It was possibly the first public-private partnership in the United States and hosts notable "power breakfasts" where ABNY members get to speak to prominent figures in business and politics who are paid to give speeches.

[2] In the late 1960s, the value of NYC's bonds, credit rating, and real estate was decreasing - a trend that was worsened by increasingly negative representations of the city in mainstream media.

[2] Economist Wolfgang Quante wrote about the "bad publicity" NYC was receiving and the negative effects it was having on the city's finances.

[2] Its two goals were to promote the city as business-friendly in the media and gain a greater influence for business interests in government decision making.

[3] In 1972, shortly after the founding of the association, a New York Magazine piece described it as "basically a grouping of Manhattan's biggest landlords", identifying Marshall as its "dominant influence".

[5] A report by members of the Social Services Employees Union found that the Rudin Management Corporation received the most real estate tax reductions between 1970 and 1975 and concluded there was "a connection between the Rudins' political contributions, connections, and influence and the many reductions in assessments which the politically appointed tax commissioners have granted them".

[3][6] ABNY members held frequent Big Apple Media PR events covered by local and national news to address "grime and crime".

[3] ABNY officials helped form the Business/Labor Working Group in 1979, later renamed to the New York City Partnership (NYCP), an organization chaired by David Rockefeller and made up of major financial executives who would advocate for the business and real estate sectors.