diamond 80 districtdiamonddistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ddm_80-web.pdf · diamond...

D IA M O ND D I S T R I C T

MONTHLYVol. 80January 2017

80

The 47th Street Business Improvement District held its annual meeting on

November 14, 2016, in the second floor of 576 Fifth Avenue. Both the New York City Comptroller, Scott Stringer, and the Consulate General of South Africa, Mathula Nkosi, spoke at the meeting.

BID Executive Director Michael Gr-umet first called the meeting to order. Introductory remarks were then made by BID President Harvey Nagin. Mr. Nagin

graciously thanked all the BID’s Board members for their hard work during the past year. He then thanked the Board Chairman, Steven Grauer, and all the members of the Executive Board; Dennis Marlow, Robert Hadi, Richard Winick, Richard Friedman, Ronnie VanderLin-den and Jeffrey Mordekai for their con-tributions to the BID’s achievements. Mr. Nagin then gave a special thank you to Rick Pettignano for utilizing his relation-ships with the NYC Police Department to make the Diamond District one of the safest places in our city.

Mr. Nagin briefly noted the numer-ous changes that have happened in the industry and the Diamond District since the BID’s formation in 1997. He commented upon the proliferation of new commercial space currently under construction in the District, “but we-the Diamond District small business owners and landlords, are still here.” The BID is committed to the survival of 47th Street as the center of the gold, diamond and jewelry business.

Michael Grumet introduced our key-note speaker, New York City Comptrol-ler, Scott Stringer, and detailed his long history of being beneficial to the 47th

Continued on page 10

ANNUAL PUBLIC

MEETING FY2017

1st row left to right: NYC Comptroller’s representative Nina Saxon, Executive Committee Member Jeffrey Mordekai, Exec-utive Director Michael Grumet, Consulate General of South Africa Mathula Nkosi, Executive Committee Member Ronnie Vanderlinden, Secretary Dennis Marlow, Michael Oistacher, President Harvey Nagin, Adnan Aydin. 2nd row left to right: Ilan Elishayev, NYC Dept. of Small Business Services representative Leon Fonfa, Chairman Steven Grauer, Sammy Kaufman.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer Consulate General of South Africa Mathula Nkosi

2 JANUARY 2017 DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY2 JANUARY 2016 DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY

DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY JANUARY 2017 3

t

Obama’s Smart Cities InitiativeOne of the last actions of the Obama administration was to launch a Smart Cities Initiative to tackle city challenges with innovative approaches. The Obama administration made a commitment of $160M in federal research investments and more than 25 new technology collaborations to help cities solve problems.

With more than 50 percent of people worldwide living in cities – a number projected to grow to nearly 70 percent by 2050 – the challenges cities face will also continue to grow. This includes everything from sustainability and energy use to safety and effective service delivery.

This initiative is designed to support community efforts to find solutions to everyday problems by harnessing the growing data revolution, as well as incorporating things like low-cost sensors and research collaborations. Around the world cities are beginning to harness the power of sensors, engage citizens equipped with smartphones, cloud computing, high-speed networks, and data analytics.

By harnessing the growing data revolution and things like low-cost sensors and research collaborations, this Initiative is designed to support community efforts to come up with solutions to everyday problems. As part of the Smart Cities Initiative many federal agencies are also stepping up their efforts. The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced over $35 million in Smart Cities Grants. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is launching a new round of the Global City Teams Challenge – a project that brings together different organizations to develop Smart City goals and advance Smart City technologies to improve residential quality of life. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Homeland Security, Energy, Transportation, and Commerce are also investing in Smart City applications with projects that will help improve air-quality monitoring, increase the effectiveness of first responders, reduce traffic congestion, en-hance energy-efficiency, and foster entrepreneurship.

LegisLative Update

DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY 580 5th Avenue, Suite 323

New York, NY 10036

Michael Grumet, Publisher [email protected]

O.O. Barrett, Editor

Natalia Cheviakova, Administrative Director [email protected]

Bernard Rapaport, Advertising Sales [email protected]

P: 212-302-5690 F:212-302-7835

Michael Mitchell, Art Director [email protected]

The Diamond District Monthly is published monthly by the 47th Street

Business Improvement District.

