Evolution Media

Lisa Fickenscher - While many restaurants are still reporting anemic growth, a food manufacturer in Brooklyn plans to add some 30 jobs and expand its production to satisfy the growing needs of its customers.

TMI Food Group, an Asian noodles and dumplings manufacturer, is investing $2.5 million in its Bushwick facility, purchasing new equipment and hiring more employees over the next five years to operate the machines.

“One of our major customers has requested us to increase capacity,” said Terry Tang, owner and chief executive of TMI. He identified the customer only as a fast food restaurant chain.

Mr. Tang also said that his company has not been overly affected by the economic crisis because “we provide basic food, like noodles.”

The Empire State Development Corp. gave TMI Food Group a $100,000 grant as part of its Manufacturing Assistance Program to help offset the cost of its expansion. Four years ago, the manufacturer received $225,000 from ESD to assist with another expansion project.

TMI Food Group is comprised of four separate companies, including Twin Marquis, which runs one of the largest noodle factories on the East Coast. Twin Marquis was opened in Chinatown in 1989 by the Tang family.

Personal injury lawyers carved a niche for themselves in ambulance-chasing, and class-action-plaintiff's attorneys cornered the market on asbestos suits. Unfortunately for boutique firm ITS Recovery Group, the Ponzi-scheme-victims market is not yet ripe for specialization.

The legal and tax consultancy, which specialized in helping victims of investment fraud maximize tax-loss deductions and recover funds, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Friday. It listed assets of $2.9 million and liabilities of roughly the same amount.

The firm was trying to target the market of jilted investors created by the high-profile fraudsters indicted over the past two years. It focused on recent IRS rulings that allow investors to claim theft-loss deductions on their income tax returns and possibly recover back-taxes. It also claimed a specialty in helping professional athletes who'd been swindled by their financial advisers.

“If you were a victim in a Ponzi scheme or were defrauded by your broker, financial advisor or investment firm,” reads its website, “Please contact ITS Recovery Group…to determine whether or not you qualify for significant tax benefits under IRS Code 165(c)(2).”

It boasted of a team of tax professionals, certified fraud examiners, theft-loss specialists and legal experts, though bankruptcy court papers listed only Anthony Troy Flax, founder and sole officer of the firm. It was headquartered on Wall Street until July of this year, when it relocated to Jersey City, N.J.

The firm earned money—or didn't, as it turns out—on a contingency basis, taking a percentage of any financial recovery realized. It wouldn't get paid if its efforts failed.

At the time of the filing, ITS Recovery listed 11 clients with combined pending recoveries estimated at $2.5 million.

Phone calls to the numbers listed on the firm's website did not go through. The attorney who prepared the bankruptcy filing, Edward Neiger of Neiger LLP on Madison Avenue, declined to comment.

Matthew Tilden quickly built a following for his homemade artisanal breads after launching ScratchBread in Brooklyn in 2009, selling the hearty loaves through several local cafes and at Brooklyn Flea. But Mr. Tilden, whose startup funds consisted of just $5,000 in personal savings, hasn’t found it easy to keep baking. He has moved three times to secure affordable work space—most recently to Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“Honestly, starting a business in New York with no capital was one of the stupidest decisions I ever made,” says Mr. Tilden, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America who previously ran an upscale casual restaurant in Cape Cod, Mass. “I was so stubborn, I didn’t care.”

To raise more money, Mr. Tilden turned to one of the new “crowdsourced” funding sites that connect entrepreneurs in the creative class with those interested in supporting their projects with donations and loans. Mr. Tilden chose Kickstarter, a New York-based site where entrepreneurs seek small, individual contributions to complete projects. Users set their own funding goal and deadline for reaching it; if they don’t make it, they collect nothing. The site keeps 5% of the total raised for each successful project.

