http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/nyregion/wooing-hometown-industry-de-blasio-meets-wary-wall-st.html
For Wall Street traders, Mr. de Blasio, who led his Republican opponent, Joseph J. Lhota, by more than 40 percentage points in recent polls, looks like a sure bet. But not long ago, he was viewed as an unelectable liberal, who repulsed many bankers by proposing higher taxes on the wealthy and offering a pep talk at the Occupy Wall Street encampment, praising the protesters for “speaking to what people are feeling all over this country.” “From their perspective, Bill has emerged out of nowhere, and they need to get to know him,” said Michael Schlein, a former top executive at Citigroup who has been making introductions for Mr. de Blasio on Wall Street. Mr. de Blasio is not a complete stranger to the financial world. His wife, Chirlane McCray, briefly worked under Mr. Schlein at Citigroup, and after the financial crisis Mr. de Blasio opposed limits on bank bonuses. He seeks counsel from Orin S. Kramer, a hedge fund manager and a top donor to President Obama, who introduced him at the Viacom lunch. Another ally is William Mulrow, who is a senior managing director at Blackstone and a former candidate for state comptroller (and who once donned dingy clothes to impersonate an Occupy Wall Street protester at a private bankers’ dinner). Still, Mr. de Blasio’s interactions with the capitalist class can sometimes be awkward. At the Yale Club breakfast last week, one guest bluntly asked Mr. de Blasio why his rhetoric had been so harsh on the wealthy. “If I’m being edgy about this, it’s because it’s edgy out there,” Mr. de Blasio replied, according to an attendee. Perplexing some of the guests, Mr. de Blasio told the bankers that they might better understand his perspective if they were to tour the city and hear the same desperate stories he had encountered on the campaign trail. The next day, at the Viacom lunch, Mr. de Blasio was given a rousing introduction by Mr. Kramer, who said the candidate fully understood that his mayoralty would hinge on having a thriving, contented corporate class. But when it was Mr. de Blasio’s turn to speak, the Democrat simply said he concurred with Mr. Kramer’s remarks. Some executives left the meeting wondering why Mr. de Blasio had declined to repeat those pledges in his own words. “He still comes off with that edge,” said one person who attended the Yale Club event, and requested anonymity to avoid offending the candidate. “He’s going to have to find ways to speak differently to industries and the business community.” Mr. de Blasio has been open with executives about his views, volunteering his support for the Dodd-Frank regulatory reforms and defending his proposed tax on New Yorkers earning more than $500,000 a year. (Under the plan, which would affect about 51,000 households, an unmarried banker with taxable income of $800,000 would owe an additional $1,500 a year in taxes.) Asked about labor, Mr. de Blasio told one group that municipal unions deserved new contracts, but that the city might not have the resources to provide full retroactive raises. He pointed out that few of the major public unions had endorsed him in the primary, suggesting he was not tethered to their demands. Bankers who have sat with Mr. de Blasio say they are impressed by his intelligence and willingness to listen, even if some of his core values clash with their own. Always eager for a positive spin, some Wall Street executives are looking on the bright side: It could have been worse. “Wall Street would have been really upset if Eliot Spitzer had gotten in,” said one senior executive, referring to the former governor’s failed comeback run for city comptroller. The executive, who was not authorized to speak publicly, laughed and said, “I think at least they can live with de Blasio.” _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
