See who Mamdani chose for his business advisory council: CEOs, Wall Street leaders, and a chef

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his picks for the city's business advisory council on Thursday. Mamdani picked a group of Wall Street, real estate, and fashion executives to his business council. The group will meet with the mayor quarterly about economic development. Mamdani has faced criticism about his delay in appointing business and economic advisors. Mayor Zohran Mamdani named his picks for New York City's Business Advisory Council — and many of them are likely to ring a bell on Wall Street. The 15 business leaders will advise the administration on economic development policy, meeting quarterly with the mayor and Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. Areas of focus include finance, technology, real estate, sports, entertainment, retail, and healthcare. Mamdani announced his intention to create the council early in his term, and said Thursday that he wants to ensure New York is "the best place on Earth to start a company, grow a business, and build a career." According to his public schedule, Mamdani held private meetings with many of these leaders this summer. Past mayors had similar advisory groups. Members of Mamdani's council include: Brandon Blackwood, CEO of the fashion brand Brandon Blackwood New York Priscilla Sims Brown, president and CEO of Amalgamated Bank Rafael E. Cestero, CEO of the nonprofit mortgage lender Community Preservation Corporation Keia Clarke, CEO of the New York Liberty Dr. John D'Angelo, president and CEO of Northwell Health Kruti Patel Goyal, CEO of Etsy Tony James, chair of Jefferson River Capital, an investment firm Scott Rechler, chair and CEO of RXR, a real estate investment firm Kevin Ryan, founder and CEO of AlleyCorp, a venture capital firm Marcus Samuelsson, award-winning chef and restaurateur Doug Steiner, chair of Steiner Studios, a movie studio Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani Pat Wang, president and CEO of the health insurance company Healthfirst Antonio Weiss, partner at investment firm SSW and former Treasury official Robert Wolf, CEO of the consulting firm 32 Advisors and former chair and CEO of UBS Americas In public comments, the appointed leaders said they look forward to contributing to Mamdani's affordability agenda. Many said they want to support the city's job market and make it easier for New Yorkers to build and grow businesses. The city reported a near-record high of 4,852,400 jobs in July, but the unemployment rate is hovering around 5%, an improvement over previous months but still above the national average. Recently, Mamdani has been in the hot seat over his economic development plans. Critics in the City Council and the business world have expressed concerns that the administration isn't prioritizing business growth in NYC, especially for Big Tech. The mayor also took months to appoint a new head to the city's Economic Development Corporation — a quasi-public arm of NYC government that manages city-owned property and is the driving force behind his city-run grocery store initiative. Anthony Shorris, a veteran of NYC government and former McKinsey partner, was eventually chosen as president and CEO of the EDC. Mamdani's close ally and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, was installed by the administration as head of the board. Read the original article on Business Insider

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