Today, 177 New York business leaders sent the following letter to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio offering to collaborate on a strategic plan for New York’s economic recovery from COVID-19 that can serve as a blueprint for urban centers across the country. This letter reaffirms the commitment to New York City that was laid out in a September 10 letter to Mayor de Blasio from most of the same top executives.
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
The Honorable Bill de Blasio
Mayor of New York City
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Dear Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio,
We write to thank you for your leadership in managing New York’s response to the COVID-19 health crisis and to offer our assistance as the state and city begin to deal with the economic consequences of the pandemic. The losses attributable to the COVID-19 are still being incurred, but it is important to act now to develop a plan for recovery and resilience.
By all measures, New York City was at the peak of its economic powers on March 1, 2020, when the first coronavirus case was diagnosed. A report issued in July by the Partnership for New York City calculates that, in less than five months, the metropolitan region lost a million jobs and that up to a third of the city’s small businesses may permanently close. The region’s affordable housing deficit is projected to increase by at least 150,000 units. Economic losses, like health impacts, will be most profoundly felt by low wage workers and in communities of color. The report argues that the city will need to offer a new value proposition to residents and businesses that focuses on affordability, opportunity and innovation.
The essential assets of great cities — their density of diverse talent, high degree of social interaction, and access to the world — make them most vulnerable to public health challenges. The federal government has an obligation and vested interest in assisting cities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic, but so far there is no national agenda specifically targeted to urban relief or recovery.
As the first place in America to be struck hard by the coronavirus and the first to successfully manage its containment, New York should step up to chart the course for recovery of urban centers everywhere. We urge you to convene a multi-sector leadership initiative which can call upon the broadest possible range of resources and expertise to develop plans, policies and implementation strategies for how cities will overcome the challenges created by the pandemic and re-emerge stronger, fairer and more resilient than ever.
We are fully prepared to support this effort and believe it is critical to ensuring a vibrant future for New York and the nation.
Sincerely,
Mercedes Abramo, President & CEO, North America, Cartier
Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital
Ellen Alemany, Chairman & CEO, CIT Group Inc.
Jeffrey Aronson, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
Ajay Banga, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard
Linda Baran, President & CEO, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Jeffrey H. Barker, New York State President, Bank of America
Neil Barr, Managing Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Charles R. Bendit, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Taconic Investment Partners LLC
William H. Berkman, Co-Chairman & CEO, Digital Landscape Group, Inc.
Torry Berntsen, Chief Executive Officer, Americas & Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, Standard Chartered Bank
David J. Beveridge, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling, LLP
Frank J. Bisignano, Chief Executive Officer, Fiserv
Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.
Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Adam M. Blumenthal, Managing Partner, Blue Wolf Capital Partners
Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warby Parker
John Borthwick, Founder & CEO, Betaworks
Albert Bourla, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer Inc.
Martin S. Burger, Chief Executive Officer, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Anthony Casalena, Founder & CEO, Squarespace, Inc.
Gregory C. Case, Chief Executive Officer, Aon plc
Richard M. Cashin, Managing Partner, One Equity Partners
John Catsimatidis, Chairman & CEO, Red Apple Group, Inc.
Ric Clark, Chairman, Brookfield Property Partners
Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Richard Coles, Managing Principal, Vanbarton Group LLC
Marc Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, PJ Solomon, L.P.
Michael L. Corbat, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup
Stacey Cunningham, President, NYSE
Anthony J. de Nicola, President, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Todd C. DeGarmo, Chief Executive Officer, STUDIOS Architecture
AnnaMaria DeSalva, Global Chairman & CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Annemarie DiCola, Chief Executive Officer, Trepp, LLC
Toby Dodd, President, New York Tri-State, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
William R. Dougherty, Chairman, Executive Committee, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.
Blair W. Effron, Co-Founder, Centerview Partners
Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Partner and Co-Founder, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.
Douglas F. Eisenberg, Founder and CEO, A&E Real Estate, LLC
Catherine Engelbert, Commissioner, WNBA
Hafize Gaye Erkan, President & Board Member, First Republic Bank
Alexander Farman-Farmaian, Vice Chairman, Portfolio Manager, Edgewood Management LLC
Ziel Feldman, Chairman & Founder, HFZ Capital Group
Joseph R. Ficalora, President & CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Inc.
John Fish, Chairman & CEO, Suffolk
Winston C. Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers
Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance
William E. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic LLC
Adena Friedman, President & CEO, Nasdaq
Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Mark T. Gallogly, Co-Founder & Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
Kenneth M. Garschina, Principal, Mason Capital Management, LLC
Jeff Gennette, Chairman & CEO, Macy’s, Inc.
Dave Gilboa, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warby Parker
MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder & CEO, MAG Partners LP
Daniel Glaser, President & CEO, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
Timothy Gokey, Chief Executive Officer, Broadridge
James P. Gorman, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley
Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark Knight Frank
Jonathan N. Grayer, Chairman & CEO, Weld North LLC
Thomas Grech, President & CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce
Logan Green, Co-Founder & CEO, Lyft
David J. Greenwald, Chairman, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Kelly Grier, U.S. Chairman & Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
Stewart KP Gross, Managing Director, Lightyear Capital
Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue Airways Corporation
Sean Hecker, Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
James H. Herbert, II, Founder, Chairman and CEO, First Republic Bank
Donna Imperato, Chief Executive Officer, BCW
Frederick J. Iseman, Chairman & CEO, CI Capital Partners LLC
Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard Ltd
John Josephson, Chairman & CEO, Sesac
Roberta Kaplan, Founding Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Charles R. Kaye, Chief Executive Officer, Warburg Pincus LLC
Michel A. Khalaf, President & CEO, MetLife, Inc.
