick, putting its new headquarters in the neighborhood. Medly’s expansion during the pandemic offered accessible health care in pharmacy deserts and free same-day prescription delivery. Under Bruun’s leadership, Medly partnered with elected officials and nonprofit and community organizations across the city to offer free flu and Covid-19 vaccine clinics in underserved neighborhoods.

December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 15

THE 2021 EMPIRE WHOLE HEALTH HEROES GREGG RICHARDS

TEA

Nicole Bryan Manager, Macon Library Nicole Bryan, who became manager of Macon Library in January 2020, hit the ground running when the pandemic began just two months later. In May 2020, long before many shops, community centers and businesses had moved outside, Bryan arranged to block off the street in front of the BedfordStuyvesant branch, and she set up an outdoor library with carts of books for browsing and programs for families. A few months later Bryan collaborated with community partners to throw a block skating party, complete with a disc jockey and performances in front of the library. On Halloween, Macon Library decorated its outdoor space and produced the spooky podcast “Stuyvesant Frights.” Bryan has done an extraordinary job of being a good neighbor and a good partner, attending almost every community board meeting and creating lasting relationships with the block associations and the Friends of Macon.

Ava Dawson Health director-pediatric nurse practitioner, Little Red Schoolhouse; Co-president, Independent School Nurses Association

JeMe Cioppa Mosca Senior vice president, rehabilitation and performance, Hospital for Special Surgery With the onset of the pandemic and the emergency orders in place, the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Rehab and Performance team quickly pivoted to seeing patients via telehealth. In four weeks JeMe Cioppa Mosca rolled out telehealth training for therapists in groups of 50 or more. She led the Rehab and Performance team in developing guidelines that educated clinicians on how to evaluate and treat rehab patients via telehealth. Cioppa Mosca co-wrote a chapter on in-depth, remote physical assessment in an upcoming book on telehealth in the 21st century. During the pandemic, her co-leadership led to the engagement of an outside consultant to involve the hospital in lobbying efforts that demonstrated the value of telehealth to the rehabilitation profession.

Since the pandemic Ava Dawson has worked tirelessly to create a safer environment for children and teachers. She joined the New York City Health and Hospitals Covid Test and Trace team as a Covid-19 provider. In her leadership role at the Independent School Nurses Association, she is setting the standard for Covid-19 school safety procedures and advising fellow nurses on the latest evidence-based guidelines, protocols and policies through weekly meetings. In addition, as a Covid response leader in the independent schools during this time, she has provided educational programs and lectured to school nurses and school administrators to assist with implementation of those policies. As a consultant, she directly advised more than 13 independent schools on their reopening and operational plans for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

Michael Dorf Founder and CEO, City Winery

Debbian Fletcher-Blake CEO, VIP Community Services

Michael Dorf led the way to the revitalization and reopening of the city’s live music industry. Long before Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his vaccination mandate, Dorf was committed to the safety and wellness of New Yorkers, performers and his staff; he made City Winery a venue for concerts and indoor dining that required patrons to have been vaccinated or show proof of a negative Covid test. Early on Dorf recognized the music industry’s unique role in encouraging the public to get vaccinations so that the live music experience, celebrations and group dining could return. He insisted that all indoor customers be vaccinated, and when the Delta variant started to spike, he required they wear masks. He mandated the vaccination of all City Winery employees and those who performed there.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Debbian Fletcher-Blake has worked—without interruption— to provide health services at her nonprofit. When vaccines became available, Fletcher-Blake secured them for her health center and assembled a Covid-19 outreach team to educate community residents and vaccinate them in settings they found comfortable. She has made VIP Community Services instrumental in raising the vaccination rate in the Bronx. Under her leadership, VIP hosted virtual and in-person job fairs during the pandemic and partnered with several organizations to provide education and develop strategies to reopen the city.

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Sara Gardner Executive director, Fund for Public Health in NYC During her 13 years at the Fund for Public Health in NYC, Sara Gardner has leveraged public-private partnerships to support the public health and safety needs of New Yorkers. She mobilized the philanthropic community to support the city Health Department’s work on health disparities, the overdose crisis and, most recently, the pandemic.

Under Gardner’s leadership, the fund, which was established by the city’s Health Department after 9/11, played a key role in quickly securing funding and managing contracts in response to the health crisis. Her efforts included expanding the statistical software used for rapid and precise identification of Covid-19 clusters, as well as contracting with community and faith-based organizations for Covid-19 testing and easier access to vaccines. Before working at the Fund, Gardner spent more than 20 years overseeing reproductive health programs in more than 20 countries.

Kala Harinarayanan Vice president, human resources, American Museum of Natural History

Andrea Hirsch Chief administrative officer and general counsel, The United States Tennis Association

Kala Harinarayanan has overseen the development and implementation of policies to keep staff and visitors safe at the American Museum of Natural History since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. Initially, this work focused on staff, and it expanded to visitors ahead of the museum’s September 2020 reopening. This year Harinarayanan began working closely with the city and museum colleagues to implement the museum’s vaccination efforts, including converting iconic museum spaces, such as the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life with its worldrenowned blue whale, into a mass vaccination site. To date, the museum site has administered more than 60,000 Covid-19 vaccinations and is among the top vaccination locations in the city including, as of November, for children ages 5-11.

Andrea Hirsch assumed a major role in developing the United States Tennis Association’s overall Covid-19 mitigation policies and guidelines for the U.S. Open. Hirsch served as the liaison among the organization, the internal USTA Medical Advisory Group and all outside medical and security experts to create the safety plan. After a spectator-less 2020 event, the this year’s U.S. Open once again made an economic impact on the city by attracting 631, 134 fans.

The event delivered visitors to the city’s hotels, restaurants and cultural institutions. The majority of visitors—57%—came from outside the city. The U.S. Open also provided an international marketing platform for its New York-based sponsors, among them JPMorgan Chase, American Express and Polo Ralph Lauren.

16 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | December 6, 2021

Daniel Zausner Chief operating officer, The United States Tennis Association

NYC & Company: Fred Dixon, President and chief executive officer, accepting on its behalf

Daniel Zausner oversees all operations and programming at one of the world’s largest public tennis facilities. When Covid-19 hit New York in early 2020, Zausner became the United States Tennis Association’s liaison with New York state and New York City government and health officials. Under his leadership, the association transformed the National Tennis Center into a Covid mitigation center in the spring of 2020. The Louis Armstrong Stadium served as a food commissary for first responders, and the center’s Indoor Tennis Center became an overflow Covid-19 hospital. After a spectatorless 2020 U.S. Open, Zausner worked closely with city officials to ensure that spectators could return this year.

By doing so, the USTA was able to create 7,256 seasonal jobs.

International tourism, a major driver of the city’s economy, was crippled by the pandemic. The border was essentially closed to travelers for 601 days. But as the U.S. opened up to vaccinated travelers in November, NYC & Company kicked into high gear with a planned $6 million campaign, “It’s Time for New York City,” in eight countries to lure them back. The New York Times reported the agency is already changing the message on its billboards in London and several other cities from “New York City Misses You Too” to “New York City is Ready for You.” According to NYC & Company estimates, foreign tourists account for 20% of visitor volume in the city, 50% of the spending, and half the hotel-room nights that are sold.

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Roderick Jones Executive director, Goddard Riverside

Gregory Morris Executive director, Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center

Mary McColl Executive director, Actors’ Equity Association

Under the leadership of Roderick Jones, Goddard Riverside formed a strategic partnership with Gregory Morris and the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center to better serve communities during the pandemic.

The partnership enabled them to help 26,000 individuals and offer programs ranging from early childhood education and after-school programs to employment training, behavioral health services and legal assistance. Under Jones’ leadership, Goddard Riverside addressed the pandemic-related surge in food insecurity among the 4,000 older adults and 1,000 homeless and formerly homeless individuals it serves. Within days of the pandemic, Goddard Riverside was providing more than 900 meals per day to homebound seniors and their supportive housing tenants.

Gregory Morris, who has led the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center for more than eight years, has served his community for more than two decades. During the pandemic, Morris and Roderick Jones, president of Goddard Riverside, joined forces to help the city recover. Their partnership enabled them to serve 26,000 individuals and offer programs ranging from early childhood education and after-school programs to employment training, behavioral health services and legal assistance. In the pandemic the Stanley Isaacs Center provided personal protective equipment, increased access to testing resources and vaccinations, and tripled the number of meals it provides to combat food shortages in communities.

Mary McColl has led Actors’ Equity Association, the national union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers working in live theater, since 2011.

When the pandemic began, the union leader became one of the first and most vocal advocates for prioritizing the safety of workers. McColl has been unwavering in that commitment as the city’s theaters reopen. Those efforts included negotiating agreements with Broadway, Off-Broadway and other theater producers that contained protocols related to testing, masking, vaccination and other mechanisms to make the workplace as safe as possible.

McColl advocated for a COBRA subsidy for actors and stage managers who lost their health insurance when they became unemployed. In addition, she rallied support for the American Rescue Plan Act and partnered with the National Energy Management Institute to release an industry-setting standard in ventilation for live performance spaces.

Dr. Tatiana Ndjatou Physician, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

Ariel Palitz Senior executive director, office of nightlife, Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment

Alexander Pollak CEO, ParaDocs Worldwide Inc.

Charlotte St. Martin President, the Broadway League This year the Broadway League, under Charlotte St. Martin’s leadership, made preparations for a safe and secure reopening of the city’s theater industry, which contributes 97,000 jobs and almost $25 billion to the city’s economy. The Broadway League hired an epidemiologist to assist in developing the protocols for all phases of work, including cast, crews and touring productions. Collaborating with some of the best scientists in New York state, St. Martin was able to develop protocols that allowed the Broadway League to safely reopen its first show on Aug. 4. As of the week ending Nov. 7, the city had welcomed almost 1.2 million theatergoers to Broadway.

Robert Wankel Chair and chief executive officer, The Shubert Organization For 46 years Robert Wankel has been a guiding force in all aspects of the Shubert Organization’s operations, serving as chief executive since 2020.

He realized that reopening Broadway was critical to the return of tourism and the revitalization of New York City and this could only be accomplished through close coordination between theatre owners, operators, union trades and guilds. As co-chair of the critical Theatre Protocols Committee, Wankel helped knit together all the stakeholders and rivals into a cohesive unit, ensuring that public health took precedent over commercial concerns.

The result of their efforts was Broadway’s vaccinated theatres policy, embracing cast, crew, and audiences and enabling Broadway to safely reopen in September 2021.

During the senior year of her pediatric residency, Dr. Tatiana Ndjatou courageously served on the front lines of the pandemic nearly seven days a week for several months on end, treating countless adult patients each day. Ndjatou juggled both her commitments at the Presbyterian-affiliated Long Island City Health Center clinic and in-patient rotations at Presbyterian Hospital. When the long-awaited Covid-19 vaccine became available early this year, Ndjatou led community outreach at her clinic to encourage vaccination, helping to achieve the 83% first-dose vaccination rate of the Astoria, Queens, population. Ndjatou, a fellow in adolescent medicine at Montefiore Children’s Hospital, continues to demonstrate a deep commitment to not simply returning the city to its normal state, but surpassing the city’s health goals.

Ariel Palitz’s office has been at the center of the city’s recovery efforts by representing the nightlife and hospitality industry at the table where decisions are made. Under her leadership, the office of nightlife, a nonenforcement liaison between the nightlife industry and city government, has delivered important guidelines and regulations and created programs, campaigns and initiatives to support them. Among their initiatives: Mend NYC, a citywide service to resolve quality-oflife disputes between venues and neighbors; and the Elevate Nightlife Initiative, which helps owners and workers in the nightlife industry develop a personalized mental health plan. The office also participated in Open Restaurants, a multi-agency program for emergency outdoor dining. The office’s Curtains Up NYC program provided one-on-one application assistance for federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grants.

