Governor Paterson voiced his support for Wall Street bonuses, calling pay in the banking industry “rather low” during an address to over 100 executives from the banking industry on Wednesday at the Museum of American Finance, one block east of the New York Stock Exchange. If the banks kept bonus money to themselves, Paterson said, other New Yorkers would never see the tax windfall. Paterson, who has a rock-bottom approval rating and is leagues behind the fundraising of Democratic primary challenger Andrew Cuomo, kept his remarks away from the mortgage meltdown and Bernie Madoff. Richard Parsons, the chairman of Citigroup, called the speech “terrific.”
