Crains New York - May 6, 2013 - (Page 3)

IN THE BOROUGHS STATEN ISLAND Battered homeowners prepare to move on Oakwood Beach embraces buyout most others have rejected JOE TIRONE PERCHES on an Oakwood Beach roof, from which neighbor Charlie Snyder was rescued during Superstorm Sandy. BY DAN RIVOLI buck ennis A few weeks ago, in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island, it looked almost as though some sort of neighborhood reunion were taking place. Former residents milled about and chatted amicably in what remained of the seaside community where Superstorm Sandy left three dead, scores of properties either destroyed or badly damaged, and many people still homeless. “Most of us are like wandering gypsies,” said Joe Szczesny, a 63-yearold MTA Bridges and Tunnels employee. “We’re wandering around in Sandy time, while everyone else is in normal time.” What drew Mr. Szczesny and others that cloudy afternoon was the hope of taking an important step toward putting their lives back together and rejoining the rest of the world. They gathered to await appraisers sent out to assay their properties in preparation for their purchase by New York state. In his State of the State speech in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that “there are some parcels that Mother Nature owns”—areas where it made more sense not to rebuild but to pay owners the full original value for their properties and allow See TAKING on Page 8 Tabloid takes British babes-and-scandal approach on Web BY MATTHEW FLAMM Bill Holiber has his hands full turning around the Daily News. The paper has not made money since 2007, and last week the Alliance for Audited Media reported that the News’ average weekday print and digital circulation fell 11%, to 516,000 copies, in the six months ended March 31. But the chief executive of Mort Zuckerman’s publishing operations is used to the misery of seemingly unstoppable red ink. Mr. Holiber also runs U.S. News & World Report, the once-prominent newsweekly that went monthly in 2008 and pretty much digital-only in 2010 as part of a desperate effort to stem losses. In 2012, however, U.S. News churned out millions of dollars in profits, and is on track to grow those profits by more than 30% in 2013, according to Mr. Holiber. The turnaround was the result of the company’s ability to diversify its revenue through conferences, digital advertising and licensing deals around its annual “Best” lists. Mr. Holiber faces a similar challenge with the News, where he has been CEO since 2010: figuring out how to buttress a declining print ad- vertising business with multiple revenue streams, most notably national advertising on a growing website. “In the end, it’s about building audience around the Daily News brand, and getting to where we are fully engaged in a digital-centric mindset while still putting out a daily newspaper,” Mr. Holiber said. “Nobody has quite figured it out completely, and so we are learning as we go.” U.S. News, for all its troubles as a newsweekly, may have been the easier problem to solve. Its rankings, which include lists of colleges ‘We are learning as we go,’ said chief exec STATS AND THE CITY by Emily Laermer STOP-AND-FRISK: Mayor Michael Bloomberg told NYPD’s top brass last week that media criticism of the policy was biased. 533K NYPD stop-and-frisks in 2012, more than five times as many as in 2002 85% New Yorkers PORTION of stopped who were black or Latino 53.7% BLACK and Latino share of NYC population 419 NYC MURDERS in 2012, down 28.6% from 2002 780 GUNS RECOVERED in 2011 through NYPD stops 89% NEW YORKERS stopped by police in 2012 and released without charge Sources: New York Civil Liberties Union, NYPD, U.S. Census Bureau istockphoto Daily News looks far outside New York for growth online ADDICTED TO NUMBERS? GET A DAILY DOSE AT @STATSANDTHECITY See NEWS on Page 8 May 6, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - May 6, 2013

THE INSIDER
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
REAL ESTATE DEALS
SMALL BUSINESS
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REPORT: DIVERSITY
THE LIST
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - May 6, 2013