New York briefs

Growth of chain stores slows down

The city is still runnin' on Dunkin'.

Dunkin' Donuts, which added 39 outlets for a total of 515 throughout the city, topped the "state of the chains" list as the most ubiquitous chain store for the sixth year, according to the annual report issued by the Center for an Urban Future.

But chain store growth citywide slowed to a .5 percent increase from 2012 to 2013, with the number of chain stores increasing from 7,190 to 7,226.

Growth of chain stores for the past several years has been between 2 percent and 4 percent, so the latest news signals a bit of relief for the city's small and independent businesses, said the center's executive director, Jonathan Bowles.

Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island added the highest number of big-box, fast-food and national retail outlets.

Dunkin' Donuts, Subway, 7-Eleven and Starbucks added the most new outlets and Just Salad, L'Occitane, Trader Joe's, Chop't, and Claire's Accessories were the retailers with the greatest percentage growth.

Losers included Daffy's, which closed all 11 stores after declaring bankruptcy, T-Mobile, which closed 12 of its locations, leaving 161 throughout the city, Qdoba, which went from nine to two locations, Tasti D-Lite, which went from 25 to 18 stores, Sunglass Hut, which went from 32 to 25 and Staples, which dropped from 58 to 51 locations. -- amNewYorkTax partner seeks trial soon in Madoff case

A lawyer for an accounting executive facing charges he aided Bernard Madoff in a massive fraud says he wants a speedy New York trial because aging witnesses may have fading memories.

Attorney Reed Brodsky commented Tuesday while seeking a trial date for his 77-year-old client, Paul Konigsberg. Judge Laura Taylor Swain refused, saying she'll consider setting one in January.

Swain is currently presiding over the Manhattan trial of five former employees of Madoff's private investment business. That trial is scheduled to last several months.

Konigsberg has pleaded not guilty to charges he directed others to falsify records to conceal a fraud that cheated investors out of nearly $20 billion.

Brodsky has said his Greenwich, Conn., client was himself "a victim of a sociopath," losing over $10 million in the fraud.

Konigsberg was a senior tax partner at the accounting firm Konigsberg Wolf & Co.

Compiled from

wire service reports