Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin has sharply criticized a New York City lawmakers push to slap new taxes on luxury properties, warning that the politics of envy and class warfare are driving wealth and jobs out of Americas largest city.
According to Western Journal, Democratic socialist state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani marked Tax Day by filming himself on the sidewalk outside Griffins $238 million Manhattan penthouse and vowing to hit high-end, non-primary residences with a new pied--terre tax. The property, purchased in 2019, was the most expensive home sale in American history, a fact Mamdani used as a backdrop for his campaign-style video targeting the billionaire investor and other affluent New Yorkers.
This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live full-time in the city, Mamdani declared in the clip, framing the proposal as a way to plug New Yorks mounting budget shortfalls. Like for this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million, he continued, singling out Griffin by name as he stood outside the building.
Griffin, who has increasingly become a symbol of mobile capital fleeing high-tax, high-crime blue states, answered the stunt during an investment conference in Oslo, Norway. He said he was alarmed not only by the personal attack but also by the potential security risks that come with a politician broadcasting his residence to the world.
Like, you were at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday where they tried to assassinate the president, he told attendees, referencing the heightened security concerns surrounding political violence. Not too far from where I live in New York is where they assassinated the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
So I think the willingness of the mayor of New York to make this policy debate a personal attack just demonstrated a profound lack of judgment, Griffin added, using the moment to highlight what he sees as reckless leadership in a city already struggling with crime and fiscal instability. I understand that New York has bills to pay.
Griffin now resides in Florida, a state with no income tax and a far more business-friendly climate, after moving Citadels headquarters from Chicago in 2022 amid what he described as intolerable levels of crime and disorder. From his vantage point, New York appears determined to repeat the same mistakes that have driven employers and taxpayers out of other Democrat-run cities.
The billionaire suggested he may scrap his next major project in Manhattan if the city and state continue down the path of punitive taxation and left-wing economic experiments. Heres the real question: is New York going to put their fiscal house in order and run itself from a position of a strong government that is pro-business, or are they looking to play why do the Americans think we can do socialism? he asked.
We have none of that in our DNA and we are just going to screw it up. His comments underscored a broader conservative concern that progressive policymakers are more interested in ideological grandstanding than in fostering growth, safety, and long-term fiscal responsibility.
Mamdanis proposal also drew sharp criticism from ordinary users on social media, many of whom warned that the policy would accelerate the exodus of wealth from the city. When people in NYC start losing their jobs and watch the prices of everything go up because the people being taxed to death left I want them to remember that they celebrated this guys video. You voted for this, conservative commentator and former Virginia State Del. Nick Freitas reacted.
Imagine the audacity to think you are unequivocally entitled to what others have earned, another user said, capturing a sentiment widely shared on the right about confiscatory tax schemes. Youre driving out your tax base, you Marxist clown, a third commentator remarked, bluntly summarizing the economic reality that progressive politicians often refuse to acknowledge.
As New York grapples with a budget crisis of its own making, the clash between Mamdani and Griffin highlights a deeper national divide over whether prosperity is created by government redistribution or by allowing individuals and businesses to keep more of what they earn. With high earners and major employers already voting with their feet, the question now is whether New Yorks leaders will heed the warnings from Griffin and others, or double down on policies that risk hollowing out the citys tax base in the name of fairness.
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