Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is asking a former top executive for UBS Group AG in the US, an ex-global head of investment banking at Lazard Inc. and Bank of America Corp.’s New York City president to be among the business leaders joining his administration’s advisory council.
The group would provide advice and feedback from key industries including real estate, finance and technology, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing early-stage conversations.
“The administration is in the process of reaching out to business executives to form a Business Advisory Council,” a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said in an emailed statement. “The purpose of the council is to engage with business leaders for their insights and input as we build an economic development strategy that improves life for all New Yorkers.”
The spokesperson didn’t respond to questions about the council’s membership or the timing of its formation.
The outreach comes as Mamdani disbands a separate advisory board of corporate leaders that helped raise millions of dollars for the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a government-affiliated nonprofit that channels private donations to City Hall priorities. Mamdani has been at odds with many of New York’s business elite as he pursues higher taxes on wealthy residents and large corporations, and has clashed with prominent billionaires including Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos.
Among those invited are Robert Wolf, former chief executive officer of UBS Americas and a prominent Democratic donor; Antonio Weiss, who served as counselor to the Treasury Secretary during the Obama administration after more than two decades at Lazard; and Jose Tavarez, who oversees Bank of America’s New York business. They declined to comment.
The final makeup of the council is still undecided, according to the people familiar with the matter.
The effort is the latest sign that Mamdani is trying to define his relationship with the business community on his own terms. When outlining plans to remake the Mayor’s Fund in April, the mayor’s office said it would no longer be centered on corporate leadership but on “working New Yorkers and advocates who organized and fought for bold and progressive action.” This week, Mamdani said the Mayor’s Fund will have a new advisory board that includes those who aren’t often “at the heart of the conversations” over how philanthropy can work with government.
He’s also steered the city’s Economic Development Corporation toward a focus on economic justice and affordability.
Mamdani would not be the first New York mayor to assemble a business advisory group, according to Kathy Wylde, former president of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit that advocates for city business interests.
“Most mayors have a kitchen cabinet of business leaders they turn to for input on the economy and relevant policy issues,” she said.
Such a council could face limits unless it’s truly independent and willing to rein in the mayor when needed, according to Bill Cunningham, a political strategist who served under former Governor Hugh Carey and later as former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s communications director at City Hall. (Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
“I don’t know how the mayor will go about creating a group that he can interact with that can help him manage the city,” Cunningham said. “That should be the goal.”
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