NYC's Corporate Exodus and 9/11 Unity

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning, well, 9-11 weekend. Many memories to have, many things to look back on. And today we have with us Steve Phillip, and he’s the CEO of the New York City Partnership. And, well, Steve, give us a. You run one of the most, I guess, effective and most important partnerships, chamber type or whatever you want to call it, of New York with the 300 most powerful

0:32 companies of New York. And how do you say it? As the world turns, and the world is turning very fast for New York, give us your pulse of the situation.

0:45 Speaker 2 I mean, so look, John, here we are 25 years post 9-11. You know, I suppose everybody listening, you know, has a story and a memory about kind of where they were and what they experienced personally impacted a lot of people in different ways. You know, the one thing I would highlight is that when you think about, you know,

1:07 the weeks and the months after, you know, September 11th, it was a great deal of, you know, citizenship, people looking out for their neighbors, less politics, and more about, you know, pulling together to solve problems. And, you know, hopefully 25 years later, there’s an opportunity for us to reflect a little bit and get back to that.

1:29 Speaker 1 And there’s a lot of reports of, you know, we already talked about J.P. Morgan, which is a big member of yours, and Bank America, moving a lot of money Troops? Well, they’re troops, bankers to Texas. And there’s rumors that Goldman Sachs wants to move more people to Texas and to Florida.

1:52 Have they been talking about you or did they just say, we’re just going to do it?

1:56 Speaker 2 No, no, no. I think there’s a reality. It would be naive for anybody to say that people leaving and having other options isn’t a reality and that it’s not directly related to taxes and the cost of doing business in New York City. I would just say that prior to COVID, you know, New York City was really the

2:15 only game in town where people thought that they had to be here and they had no other options. When everybody started working remotely and some of these CEOs saw that it’s possible, and then at the same time you have all these other cities and states like Florida and Texas pitching business. There is no longer the requirement to

2:34 be in New York City the same way. So when you have the kind of the socialists in the far left talking about taxing everybody and taxing and taxing and taxing, you’ve got to realize that the more you chase out business to other states, the less people there are to pay the bills to support all of the social services

2:51 that are needed there. to make New York City affordable. So, you know, you’ve got to be careful. Goldman Sachs definitely is moving more employees to Texas. Morgan Stanley, Citadel, JP Morgan, Apollo, all this year have made announcements. So I think people need to be careful.

3:08 Speaker 1 Understood. Well, is Albany, do you get a pulse if Albany is recognizing what the heck is going on yet or they’re just living in a cocoon?

3:25 Speaker 2 I think this election is going to be really important. I think that not only is it going to be important who wins, whether it’s Blakeman or Hochul, we’ve been supporters of Hochul, but the important thing is by what margin does that person win? Because I think if somebody wins by 10 points or 12 points or one point

3:47 or two points, It sends a different message, and there’s a different ability to govern. So those are things to pay attention to. And, you know, it’s only two months away, so it’s just around the corner. Understood.

4:00 Speaker 2 John, let me ask you just on 9-11 weekend, where were you on September 11th?

4:09 Speaker 1 We had an office on 56th Street and 11th Avenue opposite CBS on 57th and 56th and 11th Avenue. And that was 25 years ago. In my office was a television set. And we heard what was going on. And everybody gathered in my office because it was the only TV set because not everybody had a TV set in

4:32 their office those days. And we were watching. And my first thought was because I was a pilot and I used to fly up the Hudson. You could fly up the Hudson at 900 feet and nobody would say boo.

4:46 I figured it was some, you know, small airplane hitting the World Trade Center. And that was my first reaction. And later on, when another one was hit, then we said, oh, crap, scenario. And we went up to the roof of the building on 56th Street and 11th Avenue, and we could see the World Trade Centers from there, and we could see

5:11 the smoke, and I guess we were all shocked Shock and disbelief. The next day, the next day, you know, we had about 50, 60 supermarkets at that time. I put on my guns, both guns, and I went to make sure all our stores were open. And I ended up running the store on 86th Street between 2nd and

5:39 3rd Avenue.

5:41 Speaker 2 And what do you remember about people?

5:44 Speaker 1 And we don’t know crap because we didn’t know if the Taliban were going to come running down the streets of Broadway. We didn’t know. Yeah.

5:53 Speaker 2 I was down at one New York plaza, so a couple of blocks south, and I was on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs, so immigrant family I come from. So, you know, a dream job for me. And after that, I decided to leave my job at Goldman and enlist in the Marine Corps, went down to Parris Island, wanted

6:12 to serve the country, and then subsequently deployed. So, it changed the trajectory of my life for sure. And, um, I think, uh, you know, nine 11 was a defining moment. The crazy thing is that a lot of young people today don’t have a direct connection to it. So, you know, it’s 25 years ago. So the youngest people don’t remember

6:31 it the same way we do.

6:34 Speaker 1 Yes. And, uh, uh, and nobody would believe what position New York is in right now, 25 years later. Uh, They tried to beat us in New York 25 years ago, and maybe they beat us now.

6:49 Speaker 2 I mean, yes. Tomorrow, you know... again, an opportunity to reflect on the service that was weeks after and months after. And I hope that people continue as they start their week, again, to think about the service and camaraderie and the things that defined New York City and the country in the weeks and the months after 9-11. So not only important

7:15 to remember and think about it on the actual day, but it’s great that you’re Doing this the weekend, dedicating to it. And then, you know, hopefully people recognize for, you know, for some period of time that politics wasn’t the most important thing. And so polarizing people were coming together to actually make sure that New York City pulls through.

7:34 Speaker 1 Well, thank you so much, Steve Phillip. And let’s pray for New Yorkers. We both love New York. Thank you so much. Thank you.