A week after she pilloried Walmart at a February hearing, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn welcomed executives from the retail giant, which is seeking to open its first stores in the city, into her lower Manhattan office for a chat. And despite shelving paid sick days legislation last year, she continues to talk with its sponsor, Councilwoman Gale Brewer, about reviving it. Bills to mandate higher wages at city-subsidized projects will soon present her with other controversial choices.

With the 2013 mayoral race looming, Ms. Quinn has been straddling contentious issues that pit the business community against her progressive base. But she cannot walk the tightrope forever.

“In New York, you have to walk a fine line to get elected in a Democratic primary,” said George Arzt, a veteran political consultant. “And she’s walking that line.”

Which side she chooses will determine the fate of so-called living wage requirements, mandatory sick pay and other measures opposed by the business community and her most visible ally, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The speaker can stop bills in their tracks or direct her members to override mayoral vetoes.

Ms. Quinn, who declined to be interviewed for this story, said in a statement that government’s job is “to bring stakeholders together to build consensus and find real solutions to the city’s problems.” When she put paid sick days on the back burner, she said, “I made a decision that was not easy, based on the requirements of the job” and not based on “any future race.”

The speaker is both an “expedient politician and core believer,” said Doug Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College. “A dominant element of her decision-making is certainly political, but it’s not necessarily the only element all the time, every time.” Those close to her insist that the mayoral race, which she is widely expected to enter, is not a big factor in her decisions.

For Ms. Quinn, political calculations can be the toughest part. She’s a former tenant activist with a progressive past, but her alliance with the mayor raises questions about what her path to victory might be in 2013.

She enjoys support from the business community, which is largely responsible for the $3.2 million in campaign cash she has collected in the past four years. Mr. Bloomberg is certainly a fan—a Democratic consultant said (disdainfully) that the mayor’s team thinks of the speaker as staff—but as his popularity sags, his imprimatur could become a hindrance.

Cultivating constituencies

Still, the mayor can help Ms. Quinn behind the scenes. A Democratic insider said that former Bloomberg campaign manager Bradley Tusk, a consultant for Walmart, is telling some clients to get on board with Ms. Quinn. (Mr. Tusk said only that he’s setting up meetings for his education reform clients with Ms. Quinn.)

The speaker has been moving to cast herself as independent of Mr. Bloomberg. But even if she bucks her business supporters by opposing Walmart’s attempts to open a city store and backing living wage and paid sick days, insiders said, the most crucial labor unions and the Working Families Party would still support Public Advocate Bill de Blasio or Comptroller John Liu for mayor, should either one run.

Instead, campaign experts said, Ms. Quinn must assemble a patchwork of constituencies: small business, gays and lesbians, women, building trades, tenant activists and African-Americans. Smoothing Walmart’s arrival would help her with the building trades and some black voters, who want the jobs the retailer would bring.

Which way on Walmart?

“She’s talked to Walmart and to the unions, and clearly she’s looking for middle ground,” Mr. Arzt said. “Most people are going to be wary about losing jobs by preventing Walmart from coming in.”

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, thought otherwise. “Even after she met with Walmart, she said they didn’t convince her, and she’s still opposed,” he said.

Ms. Quinn has been unyielding in her criticism of Walmart’s labor practices, but food policy offers the chance for a deal. Her FoodWorks initiative to bring fresh, healthy and affordable food to all New Yorkers needs corporate partners—a bill Walmart could fill. Walmart has repeatedly said it would focus on poor, underserved neighborhoods that lack fresh food options.

The retailer has teamed up with first lady Michelle Obama on a plan to build stores in poor neighborhoods and sell healthier foods. A similar alliance with Ms. Quinn, while sure to upset retail and supermarket unions, would make a splash and could pay off in 2013.

The way forward on living wage is less clear, because there is a broader array of supporters and opponents. The bill is before the council and a city-funded study on the issue could be released any week now, so Ms. Quinn will have to take a position. The mayor, the real estate industry and an alliance led by the city’s chambers of commerce oppose wage mandates. Several groups, including Mr. Appelbaum’s union, the powerful 32BJ SEIU building service workers, and a community and clergy coalition, back the measures.

When Ms. Quinn waylaid the paid sick days bill, she cited the recession but left open the possibility of changing her mind if the economy improves—which it has.

Some insiders said that the controversial issues she tackles as speaker will prepare her for a competitive campaign, and that New Yorkers want to see their leaders make hard choices.

