The Wall Street Journal - 11.03.2020

A10B| Wednesday, March 11, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.**

a meeting space booking plat-

form that offers many inten-

tionally Instagrammable con-

ference and workshop spaces

in New York City and around

the globe.

The loft-like lounge at per-

sonal-finance advisory firm

the Financial Gym in Manhat-

tan has that Instagram look.

It has an airy feel, a bold

color scheme and backdrops

like the “Money Bar” de-

signed to encourage young

clients to share their adven-

tures in “adulting.”

The most popular spot for

photos is the floor-to-ceiling

“Know Your Worth” slogan

wall, which clients use to

broadcast recent efforts at, say,

salary negotiation, says Mar-

keting Manager Emily Egan.

If you were born before

1980, it is hard to compre-

hend why anyone would post

a photo taken with their fi-

nancial planner. But some

millennials are eager to share

many moments of their day

online, says Michelle Decker,

an associate vice president

with CallisonRTKL, who has

created Instagrammable cell-

phone stores and fitness stu-

dios.

The power of such spaces

to generate free advertising

is such that their creation of-

ten is included in a com-

pany’s marketing budget

rather than its architectural

budget, Ms. Decker notes.

Some companies take ex-

traordinary measures to cre-

ate photo opportunities. Visi-

tors to the new Manhattan

headquarters of ticket search

engine SeatGeek, for in-

stance, encounter an elabo-

rately decorated series of

“fan bedrooms” facing the re-

ception lounge.

E

ach is painstakingly

decorated to look like a

teenager’s bedroom

from the 1990s, down to the

vintage NSYNC posters, VHS

tapes and cordless phone

with an antenna.

“I was asked to create a

branded moment in the

space, a ‘wow moment’ for

any visitor who comes

through the door,” says Seat-

Geek creative director Tim

McCarthy, who furnished the

rooms largely with memora-

bilia found on eBay and Etsy.

The three rooms aim to im-

press visiting investors, cli-

ents and potential hires alike

with the company’s commit-

ment to fan culture—and to

generate free marketing.

“People come in off the

street wanting to see it and

take photos,” says Mr.

McCarthy, who declined to

say how much SeatGeek

spent on the quirky installa-

tion. “It’s good exposure for

us as a brand.”

While a space may be

highly Instagram worthy, it

doesn’t hurt to encourage

photo sharing with a few

prompts.

HENRY the Dentist, a New

Jersey dental startup, posts

signs in its brightly branded

operatories displaying its so-

cial-media hashtag and handle.

It also has launched contests,

offering a free whitening kit,

for example, to patients who

post photos detailing their

dental adventures.

Brooklyn’s Dumbo Moving

& Storage has long plastered

its nearly 100 moving vans

with provocative ads to en-

courage sharing on social me-

dia.

L

ior Rachmany, founder

and chief executive offi-

cer—who estimates that

every positive post generates

an additional $1,000 to $5,

a month in business for his

fast-growing company—says

the effort doesn’t stop there.

His movers receive a $25 to

$50 bonus every time they get

a customer to snap a selfie

with the crew.

And to make sure the guys

look good on camera, he

says, he typically orders their

T-shirts a size smaller than

the norm. “They look a little

bit more buff,” he says.

[email protected]

GREATERNEWYORK

BROOKLYN

Self-Help Guru is

Seeking a New Trial

The leader of a cult-like self-

improvement group that at-

tracted heiresses and Hollywood

actresses is requesting a new

trial in his sex-trafficking case.

A jury convicted Keith Raniere

in June on all counts of sex-traf-

ficking and coercing women into

sex. He and his lawyers filed a

motion in Brooklyn federal court

for a new trial, arguing that two

witnesses perjured themselves

when they denied they were

planning to sue him after the trial.

The two women who testi-

fied at Mr. Raniere’s trial are

part of an 80-plaintiff lawsuit

filed in January against Mr. Ra-

niere and members of NXIVM’s

top leadership, the motion said.

Mr. Raniere, who is set to be

sentenced on April 16, is ex-

pected to receive a 15-year man-

datory minimum penalty and

could get up to life in prison.

—Associated Press

CONNECTICUT

Killer Found Dead

In River, Police Say

A Connecticut man fatally

stabbed a woman and tried to

escape by jumping into a river,

but was later found dead in the

water, police said Tuesday.

Officers were called to a park

in New Milford at about 7 p.m.

Monday after witnesses re-

ported a fight and stabbing. The

suspect fled and jumped into the

Housatonic River, they said.

New Milford police found the

38-year-old woman suffering

from multiple stab wounds. She

was taken to a hospital, where

she was pronounced dead, offi-

cials said. A police dive team

found the 32-year-old man’s body

at about 9:15 p.m., police said.

Authorities believe the man and

woman were Danbury residents

who knew each other. Their

names haven’t been released.

—Associated Press

NEW JERSEY

Town Gets Court

Reprieve on Closures

Leonia, a town near the

George Washington Bridge, has

won a court reprieve in its effort

to close residential streets to re-

duce gridlock from commuters

using navigation apps.

Leonia implemented the clo-

sures after the town passed ordi-

nances limiting traffic on some

streets to local residents or non-

residents having business in town.

