After returning from four years in Paris at the end of 2000, Mr. Rohatyn, a compact man of sober, occasionally stern rectitude, settled into the role of wise eminence. To cover mounting deficits, the city had relied on short-term financing — a practice originally intended to make up for normal, seasonal cash shortfalls. Just before Memorial Day, at the suggestion of the longtime Democratic kingmaker Robert S. Strauss, Mr. Rohatyn was summoned from Lazard to the Midtown Manhattan offices of Gov. Mr. Carey named Mr. Rohatyn and three others to an advisory panel, which quickly determined that the city needed a financing vehicle that would be a creature of the state, not the city. It would be assured of revenues and have the political credibility to turn to Wall Street for cash.

Source: International New York Times December 14, 2019 20:26 UTC