“I honestly believe she tries to make the best decision, not based on polling, popularity or endorsements,” said Pat Purcell, assistant to the president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500.

With key business issues coming to a head, there’s plenty of decision-making to come.

Six years ago, when Paris Smeraldo and Meg Lipke opened Northeast Kingdom in Bushwick, their menu featuring everything from $9 veggie burgers to a $23 braised lamb dinner was a bit of a reach. The area was still not the sort of place that drew many diners.

Even today, large swaths of Bushwick remain industrial backwaters, but the fact is that Northeast Kingdom, a 28-seat location at 18 Wyckoff Ave., is thriving in surroundings that have become more hospitable and even trendy in recent years.

“It’s incredible,” said Brooke Hoffine, the eatery’s manager.

The change is indeed dramatic. In the last year alone, three caf two bars, one art gallery, one organic grocer and several other retail businesses have opened. And more are on their way, as people stream in from neighboring Williamsburg and other areas in search of a meal, a drink or just a look around, and as artists and others take up residence.

The main reason they’re moving in is simple: Bushwick is relatively convenient to get to, and it’s cheap. While the average one-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg rented for about $2,400 per month in 2010, the average one-bedroom in Bushwick went for about $1,300. And while that sum is up 63% from an average of $800 four years ago, it still represents a New York bargain.

“Younger people are going to Bushwick for the space and reasonable prices,” said Aptsandlofts.com President David Maundrell, adding that many artists apply their creativity to their real estate, renting lofts and then carving them into smaller rooms to rent out at $700 per month.

Much of that is happening in properties that are still industrially zoned and therefore technically out of residential bounds. But such considerations don’t seem to be stopping anyone, at this point.

“We’re going to see more creative conversions,” said Michael Amirkhanian, first vice president of sales for Massey Knakal Realty Services.

The influx is pushing up rents and spurring developers into action. Last spring, the Hudson Cos. unveiled The Knick, a four-story “green” condo building with 49 units at 318 Knickerbocker Ave. In late 2009, developer Mayer Schwartz opened Castle Braid Apartments on 114 Troutman St., a five-story, 144-unit apartment complex. The developer has offered up to six months’ free rent to tenants who do artistic work that improves the building.

And where residents go, so follow retailers, bars and restaurants.

“Having lived in Williamsburg and seen what was happening there, it was clear that Bushwick would be next,” said Northeast Kingdom’s Mr. Smeraldo.

A draw for retailers

Low retail rents add considerably to the appeal. They currently average $70 per square foot on the most popular corridor of development, which stretches along the path of the L train for nine blocks, from Bogart to Starr streets. While that is nearly three times the $24 a square foot of a decade ago, it’s still cheap compared with the $125 a square foot next door in Williamsburg.

Among the retailers that have recently set up shop is Hana Natural, a 24-hour organic grocer that opened in February in a 10,000-square-foot former warehouse space at 24 Wyckoff, selling everything from organic grapefruits for 79 cents each to Korean pears for $2.79 a pound. It followed on the heels of The Bodega wine bar, which opened early last year at 24 St. Nicholas Ave., and the Pine Box Rock Shop, a bar featuring live music that opened in the summer at 12 Grattan St.

Independently owned (of course) cafhave also been popping up of late. That crop includes Three Angels by the Park on 65 Irving Ave., which features patio seating, and the popular Swallow Caft 49 Bogart St., which can be a standing-room-only affair on a weekday afternoon.

Galleries galore

Artists and galleries, the forces that led the revival of Bushwick originally, are continuing to move in. In December, the 950 Hart Gallery opened at the eponymous address. It joined galleries such as Factory Fresh at 1053 Flushing Ave., English Kills at 114 Forrest St., and more than a dozen others that have opened in recent years.

“Many of the galleries exclusively feature Bushwick artists,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retail leasing division of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Collaboration among local business is common. The Northeast Kingdom is one of 950 Hart Gallery’s chief financial sponsors. In turn, the gallery hosts musical events with acoustic bands in Northeast Kingdom’s downstairs den. Nearby, the Swallow Cafangs artwork by area residents.

