Mamdani Appoints Lina Khan as Board Chair of EDC
The mayor also named Anthony Shorris to lead the EDC as president
By Isabelle Durso July 22, 2026 11:18 am
reprints
In a flurry of announcements on Wednesday, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Lina Khan, the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as the new board chair of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
Khan, also a progressive antitrust regulator, will lead the EDC’s 27-member board and help guide the city’s major development projects.
Khan was the youngest-ever chair of the FTC during the Biden administration, when she led an aggressive shift in antitrust policy and spearheaded lawsuits against major tech conglomerates and targeted large corporate mergers to reduce consumer costs.
“Lina Khan has fought exploitation and dishonesty in courtrooms and classrooms across the country, and given us the blueprint for a government that delivers for working people. As chair of the EDC’s board of directors, I know that Lina will not only steer our administration’s economic development efforts toward a new era of opportunity, but ensure justice is the driving principle behind all of our work,” Mamdani said in a statement on Wednesday.
In her new role as board chair of the EDC, Khan will succeed Margaret Anadu, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Adams in 2022.
Khan’s appointment is separate from the appointment of Anthony Shorris, who Mamdani named Wednesday as the new president of the EDC. Shorris will run the EDC’s day-to-day operations as the city’s primary vehicle for development and infrastructure growth, and oversee projects such as five new city-run grocery stores. Meanwhile, Khan will guide the overarching policy of the EDC and approve its projects.
“As Tony shepherds the EDC into a new moment of economic innovation, including the implementation of five city-run grocery stores, one in each borough, I know he and Lina will accomplish a great deal together,” Mamdani said in an announcement, according to Crain’s New York Business. “Frankly, this feels like the economic wonk’s version of the 1992 Olympic basketball dream team.”
In addition to her time at the FTC, Khan has worked as an associate professor at Columbia Law School, and she also co-chaired Mamdani’s mayoral transition team.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
