{"id":952492,"date":"2026-07-22T19:52:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/952492\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:52:34","slug":"mamdani-assembles-an-economic-dream-team-to-redirect-nycs-powerful-development-arm-toward-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/952492\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani assembles an economic \u2018dream team\u2019 to redirect NYC\u2019s powerful development arm toward affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mamdani appointed Shorris as president and CEO of the powerful development corporation and Khan, the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, as chair of its board of directors, bringing a months-long search for EDC\u2019s next leader to a close.<\/p>\n

The combination places a longtime government operator who is currently a partner at McKinsey & Co. alongside one of the country\u2019s most prominent critics of corporate consolidation as Mamdani seeks to use EDC\u2019s control of public land, financing and investment to advance his economic agenda.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the announcement Wednesday morning<\/a> in the City Hall rotunda, Shorris immediately signaled that the administration\u2019s approach could mark a break from some of the corporation\u2019s past work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are projects in that history that I think today we wouldn\u2019t do,\u201d Shorris said, adding that others would be handled differently.\n<\/p>\n

Shorris did not identify which past projects he had in mind or name any current projects that could be changed. He also defended EDC\u2019s broader record, describing it as a \u201cmixed portfolio\u201d that has helped create jobs across the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe direction, the vision is going to be the mayor\u2019s vision, and my guess is that may change some of the direction of EDC,\u201d Shorris said.
\n\"\"Anthony Shorris, a McKinsey & Co. partner and former first deputy mayor, speaks after being named president and CEO of NYCEDCPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani described the EDC as the \u201cSwiss Army knife of city government,\u201d calling it one of the city\u2019s most nimble entities and noting that it also operates the NYC Ferry system. The corporation also uses city-owned land, financing and investment to carry out development projects.<\/p>\n

The clearest early example of that shift is Mamdani\u2019s plan to establish five city-run grocery stores, one in each borough. Shorris called implementing the proposal \u201ca top priority\u201d and said work was underway on the remaining three stores after the administration selected its first two sites.<\/p>\n

The Mamdani administration has selected two sites, in East Harlem<\/a> and the South Bronx<\/a>, and opened a portal<\/a> for property owners to propose locations in the other three boroughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommitments that mayors make to the people are some of the highest priorities of anything the government does,\u201d Shorris said. \u201cGiven that that was front and center in the minds of a million people, I take that pretty seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

The administration announced no new locations, costs, or timelines for the stores on Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani said EDC staff had already completed an \u201cintensive amount of preparation\u201d for the grocery initiative before Shorris\u2019 arrival, describing the plan as an example of what the corporation could accomplish when its capacity is directed toward the problems facing working New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

The appointments also represent an effort to balance Mamdani\u2019s progressive economic agenda with the need to maintain relationships with businesses, developers, and employers that regularly work with EDC.<\/p>\n

Shorris said he does not view business leaders as permanent allies or adversaries and would seek areas where the administration\u2019s priorities overlap with companies\u2019 goals of growing and employing people.<\/p>\n

Those objectives are not inherently in conflict, he said, but bringing them together will require \u201cwork,\u201d \u201cunderstanding on both sides,\u201d and \u201cmutual respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Lina Khan, the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, after being named chair of the NYCEDC boardPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Khan similarly stressed that New York\u2019s business community extends well beyond the city\u2019s largest corporations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe business community in New York City is vast,\u201d Khan said. \u201cIt spans the independent pharmacists to the Fortune 500 company to the scrappy startup seeking investment to the bodega.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khan said EDC could use its assets to grow the economy, create jobs, promote entrepreneurship and lower costs. She highlighted the corporation\u2019s management of Hunts Point, which she described as the country\u2019s largest food distribution center, as well as its control of some of the city\u2019s most valuable land.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has enormous capacity to make life materially better for New Yorkers and to ensure that public resources are being used to build state capacity,\u201d Khan said.<\/p>\n

Mamdani called the pairing the economic policy equivalent of the 1992 Olympic basketball \u201cDream Team,\u201d arguing that Shorris\u2019 experience operating large public institutions and Khan\u2019s record challenging monopolies would complement one another.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Asked later about the apparent contrast between the two appointees, Mamdani said they share a commitment to measuring the city\u2019s economic strength by whether growth benefits New Yorkers who are being priced out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019ll actually find is that both Lina and Tony, their worldviews are aligned in looking to uplift working New Yorkers across the city,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n

The pairing nevertheless underscores the political balance the administration is attempting to strike.\n<\/p>\n

Shorris has spent more than 40 years working across government, nonprofit institutions and the private sector. He served as first deputy mayor under Mayor Bill de Blasio, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, city finance commissioner and a deputy chancellor at the Department of Education.<\/p>\n

He is currently a partner at McKinsey<\/a>, the consulting firm whose work for the city has drawn scrutiny from the Mamdani administration.<\/p>\n

