Kathy Wylde has once again landed in the space between Wall Street and New York\u2019s left-leaning politicos \u2013 and it\u2019s getting awkward.<\/p>\n
The recently retired head of the Partnership for New York City<\/a> \u2013 the Big Apple\u2019s biggest business advocacy group \u2013 has been quietly urging Mayor Mamdani to mend fences with city business leaders, On The Money has learned.<\/p>\n The 79-year-old power broker\u2019s major worry: The mayor\u2019s continued friction with the business community. While Wylde has said \u201cthe city is strong and will continue to be a global commercial powerhouse regardless of who is mayor\u201d her old organization is worried that\u00a0the mayor\u2019s socialist agenda\u00a0will accelerate a stampede of big taxpayers<\/a> \u2013 individuals and businesses alike \u2013 and destroy what\u2019s left of the Big Apple economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kathy Wylde, the recently retired head of the Partnership for New York City \u2013 the Big Apple\u2019s biggest business advocacy group \u2013 has been quietly urging Mayor Mamdani to mend fences with city business leaders, On The Money has learned. Jack Forbes \/ NY Post Design<\/p>\n That\u2019s after Mamdani last month aired his now-infamous video shot outside billionaire Ken Griffin\u2019s penthouse<\/a>, declaring \u201cWe\u2019re taxing the rich\u201d as he unveiled a tax on apartments owned by out-of-state residents.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been encouraging him and his team to meet with business leaders so that he can hear their concerns and understand how they can help him be successful,\u201d Wylde told On The Money in an exclusive interview this week. \u201cThe Griffin video obviously made that more urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharles Gasparino<\/p>\n Wylde emphasizes that there\u2019s \u201cnothing official,\u201d about her role in pushing for detente between the Marxist mayor and business leaders. She said she played no role in Mamdani\u2019s recent meetings with the chiefs of Blackstone, UBS, JPMorgan, BofA and Goldman Sachs, which were an outgrowth of talks between the new partnership leadership and City Hall.<\/p>\n Still, Wylde said she is still in contact with the mayor and his people even in retirement, and spoke with Mamdani about a month ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani shot the controversial spot in front of Ken Griffin\u2019s apartment on Central Park South, noting that it cost $238 million. Mayor Mamdani\/X<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a lobbyist, just a human being,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel a bit responsible for Mamdani, so of course I encouraged him to meet with people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The responsibility part speaks to Wylde\u2019s role as head of the partnership last year, when she put Mamdani in front of business community types so they could get to know the man who went on to win the November election.\u00a0<\/p>\n With her departure earlier this year, the group adopted a more aggressive approach to dealing with City Hall with new president Steve Fulop.<\/p>\n A City Hall spokesman had no comment.<\/p>\n Griffin called the video \u201ccreepy\u201d and \u201cfrightening.\u201d REUTERS<\/p>\n Fulop had no immediate comment, but some in the partnership\u2019s new leadership have taken umbrage that Wylde is lurking in the background of the relationship between business leaders and Mamdani, said people with knowledge of the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cZohran is a smart guy and he is doing this outreach by himself,\u201d this person said.<\/p>\n The so-called \u201cGriffin Video\u201d has become a case study in the mayor\u2019s increasingly frosty relationship with business leaders. In mid April, Mamdani shot the controversial spot in front of Griffin\u2019s apartment on Central Park South, noting that it cost $238 million. Griffin called the spot \u201ccreepy\u201d and \u201cfrightening,\u201d<\/a> noting that his place is just a few blocks away from where the UnitedHealth CEO was murdered.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a lobbyist, just a human being,\u201d Wylde said. \u201cI feel a bit responsible for Mamdani, so of course I encouraged him to meet with people.\u201d\u00a0 Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n Griffin also said he will pursue a Citadel expansion not just in New York City, but in Miami, where the government offers the \u201cAmerican Dream and a dream of earned success, not a dream of redistributive handouts that leave people dependent on government for their lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharlie Gasparino has his finger on the pulse of where business, politics and finance meet\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up to receive On The Money by Charlie Gasparino in your inbox every Thursday.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n