Mayor Mamdani Appoints Veteran City Leader Anthony Shorris as President and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation

 

As First Deputy Mayor, Shorris served as chief operating officer with a $100 billion budget and delivered paid parental and sick leave to millions of workers

 

Shorris spent more than 40 years leading nation's largest public and non-profit organizations

 

Shorris helped architect Mayor Koch's historic housing plan, dedicating more than $4 billion to build and rehabilitate nearly 200,000 affordable homes

 

Administration names former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan as Chair of the EDC Board of Directors

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani appointed Anthony Shorris as President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Shorris brings more than 40 years of experience leading many of the largest public sector and non-profit organizations in the country, having managed multibillion-dollar budgets, tens of thousands of employees and the strategic direction of city and state agencies across government, transportation, housing, healthcare and education.

Shorris takes the helm of EDC as the Mamdani administration works to make New York more affordable and to ensure that economic development reaches the working people who keep the city running. Under Shorris’ leadership, EDC will use city-owned land, financing and investment to build affordable housing, create good jobs, support small businesses and deliver public goods in every borough.

As First Deputy Mayor under Mayor Bill de Blasio, Shorris served as chief operating officer of a city government of roughly 350,000 employees, a $100 billion annual budget and more than three dozen agencies. Earlier, as a senior budget official under Mayor Edward I. Koch, Shorris helped architect the Ten-Year Housing Plan, the largest municipal housing initiative in the country at the time, dedicating more than $4 billion in city capital to the construction and rehabilitation of nearly 200,000 units of affordable housing in neighborhoods that had been devastated by disinvestment and arson. As Finance Commissioner, he led the fourth-largest tax agency in the nation, cracked down on tax fraud in some of the largest investigations in city history and created the city's first Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Over his career, Shorris also served as Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Deputy Chancellor for Operations at the Department of Education and in senior healthcare leadership at NYU Langone Health and Healthfirst, the nonprofit insurer he helped launch to serve low-income New Yorkers. He teaches at Princeton University and serves as Vice Chair of the Regional Plan Association.

The administration also announced that former Chair of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan will serve as Chair of the EDC Board of Directors. She will bring that experience to her new role, partnering with Shorris to help EDC deliver reliably for working New Yorkers in every borough.

“To achieve real economic justice in our city, we need to continue to grow our economy, attract new businesses to the five boroughs and create more job opportunities so New Yorkers can stay New Yorkers. Tony is a proven leader with decades of experience proving that economic development can and must include the working class. Building a fairer, more resilient economy has always been at the heart of his work and I look forward to working closely with him to advance that mission at EDC,” said Mayor Mamdani. “Lina Khan has 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’s economic development efforts toward a new era of opportunity, but ensure justice is the driving principle behind all of our work.”

“Tony Shorris brings a rare depth of experience to this work — decades spent showing how thoughtful public leadership can deliver results for New Yorkers. And in Lina Khan, we have a chair who has spent her career ensuring our economy works fairly for consumers and small businesses alike,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. “Together, they’ll help EDC use every tool at its disposal to build a city that’s more affordable and more just for the people who call it home.”

“I’m honored to take on this role at a moment when New York is asking bigger questions about who its economy is for,” said Anthony Shorris. “I look forward to working with businesses, labor and communities to grow an economy that all New Yorkers can share in.”

“EDC has a vital role to play in ensuring that New York’s economy is growing in ways that make our city more affordable, efficient and resilient,” said EDC Board Chair Lina Khan. “I look forward to working with the administration to advance this vision and make life materially better for New Yorkers.”

About Anthony Shorris

Anthony Shorris was born in New York City. He has spent 25 years in public service, including serving as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Commissioner of Finance, Deputy Chancellor of the Department of Education, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and, most recently, as the City’s First Deputy Mayor for the first term of Mayor Bill de Blasio. During his 15 years in non-profit and academic work, he has served as Executive Vice President of Healthfirst, Vice Dean and Chief of Staff of NYU Langone Health, Director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy at NYU, and Director of the Policy Research Institute for the Region at Princeton University. Today, he is a Partner at McKinsey & Company and teaches in the graduate program at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is Vice Chair of the Regional Plan Association and a member of the Board of the United Hospital Fund. Shorris is a graduate of Harvard College and Princeton University. He lives in New York City with his wife.

About Lina Khan

Lina Khan is an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School, where she directs the Center for Law and the Economy. From June 2021 through January 2025 Khan served as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, where she managed a $425 million budget and enforced the nation’s antitrust and consumer protection laws. Her major initiatives included tackling noncompete clauses that harm workers and entrepreneurs, challenging monopolistic practices that squeeze start-ups and small businesses, and ensuring that honest businesses can compete on a level playing field. Previously Khan served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. She is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School.