Lawmakers and Business Leaders To Highlight City’s Global Role
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As financial reports from a tough third quarter trickle in on Wall Street, the city is pushing the issue of New York’s position in the global economy, with Mayor Bloomberg and three top administration officials scheduled to speak at a conference of business leaders today.
The conference, hosted by the Economist magazine, focuses on a major theme of Mr. Bloomberg’s tenure. The mayor has warned repeatedly that the city’s dominant financial sector could be eroded by foreign competition.
Early this year, Mr. Bloomberg issued a report with Senator Schumer that predicted New York City could lose its position as the global financial leader within 10 years if existing policies remain unchanged.
While the biggest changes could come from federal policies, business leaders have praised Mr. Bloomberg for encouraging the community to seek ways to create a more hospitable business climate in the city.
“Among the most impressive things about this administration is the way it’s tried to look hard at the New York of the future,” the CEO for the New York tristate region of the real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis, Mary Ann Tighe, said.
“By putting the spotlight on it, the mayor is really setting, not just his legacy, but telling New York what they need to look to to his successors,” Ms. Tighe said. “Otherwise, we are going to be a very charming, romantic, 20th-century city, in a world of fiercely competitive 21st-century cities.”
Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, and the schools chancellor, Joel Klein, are all speaking at the event today, which will take place at the Jumeirah Essex House. Other speakers include Ms. Tighe, the CEO of the Related Companies, Stephen Ross, and the CEO of Nasdaq, Robert Greifeld.
The American business editor of the Economist, Matthew Bishop, said the conference comes as local governments around the world are growing in their ability to affect policy that relates to business climate, with the Bloomberg administration standing out as a notable example.
“Cities are increasingly visible, and what city policies are to national businesses are increasingly important,” Mr. Bishop said.