Crain's New York - November 5, 2012 - (Page 3)

IN THE BOROUGHS MANHATTAN Neighbors come to aid of powerless Village shops Owners return the love with hot coffee, cold beer, bargain sweets BY ALI ELKIN At the powerless West Village greasy spoon La Bonbonniere on Wednesday afternoon, smoky, bacon-scented air wafted out the open door, causing passersby to snap to attention. Many poked their heads into the cramped spot on Eighth Avenue to ask about coffee. Locals, who could normally take their pick from the neighborhood’s scores of gourmet espresso shops, dropped into chairs and closed their eyes in relief as they gulped the diner’s brew. As the sunlight faded, the FLOORS pizzastaff donned shop owner Mario headlamps and Markashi walked labored on. A up to deliver free pies to his few minutes latregulars Tuesday er, a longtime neighbor came in with a homier solution, a 19thcentury oil lamp, which she set on the lunch counter. “This is a staple of the West Village,” said Alisha Gonzalez as she lit the lamp. “It’s nice to see it open when everything else can’t.” As it turned out, the headlamps were a loan from another neighbor, actor Casey Siemaszko. In fact, Ms. Gonzalez and Mr. Siemaszko were among a hardy group of downtowners pitching in to help some of the area’s oldest businesses stay open last week. Ms. Gonzalez, who has lived on Jane Street for 37 years, said that she was thrilled to get good use out of some of the lamps from her collection. She was also pleased to have the opportunity to assist some of the increasingly few survivors from the neighborhood’s less trendy past. “Right now, it’s not about Lulu Guinness or Marc Jacobs,” she said. “It’s about survival.” Ms. Gonzalez also brought a lamp over to Li-Lac Chocolates on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Jane Street, a few doors down from La Bonbonniere. The confectioner has been in the West Village since the 1920s, and last week it was more than returning the love to patrons. Though the chocolate was in no danger of melting—as it had been in previous, summertime blackouts— the store was calling all of its stock OUT OF DARKNESS: Firms fanned out across the city last week in search of workspace. newscom THE OFFICE SPACE SCRAMBLE Displaced tenants large and small hunt for home away from damaged quarters BY DANIEL GEIGER Many of the city’s office tenants— outfits from big to small, high tech to no tech—found themselves in the same uncomfortable boat last week, facing the sudden need to rehouse their businesses in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. With buildings south of midtown powerless for days, and many in flooded downtown possibly out of commission for weeks, the race was on for temporary quarters. Some have moved in with clients or customers; others are out looking to lock up acres of space for weeks or even months. For Bonobos, based in darkened Chelsea, the solution was to speedily improvise. On Tuesday morning,the 140 staffers of the online retailer, best known for its tailored men’s pants, fanned out, iPads in hand, in search of free power, wireless Web connections and, with luck, coffee in midtown hotel lobbies, cafés and other locales. “We’re camping out,” said Andy Dunn, the company’s chief executive and co-founder. “But as long as we can get access to Wi-Fi, we can be productive.” Startup 3-D mapping company Lofty Inc. took a different route. Lofty, which is based in the offices of venture-capital company Accel Partners on the top floor of 111 Eighth Ave., had offers of temporary housing from a number of firms, but ultimately it opted simply to have staffers work from home for a while. “Our team was actually being pretty productive from home, and intracity travel would still be very difficult without subway access,” See REAL ESTATE on Page 24 18 What NYC needs to rebuild What’s feasible may not be affordable. The infrastructure debate has begun BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS AND CHRIS BRAGG Add “storm surge” to the list of disasters that New York’s aging and overstrained infrastructure can’t handle. Before Sandy, New York was considered by climate scientists to be at low risk for hurricanes but highly vulnerable to them.That may explain why the city was structurally unprepared for last week’s storm. The city’s roads, tunnels, sewers and power lines will take weeks to repair and years to rehabilitate. “We’re testing systems that in most cases weren’t designed to deal with this sort of thing,” said Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association. “We’re going to need a thorough assessment as to what can be done to make them more resilient.” State and local officials are already sending mixed messages. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the region’s built environment needs to be redesigned, with consideration given to big-ticket improvements like sea walls and levees. “Protecting this state from coastal flooding is a massive undertaking,” the governor told reporters last week, “but it is a conversation that I think is overdue, and it is a conversation Gasoline and electricity may prove to be our weakest links that I think should begin.” But Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quick to dismiss talk of multibillion-dollar levees and tidal gates. “I don’t think there’s any practical way to build barriers in the oceans,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Even if you spent a fortune, it’s not clear to me that you would get much value for it.” While elected officials debate what’s feasible and affordable, planners and academics worry about the city’s ability to withstand future natural disasters. Long lines for gas and lack of fuel for power generators last week exposed gaps in the region’s pipeline and fuel transportation capabilities. The closures of bridges, tunnels and roads raised questions about the city’s ability to receive crucial supplies. And millions of New Yorkers living in darkness highlights weaknesses in the electrical grid, notably the vulnerability of below-grade power stations. In 2008, Mr. Bloomberg convened the New York City Panel on Climate Change to advise the mayor on adapting city infrastructure to rising sea levels and shifting weathSee INFRASTRUCTURE on Page 24 See LOCALS on Page 23 November 5, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's New York - November 5, 2012

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
EDITORIAL
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: EDUCATION
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
DIGITAL NEW YORK
SMALL BUSINESS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crain's New York - November 5, 2012