This approach is preferable to making a deal with the investors who have come prowling around so far, Mr. Tilden says. “It’s hard for me to relate to someone who wants to put a couple of thousand dollars into the business and take 20% to 50% of it, when I’ve put in so much sweat equity.” But, he adds, “the bottom line is that this business isn’t going anywhere unless I find financial support.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Tilden failed to meet his $25,000 goal by the deadline of Sept. 2. He raised just $9,360 from 95 donors.

Like other sites in the space, 12-employee Kickstarter suggests that users raise cash from those they know, often by tapping their Facebook and Twitter networks. “It really sits on the back of social media,” says Yancey Strickler, who co-founded Kickstarter in April 2009.

Other crowdsourced funding sites include RocketHub, a New York startup that helps musicians and other creative types find patrons; 40billion.com, based in Atlanta, which offers entrepreneurs a chance to secure donations as well as loans; and Invested.in, a peer-to-peer lending platform that sports such rotating taglines as, “Because banking executives just don’t get it.”

In terms of the growth of crowdsourced sites, CB Insights, a New York company that tracks venture capital activity, says peer-to-peer enterprises have attracted some VC backing but that those oriented toward donations haven’t.

About 7,000 projects have been featured on Kickstarter, according to Mr. Strickler. About 2,500 have found funding, garnering a total of about $15 million. Another 2,500 did not meet their goals; the rest are still active, he says.

Bud Caddell, a strategy director at an ad agency, recently did well with a campaign to fund his writing a book. The book, which carries the working title The Bucket Brigade, is about the need to revamp organizational structures to make them more worker-friendly. “After the book raised $18,000, I got a few calls from literary agents, which was phenomenal,” says Mr. Caddell, who has planned to self-publish.
Founders of crowdfunding sites say project supporters are often attracted by the chance to be involved in creative activity and in a community they otherwise might not get to experience firsthand.

RocketHub.com urges artists to give something unique back to their donors. For example, a musician looking to fund a CD project might offer backers a guitar lesson, says co-founder Brian Meece. “People will pay for that,” he says. “It’s exciting and fun.”

Some of the sites are discriminating. “We are for creative projects,” says Mr. Strickler at Kickstarter, which requires fundraisers to submit an application. He offers the example of an artisanal snow cone maker, which uses hand-shaved ice and all-natural juices, that recently raised more than $7,000 to expand.

“If a small business is coming on to try to make money to pay rent, make payroll or buy a new printer, we would decline that project,” Mr. Strickler says.

If a business has the right creative vibe, however, some donors are willing to help with mundane expenses. Mr. Tilden recently donated $20 to a mobile food company with a broken-down truck because he could identify with its challenge, he says. “I knew it would help them out.”

Lisa Fickenscher - Most restaurants would hate to make their debut in January, traditionally one of the slowest months of the year.

But for Sheri Wilson, who has big plans for Harlem Tavern, which she plans to open early next year, the dead of winter is the perfect time.

“We want to go through our growing pains before the spring and summer, when we will double in size,” she said.

The 3,500-square-foot eatery on West 116th Street and Fredrick Douglass Boulevard will have an additional 3,000 square feet worth of outdoor seating during the warm-weather months.

On the site of a former auto body shop—and before that a gas station—Harlem Tavern will join a bevy of new dining spots nearby, including Bier International and 5 & Diamond.

“We're hoping that we'll inspire other places to open here,” said Ms. Wilson, who lives in Harlem and is opening Harlem Tavern with her husband, Stephen Daly, and another partner, Gareth Fagan.

Mr. Fagan owns a bar called the Blind Pig in Lower Manhattan and Mr. Daly is a co-owner of a three-story sports bar in Times Square called Tonic Bar & Restaurant.

Ms. Wilson says Harlem Tavern was well received by the local community board, in part because it will replace a long-standing neighborhood eyesore. The auto body shop has been closed for years, she said.

Emily Laermer - Vegetarian restaurant Uptown Juice Bar filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Tuesday.

