5 things to know about Anthony Shorris

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he’s serious about economic development, and he finally has a leader to helm his efforts. After seven months, multiple candidates and countless concerns from business leaders, Mamdani appointed city government veteran Anthony Shorris as president and CEO of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

In a Wednesday announcement at City Hall, Mamdani described the EDC, which has a unique nonprofit status, as “the Swiss Army knife of city government.” It’s historically been a tool to champion the city’s economic growth – with past projects including the creation of Hudson Yards, expanding ferry routes and redeveloping Brooklyn Marine Terminal. As the city’s largest landlord, the agency controls over 60 square million feet of city property. Its new leader, is tasked with fitting the agency into Mamdani’s worker justice-focused vision for economic development. 

Here are five things to know about Anthony Shorris. (First up, he goes by Tony.)

Shorris is (another!) de Blasio alum

Mamdani’s administration has brought a significant number of de Blasio administration alumni back into city government, and Shorris is just the latest. Shorris served as Bill de Blasio’s first deputy mayor until 2017, overseeing policy wins like universal pre-k and pushing to raise the minimum wage to $15. 

But de Blasio isn’t the first mayor Shorris served under. His experience at City Hall began in 1978 during Mayor Ed Koch’s administration, where he served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and later as commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance. (Mamdani’s office commended his work on Koch’s 10-year housing plan during that time.) Shorris later served as deputy chancellor for operations at the Department of Education beginning in 2001, and as the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2007. 

He’s not new to this, he’s true to this 

The EDC’s typical focus on courting private business makes it an awkward fit for the democratic socialist mayor, which may be why it took him so long to appoint a leader for the agency. Tapping Shorris, who most recently worked at the management consulting firm McKinsey, could be seen as a nod to the business community and an assurance that the mayor actually does care about the city’s economy and promoting business and tech investments. 

But Shorris isn’t new to Mamdani’s world. They first met in April 2025, when Mamdani was running for mayor, and Shorris said Wednesday that he was “moved by his passion for this city and for the values which animated his campaign.” He doesn’t seem interested in undercutting the mayor’s agenda. When asked whether he would support Mamdani’s controversial city-run grocery store plan, Shorris said, “one thing I’m very true to … is commitments that mayors make to the people are some of the highest priorities of anything the government does.”

He’s got a boldface-named partner in the job

Former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan took on an early role in interviewing candidates for Shorris’ new job. Now, she’ll work alongside him as chair of the EDC board of directors. Khan, known for her progressive antitrust policies in the Biden administration, served as a co-chair of Mamdani’s mayoral transition team. Most notably, she’ll help the mayor execute his idea for the agency in which economic development and justice “go hand in hand,” according to Mamdani.

“EDC has enormous capacity to make life materially better for New Yorkers and to ensure that public resources are being used to build state capacity,” Khan said Wednesday. “I’m so excited to work alongside (Mamdani), alongside Deputy Mayor (Julie) Su and alongside Tony to make sure that the EDC can deliver an economy for our city that is affordable, efficient and resilient.”

Khan’s reputation, though, has proven polarizing to some business leaders. Steven Fulop, president and CEO of the pro-business Partnership for New York City, congratulated Shorris on his new role in a statement but expressed concern over Khan’s appointment. “NYCEDC's effectiveness depends on the confidence of employers and investors, and that confidence rests on a clear sense of the agency's direction,” he wrote. “Lina Khan's reputation was built on an adversarial approach to large enterprises at the federal level, whereas NYCEDC's mission has always been to support the growth and investment in NYC, engaging businesses of all sizes.”

He’s a McKinsey bro

After leaving city government, Shorris was a partner at the global consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. That hardly raises eyebrows among business leaders, but in government, consulting firms like McKinsey have developed a negative reputation for collecting large contract awards to arrive at seemingly obvious conclusions. (McKinsey received $1.6 million for recommending New York City put its trash in containers in one particularly lambasted headline, though that study has its defenders.) Mamdani has emphasized the importance of reducing wasteful government spending, but it remains to be seen whether that will mean fewer contracts for Shorris’ former employer. 

Tax the rich? Unclear  

While Shorris is enthusiastic about helping the mayor implement some of his policy agenda, his stance on taxing the rich is unclear. When asked whether he supports raising taxes on businesses and upping the minimum wage, Shorris dodged the question about business taxes but expressed his support for increasing the minimum wage. He made it clear, however, that those policy decisions are up to City Hall and Albany.