New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday warned President-elect Donald Trump not to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act.
De Blasio, a liberal Democrat critical of Republican Trump, discussed Wall Street regulation amid a plethora of social-justice talking points in a meeting at Trump Tower that lasted just over an hour.
"I raised my concerns about any repeal of the Dodd-Frank bill and what it would do in terms of furthering the economic security of New Yorkers and of millions and millions of Americans, and the deep concern that we would go backwards and that our economy would be in peril again and we would run the risk of another crash," de Blasio told reporters at a late-afternoon City Hall press conference.
"I talked to him about the proposal for tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations. I raised my concern that this would make impossible many of the changes that we need in our country, particularly the investments we so desperately need in infrastructure here in New York City and in cities and counties all over the country."
Earlier in the day, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Thomas Prendergast was more measured when asked about a Trump administration.
"As chairman and CEO I look at any of anybody's candidacy, whether it's a city elected official, a state elected official or a federal elected official: Do they understand the function we provide? Do they understand the importance that the MTA has to the region at large? Do they understand the importance New York has to the economy of the United States of America? Are they supportive of infrastructure?," Prendergast told reporters after the authority's monthly board meeting in lower Manhattan.
"Both the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate, were very supportive -- one was and the other one is, we'll find out – of infrastructure. So from that perspective, we're excited because we have a trillion-dollar asset here that we need additional federal funding for."
