By ED OTT & KATHRYN WYLDE

December 17, 2008 —

IMMEDIATELY upon taking office, President Barack Obama will launch a massive effort to revive the economy – centered on $500 billion in new funding for modernization and construction of roads, bridges, airports, schools and infrastructure. By the end of January, states and localities need to identify “shovel ready” projects in order to compete for the funds.

When President Franklin Roosevelt undertook a similar program in 1933, New York won the lion’s share of money. That was because Robert Moses, the legendary “construction czar,” made sure the state was first in line with ready-to-go projects. He established a partnership with the construction industry, organized labor and financial institutions to get big projects going on a handshake. Many of our best public facilities are products of that era’s public-private partnerships.

Now we must duplicate that achievement with the Obama stimulus program.

We proved we could do it after 9/11: Emergency powers were invoked to clean up the World Trade Center site and get Lower Manhattan back in business in record time. Industry, labor and government all contributed to an accelerated recovery.

And today we face worse damage, in economic terms, than the terrorists inflicted on 9/11. Our state and city are broke – the state deficit is projected to reach $51 billion in four years. Finding places to cut costs is crucial – but that alone won’t be enough: We have to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Obama’s program presents a great opportunity – we must win as much federal investment as possible and put the money to work quickly. Can New York rise to the occasion?

Gov. Paterson is certainly trying. With the same foresight he demonstrated in tackling the budget crisis before others woke up to the problem, the governor established a commission in October to determine how New York can tap the expertise and resources of business and labor to help government finance, engineer, manage and build public-works projects on an accelerated, cost-effective basis. The Commission on State Asset Maximization will issue its first report this week and, based on hearings it held across the state, the outlook is promising.

The commission has been asking hard questions about how the state’s cumbersome procedures for procurement, contracting and financing can be reformed to reduce costs and shift risk from government to private-sector experts. The long delays and cost overruns plaguing the Second Avenue Subway are just one example of how poorly positioned we are to make use of a quick start stimulus program.

The commission also found that New York is not in a strong competitive position for pending federal dollars. For example, we recently lost $350 million in federal grants (the funds were reallocated to Chicago and Los Angeles) because we couldn’t resolve our local differences over a traffic congestion-pricing plan.

A strong follow-up on the commission’s work could ensure that New York gets a healthy share of the Obama stimulus dollars. By including strong labor standards and protections, it removes the stigma that public-private partnerships are simply vehicles for privatization that result in lower wages and benefits.

A perfect storm of events is making the prospect of public-private partnerships look like a smart component of New York’s economic-growth strategy. Fortunately, storms of this magnitude don’t come around too often. But then again, neither do these types of opportunities. Like Robert Moses, we need to be ready, and we need to be bold.

Ed Ott is executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council, which represents more than 1.3 million workers throughout the city. Kathryn Wylde is president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, the city’s leading business group.