Business

Oh look, normal news. The New York Post reports: It’s the Chrysler Building’s time to shine. The Art Deco skyscraper, built in 1928, is getting a brand-new observation deck. The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) unanimously approved building owner RFR Realty’s proposal for a glass-walled viewing platform that will be open to the public. Alongside architecture firm Gensler, RFR presented renderings …

Reuters reports: U.S. authorities on Wednesday arrested a former Special Forces soldier and another man wanted by Japan on charges that they enabled the escape of former Nissan Motor Co boss Carlos Ghosn out of the country. Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said that former U.S. Green Beret Michael Taylor, 59, and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, helped Ghosn last year …

CBS News reports: Day two back on the job for thousands of workers at Chicago’s Ford assembly plant did not go as planned. Many were forced to leave early after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar spoke with some employees who have mixed feelings about being back on the line. Some of those employees, of …

CNBC reports: Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that it is discontinuing its talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada as demand fell in light of mounting lawsuits that said it caused cancer. J&J attributed the decline “in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage …

The New York Post reports: Pier 1 Imports is calling it quits. The bankrupt home-goods retailer has asked a court for permission to liquidate its remaining 540 stores once they reopen, ending a 58-year legacy of selling colorful glassware, wicker furniture and other home decor. “This is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” Robert Riesbeck, Pier 1’s …

The Washington Post reports: Apple’s retail stores are known for crowded areas of display devices ready for experimenting and the ability to make a purchase without needing to line up at a cash register. But as the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant reopens about 100 of its retail stores globally, the customer experience is bound to feel different. Apple will be …

Reuters reports: Delta Air Lines said on Monday it would resume flying several major routes in June that were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, including some Trans-Atlantic and Caribbean destinations. Delta is adding roughly 100 more daily flights in June versus May, including service out of its Atlanta hub and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Florida, …

Complex reports: It’s been two months since the cruise industry closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than 100,000 workers are still trapped on ships, with many going unpaid. According to the Miami Herald, crew members don’t know when they’ll be able to go home. While cruises allowed most passengers to disembark the ships, employees have been left …

The New York Daily News reports: CityMD will provide free coronavirus tests to uninsured New Yorkers as part of a partnership with the city aimed at getting tens of thousands of people tested every day, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. The urgent care company is offering testing at each of its 123 walk-in sites in the area, Hizzoner said, …

CNBC reports: J.C. Penney, weighed down by debt and battered by the coronavirus, has filed for bankruptcy. Sales at J.C Penney have fallen annually since 2016. Its roughly 860-store footprint is less than a quarter of its store base in 2001. The company’s nearly $11 billion in sales for the last fiscal year are almost a third of its sales …

Reuters reports: United Airlines Holdings Inc has told staff that it only has work for about 3,000 of its about 25,000 flight attendants in June, sources said, and warned of job losses if demand does not recover by the time government payroll aid expires in the fall. United is paying flight attendants until Sept. 30 thanks largely to $5 billion …

Reuters reports: Electric car maker Tesla plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next that it expects will bring the cost of electric vehicles in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid. For months, Tesla …

The New York Daily News reports: New Yorkers should get used to dining alfresco. City streets could transform into sidewalk cafes to give patrons more space when restaurants and bars reopen as coronavirus restrictions are lifted. An interagency group with the Department of Transportation is looking at how the city could use streets, curbs and sidewalks to allow for socially-distanced …

The Washington Post reports: The impact of the coronavirus on businesses has prompted the parent company of the fast-food restaurant Steak ‘n Shake to close 57 of its stores for good. Biglari Holdings will close 51 corporate-owned locations and six franchise locations, according to its first-quarter report. Net sales decreased nearly 37 percent during the first quarter of 2020 compared …

The San Diego Tribune reports: Souplantation, the popular buffet-style dining brand founded in San Diego 42 years ago, is closing all of its restaurants permanently, a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic that is likely to be the death knell for all self-serve eateries. The permanent shuttering of the 97 restaurants, including 44 in California, was announced Thursday following weeks of …

The Dallas Morning News reports: The first high-profile retail casualty of the global coronavirus pandemic is a 113-year-old luxury retailer that put Dallas on the world’s fashion map. Neiman Marcus said it will shed $4 billion of its debt in the bankruptcy reorganization filed Thursday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Houston. The company said it plans to emerge from bankruptcy …

The Provo Daily Herald reports: Nearly half of the employees of a Utah County business tested positive for COVID-19 after the business instructed employees to not follow quarantine guidelines and required staff who had tested positive to report to work, according to a written statement from county executives. The statement, which was released Monday evening and was signed by Utah …

The Hill reports: Plant-based meat companies Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have seen surges in sales due to a shortage of beef and pork during the coronavirus pandemic. Beyond Meat reported its first quarter net revenues increased 141 percent from the previous year to over $97 million, compared to over $40 million in first quarter in 2019. Impossible Foods, which …

Axios reports: Google’s philanthropic arm is doubling its planned coronavirus response donations to a total of $100 million, Google.org head Jacquelline Fuller told Axios. The effort is in addition to coronavirus-related moves by the corporate side and, in some cases, also comes with hands-on technical support from Google employees to help organizations with the technical aspects of their efforts. Google.org …

Yahoo Finance reports: Lenders granted Hertz Global Holdings Inc. an eleventh-hour reprieve from a potential bankruptcy, giving the struggling rental-car company more time to work out a rescue plan after it missed debt payments. The forbearances and waivers give Hertz until May 22 to “develop a financing strategy and structure that better reflects the economic impact of the Covid-19 global …