NYC business leaders are terrified of what socialist Zohran Mamdani may do as mayor
Friends of mine, prominent players in the New York City business community, tell me they are horrified that a certified socialist, Zohran Mamdani, might become our next mayor.Their next step is Florida, or somewhere, anywhere out of his grasp if Mamdani does become mayor as the polls suggest could happen — even with the more moderate, albeit flawed, Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, seemingly in the lead for the Democratic nomination.In this one-party town, that usually means a ticket into Gracie Mansion.“We need Cuomo to win or we’re doomed,” is how one brand-named, uber-rich New Yorker put it over dinner the other night at Elio’s, the Upper East Side restaurant frequented by New York’s top business leaders.Yes, “Mayor Mamdani” is a scary thought.
He sees anyone with a heartbeat and a job as part of the problem, an oppressor class that needs to be exploited to pay for an ever larger welfare state.His positions on Israel are so noxious, they don’t bear repeating.But his type has been here before — and for a long time, which is why crying over Mamdani is, as they say, a bit rich when it comes from the rich.New York City and state have been experiencing massive outmigrations of people and business for years because the Big Apple and the Empire State have been run largely by the radical left for the better part of two decades.Our tax base is being decimated by crime and the cost of living.Banks are moving more of their operations to lower-taxed Texas and Florida.
Real estate is sinking.All of this has picked up steam in recent years, but it’s hardly a new phenomenon and you can blame the now-sweating fat-cat class for allowing it to happen.Their money could have informed the public of the city and state’s death spiral and backed sensible mayoral candidates, people like John Catsimatidis, an entrepreneur and true New Yorker.The current Republican candidate and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is smart enough to appoint people who su...