A few weeks ago, Kathryn Wylde, the normally consensus-driven president of the Partnership for New York City, did something totally out of character — and downright reckless, according to some business leaders.
Namely, Wylde, whose group is supposed to advocate for the city’s biggest banks and real estate firms, appeared to endorse Letitia James for mayor if Eric Adams folds amid multiple criminal investigations and indictments.
Yes – that Letitia James, the New York Attorney General who supports taxing the city’s wealth and job creators and who is part of Albany’s lefty Dem ruling elite. And yes – it’s that Tish James who weaponized her office and brought a nothing-burger case against Donald Trump for fibbing on a loan application that he paid back.
The consensus: If she can go after Trump for so little, what’s stopping her from squeezing billions out of the big banks?
Hence the bewilderment over Wylde’s quote in The NY Times: “If the mayor were unable to run for re-election, she (James) could be a consensus candidate that business and labor could get behind.”
Well maybe labor, but certainly not the business types I’ve spoken with.
“Members of the New York City business community might want Tish James to be mayor of a city, but not this city,” said one. Another: “This person (James) tried to destroy Trump instead of going after real problems like why toothpaste at drug stores is locked behind partitions.” And another: “Gross … I’m glad I let my membership lapse.”
I asked Wylde why she thought it was smart to make such a statement, since she does, after all, rep the business community. Her response: “That was an observation not an endorsement.”
Tell that to your members.
