Mayor Zohran Mamdani has handed the keys to the city’s powerful development arm to a new tag team, naming Anthony Shorris president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and tapping former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan as chair of the board.
Bronx leaders quickly cheered the move, arguing the combo could finally unstick some of the borough’s most stubborn projects. At the top of their wish list: the long-delayed Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, upgrades at the Hunts Point food distribution hub, and the city’s Blue Highways waterfront freight plan. The shakeup lands as City Hall pushes an affordability-first agenda that tries to tie housing, jobs, and cleaner freight into one development playbook.
I would like to extend my welcome and congratulations to Anthony Shorris, the newly appointed President, and to Lina Khan, the newly appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of our New York City Economic Development Corporation. The New York City Economic Development https://t.co/qeaSkJjLuJ
— Vanessa L. Gibson (@BronxBP) Jul 24, 2026
Mayor's Picks And The EDC Agenda
According to the Mayor's Office, Shorris will steer NYCEDC as the administration aims to focus the agency’s land holdings, financing tools, and investment muscle on affordable housing, job creation, and neighborhood infrastructure.
The press release quotes Shorris saying he looks forward to working with “businesses, labor and communities to grow an economy that all New Yorkers can share in.” Mamdani framed the appointments as part of a broader push to make development work for everyday New Yorkers while taking a direct swing at the city’s affordability crisis.
Experience And Expectations
NY1 reports that Shorris previously served as first deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio and has held senior roles at the Port Authority, the Department of Education, and major nonprofits. Khan is best known for leading the Federal Trade Commission and for co-chairing Mamdani’s transition team, a pairing that puts an antitrust-minded thinker atop an agency long associated with real estate deals and public-private partnerships, per NY1.
Together, the two arrive with reputations for knowing how city government works and for asking tougher questions about corporate power. How that blend plays out at NYCEDC is what many inside and outside government will be watching.
Bronx Priorities
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson welcomed the appointments and pointed to a roster of Bronx projects she believes the new EDC leadership can help move forward. In particular, she named the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, the Hunts Point food distribution center, the Blue Highways initiative, and the Hunts Point Marine Terminal in a post on X.
Gibson said she looks forward to partnering with Shorris, Khan, Mayor Mamdani, and the EDC team to “deliver projects that create lasting economic opportunity and improve the lives of Bronx residents.” For Bronx watchers, that is both a hope and a not-so-subtle challenge.
Labor And Planners React
Regional and planning groups lined up behind the choice of a seasoned city manager to lead EDC. The Regional Plan Association called the move a welcome decision and highlighted Shorris’s decades of municipal experience and policy know-how.
Business outlets, including the New York Business Journal, noted that the picks arrive after months of concern about leadership vacancies at the agency and that the administration is trying to keep lines open to both labor and the private sector.
What To Watch
Recent EDC materials and press work flag a cluster of near-term projects that could quickly test the new leadership. On the list are the Blue Highways freight program, a proposed Hunts Point Marine Terminal, the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, and the city’s municipal grocery effort in the Bronx.
NYCEDC has described Blue Highways as a strategy to move goods by water, reduce truck congestion, and improve air quality in environmental justice neighborhoods. How fast those plans advance under Shorris and Khan, and where in the city they break ground first, will be an early indicator of their priorities.
Bottom Line
Mamdani’s decision to pair a veteran city manager with an antitrust-focused board chair signals an effort to mix government know-how with a tighter leash on corporate power. Political analysts and coverage that frame the hires as part of an “economic justice” push say the real test is still ahead.
The duo will be judged on how well they convert policy talk into concrete deals that deliver housing, jobs, and cleaner infrastructure across all five boroughs, according to PoliticsNY. For a city constantly under construction, the question now is whether this team can rebuild the rules of who benefits.
