ASKED & ANSWERED NYCHA finance exec on making funds go as far as possible PAGE 7 RARING TO GO
Bus tour firms find ways to survive until tourists return PAGE 3
CRAINSNEWYORK.COM
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AUGUST 8, 2022
HAVING A VOICE: Giant Machines co-founder Roy Yang (center) seeks to make staff feel they have access to the highest level.
WORKPLACE
How companies battling turnover turn back toxic office tendencies to engage employees
THE NEW RULES G OF WORK CULTURE
iant Machines, a small software company in the heart of the city’s Financial District, built an app for Ocean Conservancy some time ago. But employees still check the reviews to see how 90,000 users and beach cleanup volunteers are rating it. “We released it, and we moved on,” Giant MaINSIDE chines co-founder Roy Yang said. “But they’re still religiously Toxic culture and going to the app store to see how people are responding. They its remedies take personal pride in that.” PAGE 22 That sense of mission is one of the ways Giant Machines is making its culture more engaging, to defend against a potential exodus in these Great Resignation times. A year ago the company committed to leveling internal compensation to meet market salaries. Giant Machines added a learning and development team in June. Jen Cox, the company’s head of talent acquisition, said interviewing job candidates See WORK on page 22
BUCK ENNIS
BY ANNE MICHAUD
HEALTH CARE
City declared a monkeypox state of emergency. Now what? BY JACQUELINE NEBER
M
ayor Eric Adams announced a monkeypox state of emergency in New York on Aug. 1. The declaration could shift the way the city handles the outbreak, pours money into public health measures and procures vaccines from the federal
NEWSPAPER
VOL. 38, NO. 28
government. Here is everything we know so far about the state of emergency and what health providers say the city should do to prepare. What’s a state of emergency? Declaring a New York City state of emergency allows the mayor to suspend or amend local laws to protect residents. The city Health
© 2022 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on July 28 declared monkeypox an imminent threat to the state’s public health, in an effort to secure more vaccines in New York City. Dr. Jay Varma, former senior adviser for public health in the mayor’s office, told See EMERGENCY on page 22
SMALL-BIZ SPOTLIGHT
RIDE-SHARE APP TAKES PETS PLACES PAGE 6
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Department’s public health declaration of emergency allows Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the health commissioner, to order amendments to the health codes if necessary. Vasan has said declaring an emergency also could speed up the process by which the city secures contracts with vendors to provide monkeypox vaccines, testing and treatments.
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HEALTH CARE
BY MAYA KAUFMAN
I
n July a group set up tables outside Maimonides Medical Center with the battle cry “Save Maimonides.” People beckoned passersby to sign a petition, started five weeks ago by a group calling itself Brooklyn Health Initiative, with the stated goal of “restoring integrity and excellence to our cherished neighborhood hospital.” The group’s message is that the Borough Park hospital’s quality of care is deteriorating because of understaffing, mismanagement and neglect—all while its chief executive, Kenneth Gibbs, saw his compensation rise from $1.8 million in 2019 to $3.2 million in 2020. Indeed two websites, set up by the group to solicit stories on employees’ and patients’ experiences at Maimonides, have already yielded hundreds of complaints of horrific conditions at the hospital, an affiliate of Northwell Health. Neither website identifies who launched Save Maimonides. Nor do they say that behind the self-proclaimed grassroots campaign is a well-funded initiative running on a team of paid canvassers and aimed at reforming the hospital by ousting and replacing its leadership.
EVENTS CALLOUT
SEPT. 29 POWER BREAKFAST Mark your calendar to see Mayor Eric L. Adams interviewed live onstage by Crain’s New York Business Editor-inChief Cory Schouten. Find out how the mayor ranks his first year in office, his top priorities for the year ahead, how businesses can partner with the city to tackle challenges, and what big ideas and innovations will drive the city’s future. Crain’s Power Breakfasts put you in the room as we break news live onstage.
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One of the people who appears to be linked to the initiative, nursing home magnate Eliezer “Louis” Scheiner, had tried to do just that in 2020, when hospital executives met with him as part of an effort to drive more philanthropic contributions and build out its board of trustees. “In 2019 and 2020, hospital leadership engaged an individual regarding philanthropic support for the hospital,” said Gene Keilin, chairman of the Maimonides board of trustees. “In exchange for philanthropy, he proposed to name or approve a group of people to serve on the board. The group would form a majority and effectively control the hospital. When this offer was made, it was declined.” Scheiner said he would arrange tens of millions of dollars in philanthropic support in exchange for control of the board, according to senior hospital officials familiar with the matter. Gibbs, Maimonides’ CEO, declined to comment. In response to Crain’s request to interview Scheiner, his spokesman, Mercury Public Affairs President John Gallagher, said he was traveling and unavailable. Gallagher confirmed that Scheiner met with Gibbs and Keilin about helping the hospital and pledged tens of millions of dollars but said they did make an agreement, contrary to Keilin’s statement. A Maimonides spokeswoman confirmed that Scheiner has donated to the hospital through his private foundation, TL Foundation, but would not disclose the date or amount. The donation does not appear to be listed in the foundation’s most recent tax filings. Gallagher said Scheiner walked away from trying to fix the hospital one year ago and that he is not involved in or contributing to the Save Maimonides effort, although he agrees with it. But an ad in the July 13 edition of Mishpacha, a Haredi weekly magazine, which says “we are now taking action to demand the hospital improve conditions and
DAVID GROSSMAN/ALAMY
Nursing home exec linked with ‘Save Maimonides’ effort offered millions to control hospital’s board
save lives,” lists Scheiner as a signatory using a nickname, “Lazer,” according to a copy reviewed by Crain’s. Scheiner owns stakes in at least 24 nursing homes across the country, including three in New York, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Some are among the worst-rated in their states, The Intercept reported in 2020. He has poured at least $800,000 into political campaigns in recent years, including $750,000 to a super PAC for former President Donald Trump in 2019, federal campaign records show.
Necessary improvements Since it emerged several weeks ago, the Save Maimonides initiative has magnified a multitude of grievances with a hospital that largely serves lower-income patients on Medicaid and Medicare and has struggled to stay out of the red— even with financial support, staffing and expertise from Northwell, the state’s largest health care provider, under their affiliation agreement. Mendy Reiner, the group’s cochair, said conditions at the hospital came onto his radar about a year ago, but he chalked them up to the pandemic. He decided to formalize the campaign after the stories per-
sisted, but he said others in the group are reluctant to go public because they have been threatened indirectly or directly. “I realized it’s not Covid—it’s the hospital that’s broken, and we need to do something about it,” he said in an interview with Crain’s. Reiner said the goal is to collect more information and stories about the hospital. He also wants to see more government oversight. The hospital, the group notes, is rated poorly for patient experience. It has a D from the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit whose ratings are considered reliable in the industry. It is unclear who is bankrolling the group’s substantial outreach efforts, but Reiner said it has raised roughly $500,000 from various sources. The group has a YouTube channel with several videos asking viewers to “help us restore our neighborhood’s pride.” It has placed ads in Hebrew-language news outlets and made logoed caps and T-shirts. Stu Loeser, a high-profile communications strategist with his own firm and the press secretary to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is handling the group’s public relations. That financing is also going toward canvassers: Save Maimonides has been recruiting workers to hand out flyers and “spread awareness”
about the movement in Borough Park and Midwood, listings show. Union officials say the coalition is exploiting their efforts to secure safer staffing levels at the hospital. The New York State Nurses Association held a rally in February to highlight understaffing and poor working conditions at Maimonides, but the union has distanced itself from Save Maimonides. “This group has nothing to do with NYSNA, and they’ve never been a part of our union struggles,” Nancy Hagans, the union’s president and a Maimonides nurse, said in a statement. Maimonides leadership acknowledged to Crain’s that the hospital is struggling but said improvements are underway. Stephanie Baez, a spokeswoman, said the hospital hired 200 nurses in the past nine months. “We know we have work to do to enhance the patient experience, and we have a number of initiatives well underway to address this—including a major modernization of our Emergency Department that will double its size, dramatically improving the experience for patients and families,” Baez said in a statement. It also has a potential financial lifeline in Northwell. The hospital has in recent years benefited from a $125 million unsecured loan agreement with Northwell, public records show, and could see more direct financial support if Northwell advances their relationship and becomes its active parent—in other words, acquiring the hospital. As part of the affiliation agreement, Maimonides is liable to pay a $31 million breakup fee if Northwell does not become either its sole member or parent or both. Baez defended Maimonides’ clinical outcomes but said the hospital strives to improve. “We know we have work to do to improve performance when it comes to patient satisfaction,” she said, “and we are actively doing that work.” ■ Read a more comprehensive version at CrainsNewYork.com.
REAL ESTATE
Midtown office leases more than double in July BY JAMES O’DONNELL
A
mid a citywide surge in demand for office space in Manhattan, leases in Midtown more than doubled in July, according to a recent report from Colliers. The neighborhood saw more than 1.9 million square feet of office space snatched up last month, up from just 980,457 in June. Four of the five largest leases in Manhattan were in Midtown, including offices for software
company Datadog, which grabbed the largest deal at 330,000 square feet. It was the busiest month of leasing since December 2018 and more than triple the volume of July 2021. The growth came as leasing activity for office space surged almost 43% across Manhattan, to over 3.1 million square feet, the strongest total since January 2020. Midtown, defined by Colliers as spanning between 59th Street and 40th Street, has seen a resurgence in
demand recently, with companies including Roku and Salesforce both leasing offices between Bryant Park and Times Square. The neighborhood has seen heightened demand consecutively for the past five months, and its availability has tightened by 3.5 million square feet since peaking in July 2021. The average asking rent in the neighborhood rose 0.3% last month, to $79.86. On the other hand, leasing activity in Midtown South, defined by Col-
liers as between 40th Street and Canal Street, dropped by nearly a third. A renewal and expansion of Capital One’s 117,000-square-foot lease was the neighborhood’s largest transaction. Asking rents in the neighborhood, which have been higher than Midtown’s for five consecutive months, dropped 0.7%, to $81.06. Despite considerable leasing, Manhattan still has a glut of office space. Midtown has seen its supply rise 39.1% since March 2020. ■
Vol. 38, No. 28, August 8, 2022—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for no issue on 1/3/22, 7/4/22, 7/18/22, 8/1/22, 8/15/22, 8/29/22 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 2022 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | August 8, 2022
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TOURISM
BUCK ENNIS
SOME CRITICS say without a tour guide on each vehicle’s top level, tourists are at risk of being injured by stoplights and other objects.
SURVIVOR: TOUR BUS EDITION City’s last three operators of sightseeing vehicles drop live guides as they await a tourism rebound
BY BETH TREFFEISEN
T
he hulking double-decker buses that usher visitors uptown and down may seem like mere tourist traps to seasoned New Yorkers, but in reality, they are an integral part of the local tourism industry. And just like other businesses in the sector, the tour bus industry has taken a major hit during the pandemic. As operators wait for international tourism to bounce back, many of the buses have disappeared from the cityscape. The ones that remain offer scantier services, such as fewer routes and no more live tour guides—once a major draw for tourists. Now, with ridership down and regulatory hurdles on the horizon, the remaining New York operators look to chart a new course.
The end of the live tour guide Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” plays through maroon headphones given out at the start of every Big Bus tour. Beginning in Times Square, the double-decker buses usher tourists to major attractions such as the Empire State Building and Central Park. Big Bus was moving along “swimmingly”
27
barriers, many customers don’t until Covid-19 entered the city, said follow them, he said. Julia Conway, its executive vice According to Ira Berg, a former president for North America. The NUMBER of bus tour guide who was laid off by Big company operates in 23 cities total, tour companies Bus at the start of the pandemic, eight of them in the U.S. Before operating in New there are numerous incidents in 2020 it provided more than a milYork City in 1995. which drivers are involved in lion rides per year in the New York There are now crashes or riders on the top level of market. But General Manager just three. a double-decker vehicle are struck Charles Nolen said during a public by objects—traffic lights, scaffoldmeeting in 2021 that ridership had ing or tree branches. In some indeclined by as much as 95%. stances, he recalled, customers The city currently has three regisPRICE of an needed medical attention. tered double-decker hop-on, hopadult ticket on “Having a set of eyes up on top ... off operators: TopView, Gray Line one of TopView’s is absolutely essential for rider and Big Bus Tours. For all of them, all-day tours safety,” said Berg. Now, no doutour guides were an essential part ble-decker buses in the city offer of the experience prepandemic. live tour guides. The workers also, some say, played Statistics provided by Big Bus suggest that a role in ensuring passenger safety. Paul Stewart, who was a tour guide for Big the elimination of tour guides has not negaBus before the pandemic began and worked tively affected safety. The city does not keep for four months at Gray Line in 2014, told statistics on injuries specifically related to tour buses. Conway said Big Bus’ stats show a Crain’s he handled a number of rider issues. “Every day I would come back with some downward trend of injuries per mile traveled crazy story: ‘If I had not been there, this could since the pandemic began. Big Bus shared that in 2015 it saw 33.99 injuhave been a problem,’ ” said Stewart. There are rules in place for customer safe- ries per 100 million miles traveled, followed by ty, but in the excitement or due to language 47.92 in 2016, 23.29 in 2017, 61.16 in 2018 and
$75
48.14 in 2019. There were 10.3 injuries per million miles traveled in 2020, with none reported in 2021 or as of April 2022, although ridership was much lower during this time frame. “Safety is paramount for us, as it is for every transportation service provider,” said Conway. Workers unionized at TopView in 2015 and Big Bus in 2016. A year after tour guides at TopView unionized, the company switched to automated recordings. Big Bus laid off its tour guides at the start of the pandemic and has not rehired them despite restarting operations. Big Bus is happy without live tour guides for the basic hop-on, hop-off rides, although the company does see a place for them in the premium experiences, such as night tours, which haven’t made a comeback yet, Conway said. Some former guides told Crain’s they feel this puts an additional burden on the drivers, who are now responsible for answering customers’ questions in addition to driving. “Drivers are supposed to drive, and tour guides are supposed to do the tour,” said Fred Pflantzer, a former tour guide for TopView and CitySights. “You have a safety issue more See TOURS on page 20 AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3
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RESIDENTIAL SPOTLIGHT
Former governor’s grandson sheds maisonette in elite limestone tower near Central Park $17 million BY C. J. HUGHES
AMOUNT the maisonette co-op sold for, according to public records
wife, Gigi, founder of eyeglass company EyeJust, purchased a home in Palm Beach for about $7 million. At the same time, Chilean billionaire Alvaro Bendeck, who helms CorpGroup, a conglomerate in that nation, has put his five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath apartment at No. 9 2 E. 67th on the market. The asking price for the unit, which has a library, laundry room and multiple chandeliers, is $49 million. But the price of admission to the Art Deco building, which was designed by Rosario Candela, might be too steep for some. In 2019 Frances Scaife, an ex-wife of Richard Mellon Scaife, an heir to the Mellon banking and oil fortune, listed her unit, No. 5, for $55 million. Three years later the six-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bath apartment is still for sale. There does not seem to be urgency about cutting a deal: The seller has never reduced the price. In 2016, however, Scaife did manage to unload a second apartment she owned in the building, the other maisonette. Its buyer was Edmond Safra, a hedge-fund executive, who paid $6 million, records show. Safra, a scion of the Safra banking family, also owns side-by-side apartments on the fourth floor of 2 E. 67th. They cost $18 million in 2010. ■
BUCK ENNIS, GETTY IMAGES
E
ven among the clubby world of uptown co-ops, 2 E. 67th St. can feel unusually elite. Residents of the Central Park–facing building, which has about two dozen apartments, are not just powerful figures in the worlds of banking, energy and politics. They also often make multiple stops in those worlds throughout their careers. The prewar limestone tower is also the kind of place where turnover is minimal, which makes the recent spark of activity—one major trade and a potentially bigger one waiting in the wings—worth noting. This month Averell Harriman Mortimer, the grandson of former New York governor W. Averill Harriman, sold his maisonette for $17 million, based on public records. (A French term for “little house,” maisonettes typically are located on the ground floor of a building and feature a couple of floors, plus a direct entrance from the sidewalk.) The buyer was Michael Dearing, a venture capitalist from Silicon Valley and Jackson, Wyoming. In keeping with the discreet vibe of an elite group, the deal was done off-market, without brokers. A floor plan does not even appear to exist. Like others in New York’s financial industry during the pandemic, Mortimer, the chief executive of hedge fund Arden Asset Management, appears to have decamped to Florida. Last summer he and his
HUSH-HUSH SALE: Averell Harriman Mortimer and his wife, Gigi (above left), sold their co-op in the discreet East 67th Street building off-market, without brokers. A floor plan does not even appear to exist for the unit.
REAL ESTATE
One of the city’s last hourly-rate hotels is calling it quits
T
here are as many gimmicky hotels in New York as there are bagel shops, but few are relics from the city’s freewheeling, preGiuliani past. On a triangular block along 10th Avenue sits the Liberty Inn, one of the city’s last remaining “no-tell motels,” where a room can be booked by the hour. “Liberty Inn is the best romantic-themed hotel for a New York City getaway,” its website reads. “Book by the hour or spend the night with your sweetheart and enjoy all things romantic. When you’re looking for short-term-stay hotels in NYC, Liberty Inn is the place to go.” But after four decades as the city’s nicest hotel for shtupping, the 3-story, 6,735-square-foot building at 500 W. 14th St. is looking for a buyer. The building is mostly unassuming, well-maintained and discreet. Its owners expect it to sell in the mid-$20 millions, according to B6 Real Estate, the brokerage marketing the property. Current zoning laws would allow developers to
build up to 11,225 square feet on the site—nearly double the size of the current hotel. Despite its tawdry history, the hotel has received relatively good online reviews. The inn offers in-room televisions showing porn from the 1970s “that encourages debauchery”; vending machines with condoms, drinks and snacks; and mirrored ceilings and fluorescent lights, making it “a great place for afternoon whoopee,” Yelp reviewers said. The hotel is still accepting guests. Once it’s sold, it will shutter forever. Rooms start at $95 for two hours, depending on the amenities you’re looking for. An overnight stay will run you $200.
Meatpacking revamp Liberty’s current owner, Edward Raboy and his wife, took over management of the hotel in 1977, when the now-ultra-chic Meatpacking District was one of the most rundown neighborhoods in Manhattan. The area was home to slaughterhouses and meat-packaging plants that at one point in the 20th century produced one-third of the country’s
butchered meats. In 1900 the district had 250 meat-processing facilities. By the 1970s it also had a thriving gay club scene. From 1974 to 1985, the base of the hotel housed a gay BDSM sex club called The Anvil that was said to be a favorite of Freddie Mercury; other notable clubs in the area surrounded it. Raboy discovered that most of the inn’s demand then was from people who needed a room only for a couple of hours, so he leaned in to that, he said in an interview with The Whitney Museum. An email seeking comment that Crain’s sent to the hotel bounced back. Today, the building’s surroundings have completely transformed. The hotel is sandwiched between fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg’s 14th Street boutique and a $260 million public park, Little Island, she funded with her husband. A Tesla dealership and Google’s Hudson Square campus are nearby. Down the street, a latte at Kobrick Coffee Co. costs $6, while trendy restaurants and hotels have made use of the formerly dilapidated buildings. Apartments in the area
THE LIBERTY INN’s owners expect its sale price to be in the mid-$20 millions. NATALIE SACHMECHI
BY NATALIE SACHMECHI
command some of the highest rents in the city. All the while, the Liberty Inn has stuck to its roots. The hotel’s decision to sell is bittersweet for Jeffrey LeFrancois, executive director of the Meatpacking Business Improvement District. “For a lot of folks, that this hotel is still there is a pleasant surprise,” he said. “It’s not entirely surprising that it’s now on the market.” The partners that own the building have simply decided to move on, said their broker, Brock Emmetsberger, but not because business is bad. “From speaking with management, it seems to be doing just fine
right now,” he said. As for what will become of the building, it’s currently zoned as M15, meaning it can be used for retail, hospitality or hotel purposes. As it stands, it’s one of the rare glimpses of a Meatpacking District few New Yorkers seem to recognize. “I love that the Liberty Inn is still around despite the ‘clean-up’ of the Meatpacking District,” Rose F. wrote in a review. She said she used to bring her boyfriends there to avoid sleeping with them in her family’s apartment. “Maybe I'll bring my husband there sometime, for old times’ sake.” She better get moving. ■
4 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022
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CN020869.indd 1
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SMALL- BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
FOCAL POINTS
BUCK ENNIS
COMPANY NAME SpotOn.Pet SRINIVASAN, who co-founded SpotOn. Pet, uses the service with her potbellied pig, Anjali.
FOUNDED 2016 CO-FOUNDERS Aparna Srinivasan and John Bentley II EMPLOYEES Two full-time staffers with about 30,000 drivers
Ride-share app wants to take your pet places BY CAROLINE SPIVACK
F
or Aparna Srinivasan, booking a rideshare to the airport was like playing roulette. Often Uber or Lyft drivers would take one look at her 85-pound chocolate lab, Raja, and her 50-pound lab pei, Krishna, and wouldn’t bother stopping. When she did make it into a car, it was always a negotiation of putting a towel down and assuring the nervous driver that her pooches were well behaved. Fed up with the hassle, in 2016 Srinivasan, who at the time ran a 12-year-old marketing company she founded in California, polled travelers and e-hail drivers on the issue, and informally launched a pilot (with Srinivasan mostly at the wheel) for a pet-centric ride-share service. “I came at it from a consumer perspective of ‘What can we do to minimize the stress of traveling with your pet in an Uber or Lyft or taxi?’” said Srinivasan. She jumped coasts to cater to New York’s abundance of carless pet owners. Five years later, and more than $630,000 in fundraising on a $3 million valuation, Srinivasan is the co-founder and CEO of SpotOn.Pet, an appbased ride-hailing service that caters to the five boroughs. The platform’s network of 30,000 drivers now provides more than 25,000 monthly trips and closed 2021 with more than $1 million in ride sales, she said. In the spring the company hit the milestone of partnering with one of the city’s largest taxi apps, Arro, to take on all of the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority’s Access-A-Ride paratransit trips routed through the app with service animals. The profile-raising partnership sets up the firm for “a really awesome expansion” into linking with other public accessibility programs as the company works to build its footprint, said Srinivasan. “We’re here to make sure people that need a ride, get a ride,” said Srinivasan, who these days regularly uses the app with Krishna and her potbellied pig, Anjali.
Running with the big dogs A ride with SpotOn.Pet takes a bit of planning. Passengers have to book a trip with their four-legged friends at least two hours in advance. But users have the freedom to request drivers they’ve used before and liked, or block drivers they disliked. Each driver is vetted through animal cruelty databases and trained on pet-friendly best practices. Rides come with equipment to keep pets safe and comfortable, including seat covers, harnesses to securely strap them in and, in some cars, GPS-trackable pet crates. SpotOn.Pet’s co-founder and CTO, John Bentley II, spent a month as an Uber driver in the evenings and on weekends to see how the pet-friendly service could improve the driver experience. That starts by providing greater compensation than the industry average, which is anywhere from 40% to 50% of a fare, and being upfront about the destination of a ride so drivers can decide if a fare makes sense for them to take on.
“We don’t play games with drivers,” said Bentley, who works remotely from Cincinnati, Ohio, and has a 13-year-old Chihuahua named Ivy. “We never thought to include any type of surge or things like that where we try to manipulate drivers.” How much a trip will run customers depends on where they’re going, but Srinivasan says an average ride typically costs around $40. The pricing structure is comparable to premium services like Uber Black and Lyft Lux, but drivers receive 85% of the price of the ride—making driving for SpotOn.Pet more of a draw compared to its e-hail competitors, the co-founders say. Dogs and cats are routine, but New Yorkers have also booked trips with cockatoos, bunnies, ferrets, chinchillas and even an iguana. For Maria Velez, 33, the app has fundamentally changed how she gets around the city with her 13-year-old pit bull, Kupa. She has booked trips some two dozen times, mostly for veterinarian appointments from Bay Ridge to the Upper East Side, but also to events she never would have gone to with her dog. “I’ve always wanted to do more things with him, and last November I took a car with Kupa to a pet expo,” she said. “I never thought that was something we’d be able to do together.”
Spreading its wings The company has recently built off the pet-only rides it first piloted in 2019. The model is simple: Pet owners book a ride for their animal, fasten them into the car, and
REVENUE “We closed 2021 with over a million in ride sales,” Srinivasan said. PRICE POINT How much a trip costs depends on where a customer is going, but Srinivasan said an average ride is typically around $40. GROWING FOOTPRINT “We’re looking to expand outside of the five boroughs, outside of the United States,” said Srinivasan. “But it starts by doing what we need to do in New York.” WEBSITE spoton.pet Fido goes on a solo trip to the vet, groomer or day care. SpotOn.Pet communicates with whoever is receiving the animal to let them know when to expect Fido—the company is working on allowing customers to track the ride on the app. Initially, the service was on a limited trial with the company’s veterinary partners, but demand soared when Covid-19 hit New York. The plan is for SpotOn.Pet to expand into major markets across the U.S. Growth is already underway in parts of Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, mainly through the app’s pet-only service. Permits for people trips in those areas are pending. To help with those plans, the company is working to raise $2 million with a $12 million valuation cap. “We want to penetrate more of the five boroughs because there’s a lot to do but we’re also looking beyond,” said Srinivasan. “Because it’s not just about getting your pet somewhere; it’s about being able to spend more time with them. And we want to make that a safe, convenient, affordable option for everyone.” ■
6 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022
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ASKED & ANSWERED New York City Housing Authority
WHO SHE IS Executive vice president and chief financial officer, New York City Housing Authority
INTERVIEW BY BRIAN PASCUS
A
AGE 33
s chief financial officer of the New York City Housing Authority, Annika LescottMartinez is one of the five borough’s most important accountants. She holds influence over the finances and rent rolls of the largest public housing operation in the country. The agency recently passed a budget with a $35 million deficit, and its buildings need $40 billion worth of capital repairs, placing pressure on Lescott-Martinez to find a way to make every dollar go as far as possible. However, she says she’s confident the budget gap will be closed this year.
GREW UP Flatbush, Brooklyn RESIDES Riverdale, the Bronx EDUCATION Bachelor’s in international affairs and Spanish language literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; master’s in public administration, Columbia University DOG DAYS She and her husband have a French bulldog. WHITE HOUSE WORK: Lescott-Martinez served as a presidential management fellow under Barack Obama and Donald Trump from 2015 to 2017. DIVERSE VIEWS Her favorite book is Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. “It was the first time I was exposed to a different perspective of American history,” she said. “It opened my eyes to the importance of diverse viewpoints and stories.”
You joined NYCHA in 2018, right as the federal monitor had been appointed and a series of negative stories came out about its apartments. Why did you choose to join the agency at that juncture?
The Housing and Urban Development Agreement, signed in January 2019, was a pivotal moment in public housing history. Never before had a housing authority in the United States been tasked to reform its systems and operations at this scale. At the same time, the authority was reckoning with the compounding effects of more than four decades of government disinvestment in public housing across the nation. As a native New Yorker, I welcomed the opportunity to use my experience with public housing policy and housing finance at the federal level to help solve the local challenges faced in my community.
Some resident groups argue that NYCHA properties have lacked in timely repairs.
The majority of our buildings are more than a halfcentury old and have missed out on several cycles of recapitalization. Because of this, the federal, state and city funding we receive will never fully meet their needs. We expect to collect about $867 million in rent this year, nearly $130 million less than we should be collecting. Even with the decline in rent revenue, we increased our investment in the HUD
Agreement pillar areas and have allocated additional funding for the comprehensive modernization of two NYCHA developments.
NYCHA’s deficit is expected to grow from $35 million this year to $279 million in 2026. Can you close that gap?
We believe we can close this year’s gap. We will implement cost-saving measures as necessary. However, the days of shifting scarce resources and piecemeal fixes must end. Together with our federal, state and city partners, NYCHA must implement creative strategies to bring residents the quality of life they deserve.
Is there a backup plan for NYCHA’s rainy day fund if it runs dry in 2023?
As part of our efforts to close this year’s budget gap, we anticipate withdrawing $100 million from our operating reserves, leaving just over one month of reserves for 2023. We will also use $80 million in restricted proceeds from PACT deals. And we will shift 35% of our federal capital grant for our basic operations, because lack of investment in the buildings is driving up the costs to simply sustain them.
Where is there inaction that frustrates you?
We’re grateful for supportive administrations that are helping NYCHA with resources, but we didn’t get in this situation overnight. For many years we’ve been dealing with federal disinvestment and lack of resources from the state. We’ve seen increases in federal operating [funds] and capital, but this is after decades of disinvestments. That is what’s frustrating. ■
BUCK ENNIS
ANNIKA LESCOTT-MARTINEZ
DOSSIER
A healthier tomorrow depends on recruiting the next generation of health care workers. So we created the Spark! Challenge— a program exposing students to exciting medical careers, from radiology to neurosurgery. Find out more at RaiseHealth.com
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president & ceo K.C. Crain group publisher Jim Kirk publisher/executive editor
EDITORIAL
Frederick P. Gabriel Jr.
Local and federal leaders still have time to correct their monkeypox stumbles
managing editor Telisha Bryan assistant managing editor Anne Michaud data editor Amanda Glodowski
additional risk to a community still reeling from Covid-19. Our economy can ill afford another round of shutdowns and more fear and uncertainty around community spread of a scary disease. New York leads the nation in monkeypox cases, recording more than 1,600 as of Aug. 2, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Fortunately, local leaders are showing signs they are taking the threat seriously. Late last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a monkeypox state of emergency. Mayor Eric Adams followed with a similar move Aug. 1. Monkeypox is spread through close physical contact with an infected person or bodily fluid. It can affect anyone, though the recent outbreak has been spreading almost exclusively among gay and bisexual men. Some public-health officials have been concerned about stigmatizing monkeypox as a gay disease. Officials also have challenged the disease’s problematic moniker. Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the city’s health commissioner, sent a letter to the World Health Organization to
ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY SHOULD ACCOMPANY EACH MOVE spread—or as deadly—meaning our public-health leaders still can stamp out the threat with the right mix of testing, treatment and efficient vaccine deployment to at-risk communities. Coordinated and decisive action is required to prevent the often-painful viral disease from establishing endemic status, like the flu, and posing an
editor-in-chief Cory Schouten,
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I
t’s becoming clear that our federal and local publichealth apparatuses still have much to learn and reform when it comes to preparing for and confronting emerging diseases, even after waves of stumbles in response to Covid-19. The dubious early government response to monkeypox— including a lack of testing infrastructure, a depleted vaccine stockpile, confusing messaging on the risks of transmission, and a botched rollout of vaccine scheduling—feels ominously familiar. And monkeypox, in contrast to the early days of Covid-19, is a well-understood disease with a proven vaccine. Luckily it’s not as easily
EDITORIAL
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make a case for a new name. Vasan’s good intentions notwithstanding, public-health leaders must prioritize containing the outbreak. The mission will require candid public-health messaging, efficient screening, easier access to antiviral treatments for those infected, and a readily available supply of the vaccine, which originally was developed for smallpox. There’s no excuse for more tech failures around vaccine scheduling. The U.S. supply of the vaccine, Jynneos, has been running short. The federal government let its stockpile of more than 20 million doses expire without replacement. The feds now plan to release about
1.1 million total doses. More than 110,000 additional doses are on the way to New York, for a total of 170,000 to date. The government also pushed testing capacity from 6,000 per week to 80,000. It’s unclear how local leaders will use their newly declared emergency authority. Covidrelated actions have included a private-sector vaccine requirement and an expansion of outdoor dining. But any moves should be accompanied by accountability from our publichealth leaders and transparency with the public about what we know about monkeypox, what we don’t know, and how we’ll tackle the challenge together. ■
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OP-ED
REPRINTS
Workers should benefit from any value that’s derived from data they generate BY SIMON TANGNEY
L
ast month the New York state Legislature passed the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, sponsored by Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos and Bronx Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner. The bill has historic implications for the city as the home of JFK8, the only unionized Amazon fulfillment center in the country. In April the Amazon Labor Union was elected to represent the Staten Island facility’s 8,000 employees. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act regulates pace-of-work quotas in warehouse distribution centers such as JFK8: those that employ more than 100 people in a single facility or more than 500 statewide. But the act is unique from AB 701, the 2021 California bill by which it was inspired, because it also grants those workers open access to the data they generate in the workplace, and aggregat-
ed data for similar employees. Employers use data generated by workers to hone workplace practices and measure individual productivity. Data is also a commodity in its own right. Information produced by Uber drivers is used by urban planners studying traffic patterns. Lyft has used the data produced by its drivers to inform the continued Citi Bike rollout. Lawmakers around the country, however, have largely failed to ad-
dress issues around workplace data. The Warehouse Worker Protection Act represents a vital step forward in regulating large employers as they collect, store and monetize data. Workers should be the primary beneficiaries of any value derived from the data they generate. The act provides a framework to that end. The Amazon Labor Union is a long way from the formal bargaining process, through which it might negotiate the application of algorithmic management tools or the scope of workplace surveillance. The nascent union effort faces various legal challenges from Amazon that may take months or years to resolve.
A historic opportunity Even in the absence of formal recognition from Amazon, however, the Warehouse Worker Protection Act creates a historic opportunity to organize around worker-
generated data. As individuals now have the right to access their personal data, the Amazon Labor Union could move to create its own database for the workers it represents. It could create institutional support for individuals facing disciplinary action, providing comparative analysis based on aggregate data. But first, Gov. Kathy Hochul must sign the bill, which has not yet been presented to her. Once it’s in effect, it authorizes the state labor commissioner to issue rules enforcing its provisions. Lawmakers and advocates must call upon the Department of Labor to ensure that the system adopted by Amazon to comply with the act’s specific data provisions is transparent and easily accessible. ■ Simon Tangney is a freelance consultant and a recent graduate of the City University of New York’s School of Law.
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8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022
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OP-ED
BY REBEKAH PAXTON
E
ffective July 1, David Chang’s Momofuku Ko reversed an experiment to eliminate tipping to maintain menu prices and “increase total [employee] compensation.” What changed? Management found the flat-wage system caused a “complete turnover” of service staff. New York legislators facing calls to pursue a similar policy statewide should take note. Chang’s restaurant isn’t the first to learn this lesson the hard way. After Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group switched to a notip model with higher flat wages, 40% of his long-term staff left because of the hit on their income. Tom Colicchio did the same at Flatiron-based Craft, saying servers would have to earn $55 per hour to make up for lost tips. What inspired such a compensation change in the first place? Blame the controversial Restaurant Opportunities Center and its sister
nonprofit, One Fair Wage. ROC has lobbied unsuccessfully in New York and elsewhere to eliminate the separate minimum wage for servers and bartenders. ROC calls the system exploitative, yet tipped restaurant employees themselves have led the charge to keep the current tipping system in place. ROC’s own city restaurant, Colors, designed to show how employees could be treated better, closed permanently in 2020 following allegations of worker mistreatment and missed paychecks.
The system works The tipped-wage system works: Restaurants can keep prices reasonable, and tipped workers can earn far more than minimum wage. A Cornell University economist found servers and bartenders in states with a robust tipped-minimum-wage system earn better tip percentages than those in states without one. When operators or legislators upset that balance, the industry
and its employees suffer. When minimum wages spike, operators must adjust. If they can’t offset costs through higher menu prices, they may scale back schedules or increase self-service components, resulting in fewer people employed. Consider New York. Though the state currently retains a modest wage credit for tip income, it doubled the tipped minimum wage from $5 in 2015 to as high as $10 per hour. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows despite restaurant employment growth nationwide, New York experienced a rapid decline in restaurant employment coinciding with recent tipped-wage increases. This isn’t isolated: Studying a decade of state tipped-wage increases, including New York’s, UC-Irvine economists found a dollar increase resulted in more than a 6% decrease in full-service restaurant employment. There’s bad news even for those who stay employed: The same dollar increase caused a comparable drop in tipped em-
BLOOMBERG
Flat-compensation, no-tipping experiments—flops at city restaurants—cause massive staff turnover
ployees’ overall earnings, likely as shifts were reduced or customers decreased tipping.
Broken promises Don’t tell that to New York’s leftof-center legislators. Several proposals have been made to raise state minimum—and minitipped mum—wages to as high as $20.45 per hour. These bills are built on a premise of broken promises of high-
er wages for restaurant workers. “Fair” wage promises by union-funded activists have not been kept—and many restaurant employees are worse off because of them. New York should steer clear of the flat-wage experiment that many have tried and reversed. ■ Rebekah Paxton is the director of research and state coalitions at the Employment Policies Institute.
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Advertising Section To place your listing, visit www.crainsnewyork.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
LAW
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
REAL ESTATE
The LiRo Group
Nixon Peabody LLP
Crowe LLP
Crowe LLP
Cresa
The LiRo Group is pleased to announce the recent hire of Phillip Eng, PE to Executive Vice President. Phil has joined LiRo after a 40-year career in public service in which his most prominent role was President of the MTA Long Island Rail Road. Mr. Eng will be a vital contributor across all business sectors of our LiRo family while bringing his public sector experience in guiding and driving LiRo’s continued success in our current markets and future growth and expansion opportunities.
Nixon Peabody LLP is pleased to announce that Sami Groff has joined the firm as a partner on the Environmental team in the Affordable Housing & Real Estate practice group. Sami represents a range of clients—including lenders and borrowers—in the environmental aspects of transactional, regulatory, and litigation matters in real estate finance and securitization. She also represents property and business owners in transactions, regulatory enforcement actions, and private disputes.
Matthew Rosenblatt, CPA, was recently promoted to partner in audit services at Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm with offices around the world. He has been with the firm for over eight years. Rosenblatt specializes in external and specialized audit services and is the New York lead specialist for the software and technology industry. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Hofstra University and is a member of the NYSCPA..
James Statler, CPA, was recently promoted to partner in audit services at Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm. He has been with the firm for over 10 years. Statler specializes in providing external audit services. He received his Bachelor of Science in business administration from Xavier University. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Veteran real estate leader Greg Schementi has joined Cresa, the world’s leading occupiercentric commercial real estate firm, as President. He will continue to steer Cresa on its growth path while ensuring its advisors and offices are set up for optimal client service and success. Mr. Schementi previously served as President, Americas Tenant Representation, at Cushman & Wakefield.
LAW
LAW
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
REAL ESTATE
Latham & Watkins LLP
Nixon Peabody LLP
Crowe LLP
Crowe LLP
Rockefeller Group
John Kelley has joined the New York office of Latham & Watkins as a partner in the Investment Funds Practice and member of the Corporate Department. Kelley represents investment managers in all aspects of their business and operations, with a particular emphasis on the structuring and execution of secondary transactions and liquidity solutions for fund sponsors, and the formation of private investment funds, including for firms raising private credit funds.
Nixon Peabody LLP is pleased to announce that Johnny Hutchinson has joined the firm as a partner in its nationally recognized Project Finance and Public Finance practice group. He is experienced in all types of public finance tax issues, with a focus on tax-advantaged financings in the airport, higher education, and healthcare sectors. He also represents issuers and private borrowers before the IRS on a range of tax-related issues. He graduated with a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University.
Carl Karpiak was promoted to managing director in tax services at Crowe LLP, an accounting, consulting, and technology firm with offices around the world. Karpiak will advise clients on tax structuring and due diligence in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring. He received a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Crowe LLP would like to announce the hiring of Kristin Orrell, CPA, as a managing director in advisory services. In her role, she assists clients with all facets of accounting needs, from complex reporting requirements to strategic transactions to finance transformation. Orrell received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the College of William and Mary and is a member of AICPA and the New York State Society of CPAs.
Michael Wildes has joined the company as Vice President, Property Operations, a new position. He has nearly 20 years of experience in New York City property management and building operations, and will be based in the company’s New York headquarters. He was previously Vice President, Portfolio Manager, with SL Green Realty Corp. Mr. Wildes will oversee all aspects of property and facilities management for the company’s New York office portfolio, which totals approximately 6 million square feet.
LAW
Littler Mendelson William Anthony has joined Littler as a shareholder in its New York City office. His over thirty years of employment law experience provides clients with strategic, businessfocused advice on compliance with employment statutes and regulations. Anthony has litigated cases in more than fifteen states, including taking matters to trial in six states. He represents employers in complex class and collective actions, as well as single and multi-plaintiff litigation.
RECOGNIZE INDUSTRY ACHIEVERS IN CRAIN’S
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THE LIST LARGEST ENGINEERING FIRMS Ranked by number of New York–area engineers
AMANDA.GLODOWSKI@CRAINSNEWYORK.COM
NEW YORK–AREA ENGINEERS 2021/ 2020
WORLDWIDE ENGINEERS 2021/ 2020
2021 FIRMWIDE REVENUE (IN MILLIONS)
Lou Cornell Chief executive
750 711
28,176 26,676
$8,223.3
Construction mgmt.: 14% Engineering: 85% Facility assessment: 1%
66 Hudson Blvd. (The Spiral); LaGuardia Airport redevelopment
917-661-7800 thorntontomasetti.com
Thomas Scarangello Executive chairman Peter DiMaggio Michael Squarzini Co-chief executives
365 348
1,000 1,000
$290.0
Architecture: 2% Engineering: 67% Facility assessment: 25% Other: 6%
David Geffen Hall renovation; JFK New Terminal One
AECOM 605 Third Ave. New York, NY 10158
212-973-2900 aecom.com
Thomas Prendergast New York metro executive
340 217
12,255 12,315
$13,341.0
Architecture: 25% Construction mgmt.: 20% Engineering: 55%
n/d
Langan 21 Penn Plaza New York, NY 10001
212-479-5400 langan.com
David Gockel President, chief executive
337 328
706 649
$374.0
Engineering: 100%
GPI Greenman-Pedersen Inc. 325 W. Main St. Babylon, NY 11702
631-587-5060 gpinet.com
Gregory Zenk Executive vice president, metro-area branch manager
240 234
638 404
$306.4 Construction inspection: 43% Engineering: 48% Other: 9%
Hunts Point Interstate access improvement project from RFK Bridge interchange to Barretto Street; George Washington Bridge capital and operating construction program
Hardesty & Hanover 1501 Broadway New York, NY 10036
212-944-1150 hardestyhanover.com
Sean Bluni Chief executive
173 160
280 269
$124.8
Construction inspection: 7% Construction mgmt.: 8% Engineering: 85%
Rumson–Sea Bright Bridge over the Shrewsbury River; Kew Gardens Interchange
Jacobs 1 Penn Plaza, Suite 54 New York, NY 10019
908-646-6550 jacobs.com
Shivani Patel Director of New York operations
172 154
13,727 12,538
$14,100.0
Architecture: 4% Construction inspection: 13% Construction mgmt.: 35% Engineering: 46% Facility assessment: 2%
STV 225 Park Ave. South New York, NY 10003
212-777-4400 stvinc.com
Greg Kelly President, chief executive
158 183
425 551
$631.1
Architecture: 30% Construction inspection: 4% Construction mgmt.: 23% Engineering: 43%
MTA LIRR Elmont Station; MTA NYCT ADA upgrades at eight stations
Stantec Consulting Services Inc. 475 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10017
212-366-5600 stantec.com
Tom Walsh Vice president
133 141
3,334 3,396
$3,650.6
Architecture: 14% Engineering: 86%
One Vanderbilt transit improvements
Dewberry 132 W. 31st St. New York, NY 10001
212-685-0900 dewberry.com
Craig Johnson Executive vice president John Boule II Senior vice president
123 119
719 678
$488.1
Construction inspection: 1% Engineering: 53% Other: 46%
Water mains to City Island; designbuild of Van Wyck Expressway
HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture 350 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10118
212-594-9717 hntb.com
Phillip Brake Senior vice president
102 131
1,200 1,200
$1,446.5
Architecture: 1% Construction inspection: 6% Construction mgmt.: 12% Engineering: 81%
ADA accessibility upgrade; MTAC&D MNR Penn Station access
H2M Architects & Engineers 538 Broad Hollow Road Melville, NY 11747
631-756-8000 h2m.com
Richard Humann President, chief executive
97 91
97 91
$86.9
Engineering: 66%
The LiRo Group 3 Aerial Way Syosset, NY 11703
516-938-5476 liro.com
Rocco Trotta Chairman Richard Cavallaro Chief executive
95 116
103 125
$434.0
Architecture: 2% Construction inspection: 36% Construction mgmt.: 51% Engineering: 9% Other: 2%
14
Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers PLLC 225 W. 34th St. New York, NY 10122
917-339-9300 mrce.com
Peter Deming Senior principal
67 75
67 75
$30.5
Engineering: 100%
14
Tectonic Engineering Consultants, Geologists & Land Surveyors, D.P.C. 118-35 Queens Blvd. Forest Hills, NY 11375
718-391-9200 Donald Benvie tectonicengineering.com President, chief executive
67 65
79 76
$93.2 Construction inspection: 31% Construction mgmt.: 34% Engineering: 27% Other: 8%
NYCDEP Shafts 17B-1 & 18B-1 connection to third water tunnel; NYSDOT Van Wyck Expressway improvements to JFK
AKF Group 200 Liberty St. New York, NY 10281
212-354-5656 akfgroup.com
Dino DeFeo Managing partner
62 60
90 87
$60.0
LaGuardia Airport new Terminal B eastern concourse; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory campus wide upgrades
Boswell Engineering 330 Phillips Ave. South Hackensack, NJ 07606
201-641-0770 boswellengineering.com
Stephen Boswell President, chief executive
56 58
60 61
$46.2 Construction inspection: 72% Engineering: 28%
New York State Department of Transportation; Port Authority of NY & NJ
Jaros, Baum & Bolles 80 Pine Street New York, NY 10005
212-530-9300 jbb.com
Scott Frank Walter Mehl Jr. Mark Torre Co-managing partners
52 50
54 51
$64.4
Moynihan Train Hall; Javits
McLaren Engineering Group 131 W. 35th St. New York, NY 10001
212-324-6300 mgmclaren.com
Malcolm McLaren Chief executive
49 85
64 76
$39.0 Construction inspection: 15% Engineering: 85%
RANK
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
16 17 18 19
COMPANY/ ADDRESS
PHONE NUMBER/ WEBSITE
SENIOR EXECUTIVE(S)
WSP USA 1 Penn Plaza New York, NY 10119
212-465-5000 wsp.com
Thornton Tomasetti Inc. 120 Broadway New York, NY 10271
P011_P012_CN_20220808.indd 11
NEW YORK–AREA SERVICE MIX (PORTION OF BILLINGS)
Engineering: 100%
Engineering: 94%
RECENT PROJECTS/CLIENTS
550 Washington St.; TSX Times Square
MTA; NYC Department of Environmental Protection
Bay View heating plant; AOP pilot treatment for Water Authority of Great Neck North Metropolitan Transportation Authority; NYC Department of Design and Construction
Javits Center Expansion; NYSDOT D/ B for Hunts Point interstate access improvement project
6% | CRAIN’S Convention Center expansion AugustOther: 8, 2022 NEW YORK BUSINESS | 11
One Times Square construction 8/4/22 engineering; Pier 94 redevelopment
3:13 PM
Other: 2%
14
Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers PLLC 225 W. 34th St. New York, NY 10122
917-339-9300 mrce.com
Tectonic Engineering Consultants, Geologists & Land Surveyors, D.P.C. 118-35 Queens Blvd. Forest Hills, NY 11375
718-391-9200 Donald Benvie tectonicengineering.com President, chief executive
THE 14 LIST
Peter Deming Senior principal
LARGEST ENGINEERING FIRMS AKF Group 212-354-5656 Dino DeFeo 200 Liberty St. akfgroup.com Managing partner
16 17 1 18 19 2 20 3 21 4 22 5 23 6 24 7 RANK
67 75
67 75
$30.5
67 65
79 76
$93.2 Construction inspection: 31% Construction mgmt.: 34% Engineering: 27% Other: 8%
NYCDEP Shafts 17B-1 & 18B-1 connection to third water tunnel; NYSDOT Van Wyck Expressway improvements to JFK
62 60
90 87
$60.0
Engineering: 100%
LaGuardia Airport new Terminal B eastern concourse; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory campus wide upgrades
56 NEW YORK–AREA ENGINEERS 2021/ 58 2020
60 WORLDWIDE ENGINEERS 2021/ 61 2020
$46.2 2021 FIRMWIDE REVENUE (IN MILLIONS)
Construction inspection: 72% NEW YORK–AREA SERVICE28% MIX Engineering:
$8,223.3 $64.4
Construction mgmt.: 94% 14% Engineering: Engineering: Other:85% 6% Facility assessment: 1%
Engineering: 100%
New York, NY 10281
Javits Center Expansion; NYSDOT D/ B for Hunts Point interstate access improvement project
Boswell Engineering COMPANY/ 330 Phillips Ave. ADDRESS South Hackensack, NJ 07606
201-641-0770 PHONE NUMBER/ boswellengineering.com
Stephen Boswell President, chief executive
WSP USA Jaros, Baum & Bolles 1 Penn 80 PinePlaza Street 10119 New York, NY 10005
212-465-5000 212-530-9300 wsp.com jbb.com
Lou Cornell Scott Frank Chief executive Walter Mehl Jr. Mark Torre Co-managing partners
750 52 711 50
28,176 54 26,676 51
Thornton Engineering Tomasetti Inc. McLaren Group 120 W. Broadway 131 35th St. 10271 New York, NY 10001
917-661-7800 212-324-6300 thorntontomasetti.com mgmclaren.com
365 49 348 85
1,000 64 1,000 76
KS Engineers, P.C. 2 Riverfront Plaza AECOM NJ 07102-5453 Newark, 605 Third Ave. New York, NY 10158
973-623-2999 kseng.com 212-973-2900 aecom.com
Thomas Scarangello Malcolm McLaren Executive chairman Chief executive Peter DiMaggio Michael Squarzini Kamal PE Co-chiefShahid executives President Thomas Prendergast New York metro executive
48 48 340 217
48 48 12,255 12,315
Syska Hennessy Group LanganSixth Ave. 1185 21 Penn New York,Plaza NY 10036 New York, NY 10001 Gilsanz Murray Steficek GPI Greenman-Pedersen Inc. 129 W. 27th St. 325 W. Main New York, NY St. 10001 Babylon, NY 11702 Lilker Associates Consulting Engineers 1001 Sixth Ave. New York, NY 10018 Hardesty & Hanover 1501 Broadway New York, NY 10036 Naik Group 111 W. 33rd St. Jacobs New York, NY 10120 1 Penn Plaza, Suite 54 New York, NY 10019
212-921-2300 212-479-5400 syska.com langan.com
Gary Brennen David Gockel Cyrus Izzo President, chief executive Presidents
40 337 49 328
106 706 118 649
$110.1 $374.0
212-254-0030 631-587-5060 gmsllp.com gpinet.com
Ramon Gilsanz Gregory Zenk Founding partner Executive vice president, metro-area branch manager Bruce Lilker, President Serge Budzyn Executive vice president Steve Hammer Sean Bluni David Tanenbaum Chief executive Senior vice presidents
39 240 42 234
41 638 44 404
38 28
42 32
$19.8 Engineering: 100% $306.4 Construction inspection: 43% Engineering: 48% Other: 9% $25.8 Engineering: 100%
550 Washington St.; 76 Trinity Place Hunts Point Interstate access improvement project from RFK Bridge interchange to Barretto The Flatiron Building; 100 Pearl Street; George Washington BridgeSt.; The Mandarin Hotel & construction Residences capital and operating program
173 160
280 269
$124.8
Sanjay Naik, President Moe Soliman Shivani Patel Executive vice president Director Maguire of New York operations Lindsay Vice president, New York operations
33 28 172 154
33 28 13,727 12,538
Rumson–Sea Bright Bridge over the Shrewsbury River; Kew Gardens Interchange MTA/NYCT station reconstruction; ADA accessibility Times Square/ MTA; NYC Department Grand Central Station of Environmental Protection
WEBSITE
212-695-1000 lilker.com 212-944-1150 hardestyhanover.com 212-575-2701 naikgroup.com 908-646-6550 jacobs.com
SENIOR EXECUTIVE(S)
(PORTION OF BILLINGS)
$290.0 2% $39.0 Construction Architecture: inspection: 15% 67% Engineering: 85% Facility assessment: 25% Other: 6% $46.5 Construction inspection: 25% Construction mgmt.: 40% $13,341.0 Architecture: 25% Engineering: 30% Construction mgmt.: 20% Facility assessment: 5% Engineering: 55% Engineering: 96% Engineering: 100% Facility assessment: 4%
Construction inspection: 7% Construction mgmt.: 8% Engineering: 85% $27.3 Construction inspection: 15% Construction mgmt.: 50% $14,100.0 Architecture:35% 4% Engineering: Construction inspection: 13% Construction mgmt.: 35% Engineering: 46% Facility assessment: 2%
New York State Department of Transportation; Port Authority of NY RECENT & NJ PROJECTS/CLIENTS 66 HudsonTrain Blvd.Hall; (TheJavits Spiral); Moynihan LaGuardia Airport Convention Centerredevelopment expansion
DavidTimes Geffen Hall renovation; JFK One Square construction New TerminalPier One94 redevelopment engineering; MTA C&D / LIRR, design build services for replacement of Cherry n/d Road Bridge Valley
Mount Sinai Health System; 550 Washington St.; TSX Times BlackRock Square
New York area includes New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties in New York, and Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties in New Jersey. Crain's New York Business uses research, extensive surveys and the most current 212-777-4400 Greglistings Kelly are complete. To qualify for this list, an158 425 a New York–area $631.1 30% MTA LIRR Elmont Station; MTA NYCT referencesSTV available to produce its lists, but there is no guarantee that these engineering firm must have office and projectsArchitecture: in the area. Executives may have additional titles. 225 Park Ave. South stvinc.com President, chief executive 183 551 Construction inspection: 4% ADA upgrades at eight stations n/d-Not disclosed.
