{"id":109,"date":"2026-05-29T21:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109"},"modified":"2026-05-29T21:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:53:19","slug":"mamdanis-edc-still-leaderless-still-stressing-out-the-nyc-business-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Five months in, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration still hasn\u2019t appointed someone to lead the city\u2019s Economic Development Corporation, having passed over multiple candidates for the position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Will a remedy bill for sex-abuse cases stall in the Assembly again?<\/a><\/p>\n

A number of prominent city leaders have been interviewed for the position over the transition and in the early months of the Mamdani administration. According to four sources familiar, they include Lindsay Greene, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard; James Katz, Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s deputy secretary for economic development and workforce; and Julie Stein, executive director of the Union Square Partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the type of thing where the longer you don\u2019t hire for it, the narrative gets harder out in the world,\u201d said one person with knowledge of internal deliberations.Business leaders have also expressed concern about the fact that several senior leaders at EDC have departed the agency since Mamdani\u2019s term began \u2013 a shift that two sources familiar with the agency said goes well beyond typical turnover between administrations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>It\u2019s just a shame because there\u2019s some great people there doing great work, but there\u2019s a lot to do to craft an agenda, have a plan, execute on the plan, have the right leadership, do the budget work, make sure projects don\u2019t stall \u2013 all of it,\u201d the person with knowledge of internal deliberations said.<\/p>\n

The search is ongoing but members of the city\u2019s business community and others eager to see a more defined economic development vision from Mamdani are concerned it\u2019s not happening with enough urgency.Two people with knowledge of the deliberations said the search appeared to be starting at square one earlier this month. Steve Fulop, president and CEO of the business advocacy group Partnership for New York City, said he got the sense from the person spearheading the search this week that new leadership isn\u2019t imminent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fulop and members of the Partnership had a general meeting on Wednesday with Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, who oversees EDC and is leading the hiring process. \u201cOf course, the question came up about EDC leadership. She expressed that there\u2019s been interim leadership there for four months and she\u2019s very closely involved with what’s happening there,\u201d Fulop said. \u201cAs it stands right now, it didn\u2019t seem yesterday like a sense of urgency or any great deal of insight that some sort of announcement is imminent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanny Pak, the agency\u2019s chief financial officer, has been serving as interim president and CEO since Andrew Kimball departed from the position in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we are back here again \u2013 and I am still here,\u201d Pak said with a laugh at a City Council executive budget hearing for the agency on Friday, confirming she is also still serving as CFO. When asked at the hearing about the lack of a permanent president, Pak said that she didn\u2019t know the reason for the delay or if there was a timeline for appointing someone permanent. \u201cThe president is the mayor’s decision, and so we look forward to his decision,\u201d she said. In the meantime, she said the agency has been able to move forward at its normal pace with its existing work as well as with work on new priorities from Mamdani. \u201cWe really have not stopped,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked about the hiring process timeline, City Hall did not provide any specifics. \u201cEconomic justice demands that we focus on economic growth and on who benefits from that growth. EDC is critical to that focus and has been since day one of this administration,\u201d Su said in a statement provided by City Hall. \u201cI have worked closely with EDC and Interim President Pak over the last 5 months on a daily basis to move forward critical economic development, infrastructure and affordable housing projects across all five boroughs, while launching bold new projects \u2013 from modular public restrooms to city-run grocery stores.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: Kingston rent stabilization lawsuit shows why we need the REST Act<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMany folks in the business community, and who are concerned about economic development, would love to see a long-term president in that position. EDC is an incredibly important agency for managing the city\u2019s assets and in developing a long-term economic strategy, particularly given economic uncertainty in our future,\u201d Council Member Virginia Maloney, who chairs the Committee on Economic Development, told City & State in advance of Friday\u2019s hearing. \u201cIn the interim, I\u2019ve been working really closely with Jeanny Pak who \u2026 has been doing a great job with the leadership at EDC to push forward initiatives.\u201d Maloney said that work includes housing at Willets Point moving forward, and preparations for the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s economic development arm, EDC is a powerful city agency and nonprofit that since 1991 has had a guiding hand in projects like the High Line, Yankee Stadium, the city\u2019s ferry system and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. As a partner with the private sector, the agency has been criticized as being too friendly with powerful business interests.<\/p>\n

