Mayor Adams Convenes Second Business Leadership Council Meeting to Discuss Productive Partnership Between Business Community and City Hall

February 17, 2022

Meeting Focused on Expanding Summer Youth Employment Program and Administration’s Commitment to Public Safety, Reopening Post COVID

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams yesterday met with members of his Business Leadership Council for the second time to discuss ways to better aid New York’s economic recovery by expanding the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and focusing on public safety. The Business Leadership Council includes leaders from over 60 New York City-based companies across various sectors, including technology, life sciences, financial services, media and entertainment, travel and tourism, and real estate. The leadership council was first convened in December 2021 to discuss then Mayor-elect Adams’ priorities for his 100 days in office. The Business Leadership Council aims to ensure a productive partnership and dialogue between the business community and City Hall.

“The partnerships formed through the Business Leadership Council will allow us to collaborate and develop the public-private partnerships that will accelerate our economic recovery and move New York City forward,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “During the meeting, we discussed two of my administration’s most critical priorities — reducing gun violence and summer jobs for our youth — both of which will be vital in getting New York open again.”

During the meeting, Mayor Adams and the Business Leadership Council discussed efforts to reduce gun violence by addressing “upstream” factors that contribute to higher crime rates, including lack of high-quality employment opportunities for young New Yorkers. Specifically, Mayor Adams called on Business Leadership Council members to partner with the city in expanding SYEP by hosting participants at their companies and helping to shape these private sector SYEP internships​. On Tuesday, Mayor Adams announced his administration’s support of 100,000 summer job opportunities annually for young people ages 14-24.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Keechant Sewell also joined the meeting to provide an update on the NYPD’s efforts to protect public safety across New York City.

“One of the hallmarks of our Administration is to 'Get Stuff Done,’ and to do this we need all the partners in the room,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Sheena Wright. “We are grateful for the engagement of the Business Leadership Council members and their support and commitment to making New York City a safer, healthier, and more prosperous city. We are excited to partner with Business Leadership Council members to provide work opportunities for young people participating in this year's Summer Youth Employment Program." 

“The NYPD’s mission of providing public safety for all is foundational in New York City’s ongoing recovery,” said Police Commissioner Sewell. “Police officers work around the clock, utilizing community-led innovations, intelligence-driven strategies, and every tool at their disposal to eradicate the gun violence that leaves far too many victims in its wake and tears at the fabric of city life.”

“Mayor Adams is taking an innovative approach to addressing an underlying cause of gun violence while providing deserving young people with exposure to the business world they wouldn't otherwise have," said Marc Holliday, chairman and CEO, SL Green Realty. "We look forward to working with the administration and other businesses across the city to greatly expand on prior initiatives and meet the mayor’s challenge of providing 100,000 kids with summer job opportunities this year.

“A lack of economic opportunity has always been a contributing factor to crime,” said Jason Clark, executive director, Tech:NYC. “Connecting young New Yorkers with jobs in exciting fields such as tech will help reduce violence and give our kids a better chance at success. Tech:NYC is proud to partner with Mayor Eric Adams on SYEP and our upcoming Tech Year NYC initiative, which will expand our employer engagement and offer our youth job opportunities at dynamic tech companies in the summer and all year long.”

The members of the Business Leadership Council include:

• Deborah Snyder, Accenture
• Jenna Foger, Alexandria Real Estate Equities
• Kevin Ryan, Alley Corp
• Stephen Squeri, American Express
• Jose Tavarez, Bank of America
• Susan Lyne, BBG Ventures
• Ryan Williams, Cadre
• Mary Anne Tighe, CBRE
• Edward Skyler , Citigroup
• Caryn Seidman-Becker, Clear
• Michelle MacKay, Cushman & Wakefield
• Peter Carter, Delta
• John Byrne, Dell
• Mark Murphy, Digital Currency Group
• Richard Edelman, Edelman
• Nina Tandon, EpiBone
• Josh Silverman, Etsy
• Carlos Hernandez, JP Morgan
• Ken Chenault, General Catalyst
• Jeff Gural, GFP Real Estate
• Stephen Scherr, Goldman Sachs (retired)
• David   Solomon, Goldman Sachs
• Ellen West, Google
• Nickle  LeMoreaux, IBM
• Greg Lavernder, Intel
• Robin Hayes, JetBlue
• Deidre Quinn, Lafayette 148
• Andrew Milgram, Marblegate Capital
• Linda Kirkpatrick, Mastercard
• Kate Ryder, Maven Health
• Bruce Jackson, Microsoft
• Dev Ittycheria, MongoDB
• Eric Grossman , Morgan Stanley
• Ken Davis, Mount Sinai
• Adena Friedman, Nasdaq
• Jeff Shell, NBC Universal
• Lynn Martin, New York Stock Exchange
• Steven Corwin, New York-Presbyterian
• Barry Gosin, Newmark
• Susan Solomon, NY Stem Cell Foundation
• Kathryn Wylde, Partnership for New York City
• John Foley, Peloton
• Albert Bourla, Pfizer
• Deanna Mulligan, Purposeful
• Jim Whelan, Real Estate Board of New York
• Charles Phillips, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Recognize
• Jennifer Hyman, Rent the Runway
• Debbie Perelman, Revlon
• Steven Rubenstein, Rubenstein
• Scott Rechler, RXR
• Paula Henderson, SAS
• Eric Schmidt, Schmidt Futures
• Marc Holliday, SL Green
• Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify
• Anthony Casalena, Squarespace
• Nate Ru, Sweetgreen
• Paul Pariser, Taconic Partners
• Jason Clark, Tech:NYC
• Douglas Durst, The Durst Organization
• Jeff Blau, The Related Companies
• Rob Speyer, Tishman Speyer
• Jenny Farrelly, Two Sigma
• Danny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group
• Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures
• Rob Bakish, ViacomCBS
• Anjali Sud, Vimeo
• Chip Kaye, Warburg Pincus
• Neil Blumenthal, Warby Parker
• Sandeep Mathrani, WeWork
• Shan-Lyn Ma, Zola

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