The restaurant's financial difficulties are an exception to the rule, as juice bars are generally successful businesses, said Len Torine, executive director of the American Vegetarian Association. “Vegetarian restaurant closures aren't disproportionate," he said, adding that "it has to do more with the fact they are typically small businesses.”

Most vegetarian restaurants are created by small groups of people who want to follow a specific diet. Uptown Juice Bar, which has been in business for 15 years and is located on West 125th Street between Fifth and Lenox avenues, is owned by David Simmons. He also owns another vegetarian restaurant in Harlem called Cafe Veg.

The most successful vegetarian restaurants are ones that transcend the stereotypical vegetarian scene and enjoy a loyal customer base, Mr. Torine said.

“If you walked into a vegetarian restaurant 10 or 20 years ago, someone was playing the sitar, everyone was wearing Birkenstocks and the place was a little too early for mainstream,” he said. “The ones that do well are the ones that really get out of that box, and have good, fresh food.”

Uptown Juice Bar's filing estimates liabilities of $50,000 to $100,000, and assets of less than $10,000.

Creditors holding unsecured claims include Con Edison, which is owed $17,429 for the lighting bill, and David J. Platzer Properties, owed $40,000 for overdue rent.

Representatives from Uptown Juice Bar were unavailable for comment.

Emily Laermer - Yet another high-profile restaurateur has been sued by his employees.

Chris Cannon's high-end Italian eatery Alto has been accused of stealing tips and underpaying employees, according to a lawsuit filed by three hourly food service workers.

The employees have accused the midtown restaurant of distributing at least 4% of the servers' tips to general managers and other employees who are ineligible for gratuities, said Rachel Bien of Outten & Golden, who is representing the plaintiffs.

According to the filing, Arturo Reyes—an assistant who has worked at the restaurant since June 2009, and is part of the trio that filed the suit—discussed the matter this spring with Mr. Cannon, who acknowledged that the tip misappropriation was unlawful. Mr. Cannon reportedly told Mr. Reyes that if he had a problem with this, then he should file a lawsuit.

Alto 53 is also accused of requiring employees to pay for uniform maintenance, as well as denying wait staff spread-of-hours pay. The class action lawsuit will affect more than 100 employees who have worked at the restaurant since Aug. 30, 2004, and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, says the filing.

Over half a dozen restaurateurs have been accused of violating labor laws this year, including Terrance Brennan's Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro, Eric Goode's B Bar and Grill and sandwich shop Bimmy's.

“When people hear about these cases, they learn about their own [possible] violations, and they start asking questions about these things,” Ms. Bien said.

Mr. Cannon and Alto chef Michael White are also teaming up for two new restaurants to open in the coming months: Ai Fiori, a 175-seat restaurant in the Setai hotel in midtown; and Osteria Morini, a 100-seat eatery downtown.

Alto's annual gross volume of sales is at least $500,000, according to the filing, while the duo's other restaurant, Marea, grossed $13.5 million during 2009—the year the restaurant opened.

Mr. Cannon was not available for comment.

His red velvet cake might elicit swoons from New York foodies, but Cake Man Raven's apparent indifference to a federal court proceeding has prompted a judge to issue an order in favor of more than a dozen plaintiffs who allege the Brooklyn baker stiffed them on tens of thousands in overtime payments.

In a ruling last week, United States District Judge Roslynn Mauskopf ordered answers to a 2008 lawsuit entered by Cake Man Raven Inc. and Raven P.D. Dennis III be stricken and a default judgment be entered against them because of a repeated “failure to appear at court conferences, participate in discovery, or otherwise defend against plaintiffs allegations.”

Bruce Menken, an attorney for the plaintiffs, now has until Sept. 30 to make a case for the amount of money his clients should receive. Because the default judgment covers the named plaintiffs and not a larger class, Mr. Menken said the damages should be about $100,000 and not the “well into six figures” number he initially had in mind.

