Javits Center Faring Well After Last Year's Mob Cleanup

<H1> Javits Center Faring Well After Last Year's Mob Cleanup</H1>By Walter Ruby

<B>I</B>t was one of the great comeback stories of 1995.

Last summer, the reputation of New York City's long-troubled Jacob K. Javits Convention Center hit rock-bottom amidst a spate of media reports that costs at the center were out of control, and that workers with Mafia links were routinely subjecting exhibitors to shakedowns and intimidation (Meetings Today, April 17, Sept. 18, 1995).

Now all of that seems to be a fading nightmare. Last July, the Javits Center's new president and CEO, Robert Boyle-who was appointed in April by Gov. George Pataki to clean up the mess-negotiated new union contracts that put most of the workers at Javits directly under the center's control. Previously, the workers were hired through unions and outside contractors.

By autumn, companies that book the 10-year-old glass-and-steel palace on Manhattan's West Side had reported significant reductions in cost, a complete disappearance of mob activity and a new consumer-friendly attitude by a once-surly work force.

"The transformation in the atmosphere at Javits is absolutely like night and day," said Steven Hacker, president of the International Association for Exposition Management. "The replacement of the former work force was a bold stroke, and there is ample evidence it had the desired effect. The Mafia hold has been broken, and there appears to have been very significant reductions in costs. We are hearing that show organizers want to bring events into the building again."

Bill Just, president of the Atlanta-based Association of Convention Operations Management, noted that until recently, Javits management had a "we don't need the outside world" attitude. "There was a false perception-which they did nothing to correct-that Javits was booked solid all year," he said. "It is terrific that Javits is becoming much more user-friendly and is going aggressively after new business."

Evidence of managerial improvement here should prove to be a major draw for business travel, with more companies willing to rent out space for shows.

"We are very optimistic that we will be able to sell more exhibitions as word gets out more widely concerning the improvements at Javits," said Jeff Little, a show manager for White Plains, N.Y.-based George Little Management, which runs seven to eight shows a year at Javits.

Little said he believes that the tightening of work rules at Javits, which have included an end to standby labor and union featherbedding, have reduced the cost of running exhibitions by an average of 10 to 15 percent, even though the hourly wages of workers have been raised slightly.

David Larkin of the Larkin Group, a New York-based trade show management firm, praised the performance of Javits Center personnel when his firm booked space from January 6 through 9. The show coincided with the Blizzard of '96, when Manhattan was submerged under 24 inches of snow.

"This was my company's Exxon Valdez crisis, but it would have turned out much worse if the Javits Center hadn't responded so energetically," said Larkin. "When we needed emergency help with snow removal, the Javits people responded quickly and efficiently."

Before the reforms at Javits were put into effect, the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), the Center's largest annual exhibition, was ready to throw in the towel and search for another venue. "It had become such a nightmare at Javits over the past few years that our exhibitors were threatening to pull out," said Candida Romanelli, show director for NYIAS. "We have, however, been very happy with the cooperation we have gotten from Javits in recent months and have decided to go ahead with our 1996 show in April."

Boyle, a former construction firm executive, attributes much of his success to the unwavering support he has received from Pataki. "The governor gave me very clear instructions: Either find a way to clean up the Javits Center up or he would close it down," he said.

Boyle believes he has accomplished those aims-and more. "We cut our labor requirements by 40 to 50 percent, instituted new hiring standards that stresses an applicant's attitude and appearance, and got rid of mob influence and corruption by putting plainclothes men and uniformed police on the floor," he said.

Steven Morello, president and CEO of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, maintains that part of the reason for Boyle's success has been his willingness to work in partnership with Morello's own semi-autonomous agency. "For the first time ever, the Javits Center is cooperating with us in the creation of a joint marketing plan," he said. "Together we are focusing our efforts on attracting to Javits the kind of events that will bring the most money into the city." Morello said that the Center's rapid transformation has made it possible for his agency to tell the New York story "in a way that appeals to people who would not have considered New York before.