Wall Street and the New York Economy: One Year After — Report by Bill Hohlfeld          

BALCONY BREAKFAST DECEMBER 4TH

NYS Comptroller DiNapoli & NYC Comptroller-Elect Liu

Wall Street and the New York Economy: One Year After

Special Report by

Bill Hohlfeld, Coordinator Local 46 LMCT

NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli                    NYC Comptroller-Elect  John Liu

BALCONY Co-Chair Bruce Vengimiglia                               BALCONY Co-Chair Alan Lubin

On Friday, December 4th, an impressive array of speakers gathered at the Hard Rock Cafe on 43rd St. and Broadway in New York City, not to sip cocktails or gaze at the instruments of rock n roll’s famous, late and great, but rather to discuss over bagels and coffee, the topic that is on every New Yorker’s mind today — the state of the economy.

Despite everyone’s legitimate anxiety about the economy, it was to everyone’s credit that the breakfast began by addressing the hunger of those far less fortunate than anyone in the room. Bill Ayres, Executive Director for WHY HUNGER (World Hunger Year) made an appeal for support because as he quoted John Lennon, “Hunger in America is an obscenity.” His organization, co-founded by Ayres and the late singer Harry Chapin, dedicated to helping people find the means to help themselves, is determined to fight poverty and hunger not only here but also all over the world. It was a somber reminder to all present that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

Next to take the podium was Bruce Ventimiglia, co-chair of BALCONY, the Business and Labor Coalition of New York. In his brief but very pointed introduction of Keynote speaker, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, he reminded the audience that a year ago Comptroller DiNapoli had spoken at a very similar Wall Street Balcony Breakfast and, at that time, when we were all still reeling from shock at the then recent economic debacle, made some economic forecasts of the year to come. Bruce reviewed those comments by pointing out that our comptroller had been, in a word, right.

Comptroller DiNapoli, on his part was happy to report that the NYS pension fund had rebounded well and that as of September 2009 it showed an 18% profit. He was quick to admit however that the lesson learned from all we have been through is one of diversification, with the state realizing that it had become too reliant on tax revenue from “Wall Street” for a healthy economy.

He went on to say that bonuses are now federally regulated. And, while that may assuage the populist rumblings amongst us, (my words, not his) that regulation does translate to a drop in revenue. Wall Street accounts for 24% of all wages paid in NYC and every securities job create two more jobs within the city and one more in a nearby suburb. Those are sobering statistics when out of the 35,000 jobs lost recently in New York, 1 of every five were in the securities industry.

Finally, Comptroller DiNapoli presented a realistic portrayal of our financial landscape by alluding to the 288,000 jobs lost in the state since the beginning of the recession. This has left the state with a budget gap of over $4 million. A deficit reduction plan has just been passed which includes $391 million of federal stimulus. But, we are not out of the woods yet, and close scrutiny of the budget is still the order of the day. The bottom line though does offer some small comfort – New York State, though low on cash is not broke. Actually, we can still expect to see three year budget gap in 2011 of over $27 billion. That of course means that some tough choices will have to be made to keep us on track. There are opportunities for further pension fund and green business investments and those opportunities are about growth in which New York can participate.

Following Mr. DiNapoli was NYC Comptroller-elect, John Liu, who was nothing if not positive about economic recovery in New York City. Using his personal story as a metaphor for the kind of success that is possible in this city, he drew upon his own experience of receiving a world class education in NYC and NYS public schools and universities. He also drew attention to Flushing, Queens the area he represented on the New York City Council. He held it up as a model of financial success based on a thriving immigrant community made up of a “perfect combination of human capital and entrepreneurial spirit.” That certainly is the essence of the BALCONY membership.

Adding to the morning were the comments of BALCONY  co-chair Alan Lubin who, now that he is retiring from his post as Executive Vice President of NYSUT, will be working harder than ever to promote BALCONY. He pointed to the impact we have made so far on social and fiscal policies governing health care and the insurance industry. Before introducing Tom Lee, he concluded by reminding everyone that joining BALCONY was about what you can do and what you can give, not what you can get.

Mr. Lee, who manages the New York State Teachers Retirement System funds, reported on the health of its portfolio and shared his personal formula for keeping it so. “It’s all about liquidity and alignment of interests.

It should be noted that not all the panelists were quite so optimistic. Economists and financial industry experts, Barry Weprin of the Milberg Law Firm, Gregg Hymowitz of Entrust and James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute were all a bit gloomier in their forecasts for the future, if much more aggressive measures were not taken to bolster the economy. Issues still loom like pension relief, continued unemployment, lack of a national industrial policy, tax reform and the need for increased regulation in our financial sector, just to name a few.

The BALCONY Breakfast illustrated two undeniable facts. First, BALCONY still has much hard work to do, and second, it has the kind of talent in its ranks that could get that work done.

The BALCONY Wall Street breakfast at New York’s Hard Rock Café was sponsored by the Milberg Law Firm, Entrust Capital, BNYConvergEx, NYSUT, Saratoga Capital Management and WHY Hunger.

View the photos from the Forum by clicking here.

(Click here to view the Program from the Forum)

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