Alexander Pollak has always led by example, especially during the pandemic. Pollak, a practicing city paramedic for more than 20 years, was one of the first to sign up for the Federal Emergency Management Agency deployment in the city. His company, ParaDocs, which provides medical services for large events, helped administer the Covid-19 vaccines to eligible New Yorkers throughout the city. Pollak continues to ensure the safety and return of live events in the city by providing Covid testing, vaccine verifications and medical providers for major city events such as the Met Gala, the Pride Festival, the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Governor’s Ball. He was chosen to be a part of the mayor’s advisory board on how to safely bring events back to the city.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Dr. David Reich President and chief operating officer, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens Dr. David Reich led the Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens in the fight against Covid-19.

As incident commander during the height of the pandemic, Reich led daily hospital huddles to create essential communications and foster collective discussion and planning. As the leader of the largest hospital in the Mount Sinai Health System, he doubled its capacity to receive hundreds of patients from community hospitals, and he led the effort to construct a tent hospital in Central Park with partners from a faith-based organization. Reich spearheaded the development and creation of the Mount Sinai Covid-19 PCR Saliva Testing program to provide quick, noninvasive and precise testing to support safety for businesses and leisure activities in New York. Under his leadership, Mount Sinai started the nation’s first convalescent plasma program and the world’s first anticoagulation protocol.

Andrew Rigie Executive director, NYC Hospitality Alliance Andrew Rigie has led an aroundthe-clock campaign during the Covid-19 crisis to save the city’s 25,000 restaurants, bars and clubs from financial collapse. Rigie has become a policy leader and citywide household name by telling the stories of countless struggling businesses, and he has helped pass key legislation that was critical to the industry’s survival. Among the NYC Hospitality Alliance’s accomplishments: capping exploitative commissions by third-party delivery services, expanding outdoor dining to more than 11,000 establishments, enacting the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, safely reopening indoor dining, helping the New York roll out vaccines for the restaurant and nightlife industry, and opening on-site mobile vaccination units at restaurants in neighborhoods with low vaccination rates.

December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 17

y n s.

THE 2021 EMPIRE WHOLE HEALTH HEROES

SPONSORED CONTENT

Congratulations to all the 2021

Dr. Debbie Salas-Lopez Senior vice president, community and population health, Northwell Health Dr. Debbie Salas-Lopez has dedicated her career to amplifying the voices of diverse communities and to better understanding the social determinants of health. Salas-Lopez was the clinical lead for the management oversight of the Javits Medical Station during the height of the pandemic and was clinical liaison for the Navy hospital ship Comfort. As Northwell Health cared for more than 200,000 Covid-19 patients, Salas-Lopez helped lead efforts to ensure all New Yorkers received the care they needed.

These initiatives included a faith-based testing program, free Covid-19 testing at some 100 faith- and communitybased sites, and the distribution of Covid vaccines to underserved communities via mobile vaccine units.

These programs helped drive down the infection rates on Long Island’s predominantly minority communities.

Brandon Singer Chief executive and founder, MONA

Dr. Ramon Tallaj Founder and chairman, SOMOS Community Care

Brandon Singer is on a mission to transform commercial real estate leasing in New York and, in doing so, revitalize the city. While the pandemic dealt retailers and landlords blow after crippling blow—and as scores of other brokers decamped to the suburbs or upstate—the retailing leasing and advisory firm MONA—“Making of a New Age”—kept its boots on the ground in the city. During the spring, Singer launched MONA Cares, an initiative to support the retail and restaurant communities in New York, in partnership with the group Restaurants Organizing Advocating Rebuilding. MONA extended its leasing representation services to restaurant owners and small retailers and committed to contributing a portion of its brokerage fee to business owners to help with startup costs and to support ROAR’s Restaurant Employee Relief Program.

Under Dr. Ramon Tallaj’s leadership, the SOMOS Community Care team successfully administered more than 1.5 million vaccines in the city, contributing to the reopening of its economy and its revitalization.

SOMOS bridged the health care access gap for the city’s most vulnerable communities by providing Covid-19 health education resources and updates in five languages. In addition, SOMOS established 70 trilingual testing sites across the state, and its MiSOMOS mobile app empowered patients to access their test results in their primary language. Tallaj made vaccines more accessible to the community by visiting nearly every subway station during rush hours and providing vaccines at night for essential workers. SOMOS partnered with Marvel Entertainment to incentivize young people to get vaccinated by offering access to a limited edition of the Avengers comic book series.

Tren’ness Woods-Black President and chief strategist, Tren’ness Woods-Black LLC; Co-owner, Sylvia’s Restaurant; member, New York Forward Advisory Board Tren’ness Woods-Black, the president of her own marketing and communications firm, serves as one of 100 business, community and civic leaders on the New York Forward Advisory Board. The group is providing guidance on the safe reopening of New York state. As co-owner of Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem, Woods-Black publicly supported Mayor Bill de Blasio’s mandate to require proof of vaccination for all individuals dining indoors at restaurants. Woods-Black, who calls herself “the Queen of Hospitality,” hosted the Thrillist Block Party in Harlem on Sept. 12, donating its proceeds toward supporting Black-owned businesses and revitalizing the community.

Empire Whole Health Heroes who have shown enormous

leadership and resilience in guiding their

organizations back

stability and providing a safe environment for

The Whole Health Company Congratulates the 2021 Whole Health Heroes You’ve stepped forward with selfless dedication to revitalize and reopen New York, and once again make it the greatest city in the world.

Our promise to you is to continue our mission to materially and measurably improve the health of all New Yorkers.

Together we can strive to have an impact on the whole health and wellbeing of our community.

We thank you.

© 2021 Empire. Services provided by Empire HealthChoice HMO, Inc., Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., and/or HealthPlus HP, LLC, Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.

18 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | DECEMBER 6, 2021

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s New York lurches toward normalcy, its fast-growing $189 billion tech sector has been a beacon of hope. Crain’s shines a spotlight on the industry in the final installment of New York Now, our yearlong in-depth coverage of the city’s rebound.

In our cover story, reporter Ryan Deffenbaugh explores how New York’s long track record as the financial capital of the world has set it up to be a fintech capital as well. The numbers tell the story: Fintech startups based here raised more than $9 billion this year in venture-capital investment, topping the funding for the previous two years combined.

We also check in with industry booster Tech:NYC, which is looking to scale alongside the industry it helped incubate. And in a survey of readers, we confirm that workers are embracing technology like never before as they spend more time outside traditional offices.

Plus, we invited some of the biggest names in New York's tech community to weigh in on the industry’s progress: ● Opentrons Chief Executive Jonathan Brennan-Badal and outgoing Tech:NYC chief Julie Samuels discuss how the fortunes of tech companies, workers and the city depend on one another. ● Clayton Banks of Silicon Harlem and Peter Norton of the University of Virginia argue for bringing a congestion pricing model to digital connections to improve equitable internet access. ● Kate Stevens, lead organizer with Tech Workers Union Local 1010, makes a case that it will take worker-led unions, labor-law reforms and meaningful antitrust regulations to keep Big Tech in check. ● Michael Samuelian, founding director of the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech, argues the new mayoral administration should take a cue from the tech sector by embracing disruption, increasing connectivity and optimizing systems to better serve citizens.

— Cory Schouten, editor-in-chief

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FOR MORE NEW YORK NOW Catch up on our yearlong initiative examining the city’s comeback, including news stories and thought leadership, at CrainsNewYork.com/New-York-Now

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MARY-CATHERINE LADER joined Uniswap Labs in June after eight years at Blackrock.

FINTECH FROM PAGE 1

have declined for two straight years and local technology employment has increased. The fintech sector has been fueled in part by New York’s historic strengths in creative industries and a rising tech scene overall—but it also has been boosted by the city’s longstanding financial sector.

Polanco, for example, spent more than a decade with JPMorgan Chase, rising to an executive director role leading the blockchain payments product team.

In her time there, she saw how technology was allowing people to move money quicker and easier. Yet payroll, representing about $20 trillion in annual transfers, was still reliant on technology developed a half-century ago, she said, prompting most companies to pay workers biweekly.

In January 2020, Polanco launched Nivelo, a startup that uses technologies including blockchain to allow more secure, faster and

irregular payroll payments. The startup’s software serves as the backbone for payroll processing companies, which are Nivelo’s customers.

Nivelo raised $2.5 million in seed funding in October 2020 from venture firms Anthemis and FirstMark, as well as Barclays. Nivelo is working from the Rise New York fintech coworking space in the Flatiron District, run

by Barclays.

including 20 that have reached the unicorn status of a $1 billion or more private valuation. Near the top of the list are Lower Manhattan online mortgage startup Better, valued at $6 billion, and Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency and blockchain security company in the Flatiron District valued at $4 billion.

Some companies have accumulated investor dollars at a dizzying pace. Ramp, a corporate-card challenger to American Express, was founded in 2019 and has since raised more than $600 million in five funding deals. The Union Square startup is valued at $3.9 billion and has more than 2,000 companies making purchases with its card.

Alloy, a startup whose software helps banks and fintech companies identify their customers and monitor for fraud risks, leased a 44,000-square-foot office in the Village this summer, shortly before raising a $100 million investment round that valued the company at $1.4 billion. Chief Executive Tommy Nichols said the company’s head count has grown 140%, to about 150 employees, in the past year.

“Having some of the largest financial insti-

“A PLACE FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO THINK OF NEW WAYS TO BUILD THE FUTURE.” “You have this vibrant community of builders collaborating and talking,” Polanco said. “It shows this whole interplay between fintech and banks is not an antagonistic one—they are supporting each other.”

‘Outside our doorstep’ New York is home to more than 1,000 active fintech startups as of last month,

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tutions in the country right outside our doorstep has been extremely helpful,” Nichols said. “This, combined with the pandemic spurring increased digitalization in banking, has opened a lot of opportunities for our company.”

The capital A16Z’s prediction about fintech in New York came in the announcement it had hired David Haber away from Goldman Sachs to serve as its first general partner based in the city.

“This was a chance to plant our flag,” Haber said.

Haber arrived at Goldman in 2017, after the investment bank acquired his startup Bond Street, an online provider of short-term loans for small businesses. Haber was a vice president at Goldman for three years, guiding the investment bank’s digital strategy before he joined A16Z. “You are going to keep seeing this permeability of talent,” he said, “between the incumbent financial institutions and the upstarts in fintech and crypto.”

What to watch JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon wrote in the bank’s annual shareholder letter that banks “are facing extensive competition from Silicon Valley, both in the form of fintech and Big Tech companies.” Financial institutions will have to adjust, he said, but he added that regulations for fintech companies have not caught up—which leaves incumbent players at a disadvantage.

Indeed, both federal and state regulators are scrambling to make sense of the rise of cryptocurrencies, stock-trading apps and new online payment options for electric bills, sneakers and more. The state Department of Financial Services launched a division focused on fintech in 2019.

Piermont Bank, started in city’s tech scene, noted that 2019 as New York’s first new New York is already home to bank in the decade following some of the biggest players in the financial crisis, has built DeFi and Web3, including part of its business bridging Brooklyn-based Consensys, the gap between commercial which develops products banking and fintech. The bank based on the Ethereum serves as the FDIC-insured blockchain. institution behind the soft“As Web3 is now exploding ware for about 30 fintech startinto the creative class … we ACTIVE FINTECH ups. Piermont this fall will only see NYC’s strengths startups are operating launched a program to lend come to the front and center in in New York. credit to small financial startthe most important new sector ups that would otherwise in tech,” Wilson wrote this fall struggle for capital. on his blog, AVC. Chief Executive Wendy CaiBoth A16Z and Union Lee described Piermont as a Square Ventures are invested hybrid of fintech and tradiin SoHo-based Uniswap Labs, tional finance. The success of the main inventor of the mobile-banking startup Chime world’s largest decentralized FINTECH STARTUPS and stock-trading app Robincryptocurrency exchange, have achieved hood made clear how tech Uniswap, an open-source prounicorn status of would change the way people tocol that allows users to buy $1 billion or more interact with money, Cai-Lee and sell cryptocurrencies in a said. peer-to-peer fashion. Uniswap valuation “To think that fintech was is now focused on building not going to have the same more Web3 applications. impact on commercial banking? We’d be kidChief Operating Officer Mary-Catherine ding ourselves,” said Cai-Lee, a managing Lader joined the company in June, leaving director at Deloitte before she founded Pier- BlackRock after eight years, most recently mont. “That’s one of the major reasons we overseeing the firm’s Aladdin system as a embarked on building Piermont.” managing director. She said she believed in decentralized finance and Web3’s overall ‘Build the future’ vision of allowing people greater ownership A16Z has been an outspoken proponent of the value they create.