Observers have attributed the delay in finding new leadership in part to the fact that Su only officially started as deputy mayor on March 1 after she moved from California to the city.\u00a0 Prior to that point, she\u2019d been working as an unpaid volunteer and senior adviser to the fledgling Mamdani administration. But the bigger, underlying reason, they say, has to do with conflicting visions for the agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they need to decide what message they\u2019re trying to send, because they\u2019ve interviewed a lot of people who would be good for the conventional version of EDC and they haven\u2019t picked any of them,\u201d another source with knowledge of the deliberations said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Members of the city\u2019s business community, and others who want to see Mamdani focus more on job creation, have raised concerns for months that the mayor either isn\u2019t prioritizing the agency or doesn\u2019t have a concrete vision for economic development.The New York Times reported on a memo circulated by Su in February that outlined a vision for the agency focused more on economic justice. Interviewees were reportedly asked about how they would hold companies that receive public benefits accountable and measure economic equality, according to the Times. At the time, former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan was conducting interviews with some candidates. These sorts of questions have continued under Su.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some are eager to see the Mamdani administration give EDC direction and new leadership, and argue that the mayor shouldn\u2019t view it as the shady corporate-handout agency it\u2019s sometimes cast as. (Among other things, EDC garnered hostility from New York\u2019s political left when it worked in the de Blasio administration to bring an Amazon headquarters to Queens \u2013\u00a0a city-state deal replete with hefty tax incentives that ultimately failed.)<\/p>\n

They also argue that it could be helpful in advancing some of the policies Mamdani has identified as priorities. The agency is already working on rolling out Mamdani\u2019s plan for city-owned grocery stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Randy Peers, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, noted that it’s not all doom and gloom for the business community. \u201cThe team in place, meaning the professional staff, are really, really good at what they do,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want that to be lost in this sort of higher level discussion about who leads EDC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Mamdani has placed DCWP front and center. Menin wants him to give it $32M more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s the type of thing where the longer you don\u2019t hire for it, the narrative gets harder out in the world,\u201d one person said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,20,45],"tags":[75,21,46],"class_list":["post-109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-development","category-new-york-city","category-zohran-mamdani","tag-economic-development","tag-new-york-city","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"yoast_head":"\nMamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community - Business Relocation Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s the type of thing where the longer you don\u2019t hire for it, the narrative gets harder out in the world,\u201d one person said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Business Relocation Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T21:53:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0\"},\"headline\":\"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T21:53:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109\"},\"wordCount\":1282,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Economic Development\",\"New York City\",\"Zohran Mamdani\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economic Development\",\"New York City\",\"Zohran Mamdani\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109\",\"name\":\"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community - Business Relocation Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T21:53:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=109#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Business Relocation Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community - Business Relocation Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community - Business Relocation Digest","og_description":"\u201cIt\u2019s the type of thing where the longer you don\u2019t hire for it, the narrative gets harder out in the world,\u201d one person said.","og_url":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109","og_site_name":"Business Relocation Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-29T21:53:19+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0"},"headline":"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community","datePublished":"2026-05-29T21:53:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109"},"wordCount":1282,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg","keywords":["Economic Development","New York City","Zohran Mamdani"],"articleSection":["Economic Development","New York City","Zohran Mamdani"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109","url":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109","name":"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community - Business Relocation Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-29T21:53:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9d5aa73bd169339827af11f52ee31514.jpg","width":400,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=109#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mamdani\u2019s EDC, still leaderless, still stressing out the NYC business community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/","name":"Business Relocation Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}