Crains New York - July 22, 2013 - (Page 3)

IN THE BOROUGHS BRONX Audubon Society flying high A balanced budget and a bigger nest egg have recharged the nonprofit BIRD ADVOCATE: David Yarnold has transformed the Audubon Society by cutting expenses and boosting fundraising. BY THERESA AGOVINO Cuban spot’s success boosts Latino owners and its neighborhood Jane Alexander had been participating in the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count for years, but the 2010 event stood out for two reasons: It was a particularly nasty day, and the group included David Yarnold, who had been appointed the nonprofit’s president and chief executive a few months earlier. Despite being a self-described passionate bird-watcher for more than 40 years, Ms. Alexander thought Audubon was a sleepy organization. She sat on the boards of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Bird Conservancy instead. After meeting Mr. Yarnold and following his actions, she changed her mind. Earlier this year, she joined the board, which got a jolt of star power in 2012 when Silver Lake Partners co-founder David Roux and Gilt Group co-founder Alexis Maybank took seats. “I’m really impressed with the direction David [Yarnold] is taking Audubon,” said Ms. Alexander, a former National Academy of the Arts director and an award-winning actress. “It has a new energy.” Since joining Audubon nearly three years ago, Mr. Yarnold has transformed the nonprofit that seeks to preserve bird habitats by conserving land. He trimmed staff buck ennis BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS See AUDUBON on Page 20 BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI On Saturday, three-year-old eyewear brand Warby Parker will open a 1,500-square-foot store in the meatpacking district, its second Manhattan shop in three months. In June, competitor Tortoise & Blonde debuted its first retail outpost inside the hipster chain Urban Outfitters. And Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based eyewear club Monocle Order recently started selling sunglasses via a vending machine at a nightclub. “We want to let the consumer know they can have multiple pairs of frames for different occasions,” said Evan Weisfeld, co-founder of Tortoise & Blonde. “Why would you wear the same pair of glasses on a date launching their own eyewear sites. as you would to a board meeting?” These companies, eager for a piece No longer just for people who of the $9.4 billion industry in the can’t see, glasses are now for people U.S., are breaking up the stranglewho want to be seen but don’t want hold eyewear giant Luxottica has to spend a fortune. Inon the industry. store sales are expected “We wanted to be to be up nearly 4% this the first stand-alone year over 2012, comdesigner e-commerce pared with a 1.5% rise site dedicated solely to between 2009 and eyewear,” Ms. Rowley 2010, reports research said.“It’s a proven modfirm IBISWorld Inc. el, one that is disrupting Nerdy plastic frames and sort of reinventing of the Buddy Holly varithe eyewear business.” ety, or the horn-rims faMilan-based Luxotvored by Malcolm X, tica, with $9.3 billion in have been in vogue for revenue, owns Ray-Ban several years. A host of and Oliver Peoples, and new companies, led by holds licenses for inexpensive-frame piodesigner labels Ralph neer Warby Parker, are Lauren and DKNY. It also making them more afowns retail chains SHADY STUFF: fordable. Designers such Sunglass Hut and Monocle Order’s See GLASSES on Page 20 as Cynthia Rowley are nightclub outpost Within minutes of opening on a tropical Tuesday afternoon recently, Havana Café on East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx was packed. Hungry locals lined the bar, sipping mojitos and munching bacalaitos, a traditional Cuban cod fritter.In back, business types filled the tables, pushing iPads aside to make room for baskets of empanadas and plantains. Up front by the door, the restaurant’s owners—Ruben Rodriguez, Troy Perez and Kevin Alicea—exchanged hugs with favored customers, including hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Caz, and marveled at the success of their three-year-old business. “And it’s just lunchtime,” Mr. Alicea exclaimed. Business is so good that in August he and his partners will expand the café into the neighboring storefront, and six weeks later open a Mexican-themed restaurant nearby on East Tremont. Meanwhile, they have sunk $300,000 of their own money into renovating three concession stands they took over last See EATERY on Page 12 STATS AND THE CITY by Emily Laermer ANOTHER SCORCHER: Last week was so sweltering hot that the National Weather Service piled on the advisories. 6 CONSECUTIVE DAYS NYC temps hit 90 degrees last week. The average last July was 78.8 degrees +7° NYC’S AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE vs. the burbs, thanks to all the concrete 60%IN INCREASE 27K EMERGENCY-RESPONSE GELATO ORDERS at Eataly, compared with an average week. At 16 Handles, sales rose 20% call volume for July 11-17, up 2.4% from the same week last year 12 DAYS 13.3Kof MEGAWATTS LENGTH OF NYC’S longest heat wave, in 1953 Con Ed voltage used by NYers on July 19, a record Sources: National Weather Service, Weather Channel, FDNY, New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, Consolidated Edison Inc., Eataly, 16 Handles istockphoto Eyewear upstarts see their way clear via new selling methods Lower prices, clubs, vending machines bring more styles Eatery morphs to exemplar ADDICTED TO NUMBERS? GET A DAILY DOSE AT @STATSANDTHECITY July 22, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 22, 2013

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

Crains New York - July 22, 2013