Firms preparing return to NYC offices

Private equity firms with offices on the East Coast, which has been battered by Hurricane Sandy, are awaiting a return to normalcy now that heavy winds and rain have passed.
 
Like Wall Street, most offices were closed Monday and Tuesday, with a decision to reopen on Wednesday resting on the availability of public transport and the power supply to offices.
 
In Manhattan, subway service remains suspended on all lines, as clean up and water remediation efforts continue. On Tuesday Mayor Bloomberg estimated it would be at least “three to four days” until flooded and damaged subways would be operational. Both Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad services – train services many commuters use to reach the city from the suburbs – remain suspended Wednesday, while bus lines are operating on delay. The New Jersey PATH train service, which connects New Jersey residents to New York City, will be out of service for at least a week to 10 days, estimated New Jersey governor Chris Christie on Tuesday. 

NYC subway system: parts suspended until at least Friday

 
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has instructed its partners to work remotely until further notice, as have most other New York-based firms. A spokesperson for The Blackstone Group noted asset managers were better able to work from home compared to market traders who must execute trades on a daily basis.
 
“All professionals are set up with either an iPad or laptop and getting into the system remotely is not an issue. We do not think that it will have even a small effect on our business,” the spokesperson said.
 
A spokesperson for The Carlyle Group said its East Coast operations continue uninterrupted, and offices are open for employees who can reach them safely.
 
Mid-market firm The Riverside Company utilised the services of one of its portfolio companies, Emergency Communications Network, to preserve communications with staff during the storm. Riverside chief operating officer Pam Hendrickson said all employees were sent a text message providing instructions on how to access back-up systems from home.

Riverside IT director Eric Feldman said the firm recently installed a secondary data site at its Cleveland office in preparation for such an event. Feldman noted lower Manhattan was severely impacted by the hurricane, with some firms in the area potentially unable to restore their data for up to 10 days, likely leading many firms to review their business continuity and disaster recovery planning. 
 
Some of Riverside’s most senior partners however braved the storm to work from their New York office. On Tuesday Riverside chief executive Béla Szigethy and Riverside president Jamie Kiggen jogged to the firm’s office near Times Square, but “probably regretted that decision because the winds had made the offices very cold”, joked Hendrickson.
 
In Philadelphia Duane Morris partner Richard Silfen also battled the winds to work from the law firm’s office in Center City West. Silfen had done so to finalise the initial public offering of client Lehigh Gas Partners. The office had reopened Wednesday.
 
As mass transit systems in Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston resume (with limited operations), firms however are stressing employees return to offices only when it is safe to do so.