Anthony Shorris Named to Lead NYC Economic Development Corporation

The leadership change places a veteran public-sector operator at the institution that deploys city-owned land, financing, and investment. For nonprofit organizations, the relevant variable is not the personnel announcement alone; it is the future allocation criteria attached to those tools.

A new operating lead at NYCEDC

Shorris brings more than 40 years of experience across public agencies and nonprofit organizations, according to the mayor’s announcement. His prior roles include First Deputy Mayor under Bill de Blasio, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Deputy Chancellor for Operations at the Department of Education, and senior leadership positions at NYU Langone Health and Healthfirst.

The scale of his city-government operating record is material. As First Deputy Mayor, Shorris served as chief operating officer for a government with roughly 350,000 employees, an annual budget of $100 billion, and more than three dozen agencies.

Earlier work also included a senior budget role under Mayor Edward I. Koch, where Shorris helped develop the Ten-Year Housing Plan. The plan dedicated more than $4 billion in city capital to construction and rehabilitation of nearly 200,000 affordable units, according to NYC.gov.

The stated investment frame

The Mamdani administration says NYCEDC will use city-owned land, financing, and investment to build affordable housing, create jobs, support small businesses, and deliver public goods across the five boroughs.

Those categories intersect with a broad portion of the nonprofit sector: housing providers, workforce organizations, small-business intermediaries, health and education institutions, and neighborhood-based service groups. The announcement does not specify program rules, grant rounds, procurement structures, or eligibility requirements. Those are the compliance metrics to watch.

Lina Khan, former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, will serve as chair of the NYCEDC Board of Directors. Her appointment creates a new board-management structure at the corporation: Khan as board chair and Shorris as president and CEO.

Practical monitoring points

For organizations mapping city economic-development activity, the immediate work is administrative rather than speculative:

• Track NYCEDC notices involving city-owned land, financing, affordable housing, small-business support, and public-goods delivery.
• Separate announced policy priorities from published eligibility, procurement, and funding requirements.
• Review whether current programs favor direct applicants, development teams, intermediaries, or nonprofit service partners.
• Monitor board actions under Khan and operating announcements from Shorris for changes in investment criteria, partner requirements, or borough-level deployment.
• Update organizational databases for NYCEDC leadership: Anthony Shorris, President and CEO; Lina Khan, Board Chair.