He Holds the Keys to Mamdani's Economic Vision

Anthony Shorris has a big job. He is the new president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a powerful city agency. Mayor Zohran Mamdani picked him to help make New York City more affordable for regular New Yorkers. Shorris has only been on the job for one week, but he already has strong ideas about what the city needs to do.

One of Mayor Mamdani's most talked-about campaign promises was to open five city-owned grocery stores. The idea was to give New Yorkers in struggling neighborhoods a place to buy food at lower prices. But Shorris says that five stores are just a start. 'I think groceries was a symbol for the larger issue, food affordability, which is broad and important,' he said.

Food costs are a real problem in New York City. A recent report found that more than 40 percent of families with children said they did not have enough money to meet their food needs. That is nearly half of all families with kids. Shorris wants the city to think bigger and look at the whole food system, not just a handful of stores.

Not everyone agrees that city-owned grocery stores are a good idea, though. Some people say the stores do not go far enough in helping low-income residents. Others worry that city-run stores could hurt nearby privately owned grocery markets and corner stores called bodegas. New York City already has around 1,000 grocery stores and 10,000 bodegas, plus growing discount chains like Aldi and Lidl.

Shorris believes the city has many tools it can use to lower food costs. He pointed out that the city's Department of Education feeds more people than almost any other organization in the entire country. 'Is there something there? We'll see,' he said. He wants to use the city's size and power to make a real difference for everyday New Yorkers.

The Economic Development Corporation is a nonprofit group that works for the mayor. Past mayors have used it to get big things done. Mayor Bill de Blasio used it to build a citywide ferry system, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg used it to bring a top research university to Roosevelt Island. Now Mayor Mamdani is using it to push his plans for grocery stores and even new public restrooms across the city.

Shorris also strongly supports raising the city's minimum wage, which is the lowest amount a worker can legally be paid per hour. He calls it 'the most important thing we could do.' He helped raise the minimum wage when he worked in city government about ten years ago, and he says that change lifted hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty. Raising the minimum wage again would need approval from the state government in Albany.

Mayor Mamdani has not focused much on the minimum wage yet. He has spent more energy on the city's budget and on asking the state to raise taxes on wealthy residents. Many business leaders were nervous about the mayor's bold plans, but they felt better when Shorris was named to lead the agency, because he is seen as experienced and practical.

Shorris, who is 69 years old, grew up in San Francisco during the 1960s. His father was a writer who worked for left-leaning political magazines, and his grandfather wrote about socialist ideas in a language called Ladino, which is a form of Judeo-Spanish. Shorris says his unusual background gives him a deep understanding of people with very progressive political views.

Shorris works in an office that looks out over Zuccotti Park, where the Occupy Wall Street protests began years ago. That movement helped inspire a new generation of political activists, including Mayor Mamdani himself. Shorris sees this role as one of his last big chances to make a difference. 'We've got to make change,' he said, adding that Mamdani has given many New Yorkers hope that things can actually get better.