Members of New York City’s business community are forming an advisory group in an effort to guide mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani if he wins the election in November.
The group will include Andrew Milgram, who runs the investment firm Marblegate Asset Management, and Kevin Ryan, founder of venture capital firm AlleyCorp.
OneNYC, an independent expenditure committee backing Mamdani, is organizing the council with suggestions from different sources including Partnership for New York City Chief Executive Officer Kathy Wylde. Her organization represents a coalition of more than 300 of the city’s largest banks, law firms and media companies.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who won the Democratic primary, leads the race on pledges to freeze rents, provide free child care and open government-run grocery stores. But he’s rattled Wall Street, the real estate industry and other segments of the city’s business community with plans to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy to help pay for his agenda. His criticism of and rhetoric about Israel have also drawn concern from some business leaders.
“It’s important that Mamdani’s team is reaching out to the business community,” Wylde said. “The city is facing serious challenges and, if elected, he will need the support of employers and business leaders to be successful in dealing with them.”
Yasser Salem, who leads OneNYC, says it aims to assemble a panel of experts across finance, real estate, tech, health care and government, “with a shared goal to develop forward-thinking policy models that reinforce New York City’s status as a global business leader.”
“Stretching the hand of partnership with those who agree and disagree has been the cornerstone of Zohran Mandani’s approach,” he added.
Under campaign finance rules, the group can’t coordinate directly with Mamdani. The 33-year-old Queens assemblyman holds a double-digit lead in polling for a four-way race against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.
Milgram’s Greenwich, Connecticut—based Marblegate is the city’s biggest owner of medallions — city-issued licenses to operate yellow cabs. The firm, which specializes in distressed and special situations, got into the taxi business by buying thousands of medallions and associated loans after they collapsed in value with the entry of ride-sharing companies into the market.
The $3 billion Marblegate also runs a loan-servicing business and a taxi clubhouse for drivers.
“NYC works best when public private partnerships guide policies that create opportunity and meaningful quality-of-life improvements,” Milgram said in an email. “I’ve seen that firsthand with our work together in the taxi industry and look forward to working with other business leaders and policymakers to deliver change that benefits every New Yorker.”
AlleyCorp confirmed Ryan’s role on the council. His firm invests in early-stage tech companies, including Business Insider, MongoDB Inc., and Gilt Groupe Inc.
In July, Ryan helped organize a meeting between Mamdani and several other members of the tech community. It was one of several private sit-downs or phone calls conducted by Mamdani with business leaders as part of a charm offensive to hear their concerns and downplay some of his own rhetoric. He’s had a friendly phone call with banking titan Jamie Dimon and a conversation with Wall Street mega-lawyer Brad Karp, among others, Bloomberg has reported.
The Partnership for New York City is hosting a virtual meeting on Oct. 1 for Mamdani to speak with members he hasn’t already met, according to Wylde.
Salem expects the advisory council to develop strategies to build public-private partnerships and recruit talent for Mamdani’s potential administration. OneNYC has raised $179,000 for pro-Mamdani campaigns and has almost $1 million in commitments, he said.
