FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com FEBRUARY 27, 2014 • The Courier SUN 15 TD Bank takes ‘pulse’ of boro biz BY LIAM LA GUERE Care Act. but are not willing to take on debt in order to finance [email protected]/ @liamlaguerre Nearly half of all businesses in Queens, 44 percent, further growth. expect revenue growth this year. However, 61 percent Most businesses believed the country’s economy A recently released survey from TD Bank suggested of owners said they will maintain current staffing levels. contributed to a decrease in consumer spending. small businesses in Queens are optimistic about 2014, “What this indicates is that they are not expecting On the question of the Affordable Care Act, 52 but job growth will be stagnant. contraction,” said Peter Meyer, New York City market percent of businesses in the borough said health care The poll, TD’s inaugural Small Business Pulse Check, president for TD Bank. “They’re looking to be more reform will have no impact on their businesses. surveyed 100 businesses — each making less than $5 efficient. I think that reflects an overall cautious view.” “Maybe they’re not actually focused on it,” Meyer million a year in revenue — in each borough between In Queens, only 8 percent of businesses have applied said. “Obviously they are concerned about the rising November and December of 2013. It highlighted the for a loan or a line of credit, and only 6 percent say that cost of it. But I’m kind of surprised that a majority businesses’ outlook for the year, the impact of the they are planning to within the next 12 months. don’t see it having a negative impact on their business.” sluggish U.S. economy and opinions on the Affordable Meyer said this shows businesses are comfortable, CRO SS BAY BLVD: COMING BACK POST SANDY BY MAGGIE HAYES [email protected] @Magghayes The record-breaking winter brought on two different fates for two iconic Cross Bay Boulevard businesses. Giovanni Malinconico has experienced what he calls “life’s punches” when it comes to his bakery La Torre, a Howard Beach staple for nearly three decades. When you walk into Malinconico’s pasticceria, you’re greeted with the sweet smell of fresh pastries and desserts. But the dough hasn’t risen for Malinconico, known in Howard Beach as “John da Baker,” thanks to repeated snow storms over several weekends. “This is a weekend business,” he said. “I’ve lost about 10 percent. January and February aren’t strong months to begin with, so this made it even worse.” This is the second straight slow season for the baker, who said he lost 60 percent of “normal income” in the year following Sandy. The superstorm hit three weeks before Thanksgiving, Malinconico’s “number two holiday” in sales, he said. The first, Christmas, was “just pathetic.” “Nobody was thinking about buying things, nobody had their homes to celebrate in,” he said. “The hammer just keeps nailing you down. These are what they call ‘life’s punches.’” However, a few blocks up Cross Bay, Ragtime Dairy, a gourmet supermarket, has maintained its steady stream of customers despite Mother Nature posing a threat. “The store is never closed,” said Anthony Ribaudo, store manager. “When snow storms come, people like to load up on their goodies in case they’re stuck at home.” But, like La Torre, January and February are slow months for the 30-year-old neighborhood market, and the manager is looking forward to altering the menu to compliment warmer weather by bringing in fresh salads and wraps. Other Cross Bay businesses have made their way back after Sandy, and a strip that had dozens of vacancies now has only a few. “We will always be open for our customers,” Ribaudo said. “With that, we’ll never have a problem.” Funding in question for Industrial Business Zones BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] @liamlaguerre Ted Renz is hoping what he fought so hard for won’t soon end. Just last November, Renz, director of the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation, was at the forefront of the fight to get the neighborhood included in the Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) program. But now, only three months later, the IBZ may be in jeopardy, as Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t include $1.1 million in funding in his preliminary budget for the program, an initiative left over from the previous administration to save manufacturing jobs. “We are disappointed that it wasn’t in the mayor’s budget,” Renz said. “We thought that he was a big supporter of manufacturing jobs. We hope that it will be reinstated (in his final budget).” IBZs were created to stabilize industrial areas and spur growth in the manufacturing sector by offering tax credits of up to $1,000 per employee for businesses that relocated to them, and additional services to help companies grow. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg allocated nearly $4 million to 16 IBZs in 2006. However, since its inception, funding decreased to about $1.1 million in 2013. Bloomberg himself hasn’t allocated money to the initiative since 2010, but the city council has restored it every year, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The move could mean de Blasio, who supported manufacturing jobs during his campaign, will engage a different strategy to assist the sector, although his administration has not come up with any specifics. “The de Blasio administration is committed to making smart, impactful investments that will help industrial business thrive in New York City, and is working with our agency partners to take a fresh look at the suite of programs that support this critical part of the city economy,” a spokesperson for the mayor said. “Spending differences in one program do not speak to the overall commitment to industrial firms and their jobs.” Despite the decline in funding over the years, the program has grown to 21 IBZs, including Ridgewood and Woodside last year. Community Board (CB) 5 especially pushed for the Ridgewood IBZ against opponents, which are owners who wanted to use their properties for residential use instead of industrial. “It enables us to promote businesses more in that area and advocate for businesses, and provide programs for manufacturing,” said Renz, who is a member of CB 5. And it just might. In March, the city council will review the preliminary budget, and some are touting the IBZ’s signficance. “I am committed to restore it,” Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley said. “I know it is important not just to Maspeth and Ridgewood, but the rest of the city. It is something that the council treasures.” Industrial Business Zones, such as this region in Maspeth, may not receive funding from the city unless the city council restores it. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre THE COURIER/Photo by Maggie Hayes
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