Some 15 former employees filed suit against Cake Man Raven in 2008 and for a while it appeared as if the case would be settled. At a conference in October 2009, attorneys on both sides confirmed a deal was near on a “low amount” because Cake Man was “experiencing financial difficulties and had recently been subject to a substantial federal tax lien,” according to court papers.

But settlement conferences had to be delayed because Cake Man failed to produce documents detailing the company's financial condition. And then Matthew Aboulafia, the attorney for Mr. Dennis and Cake Man Inc., withdrew from the case because his client “had not responded to his efforts to communicate with them,” court records show.

“My client has refused to respond to any of my numerous and almost daily communications to him,” Mr. Aboulafia wrote in his court motion to withdraw from the case.

Last week, the attorney sued Mr. Dennis and Cake Man Raven, Inc. in Kings County Civil Court, seeking $10,000 in unpaid legal fees. “I believe his nonpayment of my fees was due to financial difficulties,” Mr. Aboulafia said, although he would not comment on the overtime suit because of client confidentiality rules.

With Mr. Aboulafia out of the picture, neither Mr. Dennis nor a representative for his business showed up for a February court conference, prompting a $200 fine and a warning from the court that failure to appear for the next conference could result in “further and more drastic actions…including striking of their answer and entry of default judgment.”

In March, the defendants again failed to show up in court.

“There is no indication whatsoever that the defendants have any interest in defending this action,” court papers state. “The defendants have effectively halted both completion of discovery and efforts to settle the action.”

The federal court order comes at the same time the state Department of Labor has set its sights on the Fort Greene baker for failing to respond to charges it owes more than $11,000 in wages, interest and penalties stemming from nonpayment to three employees. The DOL issued an order against the company, Mr. Dennis and a store manager because they did not respond to the charges.

There was no reply to a request for comment left at Cake Man's shop. The bakery, reportedly a favorite of stars like Jay-Z, Bill Cosby and Robert DeNiro, celebrated its tenth anniversary with a cupcake parade through Fort Greene last month.

On Sunday, a writer identified as Amanda C. posted a review on Yelp.com: “Oh my.......GAWD! Have mercy. I almost died yesterday: Death by way of Red Velvet overdose.”

For two years, Wendy Friedman has tried to collect the $15,000 she says she's owed for designing sweaters for SoHo fashion label Abaeté by Laura Poretzky, whose clients have included pop star Jessica Simpson.

But the 38-year-old from Manhattan says the company appears to have closed and reopened under another name. She can't collect a dime, despite a court judgment in her favor. Lawyers now advise her to just walk away.

“When you're self-employed, when you pay your own health insurance, when you pay quarterly taxes, $15,000 is a lot of taxes, a lot of living expenses,” Ms. Friedman says.

She's hardly an exception, as the seemingly simple process of getting paid has emerged as the No. 1 problem facing self-employed workers. A first-ever study by a Rutgers University economist shows that 42% of the nearly 900,000 independent workers in New York state reported having trouble collecting payment for their labors last year, totaling an estimated $4.7 billion in lost wages.

Freelancers aren't covered by the same laws that protect many other workers, leaving them little recourse when they get stiffed. Now the state's home-office set is working overtime to expand their options.

More than 400 freelancers have electronically “outed” clients they say have not paid them—ranging from political candidates to banks to media companies—via a website set up by the Freelancers Union. An advertising blitz by the nonprofit advocacy group has blanketed subway cars with the message: “Is not paying a freelancer any less wrong than not paying a traditional employee?” And a legislative push in Albany seeks to provide independent contractors—the fastest growing segment of the economy—with the same rights as traditional employees. Nationwide, half of all the new jobs added in the recovery are expected to be independent workers, according to the employment law firm Littler Mendelson.

The Freelancers Union campaign—dubbed “Get Paid, Not Played”—follows successful efforts by the 120,000-member group to eliminate the unincorporated business tax for those earning less than $100,000 and to set up its own health insurance company, retirement plan and political action committee.

