Harlem World Magazine: Mayor Adams, Releases Open Letter Showing Broad Support For His Efforts To Make NY Safer And A More Just City

Harlem World Magazine: Mayor Adams, Releases Open Letter Showing Broad Support For His Efforts To Make NY Safer And A More Just City

January 31, 2022

The Adams administration today released an open letter from over 200 business, civic, and labor leaders from Harlem to Hollis.

This shows broad support for Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to make New York a safer and more just city.

The letter comes a week after Mayor Adams put forth a comprehensive Blueprint to End Gun Violence and follows a series of shockingly violent crimes across the city.

“Making New York a safer city is a prerequisite for prosperity and social justice — and will move us past the multiple crises we’re facing,” said Mayor Adams. “It will take all New Yorkers to help move us forward, and the support from this extraordinary coalition is an indication that we are on the right track.”

“The signatories to this letter are leaders in industries that represent more than three million jobs in New York City,” said Kathryn Wylde, president & CEO, Partnership for New York City. “Public safety is the number one concern of employers and workers. We are united behind the mayor’s efforts to reverse the rise in crime.”

“Mayor Adams’ focus on making both New Yorkers and tourists feel safe in our city is crucial for New York City’s recovery,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

“As an institution focused entirely on the health and wellbeing of our fellow New Yorkers, we applaud the mayor’s leadership in offering new solutions to make our city safer,” said Steven J. Corwin, MD, president and CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

“We appreciate and stand with Mayor Adams in his critical efforts to reduce crime and improve public safety,” said Eric S. Goldstein, CEO, UJA-Federation of New York.

“In many ways, public safety is at the root of our city’s economic recovery — it’s, of course, important to bringing visitors and people back to the five boroughs, but it’s also critical to securing investment in New York’s future that lead to the creation of middle-class careers both in construction and across other industries,” said Gary LaBarbera, president, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. “The men and women of the New York City Building Trades stand with Mayor Adams in his call to bring a heightened sense of safety and justice to our streets, and urge leaders at the local, state, and federal level to move quickly to ensure these vital goals are met.”

“The mayor’s blueprint for public safety is a common-sense approach to New York’s crime challenges, pairing essential social services and community-based interventions with appropriate tools for the courts and strategies for police,” said Jonathan Lippman, former Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals. “I very much urge our city, state, and federal leaders to collaboratively support the mayor’s smart and practical efforts to both tackle crime and ensure fairness in our system of justice.”

“We support Mayor Adams’ comprehensive approach to reducing crime and gun violence,” said Rob Speyer and Steven Swartz, co-chairs, Partnership for New York City. “The return of the pre-pandemic vibrancy of our city depends on his success.”

“On our buses, in the subway, and in the neighborhoods where we live, transit workers see the need to improve public safety every single day,” said Tony Utano, President, TWU Local 100. “All branches of government must step up and take action, and that includes addressing the mental health crisis more effectively. The mayor’s plan is a big step in the right direction.”

“This is a well thought out, comprehensive public safety plan at a time when New Yorkers are looking for action and results,” said Charles Phillips, co-chair, newly formed Mayor’s Corporate Counsel. “Now is the time to come together around constructive next steps.”

“This is an important and historic approach to public safety,” said Stephen Scherr, co-chair of, newly formed Corporate Council. “The strength of our city and its continued economic recovery depends on this type of leadership.”

Open Letter in Support of Mayor Adams’ Efforts To Make New York a Safer And More Just City

We support Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to reduce crime in New York City. Public safety is the bedrock of a thriving city and, as the mayor has made clear, it is equally necessary to invest in mental health care and alleviate conditions that contribute to violent behavior, including substance abuse, homelessness, and joblessness.

The killing of two young police officers, Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, and the dramatic increase in senseless shootings across the five boroughs have elevated the need to get illegal guns off the streets and maximize the ability of law enforcement to function fairly and effectively. The killing of Michelle Go, the Deloitte executive who was pushed under a subway in Times Square, illustrates that illegal guns are only one dimension of a much larger problem.