Paul Knopp, U.S. Chair and CEO, KPMG LLP
Henry R. Kravis, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Philip Krim, Founder & CEO, Casper
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Joey Levin, Chief Executive Officer, IAC
Allan Levine, Chairman & CEO, Global Atlantic Financial Company
Jeffrey E. Levine, Chairman, Douglaston Development
Robert A. Levine, Chief Executive Officer, RAL Companies & Affiliates, LLC
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney
Robert P. LoCascio, Founder & CEO, LivePerson, Inc.
Mehdi Mahmud, CEO, First Eagle Investment Management
Anthony Malkin, Chairman, President & CEO, Empire State Realty Trust
Anthony E. Mann, President & CEO, E-J Electric Installation Co.
Joel S. Marcus, Executive Chairman & Founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Theodore Mathas, Chairman & CEO, New York Life Insurance Company
Sandeep Mathrani, Chief Executive Officer, WeWork
Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners
John McAvoy, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison, Inc.
Charles R. McCall, Chief Executive Officer, Astoria Energy II LLC &, Astoria Energy LLC
Raymond W. McDaniel, Jr., President & CEO, Moody’s Corporation
Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Bank Leumi USA
Heidi Messer, Co-Founder & Chairperson, Collective[i]
Keith Mestrich, President & CEO, Amalgamated Bank
Jayne Millard, Chairman & Co-CEO, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.
Edward J. Minskoff, Chairman & CEO, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc.
Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company
Greg Mondre, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Silver Lake
Daniel Moore, President & CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.
Tyler Morse, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner, MCR Development LLC
Deanna M. Mulligan, Chief Executive Officer, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Tom Naratil, President Americas, Co-President Global Wealth Management, UBS Group AG
Jon Oringer, Executive Chairman, Shutterstock, Inc.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Founder & Owner, SJP Collection
John Paulson, President, Paulson & Co., Inc.
Stan Pavlovksky, CEO, Shutterstock, Inc.
Mark Pearson, President & CEO, Equitable
Randolph Peers, President & CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Debbie Perelman, President & CEO, Revlon, Inc.
Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, S&P Global
Michael A. Peterson, Chairman & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chairman, Infor
Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York
Steven L. Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC
Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC
Michael Roberts, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA
James D. Robinson, III, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures
Evan Roth, Co-Chief Executive Officer, BBR Partners, LLC
Michael I. Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group
Steven Roth, Chairman & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust
Steven Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Communications, Inc.
Mitchell E. Rudin, Chairman and CEO, Savills Inc.
William C. Rudin, Co-Chairman & CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc.
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder & CEO, AlleyCorp
Timothy Ryan, U.S. Chairman & Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Scott Salmirs, President & CEO, ABM Industries Inc.
Kathleen Savio, Chief Executive Officer, North America, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd
Michael Schmidtberger, Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee, Sidley Austin LLP
Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman & CEO, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone
Frank J. Sciame, Chairman & CEO, Sciame Construction, LLC
Kathleen Shanahan, Co-CEO, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.
Suzanne Shank, CEO, Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC
Tarek Sherif, Chairman & CEO, Medidata Solutions, Inc.
Adam Silver, Commissioner, National Basketball Association
Joshua Silverman, Chief Executive Officer, Etsy, Inc.
Michael C. Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One Bank
David M. Solomon, Chairman & CEO, Goldman Sachs
Jeffrey Solomon, Chairman & CEO, Cowen
Lisa Sorin, President, The Bronx Chamber of Commerce
Rob Speyer, President & CEO, Tishman Speyer
Robert K. Steel, Chairman, Perella Weinberg Partners
Charles Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s
Sanjay Swani, Partner, Tailwind Capital
Steven R. Swartz, President & CEO, Hearst
Paul J. Taubman, Chairman & CEO, PJT Partners Inc.
Teiji Teramoto, Chairman & CEO, Mizuho Americas
Owen D. Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Properties
Robert J. Thomson, Chief Executive, News Corp
Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.
James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation
Gary M. Tischler, Founder & Managing Partner, Vanbarton Group LLC
Daniel R. Tishman, Vice Chairman, AECOM & Principal, Tishman Realty
Jean-Marie Tritant, President, U.S., Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Joseph Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte
Bridget van Kralingen, Senior Vice President, Global Markets, IBM Corporation
Robert Vecchio, Chief Executive Officer, LPI, Inc.
George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Jessica Walker, President & CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Debra Walton, Chief Revenue Officer, Refinitiv
Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP
David Winter, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Standard Industries Inc.
Laila J. Worrell, Chief Executive Officer, Altran Americas + frog
Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Strauss Zelnick, Partner, ZMC
John Zimmer, Co-Founder & President, Lyft