On the Great White Way, the fall season shows signs of coming up roses, but theater denizens still fear getting stuck by lingering thorns.

First, the good news: Audiences packed Broadway houses this summer, pushing up attendance numbers for the first time in years. And the fall season is about to start with a bevy of buzz-worthy shows.

[Watch the related video: Broadway and the Recession.]

The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino, a critically acclaimed hit from Shakespeare in the Park, is transferring to Broadway for a limited run. Driving Miss Daisy, starring Tony Award winners James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave, is attracting attention ahead of its October opening. And Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark—with a reported budget of $50 million, making it the most expensive musical of all time—begins previews in November.

“There's a lot more interest in Broadway now that we have these big shows coming in,” says Scott Mallalieu, president of Group Sales Box Office. “The fall business has taken a huge uptick in the past month.”

When Manhattan by Sail posted an offer on the community-discount website LivingSocial in May for 50% off its usual $95 price for a two-hour wine-tasting cruise in New York Harbor, it expected maybe 500 responses.

The company ended up receiving some 1,500 replies to the offer. To handle the surge, the nine-year-old company added a second cruise to its schedule every week for the next five months.

“This is something we will definitely consider again next year,” says Operations Manager Claire Chirouze-Ulloa. “We'll do it at the -beginning of the season, when it's always a little slow.”

Even small businesses can have a big reach online. Spurred by the unquenchable public appetite for social media, dozens of discount-brandishing websites have sprung up online recently, with names such as Groupon, BuyWithMe and LivingSocial competing for market share. Catering to small businesses, these websites allow local neighborhood merchants to pitch their wares to millions of potential customers online—usually at a deep discount.

Online crafts marketplace Etsy, the five-year-old Brooklyn-based company that has catapulted to success, is getting even bigger. The company just nabbed a former Google executive as its chief operating officer, and raised an additional $20 million in venture funding.

Adam Freed, formerly a Google international executive, will join 125-employee Etsy as chief operating officer, further cementing the e-commerce site’s global expansion plans. In early August, Etsy began supporting 23 different currencies through PayPal for shoppers from around the world.

“Now when you’re viewing items, it’ll show you what it costs in your local currency,” said Etsy spokesman Adam Brown.

In its fifth round of venture funding, Etsy attracted Index Ventures, along with Accel and Hubert Burda Media. The firms have agreed to pony up a total of $20 million for the growing Brooklyn firm. The previous round was in January of 2008, when Etsy received a shot of $27 million in funding. In total, Etsy has raised around $52 million.

Etsy Founder and Chief Executive Rob Kalin could not be reached for comment. Mr. Brown said that the company is profitable and predicts revenue this year between $30 million and $50 million. Through July, the gross value of goods on Etsy.com was $158 million, though the company expects to reach $400 million by the end of December.

Experts say the venture capital market is just getting started, and activity in the Big Apple is robust. Despite Etsy’s profitability, it still makes sense to seek additional funding, said Cris Dolan, executive director of the New York Venture Capital Association.

“Any company that has the opportunity to raise capital at this point is probably going to do so,” she said. “You have retail and media and finance all within a small footprint so companies located in this area have tremendous growth potential as a result of the access to all these various sales and marketing relationships.”

Mr. Kalin was named a Crain's Top Entrepreneur last year.

Emily Laermer - Here's more evidence that digital marketing and advertising are soaring in New York City: nine such companies in the metro area made the latest Inc. 500 list, released Thursday.

These companies make up just under a fifth of the 48 New York-area companies with the fastest-growing revenues tracked by Inc. magazine.

The New York area also led the pack for metropolitan areas, with 401 companies making the magazine's expanded Inc. 5,000 list.

