New York Uprising is a non-partisan, independent coalition formed by former Mayor Edward I. Koch that advocates for meaningful government reform across New York State. Our mission is to put an end to corruption in Albany and reinstate the public’s faith in government by offering real, honest and sensible solutions that legislators and candidates can implement, adhere to and be held accountable for executing once elected or re-elected to office. New York Uprising will actively seek support for commitments to reform from all candidates seeking office during the 2010 election cycle. Joining Mayor Koch in his effort to stop what has become the downward spiral of New York politics, are Citizens Union Director Dick Dadey, former New York City Parks Commissioner and New York Civic Director Henry Stern and a group of prominent New Yorkers serving as Trustees. The following individuals are trustees of New York Uprising.
Mayor Koch saved the City of New York from bankruptcy and in doing so restored the pride of New Yorkers. During his three terms as Mayor from 1978-1989, he restored fiscal stability to the City of New York, and he was responsible for placing the City on a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices) balanced budget basis. He created a housing program which, over a ten-year period, provided more than 150,000 units of affordable housing financed by City funds in the amount of $5.1 billion. He created — for the first time in New York City — a merit judicial selection system, and selected some of the most outstanding public servants to serve in his administration. Prior to being Mayor, Mr. Koch served for nine years as a Congressman and two years as a member of the New York City Council. He is currently a partner in the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP. He hosts a Friday evening call-in radio program on Bloomberg AM 1130 (WBBR) and is also a commentator on that same station. Mr. Koch appears weekly on NY1 television with former Senator Alfonse D’Amato. He lectures around the country, writes a weekly commentary, and his weekly movie reviews are published in The Villager.
Mr. Badillo has devoted a lifetime to working in both the public and private sectors on behalf of minorities and consumers on legal issues such as discrimination, labor, education, and business development. Herman Badillo was the first Congressman of Puerto Rican origin in the history of the nation (New York’s 21st District in the Bronx). He was also the First Puerto Rican to be elected Bronx Borough President. He served as Deputy Mayor of New York City in the Koch administration and was special counsel for Fiscal Oversight of Education during Mayor Giuliani’s administration. Herman was also Chairman of the Board of the City University of New York. Among his many other “firsts”, he was a co-founder of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, and of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. After graduating magnum cum laude from City College, Herman then finished first in his class at Brooklyn Law School. Herman was admitted to the bar in 1955 and is also a CPA.
Mr. Cuomo was elected New York State’s 54th Governor in 1982 and won re-election in both 1986 and 1990, setting records for popularity in both contests. He was the longest serving democratic governor in the modern history of New York State and won the two largest electoral victories ever. In twelve years at the helm of the nation’s most populous state, Governor Cuomo steered the state through two recessions, balanced 12 consecutive budgets and created more than half a million jobs. Prior to being elected governor, Governor Cuomo served as Lieutenant Governor under Governor Hugh Carey.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City, was born in 1944 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Manhattan College, and New York University Law School. After joining the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudy Giuliani rose quickly through the ranks, becoming the Chief of the Narcotics Unit at age 29. After the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1981, Giuliani was named Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1983, President Reagan appointed Rudy Giuliani as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Giuliani spearheaded successful efforts against organized crime, white-collar criminals, drug dealers and corrupt elected officials. He won his first Mayoral race in 1993 by campaigning on the slogan “One City, One Standard,” and focusing on reducing crime, reforming welfare, and improving the quality of life. In 1997, he was re-elected with 57% of the vote in a city in which Democrats outnumbered Republicans five to one. Under Mayor Giuliani’s leadership, overall crime was cut by 56%, murder was cut by 66%, and New York City – once considered the crime capital of the country – became the safest large city in America according to the FBI. New York City’s law enforcement strategy has become a model for other cities around the world.
On September 11, 2001, America suffered the worst attack in its history when terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Thousands of New Yorkers were killed, including hundreds of members of the city’s uniformed services, who rushed to the scene to lead the heroic rescue of tens of thousands of people. Having narrowly missed being crushed when the Towers fell, Mayor Giuliani immediately began leading the recovery of the city as it faced its darkest hour. Mayor Giuliani was widely lauded for his steady hand during challenging times.
Mayor Giuliani recently ran for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. During his campaign, he galvanized the national debate on such critical issues as national security, education, energy independence, healthcare, and the economy. The policy commitments Mayor Giuliani made to the American people remain vitally important to America’s future.
