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Brooklyn,________iiiCTHE MONTHLYBUSINESS SECTIONOF THE PHOENIXNEWSPAPERPublished by Serif Press, Inc.395 Atlantic AvenueBrooklyn, NY 11217Telephone 718-643-1400MM PublisherD. B. ArmstrongEditor-in- ChiefMichael A . ArmstrongEditorTracy Garrityv AdvertisingBinni IpcarEd Gillespie%u2022 General ManagerGeorge FialaA. 'vw^ * 4 rt DirectorMichael MolanphyThe Phoenix and Its Special Business Sections Were Honored by theNew York Press Association asBest in New YorkState for Coverageof Business andEconomic Newsin 1985The Phoenix and its Brooklyn, Inc Business Section welcome free lance contributions on Brooklyn business subjects.Send material to: Editor,395 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn! 1217.For return of material and photographs, be sure to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.Deadlines fo r the NextBrooklyn, Inc. Business Section:Editorial: September 10Advertising: September 11Publication: September 18K%u00abr Advertising InformationCali (718) 643-1400EDITORIAL Brooklyn,____ incWe Like What We Hear From the Brooklyn Post OfficeThings are bustling at the Brooklyn Post Office these daysand while the benefit for postal patrons may be too early tofeel, we like what we hear and see about the new and enthusiastic direction being charted by Brooklyn%u2019s new postalmanager, Linda Sanchez.A large part of the postal problem in Brooklyn, it seem s tous, has been the consistent refusal to acknowledge to anunhappy public that problems have even existed. Yes, a%u201cnew broom%u201d can take a posture that is different from thatof predecessors and talk in more honest term s about therealities of the level and qilality of service the system herehas had to offer. But, as every businessperson and residentof Brooklyn can stoutly testify, the gap between the servicewe have not been getting and what we hear promised aboutnational performance goals and standards has been a verywide one and there has been absolutely no confidence thatthere was going to be any change %u2014 until now.Concerned new Brooklyn Post Office leadership, and notjust at the top, is talking a very different approach to ourpostal realities and that change alone gives us all hope for avery different future for postal service in Brooklyn in themonths and years to come.Another thing that offers hope for a better future is thekind of plans and activities being outlined in the story in thismonth%u2019s edition of BROOKLYN,INC. Better hours, a place totake specific problems and complaints, and wider access topostal services. These are all subjects dear to the heart ofall of us who live and do business by the m ails.We look forward to som e of the more tangible signs of thischange in attitude and approach in the weeks to come. Afterall, it%u2019s the delivery that counts.PO IN T OF VIEW Brooklyn,____ meCouncil Looks A t Legislature%u2019s Impact On Business In Recent SessionThe following Viewpoint essay isreprinted from the July/August edition of%u201cBusiness/New York,%u201d die journal of TheBusiness Council of New York State, anddescribes that organization%u2019s view ofgains for business during the recentlycompleted session of the New York StateLegislature.Business won some, victories in the 1986legislative session, which ended July 3. Butthere were some disappointments as well %u2014particularly the failure of tax reform forsm all business. A great deal was left undone.Perhaps of greatest immediate importance to business, the Legislature took thefirst steps towards reform of the liabilitysystem . Included were significant newreforms in the directors%u2019 and officers%u2019liability.There was also action on a package ofbills to help sm all businesses get prompterpayment from government authorities inthe state, and to constrain the growth infees on business by making new fees subject to closer legal reviews.Some punitive, anti-business proposalswere deleted from the proposed $1.45 billionEnvironmental Quality Bond Act before itwas passed and sent on to the voters for areferendum; a proposed front-end tax onthe production of chem icals and m etals wasremoved, although oil transfer fees wouldbe increased. And there were some steps toPerhaps of the greatestimmediate importance were thefirst steps toward reform o fthe liability system.enhance economic development programs,including an authorization for up to 40%u201ceconomic development zones%u201d eligible forspecial incentives.The major disappointment was theLegislature%u2019s failure, for the second in asmany years, to agree on a comprehensivereform of the corporate franchise tax.There was agreement in principle torepeal the 30 percent, double-jeopardy taxon some sm all businesses imposed by whatis called the %u201cofficers%u2019 salary alternative%u201din the corporate tax. And there was agreement, as well, on the need for retention of areduced form of the state%u2019s investment taxcredit %u2014 even in the