Crains New York - May 21, 2012 - (Page 10)

VIEWPOINT N Council overreach? Bank on it ew York City has no power to regulate banking, which is the domain of state and federal governments. But that’s a mere inconvenience for the serial regulators on the City Council, who seem determined to dig their claws into every nook and cranny of the private sector they can reach. Last week, they passed an outrageously intrusive and unnecessary bill that would smother local banks with an unprecedented blanket of regulation. Lacking authority over banks, council members instead are trying to use the city’s presumed leverage as a customer to dictate how financial institutions do business. City entities park billions of dollars in up to 31 different banks. The council bill threatens to yank those funds from any bank deemed unworthy by a trio of city officials—the mayor, the finance commissioner and the comptroller. How would worthiness be determined? A panel would collect information from banks on their services “at the census tract level.” There are more than 2,000 such tracts in the city. For each one, every bank would have to divulge data about its branches, loans, foreclosures, delinquencies, loan modifications (both granted and denied), services for low-income people, financing of affordable housing, credit lines for small businesses, community development partnerships, charitable work … the list goes on. Entire forests would be needed to amass this paperwork, and hordes hired by both the banks and the city to compile and digest it all—a cost that would be shouldered by taxpayers and bank customers. The legislation even adds a traveling show-trial element: public hearings, in every borough, to air the information, so media-hungry politicians can hector and shame banks. As a customer, the city has the right to good, reasonably priced service from its banks and other vendors. But when customers are overbearing—imagine a restaurant regular who demands to inspect the kitchen, audit the payroll records and trace the source of every ingredient— businesses have little choice but to turn them away. Many banks, certainly the smaller ones, would cut ties with the city rather than submit to the council’s onerous mandates. Banks would lose a valuable patron, and the city would lose banking options. The banking bill widens a wound that city lawmakers have been carving in the side of the business community. This council appears determined to pass the most anti-business legislation ever by a local legislature in a single season. It has moved in recent weeks to force some employers to pay a “living wage” and others to pay unionlevel wages to nonunion labor; to prevent businesses from checking job applicants’ credit ratings; and to levy $15,000 fines for the ever-so-dangerous practice of washing cars without the Department of Consumer Affairs’ blessing. Its votes are always by margins that can survive a mayoral veto. Business interests should put Council Speaker Christine Quinn on notice that they will call her out as fundamentally anti-business if her chamber overrides the pending veto of the banking bill, the most overreaching legislation from the most misguided City Council we have seen in some time. editor in chief Rance Crain publisher, vp Jill R. Kaplan EDITORIAL editor Glenn Coleman deputy managing editors Valerie Block, Erik Ipsen assistant managing editors Erik Engquist, Jeremy Smerd senior producer, news Elisabeth Butler Cordova contributing editor Elaine Pofeldt columnists Greg David, Michael Gross, Alair Townsend pulse editor Barbara Benson senior reporters Theresa Agovino, Aaron Elstein, Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm, Daniel Massey, Miriam Kreinin Souccar reporters Amanda Fung, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Adrianne Pasquarelli reporter /producer Emily Laermer art director Steven Krupinski deputy art director Carolyn McClain staff photographer Buck Ennis copy desk chief Steve Noveck copy editor Thaddeus Rutkowski data editor Suzanne Panara interns Callie Eidler, Emily Lundeen, Amy Stern EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICES Yet another antibusiness vote from the city’s serial regulators 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-5806 editorial: 212.210.0277 Fax 212.210.0799 advertising: 212.210.0711 Cable craincom nyk Fax 212.210.0499 Entire contents ©copyright 2012 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. ®CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement. TO SUBSCRIBE: For subscription information and delivery concerns, please e-mail customerservice@crainsnewyork.com or call 877-824-9379 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 313-446-0450 (all other locations). $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. www.crainsnewyork.com ADVERTISING AND MARKETING advertising director Trish Henry senior account managers Irene Bar-Am, Courtney McCombs, Sheryl Rose, Suzanne Wilson account executive Jill Bottomley Kunkes sales coordinator print & online Danielle Wiener newsletter product manager Alexis Sinclair credit Todd J. Masura 313.446.6097 director, audience development Michael O’Connor senior marketing manager Catherine Schutten event producer Courtney Williams reprint sales manager Lauren Melesio general manager, online & e-commerce strategy Kira Bindrim senior web developer, interactive Chris O’Donnell NEW YORK PRODUCTION production and pre-press director Michael Corsi advertising production manager Suzanne Fleischman Wies PUBLISHED BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. chairman Keith E. Crain president Rance Crain secretary Merrilee Crain treasurer Mary Kay Crain executive vp, operations William Morrow senior vp, group publisher Gloria Scoby group vp, technology, circulation, manufacturing Robert C. Adams vice president/production & manufacturing David Kamis chief information officer Paul Dalpiaz founder G.D. Crain Jr. (1885-1973) chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. (1911-1996) CRAIN’S ONLINE POLL COMMENTS SHOULD JPMORGAN’S CEO LOSE HIS JOB FOR ITS BILLION-DOLLAR TRADING DEBACLE? Date of poll: May 14 A Govs. Island casino? A SURE BET FOR NEW JOBS AND TAX REVENUES With all the talk about tearing down the Javits Center and building a convention center next to an expanded Aqueduct casino in Queens, why is there no real enthusiasm for a hotel, casino and entertainment complex on Governors Island? It would create hundreds of millions of dollars in construction jobs and permanent employment for thousands. We continue to lose tax revenue to our neighbors in New Jersey and Connecticut. And since Governors Island is not a Native American reservation, there are real taxes to be earned there. (By the way, New Jersey and Connecticut seem to be able to withstand the onslaught of crime and prostitution that some leaders in New York City seem to be so worried about.) We had 48 million visitors to our city last year; we’re going on 50 million this year. Some of them might enjoy a short ferry ride to visit a casino. This idea needs a flag bearer such as Crain’s. SUPPORTING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Re “A blue-collar path to graduation” (Viewpoint, May 14): We applaud Chancellor Meryll Tisch’s exploration of alternative pathways to graduation for New York City high-school students, particularly those that include career and technical education programs. CTE has long been misunderstood, and suffered from a lack of support from politicians who are afraid of advocating programs that might imply that some students are not college material. However, our own annual “Unheard Third” survey found widespread interest among New Yorkers in CTE options. Moreover, some educators argue that quality CTE programs not only improve high-school graduation rates but actually increase the likelihood of students going on to college or additional training. 430 votes Yes. Jamie Dimon was warned, but ego blinded him. The CEO has got to go. 59% . 41% No. Mr. Dimon has steered his bank to huge profits. The trading loss is a blip. bloomberg news For this week’s questions: Go to www.crainsnewyork.com/poll to have your say. 10 | Crain’s New York Business | May 21, 2012 . President and CEO Community Service Society of New York CRAIN’S WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@crainsnewyork.com. Send columns of 475 words or fewer to opinion@crainsnewyork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, address and telephone number. —david r. jones, esq. —norman sturner President and CEO Murray Hill Properties http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/poll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - May 21, 2012

