Business Leader Advisory Council Still a Work-in-Progress

Zohran Mamdani is the first mayor of New York City this century without a deputy mayor whose job description includes “economic development,” even as job growth remaining weak.  It took him seven months to name somebody to run the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Anthony Shorris, a partner at McKinsey & Company with extensive government experience.

The self-declared democratic socialist mayor has clashed with the business class with his calls to raise taxes on the rich and a special tax on second homes.  He has ridiculed one hedge fund manager publicly, and his anti-Israel rhetoric has made Jewish business owners especially wary.

Through all this, the mayor announced in May the formation of an advisory council of business leaders, approximately fifteen, who would meet with the mayor quarterly, somebody briefed on the matter told The New York Times.

The Times reported last week that the advisory board, still a work in progress over two months later, has been held up by such problems as infighting between business leaders and a reluctance among business leaders who have been invited to accept, lest they be viewed as whitewashing the mayor’s agenda.

The mayor’s decision to disband The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit that raises money for private initiatives, has also affected City Hall’s relationship with Wall Street.  Members included prominent real estate executives.  City Hall has said it will reconvene the fund in the fall and urged members who wished to remain on it (only four out of thirty paid dues last year) to reapply.  Two members told the Times they intended to.

So far, Antonio Weiss, a former head of global investment banking at Lazard; Robert Wolf, the former chief executive of UBS Americas; and Jose Tavarez, the president for New York City at Bank of America,  have been publicly linked with the new advisory board.  People familiar with the effort told the Times that  Kevin Ryan, a major New York tech investor; Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of Chobani; and Scott Rechler, the chief executive of RXR, a real estate company, were also asked.

Executives at Lazard told the Times they were disturbed their company would be linked with the Mamdani Administration.  A Wall Street executive wrote an anonymous Op-Ed in the New York Post mocking Mr. Wolf and the council.

Mr. Rechler told the Times that he shares colleague’s concerns about the mayor’s anti-Israel rhetoric, but believes in working with those who disagree with him, especially for something they do agree about: Improving New York City.

The mayor has taken moves to alleviate concerns among executives.  He retained Jessica Tisch as police commissioner and appointed Mr. Shorris for the Economic Development Corporation.  But he also released a video about the second home tax taken in front of the home of hedge fund manager Ken Griffin.

“Mayor Mamdani has opened the doors of City Hall to New York’s business leaders, welcoming them to bring their experience and strategic guidance to the work of building a stronger, more dynamic economy,” said Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani. “In the coming weeks, we will announce the members of our Business Advisory Council, who will be essential partners in our work to strengthen New York as the business capital of the country and create good-paying jobs.”

Aides have also pointed to the continued growth of the city’s economy in areas such as venture capital funding.