During the pandemic, both crime and quality of life conditions have worsened in the Central Business Districts, in many residential neighborhoods, on the public transit system, and in local shopping strips where small business owners and employees are vulnerable to attack. New York cannot recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic without first restoring the sense of personal security that every resident, worker, visitor, and community in our city has the right to expect.

The mayor has taken a courageous position and we all share responsibility to help him carry out his agenda. Governor Kathy Hochul took prompt action to establish an interstate task force and new state office to address the problem of illegal guns. We need to do everything in our power to make New York safe again.

Sincerely,

Richard Aborn, President, Citizens Crime Commission of New York City
William D. Abramson, Principal, Buchbinder & Warren Realty Group LLC
Pranay Agrawal, Co-Founder & CEO, Fractal Analytics Inc.
Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital
Yo Akatsuka, President & CEO, Nomura Holding America Inc.
Simon Allen, Chief Executive Officer, McGraw-Hill Education, Inc.
Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Jeffrey H. Aronson, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
Robert Bakish, President & CEO, ViacomCBS Inc.
Linda Baran, President & CEO, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Charles R. Bendit, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Taconic Investment Partners LLC
Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC
William H. Berkman, Co-Chairman & CEO, Radius Global Infrastructure, Inc.
Seth Bernstein, President & CEO, AB
David Beveridge, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling, LLP
Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.
Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Lee Bollinger, President, Columbia University
John Borthwick, Founder & CEO, Betaworks
Albert Bourla, Chairman & CEO, Pfizer Inc.
Greg Bovitz, Chief Executive Officer, Bovitz
LaRay Brown, Chief Executive Officer, One Brooklyn Health System
Kenneth Buckfire, President & Managing Director, Miller Buckfire & Co.
Marty Burger, Chief Executive Officer, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Frank A. Calamari, President & CEO, Calvary Hospital
Mark Cannizzaro, President, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators
Donald A. Capoccia, Principal, BFC Partners
Timothy Cawley, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison
Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners
Richard A.C. Coles, Founder & Managing Partner, Vanbarton Group LLC
Marc Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, Solomon Partners
Steven Corwin, President & CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Vijay Dandapani, President & CEO, Hotel Association of New York City
Kenneth L. Davis, President & CEO, Mount Sinai Health System
Anthony J. de Nicola, Chairman, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Emma DeVito, President & CEO, VillageCare
Annemarie DiCola, Chief Executive Officer, Trepp, LLC
Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
James L. Dolan, Executive Chairman & CEO, The Madison Square Garden Entertainment Company
William R. Dougherty, Chairman, Executive Committee, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Michael Dowling, President & CEO, Northwell Health
Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.
Blair W. Effron, Co-Founder, Centerview Partners
Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Partner and Co-Founder, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.
Douglas F. Eisenberg, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, A&E Real Estate, LLC
Steven Ellis, Chairman of the Firm, Proskauer
Christopher Erikson, Business Manager, Local 3 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Jeffrey Farber, President & CEO, The New Jewish Home
Alexander Farman-Farmaian, Vice Chairman, Portfolio Manager, Edgewood Management LLC
Sean Feeney, Co-Owner of Lilia & Misi and Co-Founder, Grovehouse
Laurence D. Fink, Chairman & CEO, BlackRock
Peter Finn, Founding Partner, Finn Partners
Winston C. Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers
Alan H. Fishman, Founder, Willow Holdings, Inc.
Robert B. Fiske, Jr., Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Bruce J. Flanz, President & CEO, MediSys Health Network
Charles Flateman, Chair, NYC & Company and Vice President of Marketing, The Shubert Organization, Inc.
William E. Ford, Chairman & CEO, General Atlantic LLC
Jane Fraser, Chief Executive Officer, Citi
Adena Friedman, President & CEO, Nasdaq
Miguel A. Fuentes, Jr., President & CEO, BronxCare Health System
Kenneth M. Garschina, Principal, Mason Capital Management, LLC
Peter Gelb, General Manager, The Metropolitan Opera