Business Lists: NY Rankings across 30+ industries

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Rank	Firm	Head of firm Phone/Web site	NY area architects 2010/20091	Worldwide architects 2010/20091	2010 worldwide construction volume (in millions)2	Number of projects in 20083	NY area service mix (% of billings)	’08 NY area projects total square footage (in millions)4	Selected NY area projects/clients
1	Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates 11 W. 42nd St. New York, NY 10036	Paul Katz President (212) 977-6500/www.kpf.com	163 154	213 204	n/d	NY area: 22 US: 49 International: 92	Architecture: 90% Planning: 10%	n/d	n/d
2	Perkins Eastman 115 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10003	Bradford Perkins Chairman, chief executive (212) 353-7200/www.perkinseastman.com	158 127	197 179	$3,670	NY area: 115 US: 405 International: 100	Architecture: 80% Interiors: 12% Planning: 6% Restoration: 2%	18.3	n/d
3	Gensler 1230 Sixth Ave. New York, NY 10020	Joseph Brancato, Robin Klehr Avia Managing principals (212) 492-1400/www.gensler.com	157 152	592 527	$15,100	NY area: 1,003 US: 4,944 International: 871	Architecture: 23% Interiors: 76% Planning: 1%	10.4	n/d

Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, which appeared on last year’s list with 50 New York area architects, declined to participate. New York area includes New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties in New York, and Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties in New Jersey. Crain?s New York Business uses staff research, extensive surveys and the most current references available to produce its lists, but there is no guarantee that these listings are complete. To qualify for this list, firms must be architecture firms with an office in the New York area. All information was supplied by the firms. In case of tied figures, firms are ranked by number of worldwide architects. In case those figures are tied, firms are ranked by worldwide construction volume. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100. n/a Not available. n/d Not disclosed.1-Full-time and full-time-equivalent registered architects, as of Dec. 31. 2-Dollar amounts include only those projects completed in 2008. 3-Includes projects in design stage, under construction or completed in 2008. U.S. numbers include the New York area. International numbers are for projects outside of the United States. 4-Total square footage for projects completed in 2008. Research: Denise Southwood, Maia Blume and Selena Shen

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Fashioning recycled-glass kitchen and bath countertops in the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, IceStone has found that keeping its plant in the country’s design capital has advantages. Some consumers have started buying countertops online, but design professionals and many shoppers will purchase them only locally because they want to inspect the quality in person.

“Architects are very interested in seeing the manufacturing,” said IceStone co-founder Peter Strugatz.

In contrast to the many space-intensive suppliers that are moving out of the city, countertop yards are finding benefits in staying in industrial neighborhoods such as College Point, Queens, and Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A rough survey of such businesses shows a few dozen in the five boroughs.

Design professionals like it that way.

“You have to go to the yard and see the individual slab,” said Sandra Kilsby, an Upper East Side interior designer who once trekked to Toronto to give the once-over to an order for a commercial client. “One lot can be completely different from another.”

Tough competition from chains

Nonetheless, it’s difficult for independent countertop retailers to grow. Along with competition from big-box companies like Home Depot, they face well-financed national chains such as Artistic Tile and Stone Source, both of which have flagship showrooms located in Manhattan. The major players have been further strengthened by industry consolidation.

Chains can afford more spacious locations and thus house larger pieces of stone, which show more of the veins and color variations inherent to natural material.

“We offer tremendous selection,” said Joshua Levinson, president of Artistic Tile’s wholesale division. He added that it can cut from the same stone for one project, which helps ensure a consistent match.

Artistic Tile, based in Secaucus, N.J., operates six showrooms in the New York area and employs 130 people. It projects revenues of $43 million this year.

Despite the plunge in home construction and renovation, IceStone has managed to thrive by using smart marketing. It hosts open houses, complete with jerked Caribbean food from East New York and locally distilled whiskeys, to attract design professionals while highlighting its Brooklyn roots.

“We put the slabs up like a painting, like a rug,” said Mr. Strugatz. “People see the colors pop.” Launched six years ago, IceStone has grown to 54 employees from six.

Turnkey service helps profits

West Side Stone & Marble Co., on West 125th Street, offers hands-on service to gain an edge. While some chains use off-site fabricators, West Side Stone does all the work itself. Each job begins with customers selecting natural stone countertops on-site, includes a custom fitting and finishes with a polish, said owner Ari Golan.

“We do it the old-fashioned way—everything, from A to Z,” he said.

Mr. Golan believes that approach helped his company, which has nine employees, remain profitable during the downturn’s bleakest days. He expects to boost revenues this year but is concerned about the future. Columbia University’s expansion has forced him to move his warehouse to Hunts Point in the Bronx, but he’s keeping the Harlem space for as long as possible to use as a showroom.

“We’re trying to survive,” Mr. Golan said. “We wanted [to find another] showroom in Manhattan, but it’s too expensive.”