Despite Mamdani’s Attempts to Appease, Many Business Leaders Remain Wary
After Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the mayoralty of New York City over strong objections from the business class, he made nice, meeting with executives and even attending the groundbreaking of American Express’s new headquarters in Lower Manhattan.
But following a relatively fleeting détente, that fledgling relationship appears to have gone astray, waylaid by growing enmity and distrust. Many business leaders, some of whom are Jewish, bristle at the mayor’s frequent anti-Israel statements. They take issue with his tax-the-rich rhetoric, the singling out of one exorbitantly rich hedge fund manager for public ridicule and the contentious rollout of his tax on expensive second homes.
They found other signs troubling. Despite job growth remaining relatively weak, Mr. Mamdani was the first mayor this century to have no deputy mayor with “economic development” in their title, and it took him seven months to name someone to run the city’s Economic Development Corporation. (His choice of Anthony Shorris, a longtime government veteran who became a partner at the consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, prompted business leaders to breathe a sigh of relief).
Amid the rancor, Mr. Mamdani promised in late May to create a business advisory council of corporate leaders that would advise him on economic growth. The conceit of the council was that it would serve as a sounding board for the mayor, representing a collection of roughly 15 corporate leaders who would meet quarterly with the mayor, according to someone briefed on the effort.
Yet more than two months after the council was announced, it remains a work in progress, its recruitment process marred by infighting among business leaders, many of whom question whether they can develop a working relationship with Mr. Mamdani. Two business leaders said they feared receiving — and feeling obliged to accept — an invitation to join the council, because they would then have to weigh their desire to help the administration against the appearance of serving as cover for policies with which they disagree.
The divide between City Hall and Wall Street was only further exacerbated in July, when Mr. Mamdani disbanded a separate advisory board for the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a mayoral nonprofit that raises private money for city initiatives. The dismissed board members included several of New York’s most prominent real estate leaders.
Mr. Mamdani’s team said he would replace the advisory board, but not until this fall, and asserted that the board had not been particularly active. Last year, only four of the advisory board’s members, of which there are about 30, had paid their $25,000 dues, according to City Hall. The Mamdani administration has encouraged those who want to remain on the board to reapply; two former members have indicated their desire to do so.
The mayor’s effort to fill his business advisory council has also been choppy. 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, were among the first to be publicly linked to the council. Other business executives later emerged, including 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, according to five people familiar with the effort.
Some executives at the 30 Rockefeller headquarters of Lazard were irked that the bank was linked to Mr. Mamdani in news accounts, two people familiar with the matter said. Another Wall Street executive, given anonymity by The New York Post, took a potshot at Mr. Wolf in a column mocking the council and anyone willing to join it.
“I know there is a lot of uninformed noise surrounding this advisory board and some shots are being taken at the business leaders considering joining,” Mr. Wolf said. “But my view is simple: If executives can use their experience and insights to help N.Y.C. thrive economically, than they should be willing to help.”
In an interview, Mr. Rechler said that while he shared some of his colleagues’ concerns about the impact of Mr. Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric, he believes in engaging with those with whom he disagrees, particularly given the repeated, constructive interactions he has had with the administration.
“He loves the city; I love the city,” Mr. Rechler said. “We may have different views on what the city should look like, but that doesn’t mean we don’t engage.”
Mr. Mamdani’s office has also reached out to a number of other executives, including Priscilla Sims Brown, the chief executive of Amalgamated Bank; Ken Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express; and Charles Phillips, a private equity executive, two people familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Ryan, Mr. Ulukaya, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Sims Brown, Mr. Tavarez and Mr. Chenault did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment for this article.
The advent of the council comes as New York City business leaders are navigating the best way to work with, or resist, Mr. Mamdani. Steven Fulop, the new leader of Partnership for New York City, a powerful business consortium, has described the business community’s reservations about the council on social media, citing the administration’s rhetoric and “concerns around antisemitism.”
“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.”
The balance between elected officials and corporate America has always been a delicate one. Executives believe they have a unique understanding of what New York City businesses need to generate the revenue that helps the city run. But elected officials do not want to be — or appear to be — beholden to corporate interests, a concern that is especially true for democratic socialists.
Among themselves, business leaders have debated whether it is better to pragmatically maintain a line of communication with the mayor, even at the risk of their participation being construed as tacit support for Mr. Mamdani.
The mayor has repeatedly tried to assuage the business community’s concerns about his leadership. Most prominently, he retained Jessica Tisch, the technocratic billionaire heiress, as police commissioner. Under Ms. Tisch, crime numbers continue to fall. Mr. Mamdani also abandoned his opposition to mayoral control of schools and, like mayors before him, made moves to cut red tape for small businesses.
City Hall aides also pointed to several indicators suggesting that the New York economy remains strong.
New York City companies raised more venture capital funding in the second quarter of 2026 — $10.8 billion — than any quarter since 2021, according to a recent Economic Development Corporation report. The office leasing market continues to tighten.
But some of Mr. Mamdani’s acts and antics have also antagonized Wall Street, including his decision to record a video outside the lavish Midtown Manhattan home of a billionaire hedge fund manager, Ken Griffin, to make his case for taxing pricey second homes. The video prompted Mr. Griffin’s business partner and ally, the Vornado chief executive Steven Roth, to compare Mr. Mamdani’s rhetoric on the wealthy to hate speech.
Following that video, Mr. Mamdani set up meetings with Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, and David Solomon, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs. But the relationship remains tenuous.
“The unfortunate reality is that the mayor’s approach out of the gate has served to confirm the business community’s wariness about what a Mamdani administration would bring,” said Edward Skyler, a former deputy mayor who now works at Citi and was dismissed in July from the mayor’s fund advisory board.
“That said, we are in Year 1, so hopefully he will come to the conclusion that this isn’t serving his or the city’s interests and will course correct,” Mr. Skyler said.