There is a lot of excitement in the sector, for Web3, a decentralized vision of the internet. Web3 is a catchall term for technologies Lader said, with a new local Web3 startup that allow people to interact and transact launching seemingly every week.

“Web3 is a convergence of finance, techonline outside of platforms controlled by large technology companies. New York is nology and culture, and New York has long emerging as a hub for the concept—espe- been a hub for all of those industries,” she said. “But New York has also long been a cially decentralized finance, or DeFi. Fred Wilson, a co-founder of Union place for people who want to think of new Square Ventures and a founding father of the ways to build the future to congregate.” ■

BY THE NUMBERS

2021

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TOMMY NICHOLS, CEO of Alloy, says his company’s headcount has grown 140% in the past year.

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SAMUELS, second from left, with colleagues Octavius Moore, Sarah Brown, Ilana Mayer and Tyler Bugg

TECH:NYC’S RAPID RISE A look at some of the nonprofit’s milestones. BY DIANE HESS

Founded with five members to promote a techfriendly regulatory environment and provide opportunities for all New Yorkers 2017

BY DIANE HESS

I

2018 Membership grows to 700 companies; partners with CS4ALL to promote computer science education in public schools

2019

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with paid work and mentorship opportunities; launches the state’s official Covid-19 exposure notification app

Tech:NYC looks to scale alongside once-nascent industry it helped boost A replacement for founding executive director Samuels will chart course forward

Helps defeat a proposed marketplace provider tax that would have hit New York’s e-commerce companies

Helps legalize e-bikes and e-scooters; announces Summer Bridge, a program connecting 35,000 youths

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2016

2020

2021

Julie Samuels, executive director, announces she plans to step down

2022

n the past five years the nonprofit advocacy group Tech:NYC has played a crucial role in the ascendancy of the city’s technology sector, which is well on its way to becoming one of the largest in the country.

Now, as it searches for a new director, the organization is looking back at its accomplishments and setting goals for the next era of growth.

Tech:NYC was founded in 2016 by venture capitalist Fred Wilson, tech executive Tim Armstrong and nonprofit leader Julie Samuels, its current executive director. The organization began with just five members: AOL, Bloomberg, Facebook, Google and Union Square Ventures. Today it has 800 members and counting.

The group, which has an annual budget of $1.5 million and five employees, receives funding from membership dues. A company with fewer than 20 employees can join for free, while a business with 20 to 100 workers owes $2,500 annually. Corporations with 5,000-plus employees pay $50,000 per year.

“I have to pinch myself,” said Samuels, who announced in July that she would step down from her post. “When we started Tech:NYC, there was a feeling that the tech sector was a little nascent, and people wondered how New York would measure up to Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Boston.”

These days those concerns are gone.

Because technology companies cannot exist in a vacuum, they are choosing to be near industries that are relevant to them. That New York City has a diverse group of businesses including fashion, finance, health care and real estate makes it an increasingly desirable place for tech firms to be.

“If you’re a fashion tech company, you have to interact with the fashion industry,” Samuels said. “You might also have to deal with regulators, and New York City’s proximity to D.C., within Amtrak’s high-speed rail service corridor, is advantageous.”

Among its roles, Tech:NYC advocates at the city and state levels for a tech-friendly regulatory environment. The organization seeks to defeat proposals that choke off innovation early in the business cycle. Tech:NYC representatives helped block a marketplace tax that would have hit local e-commerce

companies. The group has lobbied for smartdata privacy regulations. It also has supported portable benefits for gig-economy workers; pushed to loosen restrictions on home-sharing companies; and enabled telemedicine services.

“We’ve been part of coalitions for congestion pricing, ranked-choice voting, e-bikes and e-scooters,” Samuels said. “These things help the city run better and make it more livable.”

Tech:NYC’s 14 board members—including policy experts, tech CEOs and entrepreneurs—drive its mission. Fred Wilson, a partner at Union Square Ventures, heads the board. Other members are William Floyd, director of government affairs and public policy at Google; and Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code.

Tech:NYC also has a 50-person leadership council, a veritable “who’s who” of New York tech trailblazers.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Tech:NYC’s directors have guided its members with an eye toward equity. In the summer of 2020, the group’s leaders mobilized more than 100 tech companies to provide internships to young New Yorkers and to grant funding to ensure the program’s 35,000 participants had reliable access to technology.

Tech:NYC has worked closely with the city’s CS4All program, a 10-year, $80 million initiative to train the city’s public school teachers so every school has computer science education.

Building relationships The benefits of belonging to the organization are reciprocal, its members say. Eli Polanco, a Tech:NYC board member and chief executive of Nivelo, a blockchain payment company, said she has appreciated the group’s mentorship.

“Tech:NYC recently hosted a platform for Black startup founders, and everyone had the chance to talk about the companies they were building and get support,” Polanco said.

Kevin Ryan, a Tech:NYC board member and entrepreneur who founded Gilt Groupe, Business Insider, MongoDB and other companies, recalled that when he started one of his earliest ventures, DoubleClick, there was no one to raise money from in New York City and almost no startups, let alone an advocacy organization.

“It’s hard to imagine we have come from that point, in 1996, to being on a path to become the leading city in tech development in the country,” Ryan said.

He said the next chapter of the city’s tech story will be written by those who emerge from its current batch of tech leaders— including Datadog, Etsy, MongoDB and Peloton—to begin new companies.

“We’re still in the second generation of startups; San Francisco is in its fifth generation,” Ryan said. “We are catching up.”

Tech:NYC leadership said it believes the election of Eric Adams, who has said that technology and innovation will lead the city forward, is encouraging for the sector.

For her part, Samuels said, she was disappointed by the loss of Amazon’s second headquarters in Long Island City, which would have brought tens of thousands of jobs.

The city’s success in the next period of growth, the group insists, will depend on its ability to expand the tech industry in the outer boroughs and to provide tech opportunities for all New Yorkers. It also will hinge on whether the city can offer a quality of life that will retain its talent pool.

The advocacy group collaborates with city agencies including the Economic Development Corp., to consider blind spots and prospects in the sector. The two groups recently partnered on the NYC Recovery Challenge to find tech solutions and job opportunities in the wake of the pandemic.

“In the beginning days, we were interventionists, creating incubator space or urban tech hubs,” EDC President Rachel Loeb said.

“Now we are working with organizations like Tech:NYC to create fertile ground for companies to grow and think about how we can mature as a tech city.”

Some of that thinking will fall to the new head at Tech:NYC. Samuels has said that, with a new mayoral administration taking office, it felt like a natural time for leadership change.

She said she will help search for her replacement and will remain on board through the transition.

“My successor will have the opportunity to grow Tech:NYC in a way that reflects growth in the industry,” she said. “The challenge will be to work with the city and state to diversify the tech sector consistent with the diversity of the city.” ■

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Who’s putting the “new” in New York City?

Find out how Brandon is helping NYC firms put sustainability front and center.

©2021 Ernst & Young LLP. All Rights Reserved. ED none.

ey.com/NextYorkCity

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2021

Q&A: Opentrons’ CEO on how tech industry can help city’s recovery

Fortunes of the tech industry, including life sciences, are intertwined with the city INTERVIEW BY DIANE HESS

STEPPING UP

5M

THE NUMBER of rapid Covid-19 tests Opentrons provided through its Pandemic Response Lab.

F

or the past decade, life-sciences startup Opentrons of Long Island City has designed robots to make work easier for lab biologists.

One of its tools eliminates the need for scientists to manually transfer liquid—which can be a tedious task. The company has created affordable molecular diagnostic panel tests that can detect a range of illnesses.

Opentrons built the city’s Pandemic Response Lab. A highly automated facility, the lab has provided more than 5 million rapid Covid-19 tests.

This fall SoftBank announced a $200 million investment in Opentrons, boosting its value to $1.8 billion. We spoke with Chief Executive Jonathan Brennan-Badal about the role of the technology sector as the city emerges from the pandemic.

CRAIN’S: In what ways are technology companies leading the city’s recovery?

Jonathan Brennan-Badal: First, I think innovative businesses are providing technologies for people to safely get back to work and be productive. Opentrons is a great example of that. Second, I see the tech sector driving a lot of job growth and creating positive economic effects. We’ve added hundreds of jobs to the city in the past year. I see a strong technology ecosystem in New York being critical to providing great responses to the pandemic, as well as to driving broader economic growth.

Q: What can the city be doing to promote

the tech sector?

A: In broad strokes, I think the city needs to continue to invest in being the preferred

“THE CITY NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO INVEST IN BEING THE PREFERRED PLACE FOR TALENTED PEOPLE TO LIVE AND WORK.”

place for talented people to live and work.

That is the single most impactful thing it can do.

from all around the country. There is a significant amount of talent, in terms of tech engineers, as well as a thriving venture-capital scene. There are also many large local businesses that are great customers for a startup.

Q: How do New York’s colleges and univer-

Q: What’s the ripple effect of Opentrons’ suc-

sities benefit you, and vice versa?

A: What is even more efficient than attracting great talent is creating great talent.

We benefit from many hires fresh out of local colleges and universities, who add a tremendous amount of value. We also have partnerships and internship programs with New York–based schools.

Q: Opentrons recently signed a lease for

48,000 square feet in Long Island City to build a new headquarters. Why do you believe in New York City?

A: In our view, New York brings the best

cess on the local tech health care ecosystem?

A: Opentrons started at Genspace, a

community biolab in Brooklyn. As it has succeeded, we have seen other health care startups begin to establish themselves in the city. The broader New York tech sector is quite strong. The health care tech scene is fairly nascent relative to what it can become, and I think cultivation by the broader tech ecosystem and the city can really pay dividends. There is no fundamental reason why New York can’t be as much of a life-sciences hub as any other city. ■

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JONATHAN BRENNANBADAL, CEO of Opentrons

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THE RETURN TO WORK 2021

SURVEY SAYS

50%

THINK IT’S LIKELY that employers move to a four-day work week.

52%

EXPECT most employers to eventually require employees to return to the office.

40%

SAY the last networking event they attended was in person.

WE SURVEYED 521 Crain’s readers last month about their current work situation and what the city’s recovery will look like. Here’s what they said:

OFFICE WORK GROWS

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES SURGE

STRONG CONNECTIONS

The amount of Crain’s readers working from the office all the time has increased by 8 percentage points from last quarter.

Where are you working from now?

More than 4 in 10 Crain’s readers say they have more digital subscriptions.

Since the start of the pandemic, have you purchased more or fewer digital subscriptions?

More than three-fourths of readers believe 5G will improve their ability to work from home.

Hybrid work model

Working from home all the time

Multiple questions. Showing % selected.

Have sufficient internet speed to work from home

56%

94% 42%

Believe 5G will improve their ability to work 78%

31%

38%

Use the OMNY system when riding the subway, instead of a MetroCard 18%

Working from the office all the time

30%

Have purchased cryptocurrencies in the past year

2% Fewer digital subscriptions

No change

More digital subscriptions

13% 0

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

SOURCE: Crain’s NYNow survey among readers. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Readers weigh in: Companies embracing hybrid-work models

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

S

even weeks ago Ivy Cohen, owner of a communications firm, attended her first in-person business event since March 2020: the annual Advertising Week conference at Hudson Yards.

“I was excited. I was relieved. I was anxious,” Cohen said.

Keeping with city law, attendees had to show proof of vaccination, and most events took place in new buildings with high ceilings. There were times Cohen could zone in and focus on the presenters or conversation.

Still, other times “suddenly you’d become quite aware you are near a lot of people and think, Oh, please be healthy,” Cohen said.

“But I was still mostly relieved that this was finally happening.”

Venturing out

Adjust to remote The survey findings are consistent with other measurements of economic activity.

