Eric Adams eyes Wall Street ‘partnership’ to boost NYC jobs recovery
Eric Adams said he aims to heal the rift between New York City and Wall Street, telling financial titans that the Big Apple needs the industry’s help to create jobs.
The Democratic mayoral nominee said Monday that if he is elected, New York City will “no longer be anti-business” — an apparent reference to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s cool relationship with the city’s banks and financial firms.
Instead, Adams said the city will seek help from the financial industry as it looks to boost its pandemic-ravaged employment numbers.
“I’m offering my hand in partnership today but I’m also making an ask.” Adams said Monday at the SALT, or SkyBridge Alternatives, hedge-fund conference hosted annually by Anthony Scaramucci.
“I’m proposing an unprecedented partnership between city employers and the city itself,” Adams said. “There are hundreds of thousands of people out of work in New York and there are hundreds of thousands of jobs that you have that we can fill.”
The Post was first to report Adams would be giving the opening remarks at the SALT conference, which this year has decamped from the Bellagio in Las Vegas to the Javits Center in New York City.
Adams’ attendance at SALT signals a commitment to New York’s business sector, his spokesman previously told The Post.
“Eric will welcome business leaders from around the world to New York, and ask them to partner with the city and grow here so that unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers can thrive as the local economy recovers – finding careers in growing sectors like technology and emerging industries such as life sciences and cyber security,” Adams’ spokesman Evan Theis said.
De Blasio has roiled business leaders over the years with comments decrying private property and encouraging the city’s “socialistic impulses.” Last year, more than 170 top business leaders from companies including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley signed a letter calling on de Blasio to step up and take necessary steps to help the city recover from coronavirus.
Other notable SALT speakers this year include Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Point72’s Steve Cohen, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, Gen. John Kelly, Third Point CEO Dan Loeb, Gen. H.R. McMaster, Mudrick Capital Management’s Jason Mudrick, Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, ARK Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood and Paris Hilton.
Adams on Monday also emphasized his agenda as mayor will be to prioritize public safety by curbing crime and homelessness.
“It is imperative government must do its job to create an environment for growth,” Adams said. “The prerequisite to prosperity is safety.”