New York City Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all private-sector employees — and the Big Apple’s leading corporations are not thrilled.
As The Daily Wire reported on Monday, the outgoing mayor’s policy will also require proof of vaccination for all indoor dining, fitness, and entertainment venues for children between the ages of 5 to 11. To be considered fully vaccinated, citizens must receive two vaccine doses instead of one.
However, the Partnership for New York City — an organization composing the CEOs of New York City’s most powerful firms, including Pfizer, PepsiCo, Deloitte, Citi, and American Express — was “blindsided” by the announcement.
“The business community was blindsided by the media leak from City Hall that there will be a vaccine mandate on the city’s private sector employees, apparently with no testing option,” Partnership for New York City told Fox News.
“Inconsistent policies at the federal, state and city levels are not helpful and it is unclear who will enforce a mayoral mandate, and whether it is even legal,” the group continued. “President Biden’s vaccine mandate on employers with over 100 employees is currently held up by litigation and it is hard to imagine that the mayor can do what the president is being challenged to accomplish.”
“The president focused on large employers, provided a testing option for those who do not get vaccinated, and allowed four months to prepare for compliance,” the statement added.
The Partnership for New York City’s statement is not the first open expression of pessimism toward New York City and its leadership in recent weeks. Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon warned at a Financial Times conference that the city may lose its status as a global financial hub if it does not address the policies causing its decline.
Solomon said that “New York has to be aware that there are good choices, and it’s got to keep itself attractive” — especially with respect to “taxes” and “cost of living.” Solomon noted that no city is guaranteed “a permanent place in the world,” referring to Detroit losing its status as the capital of the automobile industry.
Bank of America recently needed to caution New York City employees to “dress down” as assaults in the city become more frequent.
“These execs have told their staffers that dressing up, or wearing anything with a Bank of America logo, could make them a target,” reported The New York Post. “One bank employee told On The Money he is on high alert after he spotted someone with a knife near the office during a recent trek to the Manhattan workplace.”
Across large cities in the United States, hordes of armed people have emptied stores and assaulted employees in a wave of smash-and-grab robberies. In areas with “zero bail” policies, many perpetrators have been released onto the streets immediately following their arrests.