Foot-traffic data has shown mobility recovering in most neighborhoods outside of Midtown and the Financial District. An October survey by the Partnership for New York City of the employers it represents found only 28% of Manhattan office workers are reporting to their desk regularly, barely budging from August.

Employers have found certain things can be accomplished more easily online, including quick huddles. But employers also have raised concerns about burnout.

“You can see people’s eyes start to glaze over in these virtual meetings because there are so many of them now,” Contos said.

The 10 employees at Cohen's communications firm operated remotely before the pandemic, but she said her view on what can be accomplished virtually was changed by her experience during the past 20 months.

“It is possible to have deeper relationships with clients online than I would have thought previously,” she said.

She has embarked in recent weeks on a “reunion tour,” taking walks or meeting for coffee with longtime colleagues she had not seen for nearly two years.

Embracing tech Crain’s also surveyed readers on the technology they have adopted during the pandemic. People are filling up the extra time at home reading online and binge-watching Netflix. Four in 10 respondents said they now have more digital subscriptions than at the start of the pandemic. More than 40% of readers reported having four or more separate recurring subscriptions.

LinkedIn was rated as the best social-media platform for keeping up with colleagues, followed by Twitter. Instagram and Facebook tied for third most useful.

When it comes to connectivity itself, Crain’s readers report being well-connected.

More than 9 in 10 said they have sufficient internet speed and reliability to support working from home. More than three-quarters said things will get even better and agree that 5G will improve their ability to work.

Although there is optimism about emerging tech, there have been lower adoption rates among existing technological breakthroughs. Just 13% of readers have purchased cryptocurrency in the past year, and 82% prefer a MetroCard to the OMNY system when riding the subway. ■

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A recent Crain’s reader survey found that many in New York's business world are cautiously venturing out to conferences and networking events, or their desk at the office.

But a great deal of economic activity is still taking place in the cloud.

About 40% of the 521 respondents to the Crain’s survey said the last business or networking event they attended was in-person.

The rest last networked in the virtual realm.

When it comes to working arrangements, readers are evenly split: just over 30% are reporting regularly to the office; 31% are working from home full-time; and 38% are operating in a hybrid model—some days in the office and some days at home.

Nearly half said they believe employers will eventually move to a four-day work week.

George Contos, chief executive of YAI, a nonprofit formerly known as the Young Adult Institute, said he’s been reporting regularly to the office during the pandemic, in solidarity with the service centers and schools the organization operates for people with intellectual

and developmental disabilities. Much of their work cannot be done remotely. But attendance at the nonprofit’s Midtown office is optional for administrative staff, and it appears many businesses in his company have yet to return their employees to the office, Contos said.

“From Starbucks to the building lobby to your wait while grabbing lunch—it is all much, much different,” he said.

That might remain the case for some time.

Only half of readers surveyed—which includes both management and workers— expect their place of business to mandate a return to the office. In the case that they do require a return, 83% of respondents said companies should require vaccines for in-person workers.

Despite the slow office return, New Yorkers are increasingly optimistic about the city’s economic recovery. The number of respondents who expect New York to recover to pre-pandemic economic numbers reached 69%, up from 61% in June. But the perceived timeline for that recovery has extended. Last quarter 66% of respondents said the city’s economic recovery would be complete sometime after next year. This quarter that number increased to 74%.

26 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | DECEMBER 6, 2021

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Looking Ahead: Empire BlueCross BlueShield and The New Landscape for Healthcare Innovation

By Alan J. Murray, President and CEO, Empire BlueCross BlueShield The pandemic fueled changes in healthcare delivery in a way that we’ve never seen before. People were at home, especially during the shutdowns, but at the same time people still needed care and physicians needed to operate their businesses.

These changes range from micro to macro-level – they started with physicians and patients meeting over the phone, video chats, and it was ad hoc for the most part, but over the course of the last year and a half, the infrastructure has become much more robust, and an openness to innovation is more formally cemented into our healthcare delivery system.

In this article, I will outline how innovation is starting with consumer demand, expanding to ways of working between payers such as health insurers and providers such as hospitals, and ultimately, leading to opportunities for sweeping changes that will transform the system overall.

Offering New Options for Consumers Before the pandemic, virtual care was something that industry leaders were hoping would take off. There was investment happening in the space, bets being made, but the demand was low. The shift that happened during the pandemic was in consumer demand – people started to access care differently, and because of the work that had been happening all along in this space, we were ready to meet consumers with new tools.

For example, we offer our members access to virtual visits through LiveHealthOnline. Before COVID, we saw people using this kind of technology for an urgent health need – think of it as a quick opinion needed to help get someone to the next step… e.g., do I need to go to the emergency room or can I wait until tomorrow? But now, we’re seeing usage grow in specialty areas like allergy, dermatology, and maternity care. It’s going beyond that quick assessment and become much more ubiquitous. As part of our mission to materially and measurably improve the health of New Yorkers, we’re excited to have new options for delivering care that people need, when they need it, in a way that works for them.

Building on this, one innovation that we’re working on with our parent company is called Anthem Link, and it went live in January 2021 on our Connection network in New York (only available in small group segment, which includes, for example, small businesses with under 100 employees). Anthem Link is an innovative, integrated product that is driven by our latest technology and digital solutions.

It seamlessly connects our high-quality, high-performance networks with digital innovations.

The digital aspect of it is differentiating, and what we’re really excited about. We’re bringing savings, with new ways to access healthcare. Leveraging our award-winning

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mobile app, Sydney Health, Anthem Link members will have access to features to help direct them to the most cost-effective care in the most appropriate setting as well as tools to help them manage their health and wellness. Featured tools include: convenient care via text-based chat or secure two-way video; AI-powered symptom checker helps direct consumers to the most appropriate treatment; custom curated member digital content; digital action plans, tracking and rewards; digital lifestyle coaching (and virtual telephonic) and digital maternity support via LiveHealthOnline Lactation.

It’s an example of our strategy to build next-generation managed care solutions driven by a combination of digital engagement, integrated guidance, networks, and benefit design.

Enhancing Data Integration Between Health Insurers and Providers to Power Value With the tremendous shift to digital since the start of the pandemic, we have such an opportunity to improve our healthcare system, and drive affordability using data.

We are encountering a moment, unlike any before, where the environment is ready for new ways of engaging.

However, the current flow of information between

providers such as hospitals and health insurers relates to just claims and billing and doesn’t take full advantage of the technology available to us. Additionally, any flow of data between healthcare providers and health insurance plans is often in one direction and slow – leading to ineffective collaboration. This lack of communication and coordination can frustrate providers and consumers, and – more importantly – potentially delay care or lead to poorer health outcomes.

Real-time, bi-directional exchange of data between stakeholders such as health insurance plans and hospitals will help us take the next step in healthcare’s digital evolution. In 2020, Empire set a goal to have 80% of our members connected to us with real-time Admissions, Discharge and Transfer notifications from providers such as hospitals and access to Electronic Medical Records (ADT/EMR) data by the end of 2022.

Over the longer term, we are also working to give providers data-driven insights from our Empire members – across different EMR systems – as well as automate some aspects of providers’ workflow to improve – or even automate – processes like prior authorization for healthcare procedures.

Building a Platform as a Lifetime, Trusted Health Partner Achieving whole-person health requires taking a more holistic view of health and leveraging data that allows us to see and address the most impactful drivers of health. When stakeholders have ready, secure access to both individual consumer information and population-level health data, the healthcare system will work better for consumers and their care providers by reducing administrative delays, lowering costs, and delivering more actionable insights.

We have one mission.

Empire is here to materially and measurably improve the whole health and well-being of all New Yorkers.

Every. Single. One.

EmpireBlue.com

Anthem, Inc., Empire’s parent company, is becoming a platform for health to transform from a health insurance company to a lifetime, trusted health partner. We are building a healthcare system that works better for everyone – simpler, more affordable, and more accessible. Part of this effort is through our Health OS platform – a comprehensive, cloud native, payer & provider agnostic platform that is one of the first of its kind in healthcare. It leverages a vast amount of data and offers predictive analytics; AIdriven tools; machine-learning; reduction in administrative burden; and real-time, more stable insights to produce proactive, personalized solutions that answer the needs of our consumers, healthcare providers, employers, and communities.

The healthcare system needs these types of upgrades to create a new kind of healthcare ecosystem – one that is powered in service of all New Yorkers – and these examples from big to small demonstrate how we can use innovation to significantly improve the way we work.

© 2021 Empire. Services provided by Empire HealthChoice HMO, Inc. and/or Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Serving residents and businesses in the 28 eastern and southeastern counties of New York State.

-AJM

11/22/21 4:05 PM

2021

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PRIORITIES FOR LOCAL TECH INDUSTRY: FROM QUALITY OF LIFE TO ACCESS TO TECH JOBS FOR ALL NEW YORKERS

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AS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING INDUSTRIES

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TECH LEADERS WANT TO WORK TO ENSURE OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO ALL

in New York City, the $189 billion tech sector has been a rare shining light as the city navigates its economic recovery. Although the industry’s rise has caused some handwringing, political and otherwise, about the changes it will bring, I do not share those concerns.

It has become clear in my five-plus years running Tech:NYC that unlike in other tech JULIE SAMUELS hubs, the people making up the industry here are New Yorkers first, tech workers second.

They care deeply about the city’s success.

New York now competes with Silicon Valley as the world’s top tech hub. City startups received more than $13 billion in funding from July to September alone—a 90% increase compared with last year.

This year there has been a record wave of more than 25 tech IPOs including Tech:NYC members Clear, Olo, Oscar Health, Sprinklr, Squarespace and Warby Parker. And Amazon, Facebook and Google are continually expanding their footprints here.

These investments are a clear sign of the industry’s maturation in New York. However, I’m most optimistic for another reason: Time and time again, our Tech:NYC members have come to us looking to engage on non-tech-specific issues concerning the future of our city.

Our members have mobilized to defend Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, worked to increase voter registration and census participation, and hosted candidate forums to hear from our next city and state leaders. Our surveys of tech workers show they care deeply about quality of life and view the diversity and culture of New York as top reasons to live and work here.

That bodes well for addressing one of the biggest challenges in the years ahead: ensuring all New Yorkers have access to jobs in the growing tech industry. We’re on the right track. After the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program was canceled last year, Tech:NYC helped mobilize 100 member companies

that were eager to provide remote project-based learning opportunities to 35,000 program participants, ensuring their career development wasn’t interrupted by the pandemic.

There is much more work to be done on the issue, but tech leaders here want to work with local government, schools and other partners to ensure opportunities are available to all.

There will of course be unpredictable challenges ahead. But for proof that tech is ready to fight for New York in times of adversity, look at all the other ways the industry stepped up at the onset of the pandemic last year. Seemingly overnight, new telehealth services and online tools for students and job seekers were spun up, and tech companies offered support for frontline workers and vulnerable communities.

We’ve been through a lot together in the past couple of years.

I have been lucky to have a front-row seat to the optimistic entrepreneurs who have doubled down on this city during the worst of it, and I have no doubt that together, we will recover stronger than before. ■ Julie Samuels is founder and outgoing executive director of Tech:NYC.

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CITY’S CHANCE FOR INCLUSIVE CONNECTIVITY: CONGESTION PRICING REVENUE COULD ENHANCE BOTH SPATIAL AND DIGITAL PARTICIPATION

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CONGESTION PRICING is finally coming to Manhattan.

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By charging drivers for the high cost of accommodating their vehicles, and by reducing motor vehicle congestion and funding public transportation, the system promises to make far better use of a scarce but precious resource: our city’s street capacity.

Congestion pricing gives everyone a better connection. It also improves transit service, makes streets more walkable and bike-friendly, makes retail and restaurant districts more attractive destinations, and improves air quality and public health, the lack CLAYTON BANKS of which has plagued the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan dramatically.

Congestion pricing helps people have the connection they need.

But in the digital age, connections are not just spatial. They’re also virtual. And today digital connections can be just as vital as any other kind.

That’s why it makes sense to commit a small fraction of congestion-pricing revenues to improving equitable internet access.