4 JANUARY 2017 DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY

ExECUTIvE CoMMITTEEHarvey Nagin – Nagin JewelryPresidentSteven Grauer – Gold Art 18 KT LLCChairmanDennis Marlow – Solitaire CreationsSecretaryRobert Hadi – Premier Realty, Inc.TreasurerRichard Winick – Manny Winick & SonRichard Friedman – I. Friedman & SonsRonnie VanderLinden – Diamex Inc.Jeffrey Mordekai – Petra Jewelers

BoArd MEMBErsS. David Belsky – S.D.Belsky AssociatesChair Audit CommitteeJay Holzer – DyckmansChris Ipek – Altin RealtyRaizy Haas – Extell Development Corp.Matt Selig – Leo IngwerGary Weinshank – DelageYale Zoland – Zoland’sAdnan Aydin – Futurama Jewelry ExchangeJack Elo – The Elo GroupMoris Yero Shalmi – ABCAlon Mor – Mor DiamondsJules Fleischer – Jewelry by AlexanderSammy Abramov – AA PearlMichael Oistacher – Manhattan Gold & SilverIsaac Chetrit – Yadidi GroupSunny Yung – Central Management Corp.Manny Grunberg – M. Grunberg Inc.Memhet Gulay – City Property DevelopmentAdam Abramson – Abramson BrothersSammy Kaufman – SarineEyal Alon – Malca AmitEliot Kirschner – EskayIlan Elishayev – SYU Properties, LLCVincent DeMeo – Valley National BankBill de Blasio – MayorScott Stringer – New York City ComptrollerGale Brewer – Manhattan Borough PresidentDaniel Garodnick – Council MemberJohn Glaister – ResidentReuven Kaufman – Diamond Dealers ClubMichael Toback – MJSADaly Reville – Community Bd. 5

sTAFFMichael Grumet – Executive DirectorNatalia Cheviakova – Administrator Director

BoArdoF

dIrECTors

Virtual Citizenship - Estonia Seeks to Lead the Way

With only 1.3 million citizens Estonia is one of Europe’s smallest countries by population size.

It has plans to become one of the largest countries in the world of e-residents – a category of digital affiliation that it hopes will attract entrepreneurs who are citizens of other countries.

Estonia’s e-residency program began two years ago. It offers people from anywhere in the world the ability to open bank accounts in Estonia and have businesses that operate as Estonian entities. This would enable a business to operate under Estonia’s low tax rate and function as a part of the European Union. The Estonian government projects that it will have 10 million e-residents by 2025. For the new Estonian companies the lure is low taxes and no taxes on corporate profits as long as they remain invested in the business. For Estonia the benefits include the fees paid to the government by the e-companies and the tax revenue generated by local actual firms such as accountants and lawyers used by the e-companies.

Passports and citizenship are not included in Esto-nia’s e-citizenship program.


DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY47TH STREET BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

FULL PAGE - FULL COLORPLACEMENT: PAGE NUMBER 5

STARTS - MARCH 2016

THIS AD PRINTS FULL PROCESS COLORUSE CUSTOMER SUPPLIED HIGH RESOLUTION PDF FILE. DO NOT ALTER.

CertifiedProtection

Professional®


RoanokeTrade.com/ATA-Carnet

THE NEW CHOICE IN

SAFEAn extensive arsenal of equipment and our family’s heritage spanning 90 years helps ADR

the most demanding clientele.Security create the �nest security solutions for

For a no-obligation consultation, call or visit us today.

UL LISTED INTRUSION ALARMSIP VIDEO SURVEILLANCEACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMSDECOY GPS TRACKINGFIRE ALARM SYSTEMSMASTER LOCKSMITHS


Norman Landsberg

diamond Legacy Award FY2017

47th Street BID President Harvey Nagin presenting the Diamond Leg-acy Award to his old friend and mentor, Norman Landsberg

The 47th Street Business Improvement District’s

President Harvey Nagin pre-sented this year’s Diamond Legacy Award. “Every year the BID presents a Legacy Award to a person who has established him or herself as an influential part of the Diamond District’s fabric for an extended period of time.

“This year I’m very proud to present the award to a friend, a mentor and some-body that has shown me and many other people, in our industry a great work ethic and an understanding on how to deal with all types of people and how to build that into a successful business.

