When Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top economic development official testified at a City Council budget hearing last week, she highlighted his plans to build city-owned grocery stores and modular public bathrooms.
She did not mention that job growth had slowed in New York City last year, or that the city’s unemployment rate remained at 5.6 percent in April, still higher than before the coronavirus pandemic.
The official, Jeanny Pak, the interim president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, was pressed on the issue by Julie Menin, the Council speaker.
“I am deeply concerned about the job loss in New York City,” Ms. Menin said, adding that she “didn’t hear anything about job creation at all.”
Five months after taking office, Mr. Mamdani has not released a detailed jobs plan, frustrating some business leaders who are worried about the economic headwinds the city is facing.
New York City experienced devastating job losses during the pandemic. The city has recovered in many ways, and now has roughly 4.2 million private sector jobs. But job growth slowed last year, and low-paying jobs such as home health aides represented much of the growth that did occur, raising concerns about whether the city would continue to add higher-paying jobs as well.
Broader economic factors have also raised alarm, including the Iran war, higher tariffs and energy prices, federal funding cuts, a drop in international tourism and the impact of artificial intelligence on white-collar jobs.
The city has added jobs this year, though it lost 3,100 private-sector jobs in March, the most recent month for which data is available. Some sectors, like finance, are doing well, while others, like manufacturing and the entertainment industry, are weaker.
At the Council hearing, Ms. Pak argued that the city was resilient and had the “best talent in the world and the greatest infrastructure.” She noted that commercial leases were rising and that the city had courted companies like Anthropic, the artificial intelligence giant, and American Express, both of which are planning to expand their offices in Manhattan.
“It’s proof that New York City is a great place to thrive,” Ms. Pak said.
Mr. Mamdani wants to add thousands of child care jobs as part of his push to expand free child care, though those workers often make low wages. His housing plan calls for adding 30,000 “good-paying jobs” each year for those who “build, operate, and maintain” the new homes he wants to create.
Economists argue that creating high-paying jobs is one plank of addressing the city’s affordability crisis. If New Yorkers are earning better wages, they will be more able to stay in the city even as costs rise.
“The city unemployment and poverty rates are still higher than before the pandemic, and slow job growth is a major contributor to the unaffordability crisis,” said James Parrott, senior fellow at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School, and Jaylexia Clark, market analyst at the center, in a recent report. “It is imperative that good-quality job growth be priorities for state and city policymakers.”
Mr. Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams, released a jobs plan in March 2022, his third month in office, as he sought to get the city back on track in the wake of the pandemic. Bill de Blasio took longer, issuing a plan for industrial jobs in 2015, his second year as mayor. Michael R. Bloomberg, who took office shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, focused on rebuilding Lower Manhattan.
Mr. Mamdani has focused on efforts to bring down costs for New Yorkers, including by pushing for a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments and making buses free.
Julie Su, his deputy mayor for economic justice, a new role that Mr. Mamdani created to oversee some of his affordability plans, said in an interview that making the city more livable was a key part of attracting jobs.
“We know that businesses can go anywhere, and I believe one of the most important things city government can do is to provide really high-quality city services and strengthen the infrastructure that supports job creation,” she said. “Things like affordable and reliable child care; reliable transit; things like groceries.”
Ms. Su has also focused on meeting with business leaders after Mr. Mamdani received criticism over a video he filmed outside the home of the billionaire Ken Griffin as part of his calls to tax the rich.
Scott Rechler, a real estate developer, met with Ms. Su in April near 175 Park Avenue in Manhattan, where his company is building a 95-story skyscraper. He said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the administration’s tone.
The pair discussed the importance of construction jobs with so many large projects underway in the city, including the renovation of Kennedy International Airport, new office towers, casinos and a bus terminal.
“I just met with some union partners in the building trades and they’re 100 percent employed,” Mr. Rechler said. “That is a good opportunity — recruiting more workers and making sure they have housing.”
Alicia Glen, a former deputy mayor for housing and economic development under Mr. de Blasio, said that she believed the mayor should focus on creating higher-paying jobs, pointing to past city investments in life sciences and places like the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a former shipbuilding facility that is now a sprawling manufacturing complex with more than 500 businesses and about 13,000 workers.
“One of the important jobs for E.D.C. or City Hall is to be really thoughtful about making strategic interventions — that can be in physical spaces or programs,” Ms. Glen said.
Mr. Mamdani has not named a permanent leader to run the Economic Development Corporation, though he has considered at least 10 candidates. A team there works with companies seeking to expand in New York City, such as Chobani, the yogurt company that is opening a new global headquarters in Manhattan.
Mr. Mamdani has met recently with Hamdi Ulukaya, the chief executive of Chobani, and other business leaders to discuss working together.
The City Hall meeting between Mr. Ulukaya and the mayor was organized by Kathryn Wylde, the former leader of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group; it included Jason Carroll, a managing partner of Hudson River Trading, a global trading firm. Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Ulukaya hit it off and later attended a youth soccer event together.
“He’s a charismatic leader, and he definitely has people’s interest in his heart and it comes through,” Mr. Ulukaya said.
Mr. Mamdani also recently hosted Steven Fulop, the new head of the Partnership for New York City, and Rob Speyer, a major real estate developer and co-chair of the Partnership, at Gracie Mansion.
Mr. Fulop, who strongly opposes raising taxes on the wealthy, said they discussed artificial intelligence, economic competitiveness, housing and child care.
“It was a pleasant conversation about trying to find ways to work together,” he said.
Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Fulop agreed to meet again for a detailed briefing on the Sunnyside Yard development in Queens that Mr. Mamdani pitched to President Trump. Mr. Mamdani has said that the project could create 12,000 affordable housing units and 30,000 union jobs.
Artificial intelligence companies have been adding jobs in the city, but the technology could displace many more white-collar workers, according to a report by the city comptroller, Mark Levine.
“I’m extremely worried about disruption to the job market,” Mr. Levine said. “We’re vulnerable in New York because office work is the core of the economy.”
Ms. Su, a lawyer who was acting secretary of labor under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said in the interview that she saw potential for job growth in industries like technology and climate. She recently attended the opening of a solar project in Sunset Park in Brooklyn that aims to bring clean energy to the neighborhood.
“There are strong industries that have long been strong, and there are others we can do more to support,” she said.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is a public policy correspondent for The Times, covering New York City.
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