Digital connections and spatial connections are not that different. Just as a bus trip can replace a car drive, a digital visit can replace both. When we promote digital connectivity, PETER NORTON we relieve street congestion. With a digital connection, a mental health care provider can check in on a patient who otherwise would have to travel across town. An entrepreneur can meet a potential partner without having to find a parking space. A concerned teacher can talk with a parent who has no time in the day to get to the school. The subway isn’t the only thing that takes traffic off the streets. So does the web.

Congestion pricing will help New York fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which needs improvement. The task is not to balance the conflicting interests of drivers and transit passengers. In fact, both need the same thing: better mobility. Congestion pricing is the right way to fund them.

We could say exactly the same thing about the city’s digital connectivity. For many residents, New York is one of the best-connected cities on earth. But for far too many others, the city is a place where reliable spatial connectivity means a steep cab fare, and where reliable digital connectivity assumes everyone can afford the access.

In some New York communities, that means missing online job interviews, going to McDonald’s for the Wi-Fi that a homework assignment requires, or making a painful trip to the hospital for a chronic-care patient who could have had a remote checkup instead.

Today everyone needs a connection. And as the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us, practically every spatial or face-to-face connection can be handled digitally. If the congestion pricing system improves remote connectivity, it will relieve stresses on the systems that give us physical connectivity. If congestion pricing eases traffic congestion for drivers while it improves transit, that’s a win-win. If it improves both while it also improves digital connectivity, that’s a win-win-win. ■

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Clayton Banks is chief executive of Silicon Harlem. Peter Norton is an associate professor in the department of engineering and society at the University of Virginia.

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28 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | DECEMBER 6, 2021

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LET’S DISRUPT CITY GOVERNMENT WITH TECH FOR GOOD

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City. Today there are more than 9,000 startups. The growth of the tech ecosystem during the past 25 years has been an incredible success story.

The city now has a unique opportunity to optimize its systems, starting inside its bureaucracy.

MICHAEL As we enter a new phase of SAMUELIAN recovery under a new administration, the city’s government should catch up to its technology companies.

There are three ways to accomplish that: by embracing the positive aspects of disruption in government that technology can support, by increasing connectivity within government and by optimizing urban systems to better serve citizens.

In the past two and a half decades, new technologies have dramatically changed life in the city, from shared mobility and micromobility to food delivery and enhanced social networks. The private tech sector has fearlessly embraced disruption, often with negative impacts on quality of life (increased congestion from roaming rideshare vehicles, sidewalks swarmed by e-scooters, quiet apartment buildings rented out like hotels). Local government, however, can learn from the benefits of disruption.

As many of us have experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, digital technology offers powerful communication tools. Connectivity and networks help make great cities great, but their power can get lost within government, where many agencies lack either the incentives or the tools to connect with one another.

Today the city spends at least $1 billion on tech itself, with much of the money going to outside vendors and contractors.

Although there are many inefficiencies in how our government communicates internally, the tech sector has taught us that inefficiencies can be opportunities. There is no better opportunity than to connect city agencies by using the digital

WE NEED TO LEVERAGE THE POWER OF THE TECH SECTOR TO OPTIMIZE GOVERNMENT AND PROTECT AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ALL NEW YORKERS

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IN 1995 ONLY A HANDFUL OF TECH COMPANIES operated in New York

communication and optimization tools already pervasive in the private sector.

Optimization—another tech term that industry embraces— involves building products that bring about revolutionary efficiencies through the deployment of new digital technologies.

We need the government to bring this sensibility to public services. The approach can be applied to everything from how we deliver public benefits and provide safer streets to how we pick up the trash and support small businesses.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, there was a moment when government, philanthropy and the private sector came together with a shared mission of rebuilding and recovery. It was a rare moment of convergence. Today, in the midst of a pandemic, we have another moment of convergence. We need to leverage the incredible power of the tech sector with the will of the people to optimize government and protect and improve the lives of all New Yorkers. ■ Michael Samuelian is founding director of the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech.

OTHER VOICES

THE BIGGEST TECH COMPANIES tend to talk the biggest game about their commitment to more than just profit and power, often describing themselves as “people focused.” Employees of the massive companies are, however, increasingly willing to publicly question their employers’ flowery statements.

It’s one of many reasons tech workers are turning to organized labor. In January, the Office and Professional Employees International Union, headquartered in New York City, launched Tech Workers Union Local 1010 as a first-of-its kind hub for tech workers. The centralized union for an increasingly decentralized KATE STEVENS group of workers was built after a historic win at Brooklyn-based Kickstarter. Recently, workers at Code for America, a missiondriven tech organization, received voluntary recognition of their union with Local 1010.

But voluntary union recognition is rare, even among mission-driven companies, let alone tech giants, many of which are leading the fight against workers’ rights.

Companies including Amazon, Google and Tesla have taken drastic and often illegal steps to restrict their employees’ rights. Rideshare companies Lyft and Uber claim they can’t afford to provide their drivers health insurance, then spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a ballot measure exempting themselves from providing benefits to California drivers.

Last year, when Facebook (now Meta) unveiled its Workplace platform, it was pitched as a tool to encourage free speech at work. But the presentation suggested “unionize” as a possible phrase for employers such as Walmart to censor.

In 2004, Google’s IPO filing described “don’t be evil” as one of the company’s ideals. In 2018, it removed most references of that “core value” from its code of conduct, around the time reports revealed its controversial drone technology was being used by the U.S. military.

Employees working for tech giants—including those packing boxes at a backbreaking pace in dangerous warehouses, those building electric vehicles in markedly unsafe factories and those writing code in state-of-the-art offices—have had their rights violated time and time again when they chose to speak out.

Illegal firings, surveillance, threats and retaliation are routine tactics that have been used to suppress worker power for generations. Some of the most technologically innovative companies have written some of the darkest chapters in

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TECHNOLOGY WORKERS NEED ORGANIZED LABOR TO REINFORCE THEIR ACTIVISM, DEFEND AGAINST THE WORST IMPULSES OF BIG TECH

the long history of anti-worker animus in this country.

Major tech companies have proven themselves willing and able to stoop as low as they need to retain their power. Big Tech’s steadfast resistance to relinquishing power is one of the reasons tech worker activism has skyrocketed recently, and why public trust in the industry is sharply declining.

Each day, we hear stories from working people who are fed up and running out of ways to make their voices matter at work. It doesn’t take a remote employee surveillance application to find out that people, including those in the tech sector and those radically alienated from it, have had enough of the hypocrisy.

But it will take worker-led unions, labor-law reforms and meaningful antitrust regulations—not empty mission statements—to keep Big Tech from its most evil impulses. ■ Kate Stevens is the lead organizer with Tech Workers Union Local 1010.

DECEMBER 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 29

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92N

MEETING & EVENT PLANNERS

GUIDE New York City is opening up again.

With more people fully vaccinated and eager to reconnect in person at business conferences, weddings and oh so many other live events, the city’s venues are filling up. Hotels are full again as more people resume vacations and holiday travel. A buzz is in the air as the city prepares for crowds to celebrate New Year’s Eve and watch the ball drop in Times Square.

The future looks even brighter.

The meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry is expected to grow globally to $1.78 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.1%, up from $916.1 million in 2019. Meanwhile, as more hospitality companies roll out the welcome mat to travelers, the hospitality industry is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 18.5% this year.

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For meeting organizers, this means they will need to do something that wasn’t necessary during the lockdowns of 2020: Book early.

New York City has always been a draw for both business travelers and tourists, and many have missed the dining, culture, festive holiday décor and city skyline. Now, day by day, they’re coming back to The City That Never Sleeps.

AMA CON

Organizations planning an event in New York City, whether in the next few weeks or next summer, can take heart: Many options are available to you, and our Meeting Planners Guide is here to help.

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The Meeting Planners Guide contains the names of extraordinary hotels and conference centers, and some of the most memorable venues offering catering and entertainment.

Read on for our up-to-the-minute listings.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

CONFERENCE CENTERS 92ND STREET Y Give your special event the extraordinary and versatile venue it deserves at 92nd Street Y. Year after year, people in the know come to 92nd Street Y to host corporate conferences, meetings, film screenings, award shows, private parties, graduations and photo shoots. 92Y offers spacious, elegant rooms with state-of-the-art lighting and audio and video technology.These include Kaufmann Concert Hall, known for its world-class acoustics, as well as Buttenwieser Hall, the Weill Art Gallery and the Warburg Lounge.

92Y’s pool, gymnasiums and art studios, all run by a highly trained staff, are available for private parties. 92Y is your open door to extraordinary events.

Address: 1395 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10128 Phone: 212-415-5500 Contact: Brian Orr Email: borr@92y.org Website: 92y.org

AMA NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CONFERENCE CENTER New York City’s largest conference center, in the heart of Times Square, features more than 90,000 square feet and 43 meeting rooms, one of which has the capacity to fit more than 200 attendees.The conference center’s sixth-floor meeting space includes a spacious lounge, which overlooks Broadway and is ideal for business receptions and conference events. Meanwhile, a business executive suite, which is perfect for board meetings or focus groups, is also available.

Several of the conference center’s meeting

rooms have windows, and 1 GB P/S WiFi is provided to all attendees.

Address: 1601 Broadway at 48th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-903-8060 Contact: Ruben G. Cobos Email: rcobos@amanet.org Website: amaconferencecenters.org/ new-york

BROOKLYN EXPO CENTER The Brooklyn Expo Center, nestled in vibrant Greenpoint, is an innovative space that’s prime for conventions, trade shows, private and public events, conferences, banquets and company meetings. Boasting floor-to-glass ceiling windows and 600 square feet of street-level frontage, the adaptable 28,000 square feet of exhibition space can be divided, left open or expanded to include an additional 25,000 square feet of outdoor space. BKX, offering a capacity of up to 2,000 people, includes ground-level loading, storage rooms, vehicle access to the exhibition area and on-site parking.

Address: 72 Noble St., Brooklyn, NY 11222 Phone: 718-775-3315 Email: info@brooklynexpocenter.com Website: brooklynexpocenter.com

CIPRIANI 25 BROADWAY Cipriani 25 Broadway, formally known as the Cunard Building, is among Lower Manhattan’s most architecturally and historically significant edifices.The grand 12,000-square foot space of this Italian, neo-Renaissance-inspired masterpiece, designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris and completed in

1921, features 65-foot-high ceilings, soaring marble columns, magnificent inlaid floors and murals painted by Ezra Winter. As a result, the venue, which is part of the Cipriani Landmark Collection, is ideal for a variety of meetings and gatherings.

Address: 25 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 Phone: 646-723-0826 Email: events@cipriani.com Website: cipriani.com/eu/eventscipriani-25-broadway

CONVENE AT 101 GREENWICH STREET Convene at 101 Greenwich Street is a next-generation workplace in Lower Manhattan. With its more than 58,000 square feet of beautifully appointed amenities spanning across three floors, you’ll be able to tap into a multitude of private office spaces, coworking desks and on-demand meeting and event spaces for up to 120 people. Members also enjoy curated, in-building community programming and farm-to-table culinary offerings from the workplace’s Executive Chef. You’ll forget you’re at work.

Address: 101 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10006 Phone: 888-730-7307 Email: info@convene.com Website: convene.com/cities/new-yorkcity/101-greenwich-street

NEW WORLD STAGES New World Stages, nestled between Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen, is the perfect

location for your next event. It’s a modern and adaptable theater complex, spanning an entire city block, with a sharp, contemporary design. It features five theaters (providing seating for 199 to 499 guests); a public lounge; the Green Room, featuring cocktails and entertainment; a 5,000-square-foot reception and exhibitor space; digital signage; state-of-the-art audiovisual systems and high-speed wireless internet. With a knowledgeable sales team, experienced audiovisual technicians and a hospitable front-ofhouse staff, New World Stages seeks to provide its clients and patrons with the highest customer satisfaction possible.