“Whenever I walk into my store to start my day at 66 West 47th Street, for over the last 40 years, I have been greeted by a smiling face, and a special handshake. This particular gentleman has an amazing optimistic view on what this or any day might bring. Always treating people with the utmost respect, and above all handling them fairly is why this man has established himself and his business as one of the most successful on 47th Street. Many years ago as a young man in business some of the Icons, ‘Old Timers’ [which I am now], would be kind enough to share with me

thoughts and ideas on how to make my business better. Fry-man & Stein, The Simpsons, The Kaplan’s, Boris Tinter, Leon Zoland, Richard Fried-man, The Fabricants, just to name a few. And yes Norman Landsberg was always around to give me a helping hand.

“For many years Norman Landsberg Jewelry, has been a barometer for how good or bad the business was on the street. I can remember the days when customers from all over the world would line up outside my exchange before we would open the doors, so they could get in early and have a bagel with Norman, chat about life, and of course purchase a great piece of jewelry.

“Close to 70 years ago in 1947, Norman started a business selling scholastic jewelry, class rings to his NYU classmates, which developed into his first retail store at 32 West 47th Street, and then the rest of this very successful story, is history. With his two sons, Jeffery and John, at his side, Norman who just turned 90 years old still runs and maintains a business on 47th Street, that is the perfect model of how to have a suc-cessful establishment within the Diamond District.

“Everybody in this room could learn something from Norman, and after all these years he is still doing what he loves to do, and that is what makes this man so special.

“At this time I would like to present Norman Landsberg with the 2016 Legacy Award-from the 47th Street BID.”

“Thank you all. I am very honored to receive this presti-gious award,” said Mr. Lands-berg, “and I look forward to another 40 years here with my friends in the Diamond District.”

1st row: Sammy Kaufman.

2nd row :Ilan Elishayev.

3rd row right to left: Adnan Aydin, Jeffrey Mordekai.

Last row: Jules Fleischer

Left to right:NYC Small Business Services representative Leon Fonfa, Rick Pettignano Diamond Dealers Club, Chairman Steven Grauer, President Harvey Nagin.

ANNUAL PUBLIC

MEETING FY2017

Photo Gallery

Left to right:NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Executive Director Michael Grumet, Chairman Steven Grauer.

1st row left to right: NYC Comptroller’s represen-tative Nina Saxon, Executive Committee Member Jeffrey Mordekai, Executive Director Michael Grumet, Consulate General of South Africa Mathula Nkosi, Executive Committee Mem-ber Ronnie Vanderlinden, Secretary Dennis Marlow, Michael Oistacher, President Harvey Nagin, Adnan Aydin.

2nd row left to right: Ilan Elishayev, NYC Dept. of Small Business Services representative Leon Fonfa, Chairman Steven Grauer, Sammy Kaufman.

Left to right:Chairman Steven Grauer, Executive Director Michael Grumet, President Harvey Nagin.


Continued from page one

It is my pleasure and honour to join you all here today at your

annual meeting. Allow me to express my sincerest gratitude to you for affording our Consulate the opportunity to speak at this important meeting.

Thank you for recognizing my country, South Africa, as an important partner in this industry. Mining is a sector very closely related to the industrial-ization history of South Africa. Indeed when in 1867 a 15 year old boy, named Erasmus Jacobs, discovered the first diamond on the banks of the Orange River near Kimberley, in the Northern Cape Province, that discovery changed the course of our history permanently. The discovery of this 22 carat diamond led to a huge diamond rush and, within 15 years, more diamonds were produced in South Africa than India had produced in the previous two centuries. Thus, the discovery of diamonds in 1867, together with the discovery of gold in 1886, changed South Africa’s history and its economy forever.

Mining as a whole remains a key sector and an important foreign exchange earner for us, and the discovery of a 122 carat blue diamond at the Cullinan Mine, in 2014, indicates that the country still has a lot to offer in the diamond industry. Given our history and mineral wealth, it is no surprise that our mining companies are key players in the global industry. The key strengths of our mining sector include a high level of technical and production expertise and

comprehensive research and development activities. We are a world leader in new mining technologies.

Within the diamond business South Africa is the 5th largest diamond producer in the world, according to the Kimberley Process’ 2014 figures, and 6th in respect of gold production, enabling the country to supply approximately 16% of raw ma-terials for jewellery production globally.