Ned Regan is the former Comptroller of New York State, serving for over 15 years as the state’s chief auditor, accounting standard setter, and sole trustee of its $150 billion pension fund. He is also a former president of Baruch College in the City University of New York (CUNY). Mr. Regan was chairman of the NYC Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC), the president of the Levy Economic Institute of Bard College, and was a twelve-year trustee of Oppenheimer Mutual Funds. He was a trustee on the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) and a consultant to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on international accounting standards. He has taught at several SUNY and CUNY universities and served on numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards, frequently as chair of their audit committees.
Mr. Regan is currently a professor at Baruch College. He earned his law degree with honors at SUNY Buffalo. Mr. Regan is active in many civic organizations, such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Committee for Economic Development (CED) and the New York Economic Club. He also serves as the public member of the NYS Society of CPA’s Professional Ethics Committee. He is currently heading the NYS Citizens project dealing with reforms that he and his colleagues feel should be made to New York State’s governance.
Felix Rohatyn served as United States Ambassador to France from September 11, 1997 until December 28, 2000. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador in Paris, Mr. Rohatyn was a managing director of the investment-banking firm Lazard Freres & Co. LLC in New York, which he joined in 1948, becoming a partner in 1961. He retired from the firm in 1997 in order to take up his post as U.S. Ambassador to France. From 1975 to 1993, he was also Chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC) of the State of New York, where he managed the negotiations that enabled New York City to resolve its financial crisis in the late seventies. He served as a member of the Board of Governors of the New York Stock Exchange from 1968 to 1972. He also served on the boards of several NYSE listed corporations.
Mr. Rohatyn is presently vice chairman of Carnegie Hall, New York City, and is a trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. He also serves on the Board of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Publicis Groupe S.A., Groupe Lagardere and Rothschild Continuation Holdings AG.
Rohatyn received his Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1949, and has also been awarded numerous honorary degrees. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of many other non-profit organizations. He is a Commander in the French Legion of Honor.
Mr. Solomon founded Peter J. Solomon Company, L.P. in 1989. Previously, he was Vice Chairman of Lehman Brothers where he was Chairman of its Merchant Banking Division and Co-Chairman of the Investment Banking Division.
From 1978 to 1980, Mr. Solomon was Deputy Mayor of Economic Policy and Development in New York City under Mayor Edward I. Koch. He was also Chairman of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which operated 17 municipal hospitals. He served as Counselor to the United States Treasury in the Carter Administration in 1980. Mr. Solomon has written extensively about conflicts on Wall Street and public policy issues.
Alair Townsend was publisher of Crain’s New York Business from 1989 to 2006 and vice president of Crain Communications, Inc., from 1993 to 2006. She is now a columnist for the publication. Ms. Townsend has served as New York City’s Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development and as the City’s Budget Director; in addition, she has held several posts in Washington, D.C. including Associate Director of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives; Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.
Rudy Washington served as Deputy Mayor for Community Development and Business Services under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, where he oversaw the following City agencies: Business Services, Parks and Recreation, Consumer Affairs, Employment, Human Rights, Immigrant Affairs, the United Nations, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Sports Commission, and the Community Affairs Unit. Prior to that, he was Commissioner of the City Department of Business Services, where his major accomplishments included creating the City’s Bid-Match Program, the City Business Assistance Program, implementing the Mayor’s alternative vendor market plan, administering the Mayor’s plan to regulate the Fulton Fish Market and leading the City’s efforts to reduce toll costs for commercial vehicles entering New York City.
Mr. Washington is a graduate of John Jay College. He has also served as a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board, the Council for Airport Opportunity and as Chairman of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.
During his career, John Zuccotti has specialized in real estate, planning, housing and municipal law and has played a leading role in the development process of major residential and commercial projects in the New York metropolitan area and throughout the US.
Mr. Zuccotti has distinguished himself in a number of spheres, having been one of New York’s most prominent real estate executives, a founder of one of the most renowned real estate law firms, chairman of the New York City Planning Commission during the Lindsay administration, and the First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York under Mayor Abraham Beame. As president and CEO of the former Olympia & York Companies (USA), he led the company through its successful reorganization.
He has frequently lectured on planning and development at numerous institutions including Columbia, Harvard, Yale and The New School for Social Research, and was appointed to the faculty of both Yale and Columbia law schools as an adjunct professor. Mr. Zuccotti has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners since 1974.
He is presently senior counsel at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
“Citizens, New Yorkers must take advantage of this special time in our state’s history and demand Reform. Join us, this is our year.”
