Crain’s Breakfast Forum with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will be held at Roosevelt Hotel, located at 45 East 45^th Street (4 miles from OfficeLinks’ Wall Street office, 1.5 miles from OfficeLinks’ Chelsea office, 1.2 miles from OfficeLinks’ Bryant Park office, and 1/3 mile from OfficeLinks’ Grand Central West office) on Thursday, February 16, 8-9:30 am.  Tickets are $75 per person (or $750 for a table of ten) if purchased by February 9, $80 thereafter (or $800 per table of ten). Pre-registration is required to attend this event. To register for this event, click here.

Can’t make it? @crainsnewyork will be tweeting live from the event. Follow #agforum and join the conversation at 8:00 a.m. on the day of the event.

Someone recently mentioned to me that yoga can help. They shared with me that through yoga, you get in shape with strengthening and toning exercises and it helps to train your brain to stay calm during stressful situations.  I was also told that it is detoxifying, which sure sounds good to me after all the holiday parties I’ve been attending!

This conversation reminded me of an article I read at the end of the summer from Bloomberg News, reporting that Wall Street has found a new friend: Bikram’s Yoga College of India.  According to the article, Wall Streeters are heading to Bikram’s to sweat out their work stress (Bikram’s Yoga is a specific style of yoga with a set sequence done in a room heated to over 100 degrees).  If you missed the article, you can check it out by clicking here.

So, I’m thinking, why not? Less than ½ of a mile from OfficeLinks’ Wall Street offices, you can give Bikram’s Yoga a shot.  Or, if voluntarily hanging out in a 100+ degree room while doing yoga doesn’t sound inviting to you, maybe try out a different style of yoga.  This is New York City, after all. There’s yoga everywhere you turn (even in the gym!) – and almost any kind of yoga you can imagine.

Resolve to check it out and see if you see any positive changes in your life.

There is still room to grow in New York City – and it’s slowly happening on the West Side of Manhattan.   Immediately following New York’s defeat in its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, the fate of the Hudson Yards was not unclear.  Despite the early uncertainty a new neighborhood is starting to emerge.

Since 2005, residential buildings and new hotels have risen west of Eighth Avenue between 30^th and 43^rd Streets.  And, a boom for office space is on the horizon as well.  Related Companies, a major New York developer, announced plans to build a 51-story office tower, which luxury retailer Coach as the anchor tenant.

Development plans are so ambitious for Hudson Yards the city predicts, over the course of the next 20 years, that stretch of New York real estate could have more office space that Baltimore or Stamford, Conn. – reaching an astounding 24 million square feet of office space for the West Side.

We’ll have to see how the construction of the Far West Side progresses through these uncertain economic times.  Any economic hiccup could derail the lofty goals.

The borders around Manhattan’s central business district continue to expand, leaving businesses with more options regarding office space.  We will be following how the revitalization of this underutilized part of the city pans out.

To show their support for sustainability, landlords have converted some prime real estate space in their buildings into bicycle storage rooms for tenants.  These spaces have emerged at some of the most desirable addresses throughout Manhattan.

At the top of the list is the Empire State Building, which opened an 800-square foot bike room at the base of the building.  The space, which normally could have been rented at a premium, was re-designed to store bikes as part of the building’s $550 million renovation to make it environmentally friendly.

While landlords are losing potential revenue at the ground floor level, they certainly understand they can gain a competitive edge in a market that is focused on green construction.   They have also found that bike storage facilities have become an effective marketing tool for attracting future eco-friendly tenants.

If your building offered a bike room, would you bike to work?

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is typically illuminated from 5:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. daily, except on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. On Christmas, the tree is illuminated for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve the lights are turned off at 9:00 p.m.

Some fun Rockefeller Christmas Tree Facts:

• The Christmas tree that adorns Rockefeller Center is typically a Norway Spruce.
• The minimum requirement is that the tree be 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide, however manager of Rockefeller Center gardens prefers the tree be between 75 and 90 feet tall and proportionally wide.
• Norway Spruce that grow in forests don’t typically reach these proportions, so the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tends to be one that was ornamentally planted in someone’s front or back yard. There is no compensation offered in exchange for the tree, other than the pride of having donated the tree that appears in Rockefeller Center.
• Over five miles of lights are used to decorate the tree every year.
• Only the lights and the star decorate the tree.
• The tree is recycled and the 3 tons of mulch are donated to the Boy Scouts. The largest portion of the trunk is donated to the U.S. Equestrian team in New Jersey to use as an obstacle jump.

Rockefeller Center is located in the center of the complex of buildings between 47th and 50th Streets and 5th and 7th Avenues, less than 2 miles from the Chelsea OfficeLinks location, less than ½ mi from OfficeLinks’ Grand Central West location, less than ¾ mi from the OfficeLinks Bryant Park, and just over 4 mi from the Wall Street OfficeLinks location.  For more information, see the Rockefeller Center Map.