Jeff Gennette, Chairman & CEO, Macy’s, Inc.
Michael Gerstenzang, Managing Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Thomas P. Gibbons, Chief Executive Officer, BNY Mellon
Kenneth Gibbs, President & CEO, Maimonides Medical Center
MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder & CEO, MAG Partners LP
Dan Glaser, President & CEO, Marsh McLennan
Timothy Gokey, Chief Executive Officer, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
Eric Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer, UJA Federation of New York
James P. Gorman, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley
Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark
Thomas J. Grech, President & CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce
David G. Greenfield, Chief Executive Officer, Met Council
David J. Greenwald, Chairman, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Efraim Grinberg, Chairman & CEO, Movado Group, Inc.
Stewart KP Gross, Managing Director, Lightyear Capital
Robert I. Grossman, The Saul J. Farber Dean and CEO, NYU Langone Health
Christopher Grosso, Chief Executive Officer, Intersection
Samer Hamadeh, Founder & CEO, Zeel
Andrew Hamilton, President, New York University
Kathryn Haslanger, Chief Executive Officer, JASA
Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue Airways Corporation
H. Dale Hemmerdinger, Chairman, Atco Properties & Management, Inc.
Matthew Heyd, Rector, Church of the Heavenly Rest
Matthew Hiltzik, President & CEO, Hiltzik Strategies, LLC
Leslie W. Himmel, Managing Partner, Himmel + Meringoff Properties LLC
Marc Holliday, President & CEO, SL Green Realty Corp.
Brian T. Horey, President, Aurelian Management
Chris Hughes, Co-Founder, Economic Security Project
Donna Imperato, Chief Executive Officer, BCW
Jerry Jacobs Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Delaware North Companies, Inc.
Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard
Alan Jones, Senior Managing Director, Intermediate Capital Group plc
Julie H. Jones, Chair, Ropes & Gray LLP
John Josephson, Chairman & CEO, Sesac
Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Mitchell Katz, President & CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals
Charles R. Kaye, Chief Executive Officer, Warburg Pincus LLC
Richard A. Kennedy, President & CEO, Skanska USA Inc.
Andrew Klaber, President, Bedford Ridge Capital
Paul Knopp, U.S. Chair & CEO, KPMG LLP
Jack Kopnisky, President & CEO, Sterling Bancorp
Philippe Krakowsky, Chief Executive Officer, Interpublic Group
Henry R. Kravis, Co-Founder & Executive Co-Chairman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Jeremy M. Kroll, Co-CEO, Founder & President, K2 Integrity
Barbara Armand Kushner, President, Armand Corporation
Gary LaBarbera, President, Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
Scott LaRue, President & CEO, ArchCare
Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Kewsong Lee, Chief Executive Officer, The Carlyle Group
Joey Levin, Chief Executive Officer, IAC
Allan Levine, Chairman & CEO, Global Atlantic Financial Company
Robert A. Levine, Chairman, RAL Companies & Affiliates LLC
Pamela Liebman, President & CEO, The Corcoran Group, Inc.
Judge Jonathan Lippman, Former Chief Judge of New York
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Robert P. LoCascio, Founder & CEO, LivePerson, Inc.
George Loening, Chairman, CEO & Founder, Select Equity Group, Inc.
Roger Lynch, Chief Executive Officer, Condé Nast
Mehdi Mahmud, CEO & President, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC
Tracy V. Maitland, President, Advent Capital Management, LLC
Anthony Malkin, Chairman, President & CEO, Empire State Realty Trust
Anthony E. Mann, President & CEO, E-J Electric Installation Co.
Lynn Martin, President, NYSE
Ted Mathas, Chairman & CEO, New York Life Insurance Company
Sandeep Mathrani, Chief Executive Officer, WeWork
Shuji Matsuura, Chief Executive Officer, Mizuho Americas
Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners
Charles R. McCall, Chief Executive Officer, Astoria Energy II LLC & Astoria Energy LLC
Andrew McMahon, CEO & President, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Anish Melwani, Chairman & CEO, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc.
Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Bank Leumi USA
Daniel J. Messina, President & CEO, Richmond University Medical Center
Marc Metrick, President & CEO, Saks Fifth Avenue
Michael Miebach, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard
Melva M. Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Association for a Better New York
Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company
Daniel Moore, President & CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.
Deanna M. Mulligan, Chief Executive Officer, Purposeful
Liz Neumark, Chair & Founder, Great Performances
Melissa O’Connor, President & CEO, Retail Council of New York State