8
9 10 11 12 13
New York, NY 10003
Construction mgmt.: 23% Engineering: 43%
Stantec Consulting Services Inc. 475 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10017
212-366-5600 stantec.com
Tom Walsh Vice president
133 141
3,334 3,396
$3,650.6
Architecture: 14% Engineering: 86%
Dewberry 132 W. 31st St. New York, NY 10001
212-685-0900 dewberry.com
Craig Johnson Executive vice president John Boule II Senior vice president
123 119
719 678
$488.1
Construction inspection: 1% Engineering: 53% Other: 46%
Water mains to City Island; designbuild of Van Wyck Expressway
HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture 350 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10118
212-594-9717 hntb.com
Phillip Brake Senior vice president
102 131
1,200 1,200
$1,446.5
Architecture: 1% Construction inspection: 6% Construction mgmt.: 12% Engineering: 81%
ADA accessibility upgrade; MTAC&D MNR Penn Station access
H2M Architects & Engineers 538 Broad Hollow Road Melville, NY 11747
631-756-8000 h2m.com
Richard Humann President, chief executive
97 91
97 91
$86.9
The LiRo Group 3 Aerial Way Syosset, NY 11703
516-938-5476 liro.com
Rocco Trotta Chairman Richard Cavallaro Chief executive
95 116
103 125
14
917-339-9300 mrce.com
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Tectonic Engineering Consultants, Geologists & Land Surveyors, D.P.C. 118-35 Queens Blvd. Forest Hills, NY 11375
718-391-9200 Donald Benvie tectonicengineering.com President, chief executive
AKF Group 200 Liberty St. New York, NY 10281
212-354-5656 akfgroup.com
Dino DeFeo Managing partner
62 60
90 87
Boswell Engineering 330 Phillips Ave. South Hackensack, NJ 07606
201-641-0770 boswellengineering.com
Stephen Boswell President, chief executive
56 58
60 61
Jaros, Baum & Bolles
212-530-9300
16 17 18 19
67 75
67 75
67 65
79 76
Metropolitan Transportation Design and Construction
Crain’s 2022 Notable Leaders in Engineering: 100% Javits Center Expansion; NYSDOT D/ Real $30.5 Estate recognizes top executives B for Hunts Point interstate access across New York’s real improvement estateproject industry for their accomplishments $93.2 Construction inspection: 31% NYCDEP Shafts 17B-1 & 18B-1 Construction mgmt.: 34% connection to third water tunnel; over the last 18 months. Engineering: 27% NYSDOT Van Wyck Expressway improvements to JFK
NOMINATE NOW! $60.0 Engineering: 100% LaGuardia Airport new Terminal B Deadline is Sept. 29
eastern concourse; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory campus wide upgrades
Nominate at $46.2 Construction inspection: 72% New York State Department of CrainsNewYork.com/RELeaders Engineering: 28% Transportation; Port Authority of NY & NJ
New York, NY 10005
McLaren Engineering Group 131 W. 35th St. New York, NY 10001
Architecture: 2%
inspection: 36% Authority; NYC Department of LEADERSConstruction IN REAL ESTATE
Other: 8%
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Engineering: 66% Bay View heating plant; AOP pilot 2022 treatment for Water Authority of Great Neck North
Construction mgmt.: 51% Engineering: 9% Other: 2%
Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers PLLC 225 W. 34th St. New York, NY 10122
Peter Deming Senior principal
$434.0
One Vanderbilt transit improvements
212-324-6300 mgmclaren.com
Scott Frank Walter Mehl Jr. Mark Torre Co-managing partners
52 50
54 51
$64.4
Malcolm McLaren Chief executive
49 85
64 76
$39.0 Construction inspection: 15% Engineering: 85%
Engineering: 94% Other: 6%
Moynihan Train Hall; Javits Convention Center expansion
One Times Square construction 8/4/22 engineering; Pier 94 redevelopment
4:59 PM
THE GOOD NEWS when it comes to women in sports is that the encouraging headlines keep coming. Recently, for example, the Las Vegas Raiders named Sandra Douglas Morgan president, making her the first Black woman to hold such a title in major North American sports. The less-than-good news is that such appointments are still noteworthy. In the wide world of sports business— which includes the games and competitions themselves as well as the legal, media and marketing machines that support them—women continue to lag behind men in most categories, especially leadership. No woman has ever led a major men’s sports league, for example. But in New York, home to a dozen major-sport franchises, female executives are fundamentally changing the game. Michele Roberts is in her seventh year as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association. Jillian Mazza is senior manager of marketing and creative services for CBS Sports. Laura Young is the first woman to direct coaching operations in the National Football League, hired this year by the Giants. The list continues to grow— emphasized here on the Crain’s Notable Women in Sports list. This year’s 30 honorees were nominated by their peers, then chosen after careful editorial review. To qualify, they had to be employed in a senior-level position in New York City or in neighboring counties. Their selection depended not only on professional accomplishments but also involvement in mentorship, philanthropic and community activities and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. All these impressive women have exceeded expectations, broken barriers and helped redefine a traditionally male-centric industry. In their own way, they’ve demonstrated why the ball deserves to be in their court.
VAL ACKERMAN Commissioner | Big East Conference
Ackerman oversees the New York City–based staff of the Big East and runs the conference’s championships for its 22 sports. She manages relationships with Fox Sports, which provides national coverage of Big East events, and Madison Square Garden, which hosts the conference’s annual men’s basketball tournament. She also oversees scheduling, communications, finance, governance, marketing, student-athlete development, community service and DEI initiatives. She previously was a National Basketball Association executive for eight years. A recipient of a number of industry awards, Ackerman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
JESSICA BERMAN Commissioner | National Women’s Soccer League
Berman, who oversees business operations at the NWSL, is attempting to reform the leadership of women’s soccer. Her past experiences speak to her qualification for the task: She previously served as a vice president at the National Hockey League and as deputy commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. Outside of her role as NWSL commissioner, she is involved with the University of Michigan sport management advisory board and sits on the board of the Sports Lawyers Association.
COLLEEN CADEN Partner and chair of the immigration group | Pryor Cashman
At law firm Pryor Cashman, Caden provides counsel across the professional sports sphere. Her representations have included athletes, teams and leagues including the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer. Caden, who has worked with foreign-born NBA players on immigration issues, has assisted leagues during the Covid-19 pandemic with international challenges. She has helped coaches and players obtain green cards and has secured work visas for major and minor league teams’ support staff. She is founder and co-chair of her firm’s women’s leadership initiative, which addresses workplace bias and aims to promote the retention and advancement of female lawyers
MORGAN CATO Assistant general manager | Phoenix Suns
Brooklyn native Cato made history in June, becoming the first woman of color to be named a National Basketball Association assistant GM. The Suns hired her after she had spent the past decade in the league office, most recently as associate vice president of business operations. Cato was the management lead for the inaugural Future Basketball Operations Stars program, designed to help the NBA diversify its talent pipeline, and she advises the league’s Dream in Color employee resource group. She develops programming for women in basketball operations roles to foster community and identify career advancement opportunities.
LEONOR COLON Senior director, player operations | Major League Baseball Players Association
Colon represents MLB player interests, working on negotiations related to the terms and condition of games played outside of MLB stadiums, jointly sponsored programs and programming initiatives designed to benefit players. She is responsible for managing the MLBPA’s first overseas office, which opened in the Dominican Republic this year. She has worked on efforts related to pandemic relief, mental wellness and support for the military. Colon is a board member of the Roberto Clemente Foundation and the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation.
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DR. ALEXIS COLVIN Chief medical officer, U.S. Open Tennis Championships Mount Sinai Health System
Colvin is responsible for the safety and health of the players, spectators and staff at the Open, held annually in Flushing. She was involved in the development and execution of a successful Open in 2020, setting a safety standard for large-scale sporting events in unprecedented circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Also the team physician for the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team, she is a professor of orthopedic surgery and the associate dean for alumni affairs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She’s been named a top doctor by New York magazine every year since 2016, and previously was chosen as a Woman on the Move by the Arthritis Foundation.
ANASTASIA DANIAS SCHMIDT Executive vice president and general counsel Major League Soccer
Danias Schmidt serves as counsel for MLS and its affiliates. Part of the league’s strategic and operational leadership team, she oversees legal and business affairs including league expansion, team acquisitions, corporate governance, compliance and commercial transactions. She worked on an agreement that led to MLS granting an expansion club to Charlotte, N.C., in 2019. Earlier in her career, she led high-profile litigation at the National Football League. During her nearly two decades there she launched a pro bono program in partnership with the Lawyers Alliance for New York
PAMELA DUCKWORTH
DANIELLE DU TOIT
Head of Fubo Sports Network and original programming FuboTV
President, SeatGeek Enterprise SeatGeek
Duckworth is charged with building a production team and working on Fubo programming, exclusive rights and partner content. She has created original shows, with more than 450 episodes produced to date, and she expanded the network’s distribution channels and viewership. She has secured a lineup of guests for Fubo Sports Network’s originals, including Chris Paul and Megan Rapinoe. She recently green-lit a National Hockey League playoff series with Julie Stewart-Binks, highlighting women in sports media. Duckworth this year was named to Cablefax’s 100 Power Players list.
Du Toit oversees everything from client experience to sales at mobile ticketing marketplace SeatGeek. She has been instrumental in finalizing deals with BSE Global and the Florida Panthers. She is the executive sponsor of SeatGeek’s women’s employee resource group, which is focused on increasing access to leadership roles. Du Toit is a board member at Outfit and GigRonin and for more than 15 years was a board member of the e-Schools’ Network, a nonprofit that services schools and colleges in South Africa. In 2020 she received a Sports Business Journal Game Changers Award.
ERICA EDWARDS-O’NEAL Senior vice president, diversity, equity, and inclusion New York Road Runners
Edwards-O’Neal spearheads DEI strategy across all business units at NYRR, leading policies and practices designed to embed equity in the organization. EdwardsO’Neal, who has provided training across the country on cultural competence and implicit bias, has established alliances and partnerships to engage the running community. Partners include Harlem Run, Chinatown Runners and the Running Industry Diversity Coalition. She previously served as director of diversity and inclusion and senior career counselor at Touro University’s Fuchsberg Law Center. Edwards-O’Neal is a member of the Amistad Long Island Black Bar Association and the National Bar Association.
