Overview
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointments Wednesday, installing Lina Khan as chair of the EDC’s 27-member board and Anthony Shorris as the corporation’s president and CEO.
- Khan will set board priorities and help approve major projects on city-owned land while Shorris will run day-to-day operations and oversee financing and development decisions.
- Khan is the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission known for aggressive antitrust actions against Big Tech and she co-chaired Mamdani’s transition team.
- Shorris is a longtime city official who most recently served as a partner at McKinsey, and the choice has reignited questions after Mamdani canceled a $9.9 million McKinsey contract earlier this year.
- Business groups offered mixed reactions and city watchers say the key tests ahead will be whether the EDC changes who it funds, how it prizes affordable housing and city-run services, and how quickly it approves or finances major projects.