Asked about Mamdani\u2019s decision to hire a McKinsey partner after touting the cancellation of a Department of Social Services contract with the firm as an example of rooting out government waste during budget season<\/a>, Shorris acknowledged that he had spent some time working on that contract.<\/p>\n

Mamdani initially joked that \u201cit does save money when you take the top talent from McKinsey instead of having to employ them for a contract.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani said Shorris\u2019 experience included recognizing the benefits of bringing work in-house and building public capacity, arguing that his years in government had not diminished his ambitions for what it could accomplish. Mamdani is also attempting to bring more technology work in-house through the Public Interest Technology Crews, which he launched earlier this month. Some 2,800 people have applied<\/a> for 30 permanent positions so far.<\/p>\n

Shorris said most of his work at McKinsey involved governments, nonprofit organizations, and pro bono projects.\n<\/p>\n

Khan chaired the FTC from June 2021 until January 2025, overseeing federal antitrust and consumer protection enforcement. Her initiatives included challenging noncompete agreements and corporate practices the agency said harmed workers, consumers and smaller businesses. She is now an associate professor at Columbia Law School.<\/a><\/p>\n

Khan also co-chaired Mamdani\u2019s transition<\/a> after his 2025 election, helping advise the incoming mayor as he assembled his administration. At the time, she pointed to what she described as the \u201cdiscipline, rigor\u201d and talent of his campaign as evidence that he could effectively govern.<\/p>\n

\"\"Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su at City Hall on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su offered the administration\u2019s most pointed description of how it intends to change EDC\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n

Su described the corporation as the city\u2019s \u201ctoolbox,\u201d noting that it holds deeds to public property and influences what is built and financed in neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cA toolbox like that can build a city that works for the people who live in it, or it can build monuments to whoever\u2019s holding the best-connected business card,\u201d Su said. \u201cThe tools don\u2019t decide that; the person holding the tools does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Su said the administration wants EDC to use those powers to build affordable housing, create jobs that support families, strengthen industries, expand ownership and deliver grocery stores and other public goods.<\/p>\n

Shorris also said he personally supports raising New York\u2019s minimum wage, which he described as too low, but stressed that EDC would not lead the administration\u2019s lobbying over wage or tax policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow, when, under what circumstances, at what pace \u2014 all TBD,\u201d Shorris said, noting that the minimum wage is ultimately set by the state. He said he would be available if City Hall called on him to advocate on the issue.<\/p>\n

The administration did not present a comprehensive new EDC agenda Wednesday or identify projects that will be canceled or reconsidered. Shorris said he still had significant planning to do with Su and Khan.<\/p>\n

But he said the corporation\u2019s work would be anchored in making New York more affordable, reducing living costs and increasing residents\u2019 ability to pay for the lives they deserve while continuing to attract top talent and innovation.<\/p>\n

The administration also reappointed Clare Newman as president and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island and Lindsay Greene as president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.<\/p>\n

Mixed message?\u00a0<\/p>\n

State Attorney General Letitia James praised both appointments, saying Shorris and Khan brought years of experience and that she trusted the city would continue to thrive under their leadership.<\/p>\n

City Council Speaker Julie Menin highlighted her previous work with Shorris during Lower Manhattan\u2019s recovery after the Sept. 11 attacks, when he served at the Port Authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019ll bring tremendous experience to EDC at a time when strong economic development has never been more important to creating jobs and growing our economy,\u201d Menin said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jessica Walker, president and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Shorris\u2019 experience but said the new leadership would be judged on whether EDC produces a credible plan for economic growth and diversification.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment asks for more than steady management,\u201d Walker said. \u201cIt asks for vision: a real plan to diversify our economy, to defend New York as the place where companies choose to grow and hire, and to make job creation the everyday measure of whether EDC is succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker pointed to persistent storefront vacancies, an uneven recovery in Lower Manhattan and what she described as an economy overly dependent on a small number of sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question business owners are asking is a fair one \u2014 does the city have a plan to grow?\u201d she said. \u201cEDC is where that answer gets written.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The Partnership for New York City, one of the city\u2019s most influential business groups, praised Shorris\u2019 experience but said Khan\u2019s appointment sent a \u201cmixed message\u201d to employers and investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cLina Khan\u2019s reputation has been built on an adversarial approach to large enterprises at the federal level, whereas NYCEDC\u2019s mission has always been to support the growth and investment in NYC,\u201d Partnership President and CEO Steven Fulop said. \u201cIt\u2019s unclear to us the ultimate direction EDC will be taking and how this will play out over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fulop said the city needs a clear economic agenda as it confronts affordability pressures, outmigration and increasing competition from other cities and states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mamdani appointed Shorris as president and CEO of the powerful development corporation and Khan, the former chair of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":952493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,383381,57585,89360,71984,221265,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,40669,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-952492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-anthony-shorris","tag-appointments","tag-edc","tag-lina-khan","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-edc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116965379356194196","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}