“New York is a hot bed of activity; there's a lot of innate talent here,” said Mike Deluca, senior vice president of sales and marketing of Yodle, an online advertising company that ranked No. 35 on the list—and first in the state. Yodle increased its revenue to $45.9 million in 2009, from $758,000 in 2006 and nearly doubled the size of its New York staff, Mr. Deluca said. “Ad agencies are growing as tech and media strategies emerge.”

Online advertising so far this year is up more than 10% from last year and is expected to increase by an additional 45% by 2014, predicts eMarketer. Yodle, as an example, is contributing to this activity by adding its customer's links to online maps; ads for the 800 Yodle clients who use this service appear when users search for corresponding keywords on these maps.

New York business boosters shouldn't get too smug, however. As more content goes online, office location will become less important in the marketing and advertising world, said Nick Pahade, chief executive of digital media planning company Traffiq, one of Inc.'s Top 10 Indian-run fast-growers.

“Even though physical location is less important, there's something to be said about having a presence in New York,” said Mr. Pahade, whose Manhattan-based outfit ranked 50th on the list and increased its revenue to $5.7 million in 2009 from $125,600 in 2006. “There's a lot of action here. It's only natural for a high propensity of advertising agencies in the area.”

Other New York sectors with impressive showings on the latest Inc. list include software, business products and information technology, which each had four companies on the Top 500 list.

Statewide, the Empire State came in third to Texas and California on the expanded list.

And CheckOutStore, a media storage company based in Brooklyn, increased its 2009 revenue to $3.1 million from $281,500 in 2006 and made the magazine's list of Top 10 Asian-run companies.

Emily Laermer - The first batch of inspected restaurants in New York City received higher grades than anticipated, the Department of Health said on Thursday.

Just under half, or 49%, of the first 250 restaurants received A grades for safety and sanitary conditions, and an additional third received Bs.

That’s significantly better than the Department of Health’s estimate in March. The agency predicated that only a third of restaurants would receive the top grade, while most would get Bs.

About 8% of restaurants have been closed because of sanitation and health violations found during the inspections.

“Our goal is to reduce illnesses associated with eating food in restaurants,” said Commissioner Thomas Farley. “The restaurants appear to be taking the inspection process more seriously than they did the past.”

Through the city’s new inspection process, restaurants are given two opportunities to receive As. If the restaurant does not receive a top grade, it has the opportunity for a re-inspection within three weeks. After the initial round of inspections, 26% received As.

After the second inspection the restaurant must either post its grade, or appeal to the tribunal.

Restaurants can be docked for violations, like keeping or serving foods at the wrong temperatures, health hazards and pests, and each violation is associated with a certain point value. Restaurants with under 13 points receive As; 14 to 27 points, Bs; and above 28 points, Cs.

Daniel Massey and Adrianne Pasquarelli - The Cake Man won't cough up the dough.

That's what the state Department of Labor is alleging in an order issued this month against Brooklyn bakery Cake Man Raven, known for red velvet cakes that are reportedly popular among celebrities like Bill Cosby, Robert De Niro and Jay-Z.

The labor department argues that the company, owner Raven Patrick De'Sean Dennis III and manager Lisa McClain have failed to respond to complaints that it owed three workers some $2,600 in unpaid wages. Because the employer was nonresponsive, interest and nearly $3,000 in penalties has been added for a total due of about $11,000.

“If we determine you owe money, and you don't come forward to pay, we're going to go ahead and assess penalties,” said Lorelei Salas, director of strategic enforcement at the state labor department. “If you don't try to resolve it, you're going to end up paying a lot more.”

Cake Man isn't the only business that has run into trouble with the labor department. Last week alone, the agency issued 25 orders to comply against employers, totaling more than $1 million in underpayments, interest, damages, and penalties for violations of minimum wage, overtime, wage payment, record keeping and other labor laws.

Cake Man has 60 days to appeal. If no appeal is lodged, the order can be converted into a judgment against Mr. Dennis, Ms. McClain and the business, and a lien can be put on their assets, Ms. Salas said.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment left at Cake Man's Fort Greene shop.

