Mayor Zohran Mamdani on July 22 named veteran city administrator Anthony Shorris as president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan as chair of the NYCEDC board of directors. The dual appointment ends a seven month search for leadership at the city’s most influential economic development agency and signals a deliberate pivot toward affordability, public goods and antitrust informed oversight of how New York City deploys its land and investment capital.
Key Takeaways
- Anthony Shorris brings more than 40 years of public, nonprofit and private sector leadership to NYCEDC, including experience managing a $100 billion city budget and helping architect one of the largest municipal housing programs in American history.
- Lina Khan’s appointment as board chair introduces antitrust and consumer protection expertise to an agency that has historically prioritized public private development partnerships.
- The administration is positioning NYCEDC to focus on affordable housing, city run grocery stores and small business support rather than large scale corporate incentive deals.
- The city run grocery store initiative, with five planned locations across all boroughs, has been identified as a top priority under the new leadership.
- The business community has largely embraced Anthony Shorris while viewing Lina Khan’s role with cautious uncertainty about the agency’s future direction.
Who Is Anthony Shorris and What Does He Bring to NYCEDC?
Anthony Shorris carries more than four decades of leadership across the public, private and nonprofit sectors in New York. As first deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio from 2014 through 2017, Anthony Shorris served as chief operating officer of a city government of roughly 350,000 employees and a $100 billion annual budget spanning more than three dozen agencies. Before that tenure, Anthony Shorris helped design Mayor Edward I. Koch’s Ten Year Housing Plan during his time as a senior budget official, directing more than $4 billion in city capital toward the construction and rehabilitation of nearly 200,000 affordable housing units in neighborhoods ravaged by disinvestment and arson.
Anthony Shorris also held the role of executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and served as deputy chancellor for operations at the New York City Department of Education. In the healthcare sector, Anthony Shorris held senior leadership positions at NYU Langone Health and at Healthfirst, the nonprofit insurer he helped launch to serve low income New Yorkers. He currently teaches at Princeton University’s graduate program in public and international affairs and serves as vice chair of the Regional Plan Association. His private sector experience includes a partnership at McKinsey & Company, where Anthony Shorris focused largely on consulting for healthcare, public sector, social sector and real estate clients.
The combination of municipal budget expertise, infrastructure management and private sector consulting positions Anthony Shorris as an operator who has navigated both City Hall and corporate boardrooms. For Mamdani, that versatility is the point. The administration needs someone who can execute a progressive affordability agenda while maintaining working relationships with the developers, employers and investors who regularly engage with NYCEDC on public private partnerships.
Why Did Mayor Mamdani Choose Lina Khan to Chair the NYCEDC Board?
Lina Khan served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from June 2021 through January 2025, where she managed a $425 million budget and led a series of enforcement actions against monopolistic business practices. Her major federal initiatives targeted noncompete clauses that restricted worker mobility, challenged corporate consolidation that squeezed startups and small businesses, and pushed for consumer protection in digital markets. Lina Khan is now an associate professor at Columbia Law School, where she directs the Center for Law and the Economy.
Lina Khan also co chaired Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral transition team, a role that Mamdani credited with shaping the agenda that centered working New Yorkers during his first 100 days in office. The board chair position at NYCEDC is unpaid, but it carries significant influence over the strategic direction of an agency that manages city owned land, billions of dollars in development projects and oversight of the NYC Ferry system.
At the City Hall announcement, Lina Khan described New York’s business community as spanning far beyond the largest corporations, noting that it includes independent pharmacists, Fortune 500 companies, startups seeking investment and bodegas alike. Lina Khan said that NYCEDC could leverage its assets to grow the economy, promote entrepreneurship and lower costs for working families.
What Does This Mean for New York City’s Economic Development Strategy?
The administration framed the appointments as a departure from the traditional NYCEDC playbook. Mayor Mamdani described the moment as one where economic development and economic justice must go hand in hand, stating that the city is working to reimagine an economic model that currently concentrates benefits narrowly while denying many New Yorkers the basics of a dignified life.
One of the early, tangible policy outcomes tied to the new leadership is the administration’s plan to establish five city run grocery stores, one in each borough. Anthony Shorris called implementing the city run grocery store proposal a top priority and confirmed that work is underway on the remaining three locations after the administration selected its first two sites. That grocery initiative is central to Mamdani’s affordability platform and gives NYCEDC a direct consumer facing mission that previous iterations of the agency rarely pursued.
Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su reinforced the framing at the announcement, describing the pair as leaders who will help NYCEDC use every available tool to build a city that is more affordable and more just for its residents.
How Has the Business Community Responded?
The real estate and development sectors offered a split reaction. Real Estate Board of New York President James Whelan praised Anthony Shorris as a thoughtful and effective leader with a deep understanding of the city’s economy and the challenges facing businesses and communities across the five boroughs. The New York Building Congress similarly endorsed the pick, highlighting Anthony Shorris’s decades of infrastructure and government experience.
Lina Khan’s appointment drew a more cautious response from some business groups. Steven Fulop, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, congratulated Anthony Shorris but expressed concern that Lina Khan’s federal reputation was built on an adversarial approach to large enterprises, whereas NYCEDC’s mission has traditionally been to support growth and investment by engaging businesses of all sizes. That tension between Mamdani’s progressive economic vision and the expectations of the private investment community will likely define the early months of both appointments.
FAQs
What is the New York City Economic Development Corporation?
NYCEDC is a nonprofit organization that uses city owned land, financing and investment to carry out development projects, attract businesses and manage public assets including the NYC Ferry system and the Hunts Point food distribution center. Mayor Mamdani has described NYCEDC as the “Swiss Army knife of city government” due to its range of economic functions.
When does Anthony Shorris begin as NYCEDC president?
Mayor Mamdani announced the appointment on July 22, 2026. Anthony Shorris is expected to begin immediately as the agency has been without a permanent leader since Mamdani took office in January 2026.
Is the NYCEDC board chair position a paid role?
No. The board chair position at NYCEDC is unpaid. Lina Khan will serve in the role while continuing her academic position as associate professor at Columbia Law School, where she directs the Center for Law and the Economy.
What is the city run grocery store initiative?
The Mamdani administration plans to open five city operated grocery stores, one in each borough, as part of its affordability agenda. Anthony Shorris confirmed that two sites have already been selected and work is underway on the remaining three locations.
