In the face of worrisome job numbers, Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday acknowledged that New York City is facing a difficult labor market, even as he insisted that he is optimistic about certain economic trends.
Asked if the city was facing a jobs crisis, Mr. Mamdani said, “I think we are facing some troubling numbers.”
“But I am incredibly heartened by what we’ve also seen at the same time,” he added. “We’re seeing the highest demand for Manhattan office space in over a decade.”
Mr. Mamdani made his remarks during a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times on Wednesday at City Hall, ahead of his 100th day in office on Friday.
The uncertain economy and New York City’s loss of private-sector jobs are among the more serious problems facing the democratic socialist mayor, who campaigned on making the city a more affordable place for people struggling to get by. Many of the levers that mayors can use to help generate economic growth — tax breaks and other perks to lure corporations here — are an uncomfortable fit with Mr. Mamdani’s stated political values.
That tension was brought into stark relief last week, when the New York State Department of Labor released statistics showing the city lost 19,500 private-sector jobs last year. Those numbers, part of a trend that predated Mr. Mamdani’s mayoralty, stood in contrast to other areas of the state that enjoyed job growth. Last August, job growth in New York City fell to its slowest pace since 2003, with the exception of the pandemic and the Great Recession.
Still, three months into his mayoralty, Mr. Mamdani has yet to focus on economic development or job creation. He has not released a jobs plan or named anyone to run the city’s Economic Development Corporation, and his administration has suggested shifting the corporation’s focus toward affordability and workers’ rights. While every 21st-century mayor in New York City has had a deputy mayor with “economic development” in the title, Mr. Mamdani has instead chosen to name a deputy mayor for economic justice.
“We know that there’s a focus on economic justice, but we still don’t know the mayor’s approach to grow jobs and to invest in the basic infrastructure,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog.
When asked about his job creation strategy, Mr. Mamdani often points to his plans to provide more free child care as something that will attract companies to the city. He also has pinned hopes on the economic advantages of the World Cup, part of which will be hosted across the river in New Jersey in June and July. He sounded both notes on Wednesday.
“We’ve seen studies that have estimated that the city lost more than $20 billion in economic activity a few years ago because of the absence of this child care,” Mr. Mamdani said in the interview.
He described the upcoming World Cup as “a multibillion-dollar economic opportunity.”
Mr. Mamdani wants to fund his child care expansion with higher taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations. Both would require consent from lawmakers in Albany, and in the face of an outcry from Wall Street, it is far from clear that the governor and Legislature will approve the tax increases.
Business leaders who opposed Mr. Mamdani’s candidacy have seized on the weakening jobs numbers as evidence that Mr. Mamdani’s proposed tax policies would endanger the city’s economic health.
In his annual letter to shareholders, the JPMorgan Chase chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned that taxes in New York are already oppressive, his bank already employs more people in Texas than it does in New York City and “no city — or company or country — has a divine right to success.”
Budget analysts are also voicing concern over the city’s long-term financial picture, as bond ratings agencies have warned of potentially lowering the city’s debt ratings.
The New York City comptroller, Mark Levine, a fellow Democrat, said on Monday that he worries “that by neglecting a growth agenda,” the city will end up without sufficient revenue.
“It used to be every time a big office opened in New York City, Ed Koch would go to the ribbon cutting,” he added. “Part of it is just messaging and rhetorical.”
James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, lamented the mayor’s relationship with business leaders, saying, “It would be great to have someone in place whom the business community could reach out to.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Mamdani said he did speak to leaders on Wall Street, but declined to name any.
“Some of the conversations are premised on the fact that they’re private,” Mr. Mamdani said.
The mayor, who readily emphasizes workers’ rights, has empowered his Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Its commissioner makes little secret of the fervor with which he is going after companies he sees as bad-faith actors.
Asked in a recent interview how he would respond to concerns that his aggressive agenda will deter economic growth, the commissioner, Sam Levine, replied, “I don’t see it as a trade-off.”
“I want jobs to grow,” Mr. Levine added. “I want industry to thrive in New York, but everyone has to play by the rules.”
During the interview, Mr. Mamdani also distanced himself from his proposal to increase property taxes in New York City, a proposal that enraged Black political leaders in Queens and the many homeowners they represent.
“We are continuing to work every day to ensure that it’s off the table,” Mr. Mamdani said.
Sally Goldenberg is a Times reporter covering New York City politics and government.
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