This is a New York City holiday season tradition that should not be missed!

Tonight, Thursday, November 10, from 6-8 pm, you can join Anishinaabe artist, Ramona Morrow as teaches
participants about dream catchers and how
to create them. You will get to make your own dream catcher and learn the amazing story behind them. Please note that reservations are required and can be made by calling (212) 514-3716. Cost to attend/participate: $25/20 members. Checks and money orders only.

There is a free Beaded Octopus bag making demonstration with Cody Harlo (Seminole/Otoe) on Thursday, November 17, 5-7 pm. Please note: this is not a hands-on workshop.

Thursday, November 17, from 6-8 pm, you can join Coleen Bins (Oneida) as she teaches you how to make traditional
Haudenosaunee cornhusk dolls. This
workshop is appropriate for everyone ages
12 and up. 
 Please note that reservations are required and can be made by calling (212) 514-3716. Cost to attend/participate: $25/20 members. Checks and money orders only.

See what exhibitions are going on right now by clicking here.  The museum is open 10 am – 5 pm daily; Thursdays until 8 pm. Admission to the museum is free.  For more information about this amazing resource in our local community, click here.

Findings from a new study by the Kauffman Foundation on the Entrepreneurship Gender Gap reveal women only account for roughly one third of all new business launches.  Women entrepreneurs are also falling behind men when it comes to revenue generation.  Less than two percent of female-led small businesses have revenue exceeding $1 million.  In contrast, more than six percent of male-led firms reported revenue of over $1 million.

Keeping this data in mind, ForbesWoman decided to compile its first annual list of the top 20 cities for women in business.  Criteria that were taken into consideration when compiling the list included:

• What cities have seen the biggest growth in the number of female-led firm in recent years
• Where are the most SBA-backed loans going
• Where are women turning the SBA loans into million-dollar profits

At the top of the list were New York and San Francisco.  The study showed women have an easier time finding the funding and resources that can ultimately make their businesses succeed quicker.  Cities that also made the list include:  Tampa, Fla., Bethesda, Md. and Washington, D.C.

An article in Entrepreneur revealed one professional’s opinion about office space and the importance of matching office space to a business’ identity.  It’s all about striking the right balance.

“When I go into a start-up burning $300,000 a month, and they’ve got posh offices with great furniture, I immediately think the leadership team’s priorities are in the wrong place,” says Mark Montgomery from a Nashville, Tenn.-based VC firm.  “On the other side, I don’t think you should have your people sitting on cardboard boxes at a card table. It really is a matter of being practical.”

So what should your office space look like?  First and foremost, it should project a professional image for clients and prospects.  It needs to be functional and provide a number of work environments to suit different needs where employees can thrive.

Montgomery looks back at a recent visit to Google’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters and says the company’s culture is perfectly reflected in their workplace design.  “There were areas where it was small and tight and closed-off, and that was where the coders lived, and that was right next to big, open spaces.  It was just a great mix of how they tend to operate the business.”

Obviously, office space needs to serve a business; but don’t forget it also should be a place where creativity can be limitless and workers want to invest long hours.

And for those who are completely unfamiliar with this New York City landmark, The Battery is one of New York City’s oldest public open spaces, located at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers.  The history behind the park is that early Dutch settlers landed here in 1623, and the first “battery” of cannons was erected to defend the young city of New Amsterdam.

Now it is a 25-acre waterfront parkland, making it the largest public open space Downtown.

OK, OK, I know, get to the good stuff: the food! As part of the Battery Bosque project, two distinctively designed food kiosks were created and opened this past June: Zak Pelaccio’s Fatty Snack and Fatty ‘Cue. The “Fatty” kiosks feature Southeast Asian BBQ cuisine and sweets. Fatty ‘Cue’s menu is full of flavor with favorites like an Asian pulled pork sandwich and a refreshing wedge salad.

There is also the Merchants Market, located on Peter Minuit Plaza in the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion. Grab a croissant and a cup of coffee on your way out of the subway in the morning or enjoy a delicious panini or “dutch” hot dog at the outdoor cafe.

Take your lunch outside. Get some fresh air. Learn something new. Visit The Battery.

A recent Wall Street Journal article illustrates the lasting-toll the recession and economic volatility has had on small businesses and entrepreneurs.  The Journal article reports the number of start-ups has been on a downward trend for some time.

Fueled by massive layoffs, there appeared to be a burst of start-up activity during and after the 2008 recession.  But the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows the total number of new businesses actually declined from years past.

The article states: “In a recent report on entrepreneurship, the BLS said the number of new businesses less than a year old that existed in the year ending March 2010 ‘was lower than any other year’ since its research began in 1994. The downdraft started with the recession.”

Despite the gloom and doom, there has to be a group of intrepid entrepreneurs out there who are ready to jump in and help get us back on track.  Do you agree?  Let us know what you think.