The state order is just the latest labor trouble for the bakery, which just celebrated its 10th birthday with a party in late July. One other recent labor department complaint was resolved and three more against the company still need to be addressed, Salas said. In 2008, 15 employees filed suit, alleging the company owed them $750,000 in unpaid overtime covering a six-year period.

The bakery may be facing some stiff competition from several sweet shop upstarts who have recently expanded in New York City. Right now, there are around 220 purveyors of baked goods operating in Manhattan, according to Zagat's New York City Food Lover's Guide, but many more are on the way. They're an easy fill for a vacancy, since most shops do their baking elsewhere and really only need a small storefront. Brokers estimate the average bakery needs only 600 to 1,200 square feet of space.

In Manhattan, Billy's Bakery, a favorite among celebrities such as Katie Holmes, recently opened in TriBeCa, as did 25-year-old Little Pie Co. Other bakeries expanding in the city include Belgian chain Le Pain Quotidien, Birdbath, the environmentally-friendly shop from City Bakery, California-based Sprinkles and Little Cupcake Bakeshop, which was founded in Bay Ridge five years ago. With so many more sweet options across the Big Apple, Cake Man's labor troubles could cause consumers to think twice about its red velvet delights.

Emily Laermer - Irina's Help Line, a firm founded with the intent of opening an associated medical facility, is fighting to stay afloat after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company was founded in 2008 specifically to own and operate out of a property on East Merrick Road in Freeport, N.Y., and to develop a nonprofit medical facility. Attorney Chris Cardillo of C. Cardillo P.C. would not disclose the nature of the planned facility, but said the property on which the building was planned narrowly escaped a foreclosure sale.

“We deemed the foreclosure to be unjust,” Mr. Cardillo said. “We also believed that our client had a realistic ability to develop a plan to ensure that any and all creditors would be fairly compensated.”

Creditors with unsecured debts include ER Holdings, which is owed $150,000; Flushing Savings Bank, owed $136,000; and Toyota Financial Services, owed $30,200.

Although plans for the nonprofit have been put on hold, the owners will continue developing the facility if the property is saved.

The filing cites estimated liabilities of $500,001 to $1 million and assets in the same range.

Irina Elnatanova, whose name is on the filing, declined to comment.

A $40 gadget could save companies thousands of dollars annually on their electric bills. In the fourth quarter, Manhattan-based ThinkEco will introduce the Modlet. The simple outlet cover, paired with a $10 USB stick, monitors energy use and can be programmed to turn off flat-screen TVs and other energy hogs. “It's like an automated power strip,” says Mei Shibata, ThinkEco's chief business officer.

The Harvard graduate and partner Jun Shimada founded ThinkEco in 2008 and have raised about $2 million. “I used to work in Corporate America. Seeing the waste was really frustrating,” Ms. Shibata says.

The Modlet is now in beta tests with 14 corporations. Ms. Shibata hopes to sell 5,000 units in the fourth quarter and 100,000 units in 2011. The key, she says, is making people aware of how much they can save. With the focus on going green these days, timing for the device could be spot on.

Editor of New York, New York items: Valerie Block
Contributors: Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm, Adrianne Pasquarelli

Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft will cast a spell on hungry art lovers next year. The popular sandwich chain run by the celebrity chef (pictured) has won the contract to provide catering services at the 2011 Armory Show, one of the most prestigious contemporary art exhibits in the world. The contract will add significantly to the restaurant company's bottom line.

Top caterers such as Liz Neumark's Great Performances and Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, as well as Battery Gardens restaurant, have in the past provided finger food and other edibles for the show, which attracted more than 60,000 attendees this year.

“There's a 'wichcraft just a block from our office that has long been a favorite of our staff,” says an Armory Show spokesman. “We invited 'wichcraft to make a presentation.”