All of these highlight the fact that our mining industry is an integral part of South Africa’s economy and our government has therefore identified it as a key area for growth, and pub-lished a Beneficiation Strategy as far back as 2011. The strategy proposes 5 value chains for anal-ysis, one of which is precious metals for jewellery inputs.

It is planned to transform the mining industry from being largely resource-based and extractive, to knowledge-based. Downstream activities are already well developed with regards to some of the other minerals, thus we are pleased that you have taken special interest in our diamond sector, and we look forward to working with you to explore opportuni-ties within the sector in South Africa. On our part we are driven by the realization that our economy would benefit from further beneficiating our natural resources into val-ue-added tradable goods, in this case using our precious metals for jewellery inputs in local production. The exchange rate

St. BID. “Of all the elected officials I have called upon in my capacity as Executive Director, Scott Stringer has been one of the two public officials I know who would always be there for us. Whenever I needed someone to help generate press coverage for one of our issues Scott Stringer always volun-teered his time. In addition to this, in his pre-vious governmental elected office as Manhattan Borough President he granted the BID $100,000 for capital improvements. It is with friendship and gratitude for that I am delighted to introduce the New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.”

Comptroller Stringer’s speech was about his current efforts to help small businesses here in New York City. His major emphasis in this area of late has been efforts to shine a light on the unnecessary red tape a small business owner has to go through to get licenses in New York City.

The Consulate General of South Africa, Mathula Nkosi then addressed the meeting. She stressed the importance that the gold, diamond and precious metal industries have played in the South African economy. She also let the assembled guests know that South Africa has been one of the world’s key countries for diamond mining for over a century.

Mr. Grumet then gave a speech highlighting the numerous activities of the BID during the past year. He detailed all the public educational seminars ran by the BID for all the various stake-holder in the Diamond District. He talked about the advertising supported magazine published by the BID –Diamond District Monthly – which turns a profit every year while providing great information on the BID’s programs for those people in the Diamond District community who were unable to attend the seminars which provide timely advice for small business owners on how to better run their enterprises.

Mr. Grumet then thanked this year’s Annual Event’ Sponsors; IJU Agency, ADR Security, and Alpha Omega Building Corp. And he also thanked the event’s host, 576 5th Ave. After this, Mr. Gru-met led the vote for the BID’s next year’s Board of Directors. The BID’s Treasurer Robert Hadi explained the BID’s budget for Fiscal Year 2017.

A vote was then taken to end the meeting. Every-one who attended was energized and ready for an-other year of accomplishments by the BID in serving the various stakeholders of the Diamond District.

ANNUAL PUBLIC

MEETING FY2017

Consulate General of South Africa Mathula Nkosi

Continued next page


has been favourable for a few years in relation to major currencies, in par-ticular the U.S. dollar, and continues to be. Whereas we have been a net importer of jewellery over the years as a country, the local exchange rate, coupled with lower production costs, is providing an opportunity for local production for export, in addition to local trade as jewellery is popular among tourists to South Africa, who like to purchase fine jewellery at comparatively low prices.

At the broader, economic level, South Africa is the U.S.’s 39th largest trading partner with bilateral trade

amounting to $13 billion as of the end of 2015. Our country is ranked number one on the African continent for sound governance, first world infrastructure, business enablement and human development capabilities, as per the 2016 EY Africa Attractive-ness Report.

In 2010 Citibank estimated South Africa’s non-energy mineral resourc-es at 2.5 trillion dollars, whilst in 2012, Eco Partners, using data from South African mining companies, estimated the value of South Africa’s minerals at over $6 trillion, with 60% of this value residing in precious minerals. But the big challenge remains the dominance

of raw commodities in the export basket. The value of non-beneficiated mineral exports over the past 5 years stands at over 50% of total mineral exports. There is no doubt that the immediate to mid-term future of the sector will, to a large extent, be shaped by the degree of succ3ess that can be achieved in the rapid development of the entire minerals value chain.

South Africa is the leading produc-er of precious metals, diamonds and jewellery, in Sub-Saharan Africa, and also a leading trading centre in Africa for coloured gemstones. Platinum is our largest export commodity to the

U.S. where it is primarily used in the automotive industry for the produc-tion of catalytic converters. It is also used in jewellery manufacturing and others such as industrial and medical applications. More than this, South Africa is the number one supplier of platinum to the world, supplying 75% to the global marker. It is the premi-um metal of choice for the global diamond bridal market, particularly so in the U.S. bridal market.