Address: 340 W. 50th St., New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-239-6200 Email: info@newworldstages.com Website: newworldstages.com

SKYLIGHT MODERN Skylight Modern was launched for Fashion Week in 2013 and has since become an essential space for experiences across art, tech, media and beyond. Evoking a museum or gallery, the 15,000-squarefoot, high-ceilinged and virtually column-free space serves as the perfect blank canvas for creators. Moments of exposed concrete lend Skylight Modern an edge, and its storefront presence in the Chelsea Gallery District can illuminate the space at street level or it can be used for branding.

Address: 537 W. 27th St., New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-736-6200

Email: nyc@skylightstudios.com Website: skylightstudios.com/venues/ skylight-modern

THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER The Pershing Square Signature Center, designed by architect Frank Gehry, consists of three unique theater spaces (ranging in size from 191 to 294 seats), two rehearsal studios, a 5,500-square-foot lobby with a café, a bookstore, and an expansive complement of back- and front-of-house services. The center, only steps away from Times Square, is convenient to multiple bus and subway lines. Venue amenities include lighting, sound and projection packages, live video-streaming capabilities and wireless internet throughout. In addition, it has on-site catering, a full-service bar, a small satellite bar, a coat check and an event registration desk. It offers digital displays throughout the space for event and sponsorship promotion, large restrooms and a professional front-of-house and technical production staff. From galas to corporate meetings, to holiday parties and everything in between, The Pershing Square Signature Center, which meets standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, is the perfect location for any event.

Address: 480 W. 42nd St., New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-244-7529 Email: kfaede@signaturetheatre.org Website: signaturetheatre.org

HOTELS ALOFT MANHATTAN DOWNTOWNFINANCIAL DISTRICT

FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON MANHATTAN CHELSEA

The Aloft Manhattan Downtown-Financial District is a hip hotel close to corporate headquarters, Wall Street and the World Trade Center. Nearby subway lines provide easy access to Big Apple hotspots. Connect and create with friends at the W XYZ bar, grab a sweet, savory or healthy snack from Re:fuel by Aloft (a grab-and-go café), or play in the ReMix lounge. The 128-room hotel, which offers guests free hotelwide wired and wireless high-speed internet access, provides 215 square feet of total meeting space. In addition, it offers contemporary, loft-like accommodations with 9-foot-high ceilings, ergonomic workstations and flat-screen TVs. In select rooms, guests can also relish scenic city views.

Address: 49-53 Ann St., New York, NY 10038 Phone: 212-513-0003 Website: marriott.com/hotels/travel/ nycal-aloft-manhattan-downtownfinancial-district

Stay your way—with the modern amenities you expect and the style you want in one of Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea’s spacious guestrooms. Wind down in front of a TV with a hot cup of coffee or tea and get a great night’s sleep on a Four Points by Sheraton Comfort Bed. Connect to high-speed internet for free, enjoy free bottled water every day and complete your work at an oversized work desk, offered in all rooms and suites. In addition, the hotel provides 200 square feet of total event space for your meetings, along with 24-hour business center access.

Address: 160 W. 25th St., New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-627-1888 Website: marriott.com/hotels/travel/ nycpc-four-points-manhattan-chelsea

FAIRFIELD INN & SUITES BY MARRIOTT NEW YORK BROOKLYN This 133-room, recently renovated hotel, nestled in the heart of Brooklyn, sets itself apart from the competition with an architecturally stunning atrium lobby, a rooftop terrace providing spectacular views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines, free, high-speed Wi-Fi, and a delicious, complimentary hot breakfast each morning. The hotel offers guests meeting facilities that are perfect for intimate events or larger board meetings at a convenient location—steps away from the subway to Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn or the MetroTech Center.

Address: 181 Third Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217 Phone: 718-522-4000 Website: marriott.com/hotels/travel/ nycbf-fairfield-inn-and-suites-new-yorkbrooklyn

GANSEVOORT MEATPACKING NYC After being fully renovated in 2020, Gansevoort Meatpacking has expansive, 360-degree rooftop views of New York City’s landmarks with 10,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting and events spaces. Gansevoort provides the perfect setting for corporate events, cocktail receptions, weddings, meetings, private dining and special occasions.

Alongside its 186 rooms and suites, additional amenities include a year-round heated rooftop pool; Rooftop Cocktails & Light Bites; Saishin, a traditional Japanese restaurant; the Chester, a bar and American bistro; and a state-of-the-art, 24-hour fitness center. In addition, it features a rooftop space, which holds from 30 to 350 people and can be easily broken down into smaller, more intimate spaces for group breakout sessions and private functions.

Address: 18 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10014 Phone: 212-206-6700 Email: yvonne@theghg.com Website: gansevoorthotelgroup.com

SOHO HOUSE NEW YORK Soho House New York is a private members’ club and hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. It has a number of areas available for private parties, meetings and events, including the Screening Room (a cinema), the Club Room (for dinners, pre- or post-screening parties, meetings or cocktails) and the Vinyl Room (a club space for dinners, cocktail receptions or parties). The Cowshed Spa, meanwhile, provides treatment sessions, along with drinks and appetizers. The hotel has 44 bedrooms, each possessing a unique combination of luxury and style.

Address: 29-35 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10014 Phone: 212-627-9800 Email: guestlist.newyork@sohohouse.com Website: sohohouse.com

THE ALGONQUIN HOTEL, AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION The Algonquin Hotel, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan at 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues and just steps from Broadway’s finest theaters and world-class shopping, is a historic, literary landmark named to the National Trust of Historic Hotels. The hotel, which opened in 1902, was the home to Dorothy Parker’s famous Round Table and the birthplace of The New Yorker magazine. It has put a modern twist on its tradition of irreverent eccentricity and iconic New York style—with everything from its resident feline, Hamlet, to the Blue Bar’s exclusive custom gin, the Dorothy Parker Round Table Reserve.

Address: 59 W. 44th St., New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-840-6800 Email: ak.nycak.askalgonquin@marriott.com Website: algonquinhotel.com

THE CARLYLE, A ROSEWOOD HOTEL Since 1930, The Carlyle has been Manhattan’s most sophisticated setting for memorable events and meetings. It offers

guests more than 3,000 square feet of elegant function space, along with options to reserve the Café Carlyle, Bemelmans Bar and Dowling’s at The Carlyle. It provides guests 189 lavish rooms, including 90 suites. The Carlyle provides the exclusive ambience of an Upper East Side pied-à-terre; it was intricately decorated by designers such as Tony Chi and Thierry Despont. Elegant service and world-class dining elevate the guests’ experience.

Address: 35 E. 76th St., New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212-744-1600 Email: thecarlyle@rosewoodhotels.com Website: rosewoodhotels.com/en/ the-carlyle-new-york

THE KIMBERLY HOTEL The Kimberly Hotel, in Midtown Manhattan, radiates a refined elegance with traditional European flair while it provides guests with classic and sophisticated event spaces that set the stage for impressive meetings.

The Kimberly offers a refined and intimate alternative to the usual New York banquet halls. It also provides customized event planning to ensure guests’ meetings are exactly as they envision them. Aside from Upstairs at The Kimberly, a rooftop restaurant that offers private and semiprivate rooms, the hotel provides guests The VIP Room, a small room on the 30th floor, and a conference room that seats up to 30 people. In addition, the hotel offers 500- to 600-square-foot suites, two restaurants and a private wine room.

Address: 145 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-702-1600 Email: reservations@kimberlyhotel.com Website: kimberlyhotel.com

THE NEW YORK EDITION This clocktower, near Madison Square Park, originally constructed in 1909 as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s headquarters, has been ingeniously

reinvented to offer luxury boutique accommodation, a tranquil hotel spa and chic new event spaces. In fact, the hotel provides 2,100 square feet of private venue space that can be adapted for board meetings. In addition to the hotel’s more formal meeting spaces, event planners can reserve three opulent penthouses that offer stunning city views.

Each venue is supported by cutting-edge audiovisual technology, along with an award-winning culinary team. Every event is designed from beginning to end, while also featuring catering menus from Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton.

Address: 5 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010 Phone: 212-413-4200 Contact: Charlie Dye Email: charlie.dye@editionhotels.com Website: editionhotels.com/new-york

THE PLAZA While offering 282 distinctive guestrooms, including 102 luxurious suites, The Plaza also provides guests a variety of facilities for meetings, such as The Grand Ballroom, The Terrace Room, The Edwardian Room, The Oak Room, Eloise at The Plaza, The Palm Court and The Rose Club. The opulent Grand Ballroom and Terrace Room have been meticulously restored to their original grandeur, to continue to host many of New York City’s most memorable moments. In addition, The Plaza has more than 5,000 square feet of functional meeting space, as it offers users a variety of unique and exclusive suites, which are on the fourth-floor conference level. It also provides guests with the world-class Shops at The Plaza, along with health and wellness facilities such as the Guerlain Spa, The Plaza Hotel Fitness Center and the Warren-Tricomi Salon, among other amenities.

Address: 768 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-759-3000 Email: plazareservation@fairmont.com Website: theplazany.com

December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | S2

VENUES, CATERING AND ENTERTAINMENT 230 FIFTH ROOFTOP BAR The 230 Rooftop Bar, an exceptional space for meetings and events, is New York’s largest outdoor rooftop garden and enclosed penthouse lounge. One floor is fully enclosed while its rooftop garden is open to the sky. It has large umbrellas for sunny or rainy days and is partially heated on colder nights.The venue, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, boasts breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It offers guests high-speed internet, state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, and large-screen projectors and TVs. It can accommodate private functions for 25 to 1,200 guests in its 33,000-square-foot space. Every event, regardless of size or style, is customtailored to each client’s needs and tastes.

Inquiries are welcome, and a contact person will be pleased to answer any questions clients and potential clients may have about the New York City penthouse space.

Address: 230 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-725-4300 Email: info@230-fifth.com Website: 230-fifth.com

3 WEST CLUB Both historic and timeless, the 3 West Club offers everything one could want in an event space—and much more. It’s one of Manhattan’s hidden gems, centrally located off Fifth Avenue and steps away from Rockefeller Center. With six event and meeting spaces, along with a stunning rooftop area, the 3 West Club is extremely flexible. It accommodates from 10 to 350 people. With 28 well-appointed rooms, it provides guests the option to stay overnight as well. Whether you are planning a

corporate event, an intimate meeting, a gala dinner, a conference or a nonprofit reception or fundraiser, the 3 West Club has the versatility to create customized, memorable and extraordinary experiences.

Address: 3 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-582-5456 Email: events@3westclub.com Website: 3westclub.com

583 PARK AVENUE On Park Avenue and 63rd Street you will find 583 Park Avenue, a New York City event space that is a landmark building that has been restored and made available for private events and corporate and nonprofit events. The building, constructed in 1923 and designed by the architectural firm Delano & Aldrich, is reminiscent of a bygone era. It comes with a grand pre-function space, including floor plans like the Arcade, the Ballroom and the Balconies, and offers guests a remarkable amount of flexibility for all types of special events.

Address: 583 Park Ave. at 63rd Street, New York, NY 10065 Phone: 212-583-7200 Email: events@583parkave.com Website: 583parkave.com

APELLA BY ALEXANDRIA Apella is New York City’s most innovative meeting and event space. Apella, within the Alexandria Center for Life Science, offers 10 thoughtfully designed rooms with contemporary interiors, advanced technology, and expansive East River and city skyline views. While providing up to 20,000 square feet of event space, Apella features 10 private suites to accommodate from two to 300 attendees

and upward of 1,250 guests for large-scale celebrations. Furthermore, Apella’s thoughtfully appointed spaces provide an open, yet highly secure setting for executive board meetings, industry conferences, corporate retreats and product launches. Apella also offers on-site technology that ranges from 250 Mbps high-speed Wi-Fi to 11,000lumen 1080p laser projectors.

Address: 450 E. 29th St. (between First Avenue and the East River), Second Floor, New York, NY 10016 Phone: 212-706-4100 Contact: Rachel Huber, director of events and marketing Email: info@apella.com Website: apella.com

BEACON THEATRE The legendary Beacon Theatre is a historic New York City landmark, renovated to its original glory in 2008-09, thereby returning it to its original Roaring ’20s grandeur. The Beacon, a venerable rock room for generations of New Yorkers, is equipped with advanced technology and mystical charm, enabling it to provide guests an intimate setting for unforgettable concerts and events. The 2,600-seat venue was built in 1929 and designed in the art deco style by architect Walter Ahlschlager. It was designated a New York landmark building by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1979 and acquired by Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. in 2006.