Next March, attendees will nosh on chickpea, tuna or goat cheese sandwiches, among other treats. The organizers also plan to host some of their preshow events at chef Colicchio's Craft eateries.

Bobby DooWah used to earn more than $100,000 per year as a children's event guitarist, charging $650 for a one-hour concert. But with a drop-off in performances amid the economic downturn, Mr. DooWah—known in his personal life as Jeffrey Richter—has looked to additional sources of income.

Mr. DooWah recently began performing at “Mommy & Me” classes in family homes; a group pays $200 per class. Six months ago, he self-published a digital book about the children's music business, The Wealthy Guitarist, which he promotes on Facebook. It has sold more than 100 copies at $39.95. He is working on a children's book series and shopping a children's variety television show.

“I'm throwing a lot of things out there,” says Mr. DooWah, who also produced a CD in 2002 that has sold more than 1,000 copies.

Venture capital-backed firms have long tried to expand their reach (and investors' returns) by building multiple revenue streams; often, this means hiring a substantial-sized team. Today, thanks to advances in online marketing, publishing and education, it has become easier than ever for self-financed, solo business owners to add revenue streams.

Lisa Fickenscher - The city's Parks Department is moving quickly to vet the proposals that it received from restaurateurs eager to set up a food cart outside the defunct Tavern on the Green.

Aug. 13 was the deadline to submit a proposal, and a city official said the goal is to have carts there by September.

“We are evaluating the proposals right now,” a Parks spokesman said.

Though the official would not say how many people responded to the agency's request for proposals, some neighborhood restaurants such as Dovetail on West 77th Street are hopeful about getting the green light.

Some sources say the agency could make its decision as soon as Monday.

Lisa Fickenscher - Supermarkets are overcharging shoppers and many don't even put prices on their products, according to the city's Department of Consumer Affairs, which says such problems are greatest in poor neighborhoods.

According to a yearlong investigation by the agency, the industry has a compliance rate citywide of just 48%, but the rate drops to 36% in areas with the highest levels of poverty, which all happen to be in the Bronx.

The agency looks for a variety of issues and specifically looked out for stores that were taxing non-taxable items, using inaccurate scanners, ignoring expiration dates or neglecting to post prices on all individual items.

Indeed, the most common violation in the sweep was a lack of sticker prices on individual items. But the investigation also found that nearly one in three scanners were not accurate.

“The damage [by these violations] to people with lower incomes is so significant,” said DCA Commissioner Jonathan Mintz, who is ordering the agency's 80 inspectors to double the number of site visits they make to supermarkets next year.

Supermarkets had the second-lowest compliance rate of all industries that the DCA inspected in 2010, behind only parking garages.

Some 500 businesses will be fined more than $380,000 in total as a result of the sweep.

The agency inspected 983 businesses in the city.

Supermarket lobbyist Richard Lipsky said the city has lost 200 supermarkets over the past decade. He added that city government should focus on how to reduce the cost of doing business here.

A trade group, the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, said the city is one of the last jurisdictions to require stores to put a price on individual items.

“It's an extremely outdated law that goes back to the 70s before scanning,” said Patricia Brodhagen, vice president of public affairs for the alliance.

One silver lining is that bodegas scored much higher in the sweep. Citywide, their compliance rate was 82%; bodega compliance was 94% for the five poorest neighborhoods in the city. Mr. Mintz said, “I can't help but wonder whether part of it is the relationship they have with their customers,” said the commissioner.

Ms. Brodhagen offered that bodegas may not use scanners and therefore more items in their store would carry price stickers.

Correction: The original article, published Aug. 18, 2010, included an inaccurate list of the city's worst grocery store offenders. On Thursday, the city's Department of Consumer Affairs sent the following statement to media outlets: This morning the Department of Consumer Affairs announced the results of its yearlong inspection of supermarkets. We deeply regret the error, but unfortunately the supplemental list of the worst offenders in each borough was inaccurate. We apologize to the supermarkets that were mistakenly included in this list.