South Africa is one of the top di-amond producers in the world, with diamonds being our 3rd top export product to the U.S. after platinum and automotive vehicles. White diamonds

from the Kimberly Mines, which coined the Kimberly protocol, is still regarded as the most sought after diamonds in the world.

South Africa is very keen to estab-lish business linkages and partner-ships with members of the 47th Street Diamond BID. We are here to explore opportunities of mutual benefit to the New York and South African diamond and jewellery businesses in the areas of manufacturing, to assist in ensuring access to raw materials and govern-ment initiatives, while establishing our partnerships around skills exchange and training, and market access to the rest of our continent.

I wish to express our sincerest gratitude to the 47th Street BID and members of the New York diamond district who met with a South African jewelry delegation which visited New York in July 2016. We look forward to engaging in potential business op-portunities in our Special Economic Zones which were discussed with members of the 47th Street BID during the delegation’s visit.

These Special Economic Zones act as “one-stop shops” in South Africa for investment, they operate through a partnership between the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Home Affairs and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to provide support in the establishment of busi-nesses and ensure access to incentive packages for international tenants.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to invite all interested individuals and business entities to contact us to explore the investment potential of the powerhouse of the African continent. I’d like to add that, in addition to the South African Embassy in Washington D.C., the South African government also has Consulates in Los Angeles, Chicago, and here in New York. All of us are more than willing to assist and facili-tate in whichever area of interest you might have in our beautiful country.

Thank you.

Consulate General of South Africa Mathula Nkosi accepting the Diamond award from BID Executive Director Michael Grumet

Continued from previous page


FineJewelryMarket

China

2014 to 2015 (% Change in value of U.S. exports, HS Code 7113 articles of jewelry & parts, of precious metal or clad)

tOtaL 7

711319—JEWELRY AND PARTS THEREOF; OF OTHER PRECIOUS METALS* 7

711311—JEWELRY AND PARTS THEREOF; OF SILVER* -22

711320—JEWELRY AND PARTS; BASE METAL CLAD WITH PRECIOUS METALS* 270

Although the per capita GDP of Chinese citizens is below world av-erages, the Chinese government is undertaking measures to increase consumer spending underneath it’s 5 year plan adopted in 2012. China’s GDP per capita stands at $15,095 (2015 est.) with a GDP (PPP) of $20.853 trillion (2015 est.).

China remains one of the U.S.’s largest markets for jewelry exports; it has substantial increase in demand for gold and silver jewelry. U.S. exporters should keep track of these trends to assess whether this decrease in value will continue.

Overview

YTD EXPORT VALUE OF HS 7113: CHINA

YTD(MAR) 2014

YTD(MAR) 2015

YTD(MAR) 2016

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

$40,235,204

$66,466,677

$40,575,497

Valu

e in

thou

sand

s of

US

Dol

lars

ANNUAL EXPORT VALUE OF HS 7113: CHINA

2013

2014

2015

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

250,000,000

$142,453,883

$223,420,158 $238,697,082

Valu

e in

thou

sand

s of

US

Dol

lars

*HTS 711319 (Jewelry and parts thereof; of precious metal excluding silver) made up 99.3% of export value in YTD 2016. HTS 711320 (Jewelry and parts; base metal clad with precious metal) made up 0% of export value in YTD 2016.HTS 711311(Jewelry and parts thereof; of silver) made up 0.7% of export value in YTD 2016.

Year tO date eXpOrt vaLUe OF Hs 7113Item YTD [MAR] 2014 YTD [MAR] 2015 YTD [MAR] 2016

tOtaL 40,235,204 66,466,677 40,575,497

711319—JEWELRY AND PARTS THEREOF; OF OTH PRECIOUS METAL 39,332,538 66,063,065 40,290,153

711311—JEWELRY AND PARTS THEREOF; OF SILVER 902,666 403,612 285,344

711320—JEWELRY AND PARTS; BASE METAL CLAD W PREC METAL 0 0 8


trade sHOws iN CHiNaName Link description

China international gold, Jewellery, and gem Fair

http://exhibitions.jewellerynetasia.com/szj/

The 15th edition of the China International Gold, Jewellery & Gem Fair – Shenzhen is scheduled from the 19th to 22nd of April 2017 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center (SZCEC). Since its de-but in 2003, the Shenzhen Fair has grown to become a much-await-ed jewelry industry event in Southern China. It established its place as an ideal platform for jewelers to tap into China’s vibrant jewelry market. In 2014, the Shenzhen Fair attracted almost 400 quality exhibitors from around the world and over 12,800 visitors from 76 countries and regions.

