Committee on Economic Development meeting
May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM
Jointly with the Committee on Finance
The Committee on Economic Development held an FY2027 executive budget hearing on the Economic Development Corporation, jointly with the Committee on Finance. The committee took testimony and recorded no votes.
What was discussed
- Chairs and Speaker open the EDC budget hearing Finance Chair Linda Lee opened the third hearing of the day on the New York City Economic Development Corporation, joined by Speaker Julie Menin and Economic Development Chair Virginia Maloney, welcoming Interim President and CEO Jeanny Pak; Menin flagged concern about roughly 27,000 lost jobs and
- Swearing in the EDC witness Committee counsel administered the affirmation to Interim President and CEO Jeanny Pak before testimony.
- Interim President Pak testifies on EDC's FY2027 budget Interim President and CEO Jeanny Pak said the city's economy remains resilient and highlighted EDC's work on the NYC Groceries public-grocery initiative (La Marqueta and the Peninsula in Hunts Point), a modular public-restroom pilot, a city-backed insurance program for affordable housing, and World
- What is EDC's plan to create and retain jobs amid losses? Speaker Julie Menin said she heard nothing about job creation and warned about AI-driven displacement and losses in media, finance, and tourism; Interim President Pak cited resilience statistics, a dedicated business-development team, and commitments from American Express and Anthropic, and Menin
- How were the public-grocery sites chosen and what will they cost shoppers? Speaker Julie Menin questioned how the La Marqueta and Peninsula sites were selected, their impact on nearby bodegas, and how much groceries will cost; Interim President Pak said EDC prioritized public sites in areas short on grocery access that could open quickly, will run them through a
- How will the city-backed insurance program work and stay solvent? Speaker Julie Menin and, later, Chair Virginia Maloney pressed on the structure of the $100 million city-backed insurance program run with HPD and HDC; Interim President Pak said EDC's low cost of capital and lack of profit margin lets it cut premiums for the 'middle 60 percent' of affordable and
- Why bring EDC's marketing in-house, and does EDC track small-business trends? Chair Lee asked about $2.1 million in savings from ending a marketing contract tied to the REAP and RACE business-relocation incentives and whether EDC tracks small-business counts; Interim President Pak said EDC will use its in-house marketing and business-development teams (with some paid LinkedIn
- Are the REAP and RACE tax incentives a wise use of money? Chair Lee questioned open-ended as-of-right tax breaks like REAP, noting the Amazon HQ2 subsidy could have cost up to $1.4 billion; Interim President Pak called that an exception, said EDC analyzes usage but does not set as-of-right policy, and pointed to its discretionary IDA program as where it
- How is EDC operating without a permanent president? Chair Virginia Maloney noted the president role has been vacant since former CEO Andrew Kimball's December departure and asked how EDC plans long-term without permanent leadership; Interim President Pak said the work has not stopped, she works closely with Deputy Mayor Julie Su and the mayor, and
- Is the Cannabis Impact Fund reaching impacted communities? Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry asked why $7.1 million in the Cannabis Impact Fund rolled over with no loans issued and how EDC tracks whether dollars reach communities harmed by cannabis enforcement; Interim President Pak said the fund's second phase expanded eligibility to 540 businesses with
- Will small businesses in climate-vulnerable neighborhoods access the RISE program? Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry asked how EDC ensures small businesses in neighborhoods like Corona and East Elmhurst can access the climate-resilience RISE program and relayed Council Member Epstein's question on Innovation East; Interim President Pak said she would follow up on RISE
- Why not use existing insurance programs, and what is EDC doing on AI job training? Council Member Gale A. Brewer questioned why the city isn't using an existing affordable-housing insurance program and pressed EDC on AI workforce training and specific projects (South Street Seaport, the Bloomingdale Library, Life Sciences); Interim President Pak said the prior Milford program was
- Will ferry service and fares change for the World Cup and summer? Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry asked about NYC Ferry summer service, fares, a possible Willets Point landing, and how World Cup fan-fest sites were chosen; Interim President Pak said fares will not change, larger vessels will add capacity, EDC committed to study a Willets Point stop, and
- Is La Marqueta the right first grocery site, and how do public stores stay sustainable? Chair Virginia Maloney questioned choosing La Marqueta (which has nearby supermarkets), the $30 million buildout cost, and how public grocery stores avoid operating at a loss like most U.S. examples; Interim President Pak said the site ranked low on the city's per-capita grocery measure and is
- How is the World Cup host-committee money being spent? Chair Virginia Maloney asked for a breakdown of the $20 million and additional $15 million running through EDC for the World Cup; Interim President Pak said the $20 million covered planning, transportation logistics, and cultural programming and the $15 million funds fan fests, villages, and the
- What is the plan for the 34th Street ferry landing and ferry subsidy? Chair Virginia Maloney asked about the $38 million to reconstruct the 34th Street ferry landing, ridership trends, and the per-passenger subsidy; Interim President Pak said the crowded landing needs greater capacity, the stop will stay open during staged construction, and the per-passenger subsidy
- How is EDC advancing the AI economy and workforce? Chair Virginia Maloney cited EDC's 2025 Artificial Intelligence Advantage report naming the city the applied-AI capital and asked for updated figures and workforce steps; Interim President Pak said she would follow up in writing on AI readiness metrics and the report's workforce and
- Can EDC limit disruptive helicopter traffic and speed nonprofit capital projects? Council Member Lincoln Restler pushed EDC to ban non-essential helicopter travel from its heliports during the World Cup, and Chair Lee raised years-long delays in nonprofit capital projects; Interim President Pak said the downtown Skyport is a public heliport EDC can't close but pointed to coming
- Chair Lee gavels out the executive budget hearing Chair Lee closed the EDC portion and gaveled out the fourth day of FY2027 executive budget hearings, inviting members to submit follow-up questions in writing.
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1891 NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL FISCAL YEAR 2027 EXECUTIVE BUDGET HEARINGS 2:00 p.m. Economic Development Jointly with the Committee on Finance Hearing Held by Committee