More than 160 executives for New York-based companies – including Goldman Sachs, JetBlue, Mastercard, and Morgan Stanley – have signed an open letter criticizing Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio for mishandling the city's coronavirus response.
"Despite New York's success in containing the coronavirus, unprecedented numbers of New Yorkers are unemployed, facing homelessness, or otherwise at risk," business leaders wrote in the open letter. "There is widespread anxiety over public safety, cleanliness, and other quality of life issues that are contributing to deteriorating conditions in commercial districts and neighborhoods across the five boroughs."
The executives demanded de Blasio take "immediate action to restore essential services," recommending various ways to revive New York's economy through a report titled "A Call for Action and Collaboration."
De Blasio tweeted:
"We need these leaders to join the fight to move the City forward."
According to some estimates, about one-third of New York's 240,000 small businesses might remain closed permanently after the pandemic. That would mean about 520,000 jobs would be lost during that time.
In June, former Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani called for Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove de Blasio from office.
"He is preventing the NYPD from taking the actions that have prevented riots in the past," Giuliani said of de Blasio.
De Blasio will leave office at the end of 2021 when his term ends.
"It's all a chicken-and-egg problem," Kathryn Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, told the Times. "Until the people come back, the streets aren't safe. If the streets aren't safe, the people don't come back, so somebody's got to break the egg."
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