The state Department of Transpor-

tation ruled the ordinances were

legally invalid. The town appealed.

Recently, a three-judge panel

ruled that the DOT didn’t con-

duct an adequate investigation

before it issued its finding and

shouldn’t have relied on a 1955

opinion by the state attorney

general as justification for its

decision. Messages seeking com-

ment were left with the Leonia

mayor’s office and the DOT.

—Associated Press

New York lawmakers, facing
a $6 billion budget deficit, be-
gan the month with an opti-
mistic projection. Stock mar-
kets were doing well, Wall
Street bonuses were coming in
strong, and lawmakers could
plug some of the gap by as-
suming another $700 million
in revenue was coming.
Also at the beginning of the
month, the state confirmed its
first case of novel coronavirus.
With U.S. markets in tur-
moil and the potential for an
economic slowdown fueled by
closures and cancellations ris-
ing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on
Tuesday asked the state comp-
troller, Thomas DiNapoli, to
reassess the revenue situation.
His determination will have
a major impact on the spend-
ing plan that lawmakers are
crafting before the state fiscal
year ends March 31. Mr.
Cuomo, a Democrat, proposed
a $178 billion budget that
didn’t increase taxes. Demo-
crats who control the state As-
sembly and Senate are set to
unveil counterproposals.
“It’s pretty obvious there
are significant risks now to
the economy and certainly
state revenue,” Mr. DiNapoli
said in an interview.
Mr. DiNapoli, a Democrat,
said analysts in his office will
examine the most recent data
regarding tax collections, tour-
ism and the performance of
Wall Street firms. Mr. DiNapoli’s
office publishes an annual esti-
mate of profits and bonuses in
New York’s securities industry
and found that it accounted for
18% of state revenue in the fis-
cal year that ended in 2018.
The S&P 500 is down 14%
over the past month. The KBW
Nasdaq Bank Index is down
29% over the same period.
Mr. Cuomo said during a
Tuesday radio interview that the
effects of the coronavirus likely
would decrease revenue. New
York has 173 confirmed cases.
“Forget just the stock mar-
ket and the financial bonuses,”
Mr. Cuomo said. “Reservations
at hotels are being canceled.
Businesses are canceling their
meetings. Conventions are
canceling, restaurants are
empty, tourism is way down.
You may be looking at a nine-
month economic slowdown
across the board.”
State officials jointly esti-
mated on March 1 that they
would collect about $57 billion
of personal income taxes in
the coming fiscal year, the
largest revenue stream in the
budget.
Fiscal watchdogs said the
reconsideration was a prudent
step, given the spread of the
virus.

BYJIMMYVIELKIND

Cuomo

Warns

Revenue

Will Drop

METRO MONEY|Anne Kadet

Businesses Shoot for Photo Appeal

The waiting

room at Small

Door Veteri-

nary, a pet-

care practice

recently

launched in Greenwich Vil-

lage, serves a double func-

tion. Yes, it’s devised to pro-

vide a relaxing environment

for pets and their owners.

But it was also carefully de-

signed to encourage photo

taking and online sharing. It

is, as they say, highly “Insta-

grammable.”

The accent colors—orange

and black—pop on camera. The

lighting eliminates harsh shad-

ows. And there are features

throughout the space designed

for staging photos, including a

mock doggy door carved into

the reception desk.

The hope: That visitors

will post photos taken in the

waiting room, creating free

advertising for Small Door.

“The pet space is heavily

Instagram-friendly. People

love seeing pictures of pup-

pies and dogs and cats,” says

Small Door co-founder and

President Florent Peyre. “It

felt like an amazing opportu-

nity to get the word out.”

And it seems to be work-

ing. Small Door says 14% of

its patients are coming

through Instagram.

Yes, retailers and restau-

rants have been creating

photo-friendly spaces for

years in hopes of generating

free Instagram, Facebook and

Twitter exposure.

But in New York City, the

practice has spread to in-

clude spaces where you

wouldn’t expect visitors to be

snapping selfies—including

conference rooms, spas and

medical offices. It isn’t

enough to look good in real

life these days. A space has

to look good on camera.

“We believe any place,

anywhere should be Insta-

grammable,” says Noah Wax-

man, co-founder and head of

strategy of Cactus, a Brook-

lyn design studio that has

created photo-friendly spaces

for a New York City hospital’s

diagnostic center and a local

cosmetic-dermatology prac-

tice.

S

uch spaces often feature

diffuse lighting, visually

interesting but spare, ca-

sual décor and bright accent

colors set against a neutral

backdrop. Along, with, of

course, a photo wall bearing

an inspirational quote in a

daffy font.

“For me Instagram often

suggests bright colors, pas-

tels, something glossy or

floaty that looks a little too

perfect to be true—a bit

dreamlike or removed from

the day-to-day,” says Julian

Jost, co-founder and chief ex-

ecutive officer of Spacebase,

Martine White snapped a photo of her Bernedoodle, Yogi, at Small Door Veterinary in Manhattan last week.

FROM TOP: ANNE KADET FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; BESS ADLER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Rebekah Trice, left, took a selfie with financial trainer Jacqueline Keeley at the Financial Gym.

GREATER NEW YORK

NY