THE GLOBAL SPORTS MARKET IS EXPECTED TO GROW TO $501 BILLION THIS YEAR FROM $355 BILLION LAST YEAR. —GLOBE NEWSWIRE
JENE ELZIE
LIZ FELD
KELLY FLATOW
MEGHAN GILMORE
ELISSA GRABOW
Chief growth officer Athletes First Partners
Chief executive RADical Hope
Director of communications New York Jets
Elzie oversees business development at Athletes First, including the sports marketing agency’s work with the National Basketball Players Association and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic committees. She has helped spearhead new partnerships and brand development for companies looking to work in the Olympics space, as well as with NBA and WNBA players and retirees. She previously served as vice president of international marketing for the NBA and for Comcast. Elzie serves on the boards of Public Radio International, Varsity Brands and Zeta Global, and she mentors young people of color interested in working in sports.
RADical Hope is a nonprofit that works with colleges and sports leagues—including the National Football League—to address mental health issues pervasive among youth generally and student athletes in particular. The organization implements programs to proactively treat and prevent mental health–related problems. In 2016 Feld worked on the launch of the Suzanne Wright Foundation, which led advocacy for the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Before that, Feld was president of Autism Speaks, a science and advocacy organization, and senior vice president of communications for Nickelodeon.
Executive vice president, global events National Basketball Association
Senior vice president, player operations and development Seven1
Flatow leads a team of business leaders, creators and operators in developing and executing more than 200 league- and partner-driven events each year. They have included tentpole events such as NBA Global Games and media-driven programming such as the NBA Summer League. She worked on the launch of the first-ever NFT auction on NBA Top Shot. In a previous role at Coca-Cola, she led content strategy and established partnerships with American Idol, Jay-Z and the Harry Potter franchise. Flatow is an active mentor in the sports marketing industry and a member of the National Sports Marketing Network.
Throughout her time as Jets communications director, Gilmore has driven events and creative releases to build the team’s corporate presence. She establishes and maintains relationships with local and national media outlets including Good Morning America and the Sports Business Journal. She leads strategic planning and story placement for business initiatives such as partnerships and community relations, and she is involved in the booking, prepping and executing of interviews and news conferences. Gilmore, who created a program allowing high school girls to be mentored by women in the Jets organization, was a founding member of the Jets’ social justice, diversity and inclusion team.
In addition to her role at Seven1, Grabow is business manager at Tracy McGrady Enterprises and chief operating officer at the new Ones Basketball League. Ones was designed by McGrady— whose National Basketball Association career included a season with the New York Knicks—to celebrate skilled one-on-one players. Grabow oversees business development and is involved in marketing, managing and coordinating McGrady’s ventures. She owns and manages a summer camp in Pennsylvania with her husband. She began her career at Arn Tellem & Associates, where she managed charitable efforts for athletes including Kobe Bryant, Nomar Garciaparra and Reggie Miller.
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Congratulations to
SHIZ SUZUKI VP, GLOBAL BRAND SPONSORSHIPS & EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
LINDSAY ULREY VP, GLOBAL SPORTS EXPERIENCES & PARTNERSHIPS on being selected to the 2022 Crain’s New York Notable Women in Sports list
WE’RE PROUD TO BE ON YOUR TEAM TODAY AND EVERYDAY
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TARA GUARNERI-FERRARA Counsel Herrick, Feinstein
As a counsel in the sports law group at Herrick, GuarneriFerrara is at the forefront of complex mergers-andacquisitions and crossborder transactions. She has represented teams, leagues, owners, investors, financial institutions and service providers in sports, handling commercial agreements, joint ventures, master service agreements, acquisitions and sales of sports memorabilia. In a previous role at another law firm, she represented sportsrelated public company clients in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission compliance matters. Guarneri-Ferrara, who mentors junior lawyers, has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.
MANDY GUTMANN
WENDY HILLIARD
AYESHA HUSAIN
RACHEL JACOBSON
Executive vice president, communications and community relations BSE Global
Founder and CEO Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation
Architect and principal Populous
President Drone Racing League
Husain has more than a decade of experience leading design projects for sports and entertainment facilities, performance venues and residential and commercial interiors— with a total construction value greater than $3 billion. At design firm Populous’ New York branch, she mentors staff, manages office initiatives and collaborates with other Populous offices on projects. She was design team leader for TQL Stadium, an arena that opened last year as home to Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati. She is part of PopTogether, an internal focus group at Populous that addresses diversity and belonging. Husain is a sponsor for SOS Children’s Village Pakistan.
At the DRL, a professional organization with both virtual and physical competitions, Jacobson spearheads global partnerships and media rights deals while leading the marketing and business development teams. Working to promote drone racing as a mainstream sport, she has accelerated the DRL’s growth through alliances with companies, including a recent title partnership with blockchain technology platform Algorand. Jacobson, who provides leadership training to future female leaders as a mentor, was named to Sports Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list.
Gutmann is involved with corporate, entertainment, community and crisis commun ications at BSE, the parent company of Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets. She oversees media relations for concerts, college basketball, boxing and other events. As head of community relations, she works on efforts to better the lives of those in the area surrounding Barclays Center. She previously held public relations positions at Madison Square Garden. In 2018 Gutmann was named an ambassador by the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative in recognition of her allyship with the LGBTQ community.
Hilliard was the first Black rhythmic gymnast to represent the United States on its national team. Her eponymous foundation empowers youth from underserved communities by focusing on physical and emotional health through gymnastics. She oversees the organization’s strategic and financial operations, managing and developing its partnerships and revenue. A four-time U.S. national team coach, she was the first Black president of the Women’s Sports Foundation. Hilliard currently sits on the boards of the Armory Foundation, Power Play NYC and Black Women in Sports.
ESPN, WITH REVENUES OF $10.3 BILLION, REMAINS THE LARGEST SPORTS BROADCASTER. —SPORTSCRIBER
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M A J O R
L E A G U E
S O C C E R
C O N G R A T U L A T E S
ANASTASIA DANIAS SCHMIDT A N D
CHRISTINA LABRIE CRAIN’S
NOTABLE WOMEN IN SPORTS HONOREES
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CHRISTINA LABRIE
DR. MELISSA LEBER
ANN LIGUORI
DEIDRA MADDOCK
HELEN MAHER
S
Vice president, player relations Major League Soccer
Associate professor of orthopedics and emergency medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai Health System
Radio and cable TV sports personality CBS Sports, WFAN, Ann Liguori Productions
Vice president, sports brand solutions The Walt Disney Co.
Partner and co-leader, sports law group Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
M a M
Trained in both sports medicine and emergency medicine, Leber is equipped to treat a wide range of conditions, She specializes in the nonsurgical management of orthopedic conditions, including through biologics and ultrasound-guided injections. She is a player physician at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships and an airwaymanagement doctor for the New York Jets. Leber, an American College of Emergency Physicians fellow, has been a frontline physician during the pandemic.
As host of Talking Golf on WFAN sports radio, Liguori covers tournaments including the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup. Her Innerview TV program is the longestrunning weekly sports interview show that is owned, hosted, produced and distributed by a woman. She is president of Ann Liguori Productions, which licenses and distributes her shows to media outlets. Early in her career, she was a production assistant for NFL Today on CBS Sports and an ABC radio producer. The Ann Liguori Foundation, which supports scholarship and mentorship programs for students pursuing a sports media career, holds an annual golf tournament in the Hamptons.
Maddock leads marketing sponsorships and activations across professional league content at Disney, as well as for ESPN news and information programs. She is responsible for sales-related contract negotiations with league partners and for the development and execution of sales strategy. In recent months, she successfully represented Disney in rights negotiations with the National Football and National Hockey leagues. Maddock is an active member of ESPN’s executive women’s forum, which is committed to fostering the growth of women in executive positions, and she sits on the Syracuse University Sport Management Advisory Council.
Maher has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of the top female litigators in the country. Throughout her career, she has advised prominent sports organizations including the Dallas Cowboys, the Ladies Professional Golf Association and NASCAR. Strategizing business transactions and navigating complex litigation, she advises clients on antitrust and commercial issues. Maher is a member of Cadwalader’s women’s leadership initiative and the Sports Lawyers Association.
R t b
LaBrie works closely with MLS clubs to negotiate and draft player contracts, including international transfer and loan agreements. She also oversees team rosters and salary budgets, and she manages a team responsible for roster-related matters for all MLS squads. She is a liaison to other groups within the league, including medical, legal and consumer sectors, and she directs projects focused on data integrity, compliance and reporting. Committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, she is an active mentor. LaBrie served for eight years as a youth soccer coach and referee in Brooklyn.
ABOUT 21% OF SPORTS REPORTERS ARE WOMEN. —ZIPPIA
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f m s e a R N B 2 o s
SANDRA RICHARDS Managing director, global sports and entertainment Morgan Stanley
Richards has helped direct more than 200 financial advisers with business niches in sports or entertainment nationwide. She focuses on providing them with tools to grow their business and identifying opportunities for connections in diverse, multicultural markets via sponsorships, financial education, media collaborations and other strategic initiatives. Richards was named one of The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business in 2018. She serves on the board of Music’s Promise, an industry social responsibility program.
CONSTANCE SCHWARTZ-MORINI
ANGELA SMEDLEY
SHIZUKA “SHIZ” SUZUKI
Partner Winston & Strawn
Co-founder, CEO and partner SMAC Entertainment
At SMAC, a sports- and entertainment-focused talent-management firm and production company, SchwartzMorini created its first strategic marketing and sponsorship division. She is a talent manager for the likes of Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Tony Gonzalez, Deion Sanders and Michael Strahan. SchwartzMorini has served as executive producer for Coach Prime, The Cost of Winning and other productions. She previously spent a decade at the National Football League, where she held positions in TV programming, corporate sponsorship, special events, entertainment marketing and player engagement. Schwartz-Morini is a longtime participant in Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Smedley represents professional sports unions, athletes and agencies in litigation including contract disputes, tort litigation and antitrust matters. She currently is representing a Nigerian monobob athlete before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a gender-discrimination case against the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and the International Olympic Committee. Smedley also is representing media company Relevent Sports in a federal antitrust lawsuit against FIFA and the U.S. Soccer Federation. She is an advisory board member for the New York chapter of the Sports Business Leadership Association.
LINDSAY ULREY Vice president, global sports experiences and partnerships American Express
Vice president, global brand sponsorships and experiential marketing American Express
Suzuki oversees American Express’ global venue portfolio and partnerships with the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association and other sports heavyweights. She also supervises music festivals and talent relationships, as well as Amex’s sponsorships portfolio strategy, deal negotiations and experiential activations. Suzuki has a record of uplifting female voices: She launched a genderequality program in a previous role at AT&T, and she was part of Amex’s sponsoring of six female athletes in the U.S. Women’s Open who wore the logos of local female-owned businesses.
Ulrey leads her company’s sports experiential marketing and strategic partnerships, including one with the National Basketball Association and the U.S. Open. She spearheaded the activation strategy for the company’s first-ever Wimbledon partnership focusing on innovation. She has been a mentor at American Express since 2016, providing insight and advice to junior colleagues. She is a company adviser for Helpen, a startup that aims to empower children through teaching them charitable behavior. Ulrey received a Sports Business Journal 40 Under 40 honor this year and in 2018 won an American Express Best in Brand Award.
FEMALE SPORTS FANS ARE 50% MORE LIKELY TO PURCHASE A SPONSOR’S PRODUCT. —SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL
CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS
B R E A KFAST Be where news happens Wednesday, Sept. 21 | 8-9:30 AM
CRAIN’S NEW YORK
Join us to hear from Mayor Eric L. Adams as he is interviewed live on-stage by Crain’s New York Business Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten. Find out how the mayor ranks his first year in office and his top priorities for the year ahead, how businesses can partner with the BUSINESS city to tackle big challenges, and what big ideas and innovations will drive the city’s future.
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Mayor Eric L. Adams New York City
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AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 19
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TOURS than anything else.” But Conway argues that drivers have always answered questions and operated the prerecorded tours for international tourists who don’t speak English. On a recent Big Bus ride, a Crain’s staffer noted that the vehicle’s driver stopped the bus a handful of times and came to the upper level to deliver information about interesting points along the route. Following a series of crashes involving sightseeing buses, legislation was put before the New York City Council in 2016. It proposed requiring a second employee on top of sightseeing buses for safety and would impose a cap on the number of licensed buses in the city. The transportation committee held a hearing in 2018. Representatives from Gray Line, TopView and Big Bus were there. All were against the cap on buses. The legislation is still pending.
Past and future It is not clear when double-decker buses first appeared in the city, but the iconic New York Apple Tours debuted in 1992. Gray Line New York’s hop-on, hop-off tour business may predate New York Apple Tours’, according to court records, but it is clear that Gray Line and its parent
BUCK ENNIS
FROM PAGE 3
A LONG LINE of visitors waited to hop on a Big Bus tour on a recent July day.
company, Coach, were a dominant double-decker company by 1998. The city was home to 27 bus tour companies in 1995. In 2000 Coach acquired many of New York Apple Tours’ assets and employees after the company was forced out of business due to safety and traffic violations, according to an antitrust complaint. However, in 2005 Coach’s market dominance was threatened when CitySights entered the scene. CitySights and Coach engaged in “vigorous” competition on price and product offerings, which directly benefited consumers, according to the Department of Justice. The competition ended in 2009,
when the companies formed Twin America, which controlled 99% of the market for three years, preventing other companies from launching here by controlling the majority of the permitted bus stops. The Department of Justice and the New York state attorney general’s office reached a settlement agreement with Twin America to remedy competition concerns in March 2015. The settlement required the firm to disgorge $7.5 million in ill-gotten profits it obtained by operating the joint venture in violation of antitrust laws. Big Bus entered the scene by purchasing three existing tour bus companies between 2014 and 2017.
