Crains New York - June 24, 2013 - (Page 27)

IN THE BOROUGHS BROOKLYN Continued from Page 3 halve to two the number of traffic lanes along Fourth Avenue in the 15 blocks between 86th Street and Ovington Avenue. The 86th Street intersection will also gain an upgraded crosswalk, with a traffic island, and fences. Some bus stops along the strip will also be moved. Many are hailing the changes, especially given that the area in recent years has been attracting an increasing number of families with young children. “This has been a long time in coming,” said Maureen Landers, a public-relations executive and mother of two, who was struck PEDESTRIANS KILLED by a car on or severely injured, Fourth Av2007-2011 enue in 2009, an accident that left her with PERCENTAGE of a fractured drivers who speed elbow. “Bay during off-peak hours Ridge is a dynamic, wonderful MEMBERSHIP of Bay place to live, Ridge Advocates but the only Keeping Everyone Safe thing of Facebook group concern for me is the driving—it’s so reckless.” 38 63% 260 In isolation Predictably, many of the area’s motorists beg to differ. Because of its isolation at the southern tip of Brooklyn, and its relative lack of mass-transit connections, Bay Ridge has an unusually high number of people who get around by car. For many of them, the Fourth Avenue corridor is an essential route. Scott Klein, a real estate broker who spends 18 minutes driving from his Bay Ridge home to his Park Slope office every day, insists that he’d rather pay extra tax dollars to install cameras to catch speeding drivers than have to deal with a narrowed Fourth Avenue. “There might be other ways to address these things more effectively than changing the FOURTH AVENUE’S four lanes would be cut by two for 15 blocks. traffic,” he said. Others suggest that the city should hire more traffic cops to police both believes the plan will have its greatmotorists and jaywalkers, or add est impact at the hyper-busy 86th speed bumps and stagger the traffic Street intersection, a major shoplights to slow things down a bit. ping hub and the place where buses City officials point out that their from Brooklyn and Staten Island proposal is the result of a lengthy converge with the R train.Ms.Beckprocess. “Safety is DOT’s top prior- man is hopeful that the changes can ity, and this project reflects input by be implemented by next spring. the local community to make a wellused corridor safer for everyone,”said School traffic That would be good news for a DOT spokesman, noting that the project will enhance safety whether Alice Mulligan, a 30-year Bay Ridge resident who has been execuone is on foot, biking or driving. In fact, the city has been study- tive director of Our Saviour’s ing Fourth Avenue, a crucial artery Lutheran Preschool, on the corner in a series of neighborhoods from of Fourth Avenue and 80th Street, Park Slope to Sunset Park and into for more than two decades. She said Bay Ridge, for four years. After that many of her students and those completing a redesign in Sunset at other schools are driven to class Park last year, the DOT turned its every day because the neighborhood is so spread out. attention to Bay Ridge. She also noted that all those parEarlier this year, the agency held three workshops with residents, and ents trying to get to the same place launched an interactive computer at the same time often create a danprogram that generated 80 com- gerous situation, a snarl of traffic as they jostle to drop off and later pick ments on specific local transit sites. Meanwhile,Josephine Beckman, up their kids. “Every day it’s the district manager of Community honking of the horns, the doubleBoard 10, spent most of May dis- parked cars—it’s this chaotic tributing mailings about the re- scene,” she said.“I’m glad that some design to 5,000 local residents. She action is being taken.” Ⅲ FROM AROUND THE CITY QUEENS BRONX Show of support ‘Classy’ HUB-bub Concern has been mounting over the fate of the ornate, 97-year-old Since 2008, 20 new buildings with Ridgewood Theater in Queens ever 3,700 apartments have gone up since it closed in 2008. What was around the South Bronx retail strip once the nation’s oldest continuous- known as the HUB,bringing an army ly operating movie theater was of higher-income residents. Now all bought by Associated Supermarkets they need is someplace to shop. “We have to bring in more tenin 2010. After the building’s façade was landmarked later that same year, ants and more classy tenants,” said Phillip Morrow, president of all went quiet again. Concerned about the theater’s on- SoBRO, a local development group. The reason is that the newcomers going decline, architect Mercy Wong in October 2012 co-founded We have a median household income of Love Ridgewood Theater with her $35,000—more than 50% above that neighbor, psychotherapist Bridgette of most longtime residents. Faced Vidunas. They began lobbying the with the HUB’s present mix of fastMyrtle Avenue Business Improve- food spots and electronics, clothing ment District, Community Board 5 and discount stores, they are doing and elected officials to get involved. much of their shopping and dining in Manhattan, according “I’ve lived here five to a recent survey of years. Finally I was residents by retail like, ‘I’m going to do consultancy JGSC something about it,’ ” Group. Asked what Ms. Wong said. they’d most like to see Now,as a member of in the area, the No. 1 Community Board 5, pick was an Olive Ms. Wong and We Garden restaurant, Love Ridgewood Thewith Applebee’s and ater are gearing up for Red Lobster also their next push. She expects Associated to ink A LOCAL GROUP hopes to save ranking high. To reverse that a deal to sell the theater