Kathy Wylde

As part of his crusade to reform the state's finances, Governor David Paterson outlined a proposal yesterday to cut an additional $1 billion from this year’s budget, plus $1.6 billion next year. Doing so put him at odds with fellow Democrats, and it's unlikely to turn into a legislative coup for the governor. How it will play politically, however, is a different story.

The governor's first dramatic warnings about the state budget, which included a rare televised speech and a trip to Washington, were met with some skepticism from state Democrats, and a series of proposals for reducing the budget by $1.  read more »

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester and Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, debated the mayor’s congestion pricing plan on NBC’s News Forum, which was taped this afternoon and will air Sunday.

Here's one of the highlights, in which Brodsky and Wylde debate whether or not environmental groups are actually supporting the plan.

(Transcript after the jump.)  read more »

That was quick.

Supporters of congestion pricing are taking issue with the methodology of a new Quinnipiac poll which showed New Yorkers split on the issue.

“Asking people if they want to pay more to drive without explaining what they are paying for doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know,” said Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for NYC.

“When New Yorkers learn of the many benefits that come from congestion pricing, they become supporters,“ said Gene Russianoff of NYPIRG/Straphangers Campaign, a member of the 80-plus groups in the Campaign for New York’s Future.

Transporation advocate and blogger Aaron Naparstek has more criticism of the poll here.

I'm waiting for a response from Quinnipiac.

Hillary Clinton may have returned a contribution from Wal-Mart, and Barack Obama’s wife may also be distancing herself from the company, but the country’s largest retailer is trying to win other friends in high places with its own quiet campaign in New York.

Without much fanfare, Wal-Mart has joined a number of local business groups, like the Association for a Better New York, the Partnership for New York City, and the chambers of commerce in four of the city's boroughs.

All this, without having a single store here. So, why have they joined all these New York business groups when, technically, they don’t have a business in New York?  read more »

• City picks developers for former Brooklyn prison site.

[Real Deal]

• Landmark status likely for a lot of Crown Heights.

[NY Times]

• Waverly Inn fails Health Department inspection.

[NY Times]  read more »

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The New York City Partnership's report on congestion pricing that was supposed to come out a year ago was finally released this morning -- this time retooled as a study of how much traffic was costing the economy.

"Talking about congestion pricing is like giving someone a needle before they know they have a disease," Partnership president and chief executive Kathy Wylde said at a press briefing on Monday morning. Her study puts the cost of the disease to the regional economy at more than $13 billion annually in wasted fuel, travel time and missed opportunities, and between 37,000 to 52,000 jobs.

Officially, the Partnership is endorsing "further study" of a whole bunch of remedies, congestion pricing being just one of them (along with better mass transit, higher parking fees, etc.). But Wylde sounded pretty convinced that charging vehicles to drive in Midtown and Lower Manhattan would have to be in the mix. "You have to have a combined package, and there is no evidence that you can pull one piece of it out and make it work," she said.

- Matthew Schuerman

Two days after giving up on five floors it had hoped to lease at 7 World Trade Center, the Beijing-based Vantone real estate firm was on the hunt today for another location for its China Center, a mini-office center and gathering place for Chinese firms looking to break into the U.S. market. "They were looking at several places in Midtown and downtown, for rental or acquisition," said Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City and a Vantone ally. The Freedom Tower, which is where Larry Silverstein wanted Vantone to go (after canceling its lease at 7 WTC), is not in the picture, Wylde said, because it would not be ready in time. -Matthew Schuerman

The Suozzi sightings are starting to proliferate. He had breakfast at the Regency yesterday morning with the head of the New York City Partnership, Kathy Wylde. They were discussing "regional issues," according to Suozzi aide Kim Devlin, though one imagines that Wylde's constituents in the business community wouldn't mind seeing Eliot taken down.

And who should Suozzi he run into at the Regency but Ken Langone? A pure coincidence, Devlin said, adding that the men just spoke briefly.  read more »

Then, yesterday evening, Suozzi swung by the Harlem Family Christmas Party, a staff-heavy affair that's a long way from Nassau County. But he's not unreasonable to think there might be an opening against Eliot there.

UPDATE: Partnership spokesman Brian Mahanna emails: "The Partnership meets regularly with elected officials from across the state, including Attorney General Spitzer, and meeting with the Naussau County executive and co-chair of New York Metropolitan Transportation Council to share views on regional cooperation on transit, Medicaid and other issues of mutual concern was in no way a political statement."