Address: 2124 Broadway, New York, NY 10023 Phone: 212-465-6106 Website: msg.com/beacon-theatre

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Address: Chelsea Piers, Pier 62 New York, NY 10011 Phone: 866.817.3463 Contact: Veronica Caverly Email: veronica.caverly@cityexperiences.com Website: Citycruises.com/newyork

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S3 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | December 6, 2021

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Building also has a venue entrance that is ground level and virtually column-free, thereby providing unparalleled flexibility in event production. Furthermore, its original mahogany French doors connect directly to the street to enable seamless ground-level load in, while also welcoming visitors and guests into an expansive piece of New York history. Also featuring custom hardwood floors, exposed vaulted brick ceilings and an expanse of windows that lend an endless cascade of natural light, The Altman Building is an elegant, memorable and exciting venue to host your next event.

Address: 135 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212-741-3400 Email: sales@altmanbldg.com Website: altmanbldg.com

BROOKLYN MUSEUM The Brooklyn Museum, one of the country’s most extensive and comprehensive art museums, is an extraordinary venue in the heart of one of the most creative and exciting urban centers in the world: the borough of Brooklyn. The museum’s spaces provide stunning, one-of-a-kind backdrops for private events, including wedding ceremonies and receptions, cocktail parties and corporate events.

Address: 200 Eastern Pkwy., Brooklyn, NY 11238 Phone: 718-638-5000 Email: information@brooklynmuseum.org Website: brooklynmuseum.org

CENTRAL PARK ZOO The Central Park Zoo is a unique event space that’s perfect for cocktail receptions and seated dinners. With the capability to seat up to 700 guests, the zoo’s open space has the flexibility for any event, as it provides a nearly 200-foot-long, clear-top seasonal tent, along with options to add on connecting tents. Furthermore, it offers guests moss-covered colonnades, which provide them additional covered space, along with a tranquil backdrop to any of their photos. Exclusive access to exhibits is also available for guests, depending on sunset times.

Address: 64th Street and Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212-439-6500 Email: events@wcs.org Website: centralparkzoo.com

CLASSIC CAR CLUB MANHATTAN Interested in hosting an event in a truly unique waterfront setting? Welcome to Classic Car Club at Pier 76 in Hudson River Park. The venue, across from Jacob Javits Center and Hudson Yards and one block from the 7 train on Manhattan’s West Side, features 8,000 square feet of unobstructed space, 30-foot ceilings and 20-foot operable glass doors that open up to a sprawling, 3,200-square-foot outdoor terrace that overlooks the Hudson River. A fleet of classic and exotic cars can either be made available for display or cleared out, depending on your preference. Classic Car Club has hosted events for groups as few as 30 people and as many as 1,400. An open floor plan allows the space to accommodate as intimate and intricate an event as you wish.

Address: 1 Pier 76, 408 12th Ave., New York, NY 10018 Phone: 212-229-2402 Email: info@classiccarclub.com Website: classiccarclubmanhattan.com

DAVE AND BUSTER’S Dave and Buster’s is a multifaceted entertainment venue featuring creative cuisine, custom cocktails and team-building activities, along with multiple meeting room options, complete with state-of-theart audiovisual technology. Dave and Buster’s, a one-stop shop for all your needs, is in Times Square and accessible to a majority of New York City’s transit options. It infuses fun with the important need of team building for companies looking to build relationships, inspire competitiveness, and offer the gift of fun to their employees and clients. It is the perfect setting for meetings, cocktail events, product launches, and client and employee appreciation events.

Address 234 W. 42nd St., Third Floor, New York, NY 10036 Phone: 646-495-2015 Contact: Amy Lang, director of special events Email: amy_lang@daveandbusters.com Website: daveandbusters.com/locations/ new-york-city-times-square

THE GLASSHOUSE The Glasshouse, opened in summer of 2020, offers guests breathtaking views, cutting-edge technology and impeccable service. Its 75,000-squarefoot space holds up to 1,850 guests and features waterfront-facing outdoor terraces, sweeping 360-degree views of Manhattan, pre-function spaces, VIP lounges and a state-of-the-art production infrastructure. In addition, its penthouse space has been designed as a canvas without bounds, as it provides guests the flexibility to host an array of large and small corporate, social and nonprofit events. The Glasshouse features a built-in production infrastructure—audiovisual, lighting, rigging, broadcast-ready conduit, ultra-high bandwidth internet and power distribution—and has soundproof partitions that enable multiple room configurations for events of various sizes.

Address: 660 12th Ave., New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-242-7800 Email: info@theglasshouses.com Website: theglasshouses.com

MANHATTAN CENTER Conveniently located on 34th street between 8th and 9th avenues, the Manhattan Center complex is home to the Hammerstein Ballroom & Grand Ballroom, the Bank Space, and Television and Audio Recording Studios. Manhattan Center is a full service production house with the state-of-the-art technology and expert talent to bring your event to life. From live performances, large scale productions, and televised/virtual events to galas, receptions, and conferences … there’s nothing we can’t do!

Address: 311 W. 34th St., New York, NY 10001 Phone: 646-293-1077 Contact: Jessica Rothstein Berman, vice president of sales & marketing Email: jrb@mc34.com Website: mc34.com

EMPIRE STEAK HOUSE Empire Steak House stands out from the rest when it comes to food, service and ambience, as it provides guests the finest cuts of steaks, the freshest seafood and an extensive wine and cocktail list. Empire Steak House has two restaurants, one on the East Side and one on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan—on 50th Street and 54th Street. The venue offers dedicated private dining coordinators so guests may plan and personalize their events, leading to unforgettable experiences. Whether its guests are hosting a corporate event or celebrating a special occasion, Empire Steak House seeks to ensure quality and hospitality, so that planners will enjoy their event as much as their guests.

Addresses: Empire Steak House East: 151 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022 Empire Steak House West: 237 W. 54th St., New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-582-6900 (East Side) 212-586-9700 (West Side) Email: info50@empiresteakhousenyc.com Website: empiresteakhousenyc.com

LIBERTY SCIENCE CENTER Planning an intimate dinner, a conference or a company holiday celebration? Gather in a soaring open atrium or a dramatic, glass-enclosed private room overlooking New York City and the Statue of Liberty.

Liberty Science Center is just minutes from Manhattan. Its meeting spaces and theaters are fully equipped for multimedia presentations, and its staff will expertly handle every detail. Host your next unforgettable event at Liberty Science Center.

Address: 222 Jersey City Blvd., Jersey City, NJ 07305 Phone: 201-253-1384 Contact: Yesha Neal, director of special events Email: specialevents@lsc.org Website: lsc.org/see-whats-happening/ host-your-event/facility-rentals

THE ALTMAN BUILDING

for the B. Altman department store, The Altman Building is now a versatile private event venue, as it has 14,000 square feet of space on two floors. Celebrating over 20 years of offering guests event services at its landmark historic venue, The Altman

UPSTAIRS AT THE KIMBERLY HOTEL The Kimberly Hotel’s highly regarded rooftop lounge, Upstairs at The Kimberly, is a 3,000-square-foot space that boasts 360-degree views, retractable glass ceilings and walls, ambient- heated floors and a main room that promises to be as elegant and inviting in the winter months as it is sunny and sophisticated during the summer season. Upstairs offers customizable menus, creative cocktails, indoor and outdoor space, and the perfect ambience, ensuring it is a great location for any event. An evening “Upstairs” will be an experience like no other, as the lounge is focused on providing guests a refined service in a relaxed luxurious setting and a one-of-a-kind rooftop experience, leading to their desires to come back again and again.

Address: 145 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-702-1685 Contact: Jordana Maurer, director of sales and events Email: jmaurer@kimberlyhotel.com Website: upstairsnyc.com

YANKEE STADIUM Yankee Stadium is a cultural icon whose legacy is as rich as its character, and whose history is as striking as its façade.

A year-round venue with more than 60,000 square feet of event space for both publicly ticketed and private events, this storied stadium offers you a part in its future—available to host corporate and social gatherings, from upscale parties to intimate get-togethers. Share in the tradition of Yankees greatness by hosting a legendary event amid a backdrop where legends are made.

Address: 1 E. 161st St., Bronx, NY 10451 Phone: 646-977-8400 Email: events@yankees.com Website: yankees.com/events

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Established in 1896 as the carriage house December 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | S4

FROM PAGE 1

be required to provide notice to their workers if they are tracking their emails, calls or internet activity, as required by a bill signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in November. And the Legislature may soon take up a more aggressive measure limiting employee monitoring.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal frames the new law, which she sponsored, as part of a broader conversation about privacy rights in the digital age. The Manhattan Democrat noted that working from home has obscured many of the lines between off-hours and work life.

“So what is and what is not acceptable in respecting employee privacy during remote work going forward?" said Rosenthal, who is sponsoring another bill for the upcoming legislative session that would give New York some of the nation’s strictest laws against workplace monitoring.

Remote work boost Tools that keep an eye on workers are far from new, whether called tattleware, bossware or workplace monitoring software. The American Civil Liberties Union published a warning about workplace “snoopware” in 1999. In fact, Rosenthal first proposed the bill to require notice of such software in 2008, when she read about someone being fired

because of their internet usage.

What has changed since then— and what Rosenthal said likely helped push the bill across the finish line after more than a decade—is remote work. About 30% of companies reported using monitoring software in the months before the pandemic, said Brian Kropp, chief of human resources research with the consulting firm Gartner. That number has increased to 60% of companies this year, he said.

Using technologies at will The tools include, Kropp said, “everything from tracking how often you’re logged on, how frequently you’re typing, taking pictures of you to get a sense of your facial expressions, tracking who you email with most.”

Improvements in artificial intelligence software and data processing allow those tools to more easily analyze worker behavior and provide insights to management.

A recent report from the UC Berkeley Labor Center noted that the technologies extend from monitoring the movement of warehouse workers to keystroke tracking on the laptops of office employees. The report cautioned that the monitoring could lead to discrimination and wage loss and suppress workers’ ability to organize.

“Workers currently have very little say about what data is collected on them,” the report said. “The almost complete lack of regulation means that there are strong incen-

an obligation to keep an eye on what is going on.”

tives for employers to use digital technologies at will, in ways that can directly or indirectly harm workers.”

Legislative push

Rosenthal acknowledged that employers have a right to make sure their While the tools can cerworkers are acting approtainly be abused, Kropp priately. But she counsaid large employers more ROSENTHAL tered that regulation needs often use them in the aggregate. They want to know if cer- to catch up to advances in technolotain tasks are eating up their work- gy and the changing workplace.

A bill Rosenthal will sponsor in force’s time or what conditions are most conducive to overall produc- the upcoming session bans employers from requiring monitoring tivity.

“Most employers understand you software be installed on workers’ are going to use part of your day on personal devices, limits monitoring Twitter or shopping, and they don't software on employer-owned devices to web-browsing history, and care,” Kropp said.

The Business Council of New makes illegal any policy that reYork State, an Albany-based group, quires employees to leave a camera wrote a letter opposing Rosenthal's on while working from home.

The bill has no co-sponsors at bill earlier this year. The council said that a state wiretapping law and fed- this point and no matching legislaeral law prevent employers from tion in the Senate. But Rosenthal snooping on their workers without believes it can pick up momentum disclosing their actions. The group along with the New York Privacy warned the new law, however mi- Act, a bill that requires companies nor, imposes additional burdens on to get consumer consent before collecting any personal data online. businesses without clear benefit.

“I’m not waiting another 13 years Frank Kerbein, director of the business council’s center for hu- this time,” she said.

The effort will likely have allies man resources, said monitoring can serve important purposes for among privacy advocates. The Surbusinesses. Employers are liable, veillance Technology Oversight for instance, for sexual harassment Project, a nonprofit watchdog that occurs over electronic devices. based in Manhattan, backed the “Employers should not be snoop- notification bill as an “important ing on their employees’ personal first step” in regulating workplace information,” Kerbein said. “But surveillance.