parts of the Ridgewood Theater flow of shoppers’ dolby the end of June, like- for community use. lars, SoBRO and the ly for a residential develHUB Third Avenue opment. When all is finalized, she hopes to persuade the BID held a meeting in June to map a new owner to turn areas of the build- plan to attract upscale retailers and ing into much-needed creative com- eateries to the area, which centers on Third Avenue and East 149th Street. munity spaces for art and music. “More nighttime activities would To help mobilize support, she recently started a petition on Change generate traffic and induce stores to .org that already has garnered 91 sig- stay open later,” said Mr. Morrow. natures. Meanwhile, there is the We “Around here, everything closes up Love Ridgewood Theater website, around 7, 7:30.” —irina ivanova not to mention its Facebook page, mercy wong Fourth Avenue safety plan which has more than 200 “likes.” When asked what would happen if the new owner hesitates to cooperate, Ms. Wong said, “We’re working step by step right now.” — shannon mcmahon DIGITAL NY New dimension in 3-D biz Midwest printing giant Stratasys buys geeky MakerBot in Brooklyn BY MATTHEW FLAMM MakerBot, the Brooklyn startup that became the leader in affordable desktop 3-D printers, agreed last week to be acquired by industrial 3-D printing giant Stratasys.The deal will keep Stratasys competitive with archrival 3D Systems while yielding nice returns for MakerBot’s investors. As part of what is being described as a merger, Stratasys will issue approximately 4.76 million shares and exchange them for all of WATCH a related video at CrainsNewYork.com/video privately held MakerBot’s stock. Based on Stratasys’ closing stock price of $84.60 on June 19, the deal had an initial value of $403 million. A performance-based payout could add $201 million by the end of 2014. It’s an extraordinary return for a tiny company, even one that’s growing quickly. Co-founded in 2009 by art teacher turned do-it-yourselfer Bre Pettis, MakerBot has raised just $13 million in funding, according to Fortune. Backers include the Foundry Group, Manhattan-based RRE Ventures and Bezos Expeditions, which manages Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ investments. MakerBot has sold only 22,000 printers since its launch, half of them in the past nine months, following the debut of its Replicator 2 printer and the opening of its store on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. Revenue came to $11.5 million in the first quarter of 2013, after totaling $15.7 million in all of 2012. “We’ve reached a tipping point with the popularity of this technology,” said Tim Caffrey, an associate consultant with Wohlers Associates, which tracks the 3-D printing industry. “The investment community has turned around and looked at it, and a lot of money has poured into the stocks of these companies.” Investors seemed to agree: Stratasys’ stock rose as much as 4% during trading the day after the announcement. It closed Friday at $82.15, up 594% from a year ago. Mr. Pettis said the merger will help his company grow even faster. “We get to explore the future of personal manufacturing with more resources, and get access to very deep [intellectual property] resources,” MakerBot’s chief executive said in an interview. “The whole thing starts to sparkle when you see the pieces together.” MakerBot, which has 275 employees, will be run as a stand-alone subsidiary and retain its brand and its Brooklyn base. The company recently moved production, warehousing and shipping into a 55,000square-foot facility in Sunset Park, and houses its engineers and sales staff in MetroTech Center. The merger, which is the second in less than a year for Stratasys, also ensures that both companies keep their competitive edge as the industry consolidates. In December, Stratasys, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., acquired Rehovot, Israelbased Objet, another big player in the industrial 3-D printing market. That deal helped Stratasys bulk up against Rock Hill, S.C.-based 3D Systems, but didn’t give it entry into the fast-growing market for low-cost desktop 3-D printers—an area where Stratasys has tried to make headway. 3D Systems has been on its own acquisition spree in recent years, and launched a desktop printer in 2012 that is now carried by Staples. “The two heavyweights are basically extending their reach,” said Mr. Caffrey, who wonders if all the consolidation will stifle innovation in what is still a fairly small industry. Wohlers Associates estimates the entire 3-D printing industry totaled just $2.2 billion globally in 2012, up 28% from the prior year. Mr. Caffrey does see benefits for MakerBot. “Being owned by Stratasys will help them make a better machine,” he said, as Stratasys has deep roots in printing technology. For Stratasys, the merger allows the company to be a one-stop shop. CEO David Reis said Stratasys customers like NASA and Lockheed Martin have been buying MakerBot printers. “Those guys are buying from us very heavy-duty printers for other applications. If you want to become a full-offering supplier, you need to have the full range.” Ⅲ June 24, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 27 http://www.CrainsNewYork.com/video

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 24, 2013

Crains New York - June 24, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
SMALL BUSINESS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
ALAIR TOWNSEND
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: 50 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN NEW YORK
CLASSIFIEDS
DIGITAL NY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - June 24, 2013