Beijing international Jewelry Fair

http://www.newayfairs.com/EN/Index.asp

The largest summer sourcing fair in China - 17th Beijing International Jewelry Fair - is scheduled to be held from the 6th to the 9th of April 2017 at China National Convention Centre in Beijing, China. The Fair will gather a larger number of exhibitors from China and over 18 countries with over 1,500 booths to showcase an extensive variety of jewelry including diamonds, red, blue, green, and colored gems, pearl, jade, agate, coral, amber, etc., as well as packaging materials, manufacturing machinery, gemstone identification instruments, etc.

aNNUaL eXpOrt vaLUe OF Hs 7113Item 2013 2014 2015

tOtaL 142,453,883 223,420,158 238,697,082

711319—JEWELRY AND PARTS THEREOF; OF OTH PRECIOUS METAL 140,616,473 220,192,510 236,144,231

711311—JEWELRY AND PARTS THEREOF; OF SILVER 1,797,969 3,214,335 2,503,537

711320—JEWELRY AND PARTS; BASE METAL CLAD W PREC METAL 39,441 13,313 49,314

*HTS 711319 (Jewelry and parts thereof; of precious metal excluding silver) made up 98.9% of export value in 2015.HTS 711311(Jewelry and parts thereof; of silver) made up 1% of export value in 2015.HTS 711320 (Jewelry and parts; base metal clad with precious metal) made up 0% of export value in 2015.

YTD EXPORT VALUE OF HS 7113: CHINA

YTD(MAR) 2014

YTD(MAR) 2015

YTD(MAR) 2016

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

$40,235,204

$66,466,677

$40,575,497

Valu

e in

thou

sand

s of

US

Dol

lars

ANNUAL EXPORT VALUE OF HS 7113: CHINA

2013

2014

2015

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

250,000,000

$142,453,883

$223,420,158 $238,697,082

Valu

e in

thou

sand

s of

US

Dol

lars

FineJewelryMarket

China


A new payment system has been launched in Japan by the Japanese firm Liquid, Inc. The technology

utilizes fingerprints to identify the person making the purchase and then processes the payment. The payment system matches fingerprints to an extensive data base which contains millions of finger prints. It completes most matches in seconds.

The development of the breakthrough technology was backed by the Japanese government and the biggest names in Japanese finance and technology including, Mizuho Financial Group. Liquid, Inc. is rolling out this fingerprint-payment system at retailers in Japan and throughout Asia.

Biometrics—identification through physical charac-teristics—is an ideal form of authentication. Presently biometrics are commonly used in America to unlock Apple iPhones or iPads. The iPhone is programmed to

recognize only one fingerprint—the owner’s. It checks for a match with one finger on the touch button at the bottom of the screen. If a match is recognized the device unlocks.

Liquid’s system requires finding a match between the fingerprint supplied and a large database of finger-prints. Liquid’s system has been proven to deliver fast and accurate authentication and the payment system is rapidly being adopted by many retailers.

One business using Liquid’s system is, Huis Ten Bosch Co., an operator of a theme park in southern Japan. Season-pass holders supply the park their fingerprints and are then able to pay for food and rides with a touch of their finger whenever they are in the park.

Someday, in the foreseeable future, Diamond District merchants might be accepting payments using this revolutionary technology.

Payment by Fingerprints


By 2017 it is estimated that 63.4 per-cent of users worldwide will access web content by their mobile devices instead of utilizing personal com-puters.

Websites that aren’t mobile friendly run the risk of not attracting poten-tial consumers. Designing web con-tent to be viewed on mobile devices presents a new set of challenges. Companies want to maintain the look and feel of their websites and keep intact all their features, but they must conform to smaller viewing screens.

The following list will help you decide how best to present your web content for mobile users.

Eliminate Pop-Ups & FlashPop-ups are annoying. Small screens make them difficult to close. Many mobile devices cannot support flash. If features on the site are included that are not usable by all it could lead to the user leaving the site.