face of pendingoutright repeal of the federal credit. Butdisputes on the overall cost of a reformpackage snagged final agreement.Another disappointment was the failure toensure the allocation of hydroelectric powerto western New York companies. And theLegislature voted to establish a Long IslandPower Authority, threatening both theprivate utility system and existinghydropower allocations.In many cases no news was good news.The Business Council and others successfully held off a rash of negative proposals, including m easures that wouldhave: regulated plant closings; governedthe use of computer term inals; allowed libelsuits on behalf of deceased persons;weakened the %u201cemployment at will%u201d concept; and allowed unemployment benefitsfor a person whose spouse has beenrelocated.BUSINESS VIEWS Brooklyn,_ _ _ h rComptroller Reports Pro Sports Keep The City Financially HealthyProfessional sports contribute almost $400million a year to New York%u2019s economy,Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin reported today.Moreover, baseball, tennis, basketballand hockey generate $10.8 million a year forthe City and Transit Authority (TA)treasuries, Goldin says.Professional sports also account for 4,632full- and part-time jobs in New York,primarily for blue collar workers hired byvarious concessionaires, according toComptroller Goldin.%u201cAs everyone knows, sports are as mucha business as a game,%u201d Goldin says. %u201cAt atim e when various municipalities, includingNew York, are spending millions to attractand maintain sports franchises as, for example, through financing and fixing stadia,this type of bottom-line information is anecessity.%u201dThe Goldin report includes only quantifiable impacts of baseball, tennis, hockeyand basketball on the City%u2019s economy. Certain sports were omitted from the study:boxing, because of the infrequency of majorbouts here; bowling, golf and football,because they are not played professionallywithin the five boroughs; horse-racing,because the economic impact of the sport isdue largely to parimutual betting; and theNew York City Marathon, because it isessentially an amateur event.Baseball accounts for the largestC C C n O r * '1 n i m n o r t f r\\t f L a f a %u00bbi r i M t n f n o o i A n n lsports currently played in New York, with the Mets and the Yankees directly contributing some $105,556,000 to the City%u2019s economy last year. Tennis added another $39,125,000 of economic activity, hockey $17,887,000 and basketball $12,996,000, for a total direct contribution of $175,564,000.Applying a multiplier of 2.25 to reflect theaggregate impact of those dollars as theyare turned over in the economy, the totalimpact of professional sports in New Yorkwas $395,019,000 last year.Direct contributions to the City and TAtreasuries included sales taxes on tickets,concessions, hotels and restaurants($4,755,300), rent ($2,614,000), transit fares($2,570,000), parking taxes ($381,000),payroll and non-resident income taxesP R O F E S SIO N A L S P O R T S IM PA C T O NECONOM YM E T S 0Y A N K E E S 0TEN N ISRANGERSP CKNICKS$ 57,821,00047,735,00039,125,00017,887,000ia,aa o ,u uuSU BTO TAL:MULTIPLIER ;$ 1 7 5 ,5 6 4 ,0 0 0________ x_ 2 .2 5TOTAL: $ 3 9 5 ,0 1 9 ,0 0 0($352,000) and hotel occupancy taxes($132,762).Goldin cautions that numbers do not tellthe whole story, however. %u201cProfessionalsports create the critical m ass necessaryfor us to compete for a myriad of events,%u201dGoldin says. %u201cWithout the Knicks andRangers, for example, Madison SquareGarden would not exist. As a result, NewYork City might not have hosted two recentDemocratic conventions. In addition, theother events hosted by the Garden, including the final rounds of the NIT andHoliday Festival basketball tournaments,major concerts, the Ice Show and the Ringling Brothers mid Bamum & Bailey Circus,would be in jeapordy.%u201dComptroller Goldin also noted that professional athletes and team s are generous contributors to charity in the city. The Yankeesand the Winfield Foundation contributed$900,000 to charity last year, the Mets sponsored a tournament to raise funds to battlemuscular dystrophy, Dwight Gooden is active in the city%u2019s school sports program andWillie Randolph works with the New YorkPartnership%u2019s summer job programs. Innumerable baseball, tennis, hockey andbasketball players directly affect the livesof thousands of New Yorkers throughhospital visits and other charitable activities.%u201cFinally, the spiritual and psychologicalimpact of pro sports may be immeasurable,but is real,%u201d Cemptrolle1* CWdi!1 cave %u201cHm%u00bb do you quantify frhat Dwight Gooden, Don Mattingly or Pat Ewing means to a generation of fans? Or the civic pride New York felt at the Rangers%u2019 run at the Stanley Cup last season? In both the best and worst of times, professional sports energize the city and provide enthusiasm and hope.%u201dPage 2, THE PHOENIX/BROOKLYN.INC SECTION TWO, August 14, 1986