“New York’s transparency rewhen they are using company-provided equipment, employers have quirement will be very helpful in

An ‘obligation’

AP PHOTO

SPYING

accelerating campaigns to restrict invasive surveillance programs,” said Albert Fox Cahn, the group’s executive director. “In the past, some people simply didn’t realize how bad the problem already was.

Covid-19 has made things even worse, bringing remote work surveillance into our own homes.”

What employers should know The state attorney general’s office will be in charge of enforcing the new law. Employers found in violation of the law face a maximum fine of $500 for the first offense and between $1,000 and $3,000 per offense after that.

There is no private right of action in the new law, a measure that would have allowed individual workers to sue if they believe they were monitored without notice.

Suhna Pierce, a privacy attorney of counsel with Morrison Foerster, noted in an analysis of the law that there are some exceptions. Employers do not need to provide notice for software programs if they are not targeted at individual employees, if they are performed strictly for systems administration or if they are designed to manage the volume of email, calls or internet use, such as a spam filter.

The notification isn’t necessarily a heavy lift. Pierce noted language in the law describes how it should read, including a provision that email and internet usage “‘may be subject to monitoring at any and all times and by any lawful means.’” ■

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PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES

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NOTICE OF FORMATION OF M-DESIGN BUILD, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/12/2021. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/ her is: MICHAEL MAHAL, 440 WEST END AVE., NEW YORK, NY 10024 Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of FANATICS SPV, LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/12/21. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 0 3/11/21. Princ. office of LLC: 205 Hudson St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10013.

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 Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of FIVE IRON GOLF SEATTLE LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/28/2021. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 883 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, Fl 3, NEW YORK, NY 10001 Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of 9 VANDAM LP JV LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/18/21.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Arch Companies, 15 West 27th St., 6th Fl., NY, NY 10001. Purpose: any lawful activities.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of GENEALLELE LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/03/2021. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: GeneAllele LLC, 82 Nassau St #60941, New York, NY 10038.

Purpose: any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF : Javier Jr Bike Shop 2 LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/06/2021 Office location: New York County.

SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is: 1774 Amsterdam Ave New York, NY 10031 The principal business address of the LLC is 1774 Amsterdam Ave New York, NY 10031. Dissolution date: N/A Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of formation of PECUNIAM LLC, file with SOS of NY on 7/22/2021 Loc. in NYC, designed as agent upon whom process may be served SSNY, shall mail process to 2 Pinehurst Ave. Apt F7, NY, NY 10033. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of Jason Pang, DDS, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/30/21. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: 501 5th Ave, #703, NY, NY 10017. Purpose: Dentistry.

Notice of Formation of NEXT GENERATION SIMULATORS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/14/2020. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 883 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, Fl 3, NEW YORK, NY 10001 Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of FJM INTERNATIONAL LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/09/21. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Franck Moison, 993 Park Ave., NY, NY 10028. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of PrettySub Cosmetics LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 9/8/21. Office location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 35 W 31st St. Frnt 1. NY, NY 10001. R/A: US Corp Agents. Inc. 7014 13th Ave. #202, BK, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF : Javier Jr Bike Shop LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/02/2020 Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is: 5025 Broadway New York, NY 10034. The principal business address of the LLC is 5025 Broadway New York, NY 10034. Dissolution date: N/A Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

141 Development LLC, Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 10-28-21. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC for service of process. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to c/o the LLC, 6 W. 14th St., NY, NY 10011. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Goddard Real Estate Development LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/22/21. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Goddard Riverside Community Center, 593 Columbus Ave., NY, NY 10024.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of SALT 154, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/19/21.

Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 154 W. 120th St., NY, NY 10027. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Andre Adams at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Real estate.

Notice of Qualification of FBG ENTERPRISES OPCO, LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/12/21. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/21/21. Princ. office of LLC: 205 Hudson St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10013. 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 Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NYCNCC SUB-CDE 15, LLC ( the “LLC”) filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on 07/ 16/2021. Office location: New York County. The principal business address of the LLC is: One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006.

SSNY has been designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail service of process to c/o New York City Economic Development Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006, Attention: General Counsel. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Greenstein Family Legacy LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/21/21. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 240 West 40th St., NY, NY 10018. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of formation of Manhattan Pain Medicine Provider, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed w/ Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/02/2021. Off. loc.: New York Cnty. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 2 Fifth Ave., Ste 7 , New York, NY 10011. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC). NAME: ArletteClaudine LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/02/2021.

Office Location: NEW YORK County.

SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. Address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of process is: United States Corporation Agents Inc, 7014 13th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11228, USA. Principal business address of the LLC is 33 Riverside Drive, Apt 7DA, New York, NY 10023. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

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dŽ ŽďƚĂŝŶ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶ ĂďŽƵƚ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚŝŶŐ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚŝĞƐ ĂŶĚͬŽƌ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞƋƵĂůŝĨŝĐĂƚŝŽŶ ƉĂĐŬĂŐĞ ĂŶĚ ďŝĚ ƐŽůŝĐŝƚĂƚŝŽŶ ƉĂĐŬĂŐĞͬƐ͕ ƉůĞĂƐĞ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ ŽůŽƌĞƐ tŽŽĚĞŶ͕ tŽŽĚĞŶΛƚĐĐŽ͘ĐŽŵ ϮϬϭͲϵϱϰͲϵϬϵϮ͘ dŚĞ ĚĂƚĞ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ǀŝƌƚƵĂů ƉƵďůŝĐ ŽƉĞŶŝŶŐ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ dƵƌŶĞƌ ŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƚŝŽŶ ŽŵƉĂŶLJ ŽĨĨŝĐĞ ůŽĐĂƚĞĚ Ăƚ ϯϳϱ ,ƵĚƐŽŶ ^ƚƌĞĞƚ͕ EĞǁ zŽƌŬ͕ EĞǁ zŽƌŬ͕ ŝƐ :ĂŶƵĂƌLJ ϭϭƚŚ͕ ϮϬϮϮ ϭWD >ŝŶŬ͗ WůĞĂƐĞ ũŽŝŶ ƚŚŝƐ ŽƉĞŶŝŶŐ ŵĞĞƚŝŶŐ ĨƌŽŵ LJŽƵƌ ĐŽŵƉƵƚĞƌ͕ ƚĂďůĞƚ Žƌ ƐŵĂƌƚƉŚŽŶĞ͘

ŚƚƚƉƐ͗ͬ​ͬƚĞĂŵƐ͘ŵŝĐƌŽƐŽĨƚ͘ĐŽŵͬůͬŵĞĞƚƵƉͲ ũŽŝŶͬϭϵйϯĂŵĞĞƚŝŶŐͺE &ŵEnjhϰEnjDƚE ŐǁEŝϬϬ dĚů>dŐϮ d ƚ ŵ:ŝ ũŚũEdůŚzd ũйϰϬƚŚƌĞĂĚ͘ǀϮͬϬ͍ĐŽŶƚĞdžƚсйϳďйϮϮdŝĚйϮϮйϯĂй ϮϮϮϬĞϮϳϳϬϬͲďϲϳϬͲϰϱϱϯͲĂϮϳĐͲĚϴĞϮϱϴϯďϯϮϴϵйϮϮйϮĐйϮϮKŝĚйϮϮйϯĂйϮϮϴϭďĞϵĞϯĂͲϬϲϱϲͲϰĞϵϰͲϵϮϰϱͲĨĂϮϭϰĞďϮϬĂďϮйϮϮйϳĚ

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES UCC Public Sale Notice On January 24, 2022 at “11:00 A.M.” in the offices of Fried, FrAnk, HArris, sHriver And JAcObsOn LLP, One neW YOrk PLAZA, neW YOrk, neW YOrk 10004 and via Webex virtual link to the live auction, Jones Lang Lasalle, on behalf of 640 brOAdWAY Lender LLc, a delaware limited liability company (the “Secured Party”), will offer for sale the following interests, as permitted pursuant to the terms of a Pledge and security Agreement (the “Pledge Agreement”) between eve sTrAUsMAn WinsTOn (“Debtor”) and the secured Party and Article 9 of the Uniform commercial code of the state of new York. secured Party is offering for sale 100% of the limited liability company membership interests (together with certain related rights and property relating thereto, the “Collateral” or the “Interests”) in Winhaven 640 broadway LLc, a new York limited liability company (“Winhaven”). Winhaven is the owner of a 36.875% interest in 640 broadway Owners LLc (“Owner”). Owner is the indirect owner via certain subsidiaries in two condominium units commonly known as “The 640 broadway condominium” located at 640 broadway, new York, new York (the “Property”), together with all buildings and improvements located thereon and all appurtenant property rights relating thereto.

The sale is being made in connection with the foreclosure on a pledge of the interests to secured Party by debtor under the Pledge Agreement, pursuant to which debtor has granted to secured Party a first priority lien on the interests as collateral for the loan (the “Loan Agreement”) from secured Party to debtor. The Loan Agreement was made pursuant to the Pledge Agreement and a Promissory note dated July 8, 2014 (as amended by that certain Amendment to Promissory note dated december 27, 2016 and that certain second Amendment to Promissory note dated April 20, 2018, collectively, the “Note”, and together with the Pledge Agreement, the “Loan Documents”). The Property is subject to a mortgage loan pursuant to certain loan documents evidencing the mortgage loan.

The sale shall be a public auction to the highest qualified bidder. The interests are being offered as a single lot, “asis, where-is”, with no express or implied warranties, representations, statements or conditions of any kind made by the secured Party or any person acting for or on behalf of the secured Party, without any recourse whatsoever to the secured Party or any other person acting for or on behalf of the secured Party and each bidder must make its own inquiry regarding the interests. The winning bidder shall be responsible for the payment of all transfer taxes, stamp duties and similar taxes incurred in connection with the purchase of the interests.

There are specific requirements for any potential bidder in connection with obtaining information, bidding on the collateral, and purchasing the collateral (the “Requirements”), including without limitation, that (i) such bidder is a Qualified bidder as that term is defined in the Terms of Public sale, (ii) such bidder has satisfied all of the requirements set forth in Terms of Public sale to be a Qualified bidder and complied with the other qualifications and requirements of the Terms of Public sale, and (iii) such bidder has complied with 640 broadway Owners LLc operating agreement and the Loan documents.

The secured Party reserves the right to credit bid, set a minimum reserve price, reject all bids (including without limitation any bid that it deems to have been made by a bidder that is unable to satisfy the requirements imposed by the secured Party upon prospective bidders in connection with the sale or to whom in the secured Party’s sole judgment a sale may not lawfully be made) and terminate or adjourn the sale to another time, without further notice.

The secured Party further reserves the right to restrict prospective bidders to those who will represent that they are purchasing the interests for their own account for investment not with a view to the distribution or resale of such interests, to verify that each certificate for the interests to be sold bears a legend substantially to the effect that such interests have not been registered under the securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and may not be disposed of in violation of the provisions of the securities Act and to impose such other limitations or conditions in connection with the sale of the interests as the secured Party deems necessary or advisable in order to comply with the securities Act or any other applicable law.

All bids (other than credit bids of the secured Party) must be for cash, and the successful bidder must be prepared to deliver immediately available good funds and otherwise comply with the bidding requirements. Further information concerning the interests, the requirements for obtaining information and bidding on the interests and the Terms of sale can be found at http://www.winhaven640broadwayllcuccsale.com. brett rosenberg +1 212-812-5926; brett.rosenberg@am.jll.com

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at 312-659-0076 or claudia.hippel@crain

Notice of formation of Four On The Floor LLC, file with SOS of NY on 8/27/2021. Loc. in NYC, designed as agent upon whom process may be served SSNY, shall mail process to 135 W. 24th St, Apt. 2D, NY, NY 10011. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

The Annual Report of the Altschul Fund for the calendar year ended Dec. 31, 2020 is available at the principal office at 45 E End Ave., #2C, New York, NY 10028 for inspection during regular business hours by any citizen who requests it within 180 days hereof. Principal manager of the foundation is J. Altschul.

DECEMBER 6, 2021 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 35

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