Yes, Mamdani just made a business-basher his NYC ‘economic development’ czar

For the first six months of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tenure, the leadership of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation remained a question mark.

Last week he answered that question — and raised even more.

Mamdani appointed Lina Khan, President Joe Biden’s notorious antitrust crusader, to chair the EDC’s board, and selected Anthony Shorris, a former first deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio and current partner at McKinsey & Co., as EDC president.

Former mayors used the EDC as a vehicle for growth, investment and job creation.

Khan’s appointment signals that Mamani, in contrast, plans to wield it as a lever to remake the city’s economy in a progressive mold.

And as Gotham struggles to compete against fast-growing, low-tax Sun Belt cities, Khan’s influence could make New York even less business-friendly.

For years, the EDC’s primary ambit has involved overseeing real estate development and public-private partnerships within the city.

Because it operates under more flexible procurement and staffing rules than the infamously ossified city government does, it can move faster to pursue deals and complete projects.

Hudson Yards, the new Yankee Stadium and the NYC ferry system are just a few of its successes.

But Mamdani was slow to appoint new leadership, leaving the corporation rudderless.

And top aides like Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su have made it clear that he intends to remake the EDC as a conduit for economic justice.

Candidates for the agency’s leadership positions were reportedly peppered with questions about holding companies accountable, not queries on boosting the city’s economic competitiveness, in their job interviews.

Khan, who chaired of the Federal Trade Commission under Biden — and who, according to The New York Times, has “limited experience in economic development” — oversaw those interviews.

She’s a controversial figure, and for good reason: Her reign as FTC chair was marked by her openly anti-business bent.

During her tenure, the agency axed a key line from its mission statement: a vow to pursue its policies “without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.”

Instead, Khan appeared ideologically determined to burden businesses in any way possible.

Khan chose to expand the agency’s authority well beyond enforcing antitrust law, its normal bailiwick.

She expanded its mission to include cracking down on “unfair competition” outside the antitrust realm, such as her war on “junk fees.”

The FTC began operating as a roving government policeman, free to target any business conduct that met its disapproval.

Rather than relying on the agency’s usual case-by-case method of enforcing the law, Khan started pursuing broader rule-makings that sought to restrict entire sectors of the economy.

The agency passed a nationwide ban on noncompete agreements, a blatant overreach that was later struck down in federal court.

The FTC also attempted to impose aggressive rules on data security and surveillance advertising — an effort that would have turned the agency into a shadow legislature for our digital economy.

Under Khan, the FTC blocked several high-profile mergers, including one between the grocery chains Albertsons and Kroger — even though the merger would have likely increased healthy competition in the grocery industry.

Khan is a leading proponent of the recent progressive push attacking big business and corporate consolidation.

Under this ideology, large companies are “inherently dangerous” — so the government should reshape the economy and restore power into “the hands of small-business owners.”

It’s uncertain how this worldview might play out at the EDC with Khan as chair.

Shorris, who will run its day-to-day operations, may serve as a counterbalance to Khan’s anti-business zeal.

But some early clues indicate otherwise.

In Mamdani’s first few months, the EDC debuted what it’s calling a first-of-its-kind government-backed insurance program that’s targeted toward affordable housing and rent-stabilized units.

But the program merely throws public money at the growing problem of high property-insurance costs, without addressing its sources, including the state’s tort and liability laws.

Mamdani has also tasked the EDC with spearheading his government-run grocery-store plan.

But his team failed to conduct a small-business impact analysis on the scheme — and local bodega owners rightly view the government-backed competition as a direct threat.

More democratic-socialist initiatives might soon emanate from the EDC, alongside more conventional economic development projects.

But if Mamdani can’t spur growth in good-paying jobs, he’s going to pay the price come next year’s budget.

So far, a strong stock market and Wall Street bonuses have buoyed him — and that may not last.

Khan remade the FTC in her own image, turning it into a crusading force for progressive ideology.

New York City may be her next experiment.

C. Jarrett Dieterle is a legal policy fellow at Manhattan Institute.