{"id":303128,"date":"2026-07-22T19:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/303128\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:12:11","slug":"antitrust-crusader-lina-khan-named-chair-of-new-yorks-economic-development-corporation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/303128\/","title":{"rendered":"Antitrust Crusader Lina Khan Named Chair Of New York’s Economic Development Corporation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLina Khan<\/a>, an antitrust<\/a> crusader who targeted Big Tech companies during her run as head of the Federal Trade Commission, has been named chair of the New York City<\/a> Economic Development Corporation.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe appointment by Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> was a surprise, and the latest indication of the leftward shift of the government of the largest U.S. city.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement, Mamdani said Khan \u201chas fought exploitation and dishonesty in courtrooms and classrooms across the country, and given us the blueprint for a government that delivers for working people. As chair of the EDC board of directors, I know that Lina will not only steer our administration\u2019s economic development efforts toward a new era of opportunity, but ensure justice is the driving principle behind all of our work.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAlong with Khan\u2019s new role, Mamdani said former deputy mayor and city official Anthony Shorris would lead the EDC as CEO. Along with his 25 years of public service, he has spent 15 years in the academic and non-profit realms, also recently becoming a partner at McKinsey & Co.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe EDC \u201chas a vital role to play in ensuring that New York\u2019s economy is growing in ways that make our city more affordable, efficient and resilient,\u201d Khan said.\u00a0\u201cI look forward to working with the administration to advance this vision and make life materially better for New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKhan first hit the national radar in 2017 with a Yale Law Journal article that argued Amazon was a monopoly. Appointed by President Biden to head the FTC at the age of 34, she brought antitrust actions against Amazon and other Big Tech firms, arguing they had been allowed to amass undue power. In 2024, just prior to that year\u2019s presidential election, she acknowledged that the Biden-era crackdown on antitrust violations had made life \u201cuncomfortable for some people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe EDC moves come more than six months into Mamdani\u2019s tenure. Elected last fall on a Democratic Socialist platform, the mayor has promised to deliver a range of ambitious offerings for residents, including free buses, city-subsidized grocery stores and rent freezes. Many prominent business leaders have been publicly critical of him, voicing concerns that his agenda would force large corporations to leave the city, though no wide-scale flight has taken place as of yet.<\/p>\n

\n\tCommercial occupancy levels in the city, along with retail spending and public transit usage, have gradually been returning to near pre-Covid levels after several difficult years due to the pandemic and other factors. Given that struggle as well as ongoing wariness of Mamdani\u2019s plans, Khan\u2019s appointment drew predictable backlash online, with critics citing her lack of business or corporate experience.<\/p>\n

\n\tAppearing at a press briefing alongside Mamdani, Khan cited the multi-faceted mission of the EDC, whose mission is to promote the city as a business hub but also support neighborhoods and create sustainable infrastructure. \u201cEDC has enormous capacity to make life materially better for New Yorkers,\u201d Khan said. \u201cI know from my own time in government that you need the right people in key roles if you want to get anything done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lina Khan, an antitrust crusader who targeted Big Tech companies during her run as head of the Federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[26711,23105,9,24,33880,55,54,56,82],"class_list":["post-303128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-antitrust","tag-lina-khan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-economic-development-corporation","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}