Quick Load TimeA website should load quickly on a desktop computer as well as on a mobile device. Not every individual utilizes tablets and phones with the fastest processors. Rarely do people have the patience for slow loading sites to complete their tasks.

StructureA website that pleases the eye on a desktop computer may not be as pleasant to view on a smaller viewing screen. Things to avoid are features that clutter the screen – too many drop down menus make it more difficult for mobile viewing. Always remember when designing for mobile that the goal is to make it operate as smoothly as possible.

Search Engine Optimiza-tion (SEO)Pay as much attention when de-signing for mobile devices as to how search engines will read and rank your mobile site as you would for your desktop site. It is essential to aid SEO.

Information Should Be Easily AccessibleThe most relevant and important information should be very easy to find. The structure of the website optimized for mobile content should not affect its usefulness.

Calls-to-Action Should be ProminentA simple intuitive layout aids users in navigating through a mobile website smoothly, but calls-to-action (CTAs) should always be easy to spot and click on. Your shopping cart icon should always be readily available and easily accessible.

The Perfect Website Designed for Mobile Use Combines Functionality and User ExperienceA mobile site needs to be intuitively laid out so it requires a simple precise design. Mobile design is a challenge that the retailer seeking to succeed in the future must master today.

How to Make Your Website Most Useful for Mobile Users

Mobile has become the dominant mode of technology for individuals to; shop, check social media, check email and browse the internet.

16 JANUARY 2017 DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY DIAMOND DISTRICT MONTHLY AUGUST 2016 7


Learn Diamond Grading from the Creators of the 4Cs.

Enroll in a GIA Diamond Grading Lab class.• Learn to grade diamonds consistently and accurately• Practice with real diamonds graded by GIA• Improve your skills in just 5 days• Located at International Gem Tower

Upcoming Classes in NYC

A branch of GIA’s campus in Carlsbad. Licensed by the New York State Education Department.

New York Education50 W 47th Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10036T +1 800 366 8519 T +1 212 944 5900F +1 212 719 9563E [email protected]

Jan 11-15Feb 1-5Feb 22-26Mar 14-29 (Night)Mar 21-25Apr 9-May 7 (Sat)

Apr 18-22May 9-13May 16-20Jun 6-10Jun 27-Jul 1 Enroll online at GIA.edu

Learn Diamond Grading From the Creators of the 4Cs.

• Practice with real diamonds graded by GIA• Learn to grade diamonds consistently and accurately• Day, night and Saturday classes available

Upcoming Diamond Grading Lab Classes in NYC


Gemological Institute of America, Inc.50 W 47th Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10036T +1 800 366 8519 T +1 212 944 5900F +1 212 719 9563E [email protected]

Enroll online at GIA.edu

Jul 11-15Aug 1-5Aug 15-30 (Night)

Sep 26-30Nov 28-Dec 2

ADT160041_DDN_Ad_July_v1.indd 1 6/23/16 2:20 PM

By meaning to or not we all create digi-

tal data. Those masses of selfies we are all so e n a m o r e d o f t a k i n g , the e-mails we send so regularly as well as the numerous credit card s w i p e s w e a l l m a k e are versions of digital data. Ways of efficiently

storing all this data has scientists exploring all possible options. They have proposed storing data on holograms, old fashioned magnetic tape and a variety of other medium.

According to a paper published in Science Ad-vances, diamonds might

be the ideal medium to store digital data for the long term.

By deleting a carbon atom near a flaw in a di-amond, (nitrogen vacan-cy centers in technical terms) an empty space is created which would b e i d e a l f o r s t o r i n g data. This has already

been accomplished by a research team of phys-icists at City College of New York. They utilized lasers to encode data on these miniscule spaces. By using red and green lasers they were able to simulate the way a computer reads data as 0’s and 1’s.