LUXURY HOME OF THE WEEK Advertising Section
Go New York Tours, which markets itself as TopView, launched here in 2012, according to court documents. Unlike Big Bus and Gray Line, TopView is a local company that operates only in New York City. Today the city is down to three registered operators: TopView, Gray Line and Big Bus Tours. When pandemic restrictions were lifted, Big Bus jettisoned its less-traveled routes. It is currently focusing its resources on the downtown loop and a condensed version of the uptown route, Conway said. Right now, she said, it doesn’t plan to reinstate a more robust schedule any time soon because the demand is not there. Prices have stayed generally stable over the years. TopView’s brochure advertises $75 adult tickets for an all-day hop-on, hop-off tour, while Big Bus advertises $60 for the same. In 2019 TopView was advertising $55 for an all-day pass, and Big Bus was at the same price. As for the visitors who purchase the passes, it may be some time before tourism consistently returns to prepandemic levels. NYC & Company, the marketing organization for the city, projects a complete re-
bound for tourism may take until 2024 or 2025. However, the last week of June, the Times Square Alliance reported a weekly average of 345,590 visitors a day, down 15.3% from the same time period in 2019. But the weekend of July 16, Times Square averaged 420,000 people per day. That’s 9.8% higher than the similar weekend in 2019. As the firms wait for international tourism to rebound fully, Big Bus has begun working with Gray Line, carrying Gray Line’s guests as it remains shuttered. If a customer buys a Big Bus ticket online, they can now redeem it at one of the Gray Line ticket agents or vice versa. “Until there’s enough gas for more buses, this just seemed like a really pragmatic decision,” said Conway. “And it’s worked well for both of us.” A Gray Line spokesman says the company plans to start running its buses again in the fourth quarter, but the firm declined to discuss the industry. TopView did not respond to a request for comment. Even with the changing landscape, some industry insiders believe bus tours are essential to ensuring travelers enjoy their visit to the city. “I do think [the double-decker buses] are a big part of the tourism industry in New York City,” said Ric Stoneback, a former tour guide who has been in the industry since the early 1990s. ■
HOSPITALITY
Danny Meyer to step down as CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group BY CARA EISENPRESS MEYER
BUCK ENNIS
U
nion Square Hospitality Group head Danny Meyer will leave his position as chief executive officer at the influential restaurant company he founded 37 years ago with the opening of Union Square Café. Meyer will remain as executive chairman when he steps down on Sept. 6. The new CEO is Chip Wade, the current president and chief operating officer, who has been with Union Square Hospitality since May of 2019. “We’ve partnered together and navigated the business through an incredibly challenging period emerging healthier than ever,” Meyer said of his successor. “This is the ideal time for me to hand Chip the baton.” Wade, who will also join the board of directors in his new role, came to Union Square Hospitality Group from the publicly held full-service restaurant company Darden and its one-time holding, Red Lobster. Currently, Union Square’s restaurants include Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Daily Provisions, Ci Siamo, Marta and the soon-to-reopen Maialino. The firm also includes a hospitality consulting arm called Hospitality Quotient, a catering and events business, Sunset Park-based
Union Square Events, and two investment funds under the management of Enlightened Hospitality Investments. Meyer also founded Shake Shack, which went public as a separate company in 2015; he still serves on the board.
To remain an active adviser Meyer said he will continue to collaborate with the leadership team as they create new restaurants, consult on strategies around innovation and expansion, and remain an active advisor. He will also stay on as managing partner of Enlightened Hospitality Investments and board chairman of Union Square Hospitality’s special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), Union Square Hospitality Group Acquisition Corp. From April 2021 to April 2022, Meyer served as the chair of the New York City Economic Development Corporation board. ■
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CLASSIFIEDS
Advertising Section
Contact Suzanne Janik at 313-446-0455 or email: sjanik@crain.com POSITIONS AVAILABLE
PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Formation of SMD INVESTOR GROUP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/08/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Stuart Romanoff, c/o Romanoff Equities, 833 Washington St., 2nd Fl., NY, NY 10014. Purpose: Any lawful activity
Notice of formation of Amani Luxxe Wax Lounge, LLC, a domestic LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on April 8, 2022 . Office location: Bronx County. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 856 E 221st Apt 2, Bronx, NY 10467. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
Notice of Formation of JEMAL'S FAYETTE PARK L.L.C. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/01/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: To acquire, sell, manage, lease and develop real estate.
Notice of Formation of ROC TENANT, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/24/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Brian J. Beller, Esq., c/o Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, 1350 Broadway, NY, NY 10018. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of RELATED SOUTHTOWN ASSOCIATES IV LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/18/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/14/22. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd St., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of TRUVVO GOLDEN LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/06/22. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/21/22. NYS fictitious name: TRUVVO GOLDEN L.P. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of THREE PILLARS INSURANCE SERVICES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/07/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/16/22. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to National Registered Agents, Inc., 875 Ave. of the Americas, Ste. 501, NY, NY 10001. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of BioReference Health, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/01/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/10/22. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
BROADWAY DYI LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 06/28/22. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 2250 Broadway, Apartment 10A, New York, NY 10024. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
Notice of Qualification of DigitalBridge SAF GP, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/30/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/10/22. Princ. office of LLC: 750 Park of Commerce Dr., Ste. 210, Boca Raton, FL 33487. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg.,401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Qualification of SPORTS CONTENT CREATION LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/20/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/08/22. Princ. office of LLC: 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521. 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, DE Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Holding company.
Notice of Qualification of 100 CHURCH RETAIL I LESSEE LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/23/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/26/22. Princ. office of LLC: c/o SL Green Realty Corp., One Vanderbilt Ave., 28th Fl., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of VANADIS HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/07/22. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 829 Park Ave., Apt. 5D, NY, NY 10021. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
SUBMIT YOUR BUSINESS CLASSIFIEDS TODAY Contact Suzanne Janik at 313-446-0455 or email: sjanik@crain.com
Vice President, Machine Learning Research (WorldQuant, LLC / New York, NY) – Design & dvlp infrastructure for modern Machine Learning (ML) & Natural Language Processing (NLP); research efficnt ML algorithms to solve online optimization problems for productn envirmt. Reqs Master’s in Math, Comp Sci, or clsly rlatd field & 2 yrs of exp in job offrd or 2 yrs of exp as VP, Research, Sr. Quant Researcher, &/or Quant Researcher, or in similar positns in software dvlpmt or quant research. Bkgd in educ, traing or exp must incl mathmtcl maturity incldg undstdg of analysis, linear algebra, logic, probability, stats, & basic optimization concepts; strong C++ & Python programmg skills; kwlg & undrstdg of ML & NLP, quant finance, & game theory; exp w/ cloud computg & workg w/ large databases; exp in object-oriented design; exp w/ the applicatn of data structures & algorithms. Send resumes to Sandra.DiCairano@worldquant.com; ref job title in subjct line.
Portfolio Manager (multiple positions) (WorldQuant, LLC / New York, NY) – Build own research software to aid in the dvlpmnt of stock mkt models; dvlp forecastg models of prices in the stock mkt using statstcl predictn mthds. Reqs Master’s in Engnrng, Comp Sci, Financial Engnrng, Computational Finance, Math, Stats, or Physics & 1 yr of exp in job offrd or 1 yr of exp as Research Analyst, Quant Strategist, Quant Analyst or in smilr positn(s) in quant finance. Bkgd in educ, traing or exp must incld exp as a member of a team or group managing capital pursuant to a statstcl arbitrage invstmnt stratgy; exp dvlpg fully systmtc, quant stratgies; software programg exp at university lvl, incldg kwldg of at least 1 of the followg: Java, Python, Matlab; mathematical maturity, incldg basic undstdg of anlysis, linear algebra, logic, probability & stats. Send resumes to Sandra.DiCairano@worldquant.com; ref job title in subjct line.
PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Qualification of TIGONDEROGA NYC LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/20/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in California (CA) on 02/22/22. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 3535 Inland Empire Blvd., Ontario, CA 91764. CA addr. of LLC: 23300 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 200, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 1500 11th St., Sacramento, CA 95814. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Sector Data Analyst (Citadel Americas Services LLC – New York, NY); Mult. Pos. Avail. Research market sector info and analyze data from multi. sources to answer complex investm’nt theses. F/T. Reqs a Master’s degree (or foreign eq.) in Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Engineer’g, Computer Science, Physics or a rltd. field & 2 years of exp. in the job offered or in an Associate, Analyst or similar role w/ an investm’nt bank’g, investm’nt managem’nt or securities business. In lieu of a Master’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Engineer’g, Computer Science, Physics or a related field and 2 years of exp. as stated, will accept a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Engineer’g, Computer Science, Physics or a rltd. field & 5 years of exp. in the job offered or in an Associate, Analyst or similar role w/ an investm’nt bank’g, investm’nt managem’nt or securities business. All stated exp. must include the follow’g: aggregat’g, extract’g and interpret’g data; utiliz’g Python, SQL and VBA Excel; and utiliz’g Machine Learn’g Algorithms, Natural Language Process’g, Big Data analysis, or similar. Resumes: citadelrecruitment@citadel.com. JobID: 6354930.
Zebra Tech Corp has a role in Holtsville, NY for Prog Mgr: Rspnsbl fr Pltfrm SW dvlpmnt executn. BS+10yrs exp rq. Telecom permi. When not telecomm must report to worksite. To apply email resume to jobs@zebra.com ref job #2303262
PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Qualification of DigitalBridge Strategic Assets Fund, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/30/22. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/10/22. Princ. office of LP: 750 Park of Commerce Dr., Ste. 210, Boca Raton, FL 33487. NYS fictitious name: DigitalBridge Strategic Assets Fund, L.P. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
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WORK FROM PAGE 1
has changed since the pandemic began. “They feel much more empowered to dig a little deeper into the company culture,” she said. “There are always people who are looking just for money, but I would say the thoughtful job seekers have really wanted to land somewhere they feel is inclusive, that they identify with.” By some accounts, the past two years have represented the most substantial shift in the labor market since World War II. Though media coverage has focused on people leaving their job for more money, research shows that a far bigger driver—perhaps by a factor of 10— is the desire to leave behind a workplace that’s a bad fit or even toxic. Smart companies recognize this and are beefing up benefits and flexibility and having conversations about meaning and purpose. No company has mastered the formula, and there’s a lot of experimentation going on. Melinda Ramos characterized the new hiring environment as job candidates demanding more than just a paycheck. Ramos is the vice president of learning, development and diversity for Bounteous, a Chicago-based digital media agency. “I think that’s a reasonable expectation,” she said. “If we can provide learning and inclusion and challenges and fun and great outcomes, then I think we’re doing OK. I can’t say that that’s asking too much.”