Crain's New York - May 21, 2012
Contents
Council Defies Mayor, Scares Business Leaders
Renegade Ceo Bucks Albany to Save His Hospital
Back to JPMorgan Chase’s Woes Have Some Local Bank Rivals Circling. in the Markets.
New York, New York
Hopes Rising Along B’klyn Waterfront in Sunset Park
Why Charlie Rangel Could Lose His Seat
Small Business
Viewpoint
Ibm Inside Big Blue’s Brain Trust, Which Pulled in More Than 6,180 Patents Last Year, the Most Ever by a Single Company. No Wonder the Stock Price Has More Than Doubled in the Past Five Years.
The List Our Annual Review of the New York Area’s Largest Publicly Held Companies, Ranked by Their 2011 Revenues.
What’s Up (And Down) at News Corp., Cbs, Bed Bath & Beyond, Vornado Realty, Mastercard, Jones Group, Revlon and Others.
For the Record
Classifieds
Real Estate Deals
The Week on the Web
Matchmakers Find Their Own Chemistry
Anne Fisher Tapping Into Human Emotions Pays Dividends
Hot Jobs
Executive Moves
Movers & Shakers Real Estate Veteran’s Surprising Switch
Gael Greene Dragonfly Lands on UES

Crains New York - May 21, 2012