Crain's New York Business - December 17, 2012 - (Page 1)

CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS ® VOL. XXVIII, NO. 51 REPORT SMALL BUSINESS MADE IN NYC If you can make it here, you can sell it anywhere P. 13 DECEMBER 17-23, 2012 PRICE: $3.00 WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM Labor to squeeze council speaker Unions have leverage on sick days, other hot issues as Quinn seeks mayoralty in 2013 BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS New York’s powerful unions have City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in their sights—and tremendous leverage in legislative battles—as she competes for their support in the 2013 mayoral race. Starting next month, a coalition of labor groups will resurrect the effort to mandate paid sick leave, a campaign set back only temporarily by Superstorm Sandy. Ms. Quinn, who has blocked the legislation amid concerns about the cost for small businesses, will be the sole target. Unions are also seeking to loosen restrictions on their ability to spend on See QUINN on Page 23 buck ennis OCTAVIO HOYOS got a three-year, $15,000 loan with an interest rate of 4.99% to rebuild his Howard Beach, Queens, cleaning business. Borrowers beware Why so many hit by Sandy aren’t grabbing the best interest rates they’ll ever see NEWSPAPER Broadway fall season a big flop Withering reviews, early closures; even stars can’t save shows BY THERESA AGOVINO Annie is an orphan in more ways than one. The revival of the musical about the optimistic, parentless redhead is the only show that opened this fall that will continue to the spring, excluding limited-run shows. Two other musicals, Scandalous:The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson and Chaplin, announced within a day of each other earlier this month that they were going dark in what has been a mostly joyless Broadway fall season marked by bad See BROADWAY on Page 22 BY AARON ELSTEIN After Sandy slammed Staten Island, Joseph Del Villar threw every dollar he had into reopening his business, Boulevard Cleaners. Between his personal savings and help from his family, he was able to raise the $100,000 needed to install new washing machines, drywall and pumps. Now he’s tapped out. Business is running at 50% below pre-storm levels and, after skipping two payments on his house, he has started get- ting calls from his mortgage company threatening foreclosure. Government assistance would certainly be welcome, but mostly what’s available are loans, and debt is the last thing Mr. Del Villar needs more of. “I can’t afford to pay what I owe right now,” he said. “What would I do with another loan?” Mr. Del Villar’s misery is shared by thousands of entrepreneurs throughout the city. It helps explain why fewer than 300 companies have been approved for disaster-recovery loans, See BORROWERS on Page 24 NEXT WEEK 2013BOOKOFLISTS Every company you need to know about in every industry in New York http://WWW.CRAINSNEWYORK.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's New York Business - December 17, 2012

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
CORPORATE LADDER
OPINION
GREG DAVID
ALAIR TOWNSEND
REPORT: SMALL BUSINESS
FOR THE RECORD
CLASSIFIEDS
REAL ESTATE DEALS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crain's New York Business - December 17, 2012