Data on ‘toxic’ cultures CultureX, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based consulting firm, first published its findings about why workers were leaving their job in January in the MIT Sloan Management Review. Since then CultureX has been inundated with requests from reporters and potential consulting clients. “It seems to have really struck a nerve,” CultureX co-founder Charles Sull said. “Everyone is writing and telling their story for why it matters to them.” CultureX and Revelio Labs analyzed 34 million LinkedIn profiles of U.S. workers who left their employer for any reason (primarily quitting) between April and September 2021. Advanced language analysis of 1.4 million Glassdoor
EMERGENCY FROM PAGE 1
Crain’s a state of emergency also allows the city to accelerate the process of hiring staff, purchasing supplies and issuing contracts— sometimes, he said, expediting them “dramatically.” How many cases of monkeypox have been reported in the city? As of Aug. 3, there were 1,558 cases in New York City, according to the city Health Department. Most are in Manhattan (562), in men (1,068) and in people ages 30 to 39 (546). Approximately 310 people with monkeypox identify as white, and 620 identify as LGBTQ+. Where can I get a vaccine or test? City providers used to have to send patient samples to the state
reviews mapped their employers’ culture, providing insight into what caused them to leave. “We had some idea of what would be important going in, but we were surprised when toxic culture wasn’t just No. 1 on the list but was actually 10 times as predictive as compensation,” Sull said. Five attributes define a toxic culture, according to the research: whether a diverse set of employees feels included; a feeling of disrespect at work; a lack of integrity or ethical behavior within an organization; a cutthroat atmosphere where employees actively undermine one another; and managers who belittle or bully their teams. Sull, who founded CultureX with his father, Donald Sull, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, said the results gave him hope. “In a nutshell, I think the Great Resignation is about employees saying, ‘We will no longer stand for toxicity. We’re going to quit these companies that treat us as less than human,’ ” he said. “ ‘And we’re going to try to navigate a new contract of employment; we’re going to try to change the way the landscape of employment works.’ ” Rob Fazio is hopeful too. Fazio is a psychologist and managing partner at OnPointAdvising who counsels powerful people, including surgeons and financial industry executives. He is usually called upon when an executive has burned through a number of junior people. “Oftentimes, they’re brilliant, but they don’t realize how the way they interact with people can come across as bullying,” said Fazio,
whose latest book, BullyProof, was published in May. “They think they’re actually helping the other person or the business.” Fazio expects that greater awareness will change this dynamic over time, and he is looking forward, in the next three to six months, to a more in-person presence lifting company culture. “People connecting and figuring out what each other’s challenges are and supporting one another— that’s been a huge loss that businesses had,” he said. “I think it took a toll on a lot of people.” Crain’s spoke to several companies that have been named to lists such as Best Places to Work, which are generally compiled from employee feedback. Some have very low turnover; others are experimenting with ways to attract talent in a competitive hiring market. Basis Technologies, a digital advertising firm in Chicago, is hiring for 70 open roles in North and South America. As of mid-June, the company had added 130 employees for the year. Advertising and marketing are fields with the second-highest turnover by some measures—so the pressure to fill jobs is ongoing, Chief Marketing Officer Katie Risch said. Risch listed employee perks that Basis is enhancing, including an emphasis on diversity and inclusion, paid parental leave, unlimited vacation days and a three-week paid sabbatical every four years. Although it has become trendy to advertise unlimited time off, Basis backs that up by making it easy to take time, said Anthony Loredo, se-
nior director of public relations. “It all depends on what the individual is comfortable with,” he said. “There is no pressure from managers to take it or not take it.” The company is fully hybrid now, with occasional large gatherings for its sales and marketing teams. Basis used to offer in-office yoga classes, beer on tap, free snacks and other onsite perks, but Risch said that’s not what job candidates are seeking now. “They care about having the flexibility to live the kind of lifestyle they want, and the freedom and trust from my employer that I’m going to get my job done,” she said. “I think that’s a huge shift. I think we’re in somewhat of an experimental phase, not just as a company, but as a country.” Another highly rated company, Employers Health in Canton, Ohio, attributes its low, voluntary turnover of 2% to its generous benefits—fully paid health care, tuition and student loan repayment assistance, profit sharing—and the creation of a ladder of advancement. CEO Chris Goff built the organization, which aggregates prescription benefits for roughly 500 clients in the U.S., from a team of two in 1995 to about 60 today. Employers Health will increase employees’ base salary if they go on to receive an MBA, certification or other education. “As a small company, I had to think of innovative ways to attract employees,” he said. “Employees tend to focus on the next big thing: ‘How can I get promoted?’ We have created these career plans so that people don’t feel as if there’s nowhere to move in a smaller organization.” Edward Jones, a financial services firm, has published a commitment to diversity and inclusion, said Suzan McDaniel, head of human resources. The St. Louis–based company has 19,000 branch teams throughout the U.S. and Canada. In two years, she said, the company has seen a 50% increase in applicants of color. Edward Jones has updated more than 500 conference rooms to accommodate remote work, and it has scaled back its dress code to “dress for your day,” meaning there’s no need to dress up if you don’t have client meetings. “We have found that flexibility is just table stakes these days,” McDaniel said. “Turnover has been
Health Department to get approval to test for monkeypox. Now several private companies are making tests, expanding access. The governor said the city will receive 80,000 more doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccines, which it receives from the federal government, in the coming weeks, beginning with an installment of 32,000. City health officials planned to release 23,000 first-dose appointments last week. Remaining first doses are to be administered to close contacts of known cases and New Yorkers referred by community partner organizations and health care providers. Patients can schedule monkeypox vaccine appointments through the Health Department’s website. The city previously contracted with private companies to handle appoint-
ment booking but had issues with its vaccine rollout. When can I get a second vaccine? Jynneos monkeypox vaccines are administered in two doses four weeks apart. People are not considered immunized until two weeks after their second dose. Despite the fact that the city has been offering vaccines since June, there are still no second-shot appointments available, in an effort to conserve supply. How does the city plan to control the monkeypox outbreak? Varma is most concerned about testing access, because the city’s monkeypox vaccine supply is controlled by the federal government. Specific steps to take include working with the city’s Economic Development Corp. to develop easier-to-use testing methods, such as testing saliva and throat swabs, and
developing rapid tests, Varma said. “Many scientists have worked on these issues in research labs before,” he said, “so the science that supports this can work. It just needs to be validated and commercialized.” He urged the city to reopen the four sexual health clinics that are currently closed in Crown Heights, Central Harlem, Riverside and Corona and restore pre-Covid hours at all nine clinics around the city. The city should “demand that the federal government pre-position [the Tpoxx treatment] at chain pharmacies throughout the NYC area,” he said. Finally, the Public Health Corps should be used for monkeypox contract tracing, he said. Have any laws changed due to the outbreak? So far, no local laws have been
TOXIC CULTURE AND ITS REMEDIES CultureX identified The Toxic Five attributes of corporate culture. ● Disrespectful. The single strongest predictor of how employees rated a culture. ● Non-inclusive. Diverse groups of employees are not included in key decisions. ● Unethical. Lack of integrity within the organization. Making false promises. ● Cutthroat. Employees actively undermining one another. ● Abusive. Managers belittling, bullying or condescending to their teams. How companies are elevating their culture. ● Traditional methods such as higher wages, attractive benefits and perks. ● Flexibility to work remotely; greater autonomy and trust. ● Communicating an inspiring vision and progress. ● Giving employees a way to share their ideas and opinions. ● Valuing individuals; investing in personal growth. SOURCE: Michael Lee Stallard
The companies getting it right
really, really low for us. I attribute that to our highly engaged workforce and our culture. Our culture is our secret sauce.” In addition, the company is encouraging its employees—who number about 50,000—to talk about purpose in their work. Kelly Crisp, who leads strategy for branch teams, said she keeps her purpose statement posted by her work computer. It reads: “To help others feel seen and heard and valued, in a way that inspires them to be their best and pay that forward.” “That’s my ongoing reminder,” she said. Managers discuss purpose during performance reviews, Crisp said, and help connect individuals’ vision to their work at Edward Jones. Outside of Detroit, in Macomb County, Allied PhotoChemical leaders have put their six core values on a slide: authenticity, integrity, customer-focused, loyalty, accountability and family-team. “We’re very proud of our culture here,” said Dan Sweetwood, president and CEO of the coatings manufacturer. The very low turnover and tight-knit team of about 85, however, can seem intimidating to new hires, he said. Most of the employees eat lunch together each day, Sweetwood said. When a new person is hired, he goes out of his way to let them know that’s not a requirement. “I’m really conscious of that when there’s somebody new,” he said. “I don’t want them to feel like an outsider.” At the end of the day, the Great Resignation—and perhaps the great rehiring—may reflect that feeling of wanting to belong. Human resources executives say they are answering many more probing questions now about virtual work, growth opportunities and commitment to inclusion. Ramos, the Bounteous vice president, credits the national conversation about diversity and social justice for raising the bar at work. “Thirty years ago, the expectations of a company were that you maybe got a cost-of-living increase every year or two,” she said. “You were probably grateful if you liked your coworkers and your manager. Now—I think largely due to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging practices—the demand for the environment where you work to be a healthy environment where we don’t tolerate bad behavior, that’s a completely reasonable expectation.” ■ suspended that are directly related to the state of emergency. How will vendors be procured to help control monkeypox? Agencies can file to provide services using the city’s existing emergency procurement process, which allows agencies to confer with the comptroller’s bureau of contracts and get approval for an incoming contract, then eventually register for procurement related to monkeypox. Crain’s has not found any vendors that have filed an emergency contract due to monkeypox. Checkbook NYC, the city’s spending database, lists 13 items from the Department of Health related to monkeypox. Most of those were for lab testing, the department said. ■ Maya Kaufman contributed reporting to this article.
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POWER CORNER
Queens’ top law enforcement official, Melinda Katz, talks power, justice and faith INTERVIEW BY BRIAN PASCUS
Q
ueens District Attorney Melinda Katz knows how New York government works. Katz, born and raised in Forest Hills, has represented her borough as a member of the Assembly and the City Council and as the Queens borough president. She assumed office as Queens district attorney in January 2020, just before the pandemic and as controversial changes of the 2019 bail reform legislation went into effect. Katz sat down with Crain’s to discuss what she’s doing to keep her borough safe and the lessons on leadership she’s learned during three decades in public life.
What are the critical actions your office has taken since the start of the year?
DOSSIER
There is a lot of discussion now, which is probably overdue, about criminal justice. Criminal justice isn’t only about prosecution, it’s about finding jobs for people, it’s about youth development, it’s about making sure that we use Cure Violence [methods] in a way that helps our youth not pick up the same guns we take off the streets. My office just issued a request for proposal and has $2 million on the street for youth wraparound services and $500,000 on the street for Cure Violence groups. This is about making sure that we have diversion programs, so the criminal-justice system isn’t a revolving door for those with mental illness and drug addictions. It’s about holding people accountable, and accountability can be prosecution, but it can also be diversion.
EMPLOYEES 845 ON HER RÉSUMÉ Queens borough president, shareholder of Greenberg Traurig, securities litigator at Weil Gotshal, City Council member, Assembly member BORN Forest Hills, Queens RESIDES Forest Hills, Queens EDUCATION University of Massachusetts and St. John’s University School of Law BREAKING THE MOLD Katz created the first all-women leadership of the Queens district attorney’s office with the top two positions held by women.
How do you want to see the justice system evolve under you?
ASHLEY HOLT
I believe that building trust in the system is probably the most important thing that I can do. As the DA, I’m responsible for the safety of almost 2.4 million people, and I think that it’s important that there’s trust in these systems. And I’d like to think that’s why the constituents of Queens County put me here. If we can build the trust, not prosecute our way out of the violence we’re in now, the next generation feels that there’s hope. They feel there are mentors and programs to help them evolve and work in the community.
You’re surrounded every day by crime and sometimes death. How do you not lose faith in what you do?
If you could change one law in this city, what would it be? There’s a lot I would change, but I think the one thing that keeps coming up time and time again is driving without a license or with a license that was suspended. They’re driving after they lost their license because of their unsafe driving practices. I think it puts everyone in danger. It is a very selfish act to put other people, randomly, in danger when you are breaking the law. A license is not a suggestion.
What inaction by the city leaves you most frusturated?
Rikers frustrates me. We are the greatest city in the world, and we should have humane servicing and a decent place for detention when it’s needed. Also, services so people don’t end up at Rikers. We see people coming down the road, we see people with minor arrests, we see people in the system that would benefit greatly by services like teaching them a job or vocation.
How do you define power?
I define power in being able to get things
don’t change with them, or there are different needs in different times of society. The needs that were there 30 years ago when I entered this profession are not there today. My predecessor at the D.A.’s office was there 28 years. You might say there wasn’t the change in the office that needed to happen. I believe when you hold office or work for government, you have to ebb and flow with the needs of society, with the needs of why you’re there in that particular position at that particular time.
“I NEVER LOSE FAITH. AS MUCH OF THE BAD I SEE AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY, I SEE A LOT OF GREAT” done and get over the finish line and using it not for yourself but to help those who are unable to help themselves. Because that’s when you’re really powerful—if you can use your position to help other people and help them become powerful. Come down, put your arm down, extend your hand down, and lift other people up with you. That’s how you really define power. Until you’ve raised other people around you, then you really aren’t much of a success.
was my constituent in Forest Hills. She was an amazing mentor and friend. The fact that she was the first female national candidate [on a major party ticket] in the United States was only part of what made her the person I turned to the most when I was younger. I used to look at her and say, ‘If she could be the vice presidential candidate, if she could do what she’s done in her life, then maybe I can too.’ I can only hope that I provide that for other women too.
Who taught you the most about power in this city and how it works?
Why do you think capable people in politics or law lose power?
I was a devoted fan and student of [former Rep.] Geraldine Ferraro. She
With every profession you get to a point where either the times change, and you
I never lose faith. I never lose faith in the city. This is the greatest city in the world. But it’s interesting to me because as much of the bad I see as the district attorney, I see a lot of great … which is helping people out of the system.
You have two young boys. How do you talk to them about what you do?
On a personal level, I go home to my kids and I hope with every bone in my body that they are shielded from what I do, but you can’t shield people forever. We try to have open discussions about things they see in the news that I’m involved with. They know I go to crime scenes. I’m unique in that way in that I go to most violent crime scenes—I try to put my eyes on it. And so, kids have a way [of] grounding you.
What do you do for fun?
I am a musician. I love music. I sing, and growing up I played the trumpet, the guitar, the clarinet and the piano. I took all those lessons and my father was the founder and conductor of the Queens Symphony Orchestra. I grew up in that world. ■ August 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 23
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Uniting expertise from Columbia and Weill Cornell Medicine to innovate women’s health. What’s better than the top minds from one of the nation’s best schools? Top minds from two of them. Dr. D’Alton, Dr. Riley, and their teams are working to achieve pioneering breakthroughs in all areas of women’s health and improve care for all our patients.
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The best and brightest in medicine. x 2.