Overview
- On Tuesday Mayor Zohran Mamdani terminated the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City’s entire advisory board and removed high‑profile business members including Richard Born, Jeffrey Gural, Alex Katz, Edward Skyler and James Whelan.
- The mayor’s office said it will create a new advisory board later this year to “reimagine how philanthropy can augment, but not replace, public dollars,” according to senior adviser Dora Pekec.
- The Mayor’s Fund has long channeled private donations to city programs and crises, raising hundreds of millions since 1995 including about $107 million after 9/11 and $54.5 million during COVID‑19, and had $16.4 million on hand in its 2025 filing.
- Reactions were divided: economist Isabella Weber praised the move for reducing business influence over government while Bloomberg Philanthropies’ James Anderson warned the advisory board’s main role was mobilizing donations rather than directing public budgets.
- The shake‑up could alter who the fund can reach and how quickly it raises emergency gifts, so officials and donors’ responses to the new advisory roster will determine whether fundraising and public‑private projects change in practice.