Billionaire Bashing

Mamdani vs Prosperity

Seeing King Charles visit Ground Zero, escorted by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg ,made me wonder, not about what life here would be like if we hadn’t won the Revolutionary War. No.

It made me wonder how New York went from being governed by an experienced, self-made billionaire, an a proud capitalist, an advocate and a defender of New York’s business community, to a neophyte, proud socialist, who despises the wealthy, and who doesn’t give a damn if they abandon the city.

This past week the Zohran Mamdani vs. NYC’s billionaire class battle came to a very public, very rancorous, potentially very perilous head. And it augurs poorly for the future economic health of the city.

It started with that bright idea emanating from Governor Kathy Hochul of a tax on New York’s $5 million-plus pieds-à-terre. She had said she wouldn’t raise taxes for fear of driving New York’s wealthy out of the state. But apparently, her need to assuage the Mamdani-ites and their insatiable desire to fund the social welfare promises he made, was too great.

Of course, Mamdani leaped onto her bandwagon by brazenly shooting a social media video gloating about the tax, in front of the ritzy building where entrepreneur and business titan Ken Griffin owns a 53rd floor penthouse.

Griffin called the video “creepy and weird” and “in poor taste”, which it was. He felt it singled him out personally and turned him into a political prop, demonizing his success, which it did. Griffin also said it put him “in harm’s way” by possibly agitating extremists, which it might. Remember the assassination a couple of years ago of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, shot in the back on the New York City street?

More broadly, Griffin views the tax and the anti-wealth rhetoric emanating from New York’s political leaders as making NYC an unwelcome place for successful businesses and high earners.

So Griffin said he’s going to focus more on growing his business in Miami rather than in New York.

And he’s not the only one. Marc Rowan’s Apollo Global Management, is reportedly considering building a second US headquarters in a southern state. And why wouldn’t they? Who wants to expand in a city where a socialist mayor is villainizing them, trying to tax them even more, making their lives miserable, for possibly the next seven years?

How far have we have come from Mike Bloomberg.

I think we all can agree that somehow New York needs to figure out ways to be more affordable, more livable for working families. No doubt. Indeed, the rents, among other things, are too damn high.

But New Yorkers need jobs, and jobs are created by successful businesses and business people.

As Steven Fulop, the CEO of the Partnership for New York City, the city’s leading big business advocacy group said this past week, “NYC’s dominance isn’t pre-ordained-other cities are actively fighting for these jobs while we coast on our history.”

New York is already in fierce competition with cities like Miami, Dallas and Memphis.

In our highly mobile, work from anywhere, zoomable society, being anchored in midtown Manhattan is no longer an absolute necessity.

Instead of his tawdry, infantile and cheap-shot social media video bashing Griffin and his billionaire buddies, Fulop said Mamdani should have put out a substantial plan for creating more jobs in concert with the city’s business community. He needs to give corporations reasons to stay and grow in New York, not to pack up and leave.

So let me say this straight out. It would be one thing if Zohran Mamdani was just an inexperienced politician who landed in over his head in the second toughest job in America. His screw-ups could be rectified. He could be coached, be up-skilled, as they say in corporate America.

Sadly, that is not the case. Zohran Mamdani isn’t just in over his head. His head is way up his socialist butt. He is dangerous because of his unwavering adherence to a radical, failed and un-American ideology.

Once upon a time, the Mayor of New York was a billionaire businessman, working to make New York the financial capital of the world. Now he’s a know-it-all, never-done-nothing, smug, socialist, leading New York to ruin.