NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not appointed a permanent leader to run the city’s Economic Development Corp. five months into his term, even as his administration advances plans to refocus the agency’s mission on economic justice. The 500-person nonprofit public authority, which manages a large real estate portfolio, encourages private investment, and runs the city’s ferry system, currently lacks permanent leadership after Mamdani declined to reappoint Andrew Kimball as its president.

Following Mamdani’s inauguration, his administration circulated a memo outlining an expanded mission for the Economic Development Corp., prioritizing economic justice initiatives such as spearheading five city-run grocery stores offering discounted fresh produce. Officials also plan to reevaluate the agency’s past practice of offering substantial public subsidies to billionaire-owned development projects and aim to incorporate more community input into future initiatives.

Julie Su, deputy mayor for economic justice, said the administration seeks inclusive growth. “We want projects to utilize the city’s tremendous resources to build up communities, not build on top of them. One of those changes is including more community voices and concerns in the projects that EDC leads.” She added, “The fact that growth was in fewer industries was something we saw coming in, and we have to address it. It is fundamental to our vision of economic justice that we want there to be strong, robust economic growth and we want that growth to be widely shared.”

Critics have expressed concern about the city’s economic trajectory. Ana Champeny, vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, said, “We have job growth fueled by the government, which is not the healthiest form of job growth. Job creation is incredibly important for the city, and the fact that we have stagnant growth, and in some cases declines in some sectors, is very concerning.” Steven Fulop, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, added, “A mayor can do a lot. You can have a big impact on how people view where they’re going to grow. People are never going to leave here entirely, but they will make decisions to grow elsewhere.”

Private sector employment in New York City has not rebounded to prepandemic levels as of June 2026, and the city’s unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in April 2026, higher than the national average of 4.3%. City officials say they are wrapping up their search for a new Economic Development Corp. leader and will announce an appointment soon.