Committee To Save New York: Who Are These Powerful Cuomo Boosters?

The fact that Gov. Andrew Cuomo still manages to ride the honeymoon wave with voters, boasting a 73 percent favorability rating, hasn't stopped lobbyists from pushing the governor's agenda.

The Committee to Save New York, a business-lobbying coalition that advocates greater fiscal responsibility on the state level, spent nearly $10 million in support of the governor's agenda since he was inaugurated last year, reports The New York Times.

The outlay, spent mostly on television and radio advertising, saved Cuomo from having to spend his own money to promote his agenda. Last year, the governor spent only $2.2 million from his campaign treasury of $11.7 million. In comparison, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer spent more than $7.2 million in his first year of office in order to defend his agenda from critics.

The coalition's expenditure was the fifth most expensive single-year lobbying campaign to be waged in Albany by one organization, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group.

The Committee to Save New York was founded a year ago by three prominent New York City business leaders: Rob Speyer, president of real estate firm Tishman Speyer; Kathryn Wylde, president of Partnership for New York City; and Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.

The coalition does not claim affiliation with Cuomo's political team.