Crain's New York Business - December 17, 2012 - (Page 12)

OPINION I In memoriam: those we lost in 2012 n 2012,New York lost a number of leaders who changed our landscape,brightened our lives and left big imprints on the city in many areas. BUSINESS. There was never a retailer like Marvin Traub, a marketing genius who made Bloomingdale’s a temple for spectacular events and displays “like no other store.” He created a national chain and left an indelible mark on retailing. remembered for his courageous decision to buck the Nixon administration’s claim of secrecy and publish the Pentagon Papers. The Supreme Court’s affirmation of the paper’s First Amendment right to publish was a signal event in ensuring the important role of a free press. Other losses in media include Times writer Alan Oser; Roger Wood, former executive editor of the New York Post, who helped develop Page Six; editor Helen Gurley Brown, who created the Cosmo Girl; film critics Judith Crist and Andrew Sarris; Michael O’Neill, former executive editor of the Daily News; Mike Wallace, CBS reporter and fixture on 60 Minutes; Julian Goodman, president of NBC; financial journalist Dan Dorfman; Richard Threlkeld, correspondent for CBS and ABC News;broadcaster Hal Jackson; Priscilla Buckley, managing editor of National Review; and Peter Straus, who transformed WMCA radio into a political force and a marketplace for intelligent discussion. ARTS. The arts world mourned the passing of ebullient Marty Segal, founding head of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the New York International Festival of the Arts, and longtime board member and former chairman of Lincoln Center. Mr. Segal was both a prodigious fundraiser and a generous benefactor for many organizations. Diminutive in stature, he was a larger-than-life force. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the scores for Broadway plays including A Chorus Line and dozens of movies. Other losses to stage and screen include directors Ulu Grosbard, Albert Marre, Judith Martin and Emily Squires; producers Martin Poll and Martin Richards; composer and producer Richard Adler; playwright William Hanley; actors Celeste Holm and Ben Gazzara; Isaiah Sheffer, founder of Symphony Space; Anthony Amato, founder of Amato Opera; and Hugo Fiorato, principal conductor of New York City Opera. Artists Helen Frankenthaler, Will Barnet, Paul Jenkins and LeRoy Neiman died this year. SPORTS. Simon Gourdine was a colleague in the Koch administration as commissioner of consumer affairs; earlier,as deputy commissioner of the NBA, he was the highest-ranking black executive in professional sports. Bill Skowron helped power the Yankees to four World Series titles. Marvin Miller took the helm of the Major League Baseball Players Association and won players far better pay and pensions and enhanced power in negotiating their futures. Ron Erhardt helped lead the New York Giants to two Super Bowl championships as offensive coordinator. GOVERNMENT. Two men left a legacy of a professional police force here, rooting out systemic corruption as they did so. Patrick Murphy was police commissioner after the Knapp Commission, which investi- John Phelan’s cool during the market crash of 1987 helped retain investor confidence. While the Dow was falling more than 20%, Mr. Phelan kept the New York Stock Exchange open. He adapted to swiftly rising order volume by introducing electronic systems and then circuit breakers to control volatility. Jim Burke presided over a huge expansion of Johnson & Johnson during his tenure as CEO. When seven people died after taking Tylenol capsules that had been tampered with—laced with cyanide—Mr. Burke spent heavily to recall all capsules and publicly apologized. Other notable business losses include Bill Butcher, former CEO of Chase; developer Tony Goldman, who helped revitalize SoHo; William Carey, who pioneered the use of sale-leasebacks in commercial real estate; Arnold Greenberg, a founder of Snapple; Sandy Lindenbaum, New York’s pre-eminent zoning lawyer; market analyst Barton Biggs; developer Melvyn Kaufman; Roger Aaron, mergers partner ALAIR TOWNSEND at Skadden Arps; Jerry Finkelstein, who parlayed his business and publishing empire into political influence in the city and state;restaurateur Sylvia Woods; art dealer Ivan Karp; and Grove Press Publisher Barney Rosset, who won landmark First Amendment cases against censorship. MEDIA. Arthur Sulzberger led The New York Times to become a truly national newspaper and expanded its areas of coverage with new sections and features. He may best be Frank Serpico to expose the breadth of the culture of corruption as city officials looked the other way. Mr. Durk was a hero who risked everything to clean up the department. Two men worked in and out of government over the years to improve the public sphere. Ed Costikyan broke the back of Tammany Hall by ousting Carmine De Sapio as Democratic leader of Manhattan and was a consistent force for good government. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff engineered a groundbreaking agreement with upstate communities to preserve land and save the city billions in water-treatment costs over the years. Don Kummerfeld was budget director and deputy mayor during the darkest hours of the city’s fiscal crisis in the mid-1970s. Judge Theodore Jones of the New York Court of Appeals showed his resolve by fining the Transport Workers Union and jailing its president during the 2005 transit strike. James Dumpson, the city’s welfare commissioner, and Barbara Blum, a state social-services official,were ardent advocates for the needy. Michael Dontzin, counsel to Mayor John Lindsay, helped negotiate better conditions at the city’s jails after violent riots. Former Councilman Enoch Williams helped pass the ban on smoking in restaurants. Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr. of Oceanside, Queens, was killed in Afghanistan just four months before his tour was to end. I salute him and the others we lost this year. David Durk worked with Officer gated corruption, and Detective 12 | Crain’s New York Business | December 17, 2012 http://www.way.Mr http://www.crainsnewyork.com/section/events_calendar/submit http://jbarbieri@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