Philip Ozuah, President & CEO, Montefiore Health System
Randy Peers, President & CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
David Perlstein, President & CEO, SBH Health System
Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, S&P Global
Michael A. Peterson, Chairman & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Recognize
Michael Phillips, President, Jamestown Properties LLC
Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York
Andrew Rabinowitz, Co-Chief Executive Officer, K2 Integrity
Daniel Ramot, Co-Founder & CEO, Via
Kenneth Raske, President, Greater New York Hospital Association
Steven L. Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC
Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR
Daniel Reingold, President & CEO, RiverSpring Living/The Hebrew Home at Riverdale
Christiana Riley, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Bank Americas
Michael M. Roberts, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA
James D. Robinson, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures
Ramon Rodriguez, President & CEO, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
Evan Roth, Co-Chief Executive Officer, BBR Partners, LLC
Steven Roth, Chairman & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust
Steven Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Communications, Inc.
William C. Rudin, Co-Chairman & CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc.
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder & CEO, AlleyCorp
Tim Ryan, U.S. Chair & Senior Partner, PwC
John Sabey, Chief Executive Officer, Sabey Corporation/Sabey Datacenters
Scott Salmirs, President & CEO, ABM Industries Inc.
Charles W. Scharf, CEO & President, Wells Fargo & Company
Saul Scherl, President, New York Tri-State Region, The Howard Hughes Corporation
Michael Schmidtberger, Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee, Sidley Austin LLP
Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman & CEO, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
Martin Schroeter, Chief Executive Officer, Kyndryl Inc.
Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone
Frank Scremin, Chief Executive Officer, LaGuardia Gateway Partners
Kathleen Shanahan, Chief Executive Officer, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.
Louis Shapiro, President and CEO, Hospital for Special Surgery
Jeff Shell, Chief Executive Officer, NBCUniversal
Tarek Sherif, Co-Founder, Medidata Solutions, Inc.
Betsy Smith, President & CEO, Central Park Conservancy
David M. Solomon, Chairman & CEO, Goldman Sachs
Jeffrey M. Solomon, Chair & CEO, Cowen
Lisa Sorin, President, The Bronx Chamber of Commerce
Rob Speyer, President & CEO, Tishman Speyer
Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman & CEO, American Express
Charlotte St. Martin, President, The Broadway League Inc.
Robert K. Steel, Vice Chair, Perella Weinberg Partners
Barry Stern, President & CEO, New York Community Hospital
Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, Executive Director, The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York
Steven R. Swartz, President & CEO, Hearst
Jose L. Tavarez, President, Bank of America New York City
Gary G. Terrinoni, President & CEO, The Brooklyn Hospital Center
Owen D. Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Properties
Craig B. Thompson, President & CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.
James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation
Gary M. Tischler, Founder & Managing Partner, Vanbarton Group LLC
Paul Todd, Chief Executive Officer, GLG
Joseph Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte
Tony Utano, President, Transport Workers Union of America, Greater NY Local 100
Robert Vecchio, Chief Executive Officer, LPI, Inc.
Ellis Verdi, President, DeVito/Verdi
James R. Wacht, President, Lee & Associates NYC
George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Jessica Walker, President & CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Gerard M. Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Episcopal Health Services, Inc.
Philip Waterman III, Managing Partner, WatermanCLARK, LLC
Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, Eisner Advisory Group LLC
Daniel Weiss, President & CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
James Whelan, President, The Real Estate Board of New York
Valerie D. White, Executive Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Jeff Wilpon, Partner, Sterling Equities
David Winter, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Standard Industries Inc.
Robert Wolf, Chief Executive Officer, 32 Advisors LLC
Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Strauss Zelnick, Partner, ZMC
Michael Zetlin, Senior Partner, Zetlin & De Chiara LLP
Mitchell Zuklie, Chairman, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP