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NYC's top economic agency still leaderless under Mamdani. Business leaders are worried.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Apr 6, 2026
Modified Apr 6, 2026
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Apr 6, 2026
Modified Apr 6, 2026
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani still hasn’t found someone to lead New York City’s Economic Development Corporation after three months in office.
The agency’s former CEO, Andrew Kimball, who had been appointed to the job by previous Mayor Eric Adams, resigned from the role in January. Now, the lag in selecting a replacement is prompting concerns among business leaders about the socialist mayor’s commitment to expanding the city’s economy and promoting job growth.
“The business community wants to see that the mayor and this administration is serious about economic growth,” said Jessica Walker, the CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. "And the quickest way to show that is to fill this role."
The Economic Development Corporation, or EDC, is one of the city’s most powerful pro-business entities, with relatively unchecked power to manage city-owned land and distribute corporate tax breaks. Over its 35-year-history, the EDC has developed a litany of projects, including the High Line, the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island and the city’s ferry system.
The EDC’s nonprofit status allows it to issue lucrative contracts and tax breaks without the oversight or approval required by the rest of city government. That makes it a source of controversy. In 2018, the EDC was central in the city and state's push to carve out tax breaks as part of a proposal for Amazon to set up a new headquarters in Long Island City, which was ultimately scuttled amid pushback from progressive lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The EDC does have to undergo the city's approval process like any other agency when it wants to redevelop city-owned land.
Business leaders and Mamdani have differing visions for the agency. Walker described the EDC head as “the person who is supposed to be getting up every day and thinking about how New York City is going to create more jobs.”
Mamdani has said he wants to remake the agency in his own image. Asked last week what kind of EDC leader he’s looking for, Mamdani said he wanted someone who “understands the scale of imagination, ambition and fluency required to deliver economic justice and economic growth hand-in-hand.”
The agency could also be a tool to make good on Mamdani’s campaign promise to establish new city-owned grocery stores. The EDC already oversees and subsidizes several food markets, like Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side.
Mamdani may face more pressure from the business sector the longer the top role at the EDC stays vacant. Job growth in the city, as in the rest of the country, has slowed, fanning concerns about the state of the economy and whether City Hall can help attract new businesses.
“We know what we're looking for,” said Julie Su, the deputy mayor for economic justice who is leading the search. “There's lots of people who want to serve in this administration. We've been grateful for that interest, but as with all of our appointments, we are looking for the right person for the job.”
Previous EDC leaders have had a mix of government, nonprofit and private experience. But Su declined to discuss the candidates or the interviewing process. The New York Times previously reported that Lina Khan, the former Federal Trade Commission chair who served on Mamdani’s transition team, was interviewing EDC candidates. Cassio Mendoza, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, said Khan had only been interviewing candidates prior to Mamdani taking office on New Year’s Day.
But Su’s remarks suggest that the administration isn’t looking for a traditional pro-business leader. She criticized the EDC for historically focusing on real estate deals. The city’s reliance on the real estate and finance sector, she added, was “a weakness in the New York City economy” that drives inequality.
It’s unclear what industries the administration wants to lean into. But the deputy mayor singled out the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard as an example of one of the city’s successful economic development projects. Under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, city officials turned the 300-acre former naval shipbuilding site into a manufacturing hub that provides union jobs.
De Blasio also used the EDC to try to execute parts of his transportation agenda. The EDC in 2017 oversaw the creation of the NYC Ferry system, but faced controversy because the service required high subsidies that were shielded from public review.
De Blasio also tried to use the EDC to build a new streetcar line dubbed the “Brooklyn-Queens Connector” from Astoria to Sunset Park. The project had an estimated $1.7 billion price tag, and it was eventually abandoned after the EDC and de Blasio failed to find a way to fund the new line.
Under Adams, the EDC worked to turn waterfront areas into delivery hubs for freight barges and cargo bikes as a way to get delivery trucks off the city’s streets, and helped fund redevelopment to the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx. Adams also pushed the EDC to overhaul the Downtown Manhattan Heliport so it could become a hub for electric helicopters.
Government watchdogs have long argued for greater oversight of the EDC, which has more than 500 employees. Although viewed as an integral city partner for the business community, the entity has been criticized for decades over a lack of accountability and transparency.
James Parrott, a progressive economist, accused the EDC of fostering a “chumminess with big developers” over the years.
He and other critics have pointed to Hudson Yards as an example of the city providing irresponsibly large subsidies for a project mostly enjoyed by the wealthy. The office and luxury housing redevelopment on the West Side has received billions in government aid over the years.
Supporters say the project, which is controlled by the Related Companies, has transformed the skyline and created a new neighborhood out of empty rail yards and parking lots.
Hudson Yards could stand to gain another $2 billion for the project’s next phase, which is supposed to add thousands more units of housing.
The decision about the tax break will ultimately rest with Mamdani and the Industrial Development Agency — an arm of the EDC.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the city’s role in redeveloping the Brooklyn Navy Yard and to correct the spelling of spokesperson Cassio Mendoza's name.
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new york city
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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