Mayor Zohran Mamdani still hasn\u2019t found someone to lead New York City\u2019s Economic Development Corporation after three months in office.<\/p>\n
The agency\u2019s 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\u2019s commitment to expanding the city\u2019s economy and promoting job growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business community wants to see that the mayor and this administration is serious about economic growth,\u201d said Jessica Walker, the CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. “And the quickest way to show that is to fill this role.”<\/p>\n
The Economic Development Corporation, or EDC, is one of the city\u2019s 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\u2019s ferry system. The agency also runs the Brooklyn Navy Yard.<\/p>\n
The EDC\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Business leaders and Mamdani have differing visions for the agency. Walker described the EDC head as \u201cthe person who is supposed to be getting up every day and thinking about how New York City is going to create more jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani has said he wants to remake the agency in his own image. Asked last week what kind of EDC leader he\u2019s looking for, Mamdani said he wanted someone who \u201cunderstands the scale of imagination, ambition and fluency required to deliver economic justice and economic growth hand-in-hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agency could also be a tool to make good on Mamdani\u2019s campaign promise to establish new city-owned grocery stores. The EDC already oversees and subsidizes several food markets,<\/a> like Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know what we’re looking for,\u201d said Julie Su, the deputy mayor for economic justice who is leading the search. \u201cThere’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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a> that Lina Khan, the former Federal Trade Commission chair who served on Mamdani\u2019s transition team, was interviewing EDC candidates. Cassio Mendez, a spokesperson for the mayor\u2019s office, said Khan had only been interviewing candidates prior to Mamdani taking office on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n But Su\u2019s remarks suggest that the administration isn\u2019t looking for a traditional pro-business leader. She criticized the EDC for historically focusing on real estate deals. The city\u2019s reliance on the real estate and finance sector, she added, was \u201ca weakness in the New York City economy\u201d that drives inequality.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear what industries the administration wants to lean into. But the deputy mayor singled out the EDC\u2019s redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard as an example of one of the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n De Blasio also tried to use the EDC to build a new streetcar line dubbed the \u201cBrooklyn-Queens Connector\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> for decades over a lack of accountability and transparency.<\/p>\n James Parrott, a progressive economist, accused the EDC of fostering a \u201cchumminess with big developers\u201d over the years.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n