Digital Data May be Able to be Preserved Forever in Diamonds


• Have qualifying health coverage called minimum essential coverage

• Qualify for a health cover-age exemption

• Make a shared responsi-bility payment with your federal income tax return for the months that you did not have coverage or an exemption

If you meet certain criteria for the tax year, you may be exempt from the requirement to have minimum essential coverage. You will not have to make a shared responsibility payment for any month that you are ex-empt. Instead, you’ll file Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemp-tions, with your federal income tax return. For any month that you do not qualify for a coverage

exemption, you will need to have minimum essential coverage or make a shared responsibility payment. You may be exempt if you meet one of the following:

• The lowest-cost coverage available to you is consid-ered unaffordable

• You have a gap in coverage that is less than 3 consecu-tive months

• You qualify for an exemp-tion for one of several other reasons, including having a hardship that prevents you from obtaining coverage, or belonging to a group specifically exempt from the coverage requirement

The Federally-facilitated Mar-ketplace is no longer granting ex-emptions for members of a health

care sharing ministry, members of Indian Tribes, and incarcera-tion. Eligible individuals can still claim these exemptions on a tax return. For a full list of exemp-tions and how to claim them, see our Individual Shared Responsi-bility Provision – Exemptions: Claiming or Reporting page on IRS.gov/aca.

Federal tax returns that do not re-flect at least one of these options – reporting health care coverage, claiming a coverage exemption or reporting a shared responsibility payment - will be rejected if the return is filed electronically. If filed on paper,tax returns that do not reflect at least one of these op-tions will take longer to process and any refunds will be delayed.You should respond promptly to IRS correspondence about your health care coverage.

With the 2017 tax filing season approaching, it’s not too early to think about how the health care law affects your taxes. The Afford-able Care Act requires you and each member of your family to do at least one of the following:

Not Too Early to Determine if You Qualify for Exemption

The healTh Care law & Your Taxes


Learn Diamond Grading From the Creators of the 4Cs.

• Practice with real diamonds graded by GIA• Learn to grade diamonds consistently and accurately• Day, night and Saturday classes available

Upcoming Diamond Grading Lab Classes in NYC


Gemological Institute of America, Inc.50 W 47th Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10036T +1 800 366 8519 T +1 212 944 5900F +1 212 719 9563E [email protected]

Enroll online at GIA.edu

Jan 23-27Feb 6-10Feb 27-Mar 3Mar 20-24Mar 20-Apr 4 (Night)Apr 15-May 13 (Sat)

May 22-26Aug 7-11Aug 14-29 (Night)Sep 11-15Dec 4-8

ADT160058_DDNad_November_v1.indd 1 10/11/16 1:42 PM

MUTUAL HAS BEEN PROTECTING THE DIAMOND DISTRICT FOR OVER 25 YEARS

Call us today for a free security assessment and to find out how you can get great service at affordable rates.

WWW.4MUTUAL.COM212.768.0808

10 WEST 46TH STREETNEW YORK, NY 10036

N.Y.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ID# 12000316509

MUTUAL PROVIDES UL LISTED SECURITY SYSTEMS AND CENTRAL STATION MONITORING AS WELL AS STATE OF THE ART CLOUD BASED IP VIDEO RECORDING SYSTEMS, ACCESS CONTROL AND AUDIO/VIDEO INTERCOM SYSTEMS.

The World Diamond Tower

The face of the Diamond District is changing – new construction, new owners and new demands. Your property needs to stand out to command the best rates for your space. Alpha Omega has successfully completed multiple renovations at The World Diamond Tower, maintaining both tenant and visitor satisfaction.

& DIAMOND DISTRICT CONSTRUCTION RENOVATION

SPECIALISTS

ALPHA OMEGA BUILDING CORPThe World Diamond Tower 580 Fifth Avenue | Suite 220New York, NY 100361.888.ALPHA.16 | 212.624.5858

www.alphaomegabuilding.com

Building Satisfaction.

Lobby Renovation: 580 Fifth Avenue

the

n Fully Insured Self-Performing Contractor n Permits pulled | 24-hour availabilityn Experts in Concrete & Masonry n Tenant, Retail and Office Workn Lobby Restoration & Renovationn Local 11 Workn Sidewalk Repair & Replacement n Distinctive Sidewalksn Vault Repair & Replacement

What our customers say... Since taking over the design build of our Brink’s Global Services Window at 580 5th Avenue, Alpha Omega has demonstrated excellent work, on-time performance and willingness to go the extra yard to satisfy the customer’s needs. I have worked with many General Contractors in the past but no one meets their work standards & ethics… I would highly recommend Alpha Omega – whatever the size of the job.

John MuhlenforthManager, Administrative ServicesBrink’s Global Services

diamond 80 districtdiamonddistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ddm_80-web.pdf · diamond...

Documents