NYC biz leaders left shaking over prospect of Zohran Mamdani mayoral win: It would be disastrous
They want none of his business.Big Apple business leaders are shaking in their boots that socialist Zohran Mamdani will pull off an upset win in Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary and coast into Gracie Mansion, The Post has learned.Frightened movers and shakers said that a Mayor Mamdani would be “disastrous” for New York City — with some loath to speak out publicly for fear of ticking off progressives and galvanizing the Queens assemblyman’s lefty, anti-business base.“It would be disastrous for the city,” said startup entrepreneur John Borthwick — who recently met the surging candidate during a Partnership For New York City meeting.Mamdani, who spent just three years in the workforce between graduating college in 2014 and being elected to the state Assembly in 2020, struck Borthwick as out of his depth.“He’s a very nice charming human who I think who has absolutely no idea what it would take to run a city government,” Borthwick, the CEO of Betaworks, said.“Given the challenges the city faces with the state budget and federal government, they will eat him for breakfast.”The business community’s fear has been rising along with Mamdani’s standing in the polls — culminating with an Emerson College Polling/Pix 11/The Hill survey Monday shockingly finding him edging out former Gov.
Andrew Cuomo in eight rounds of ranked-choice voting.Mamdani’s surge in the polls has been driven by his unabashedly socialist, freebie-heavy platform promising free buses, city-run grocery stores and higher taxes on the rich.But many business leaders such as billionaire John Catsimatidis — who threatened to close his Manhattan-based grocery chain Gristedes if Mamdani wins — have claimed that the Democratic socialist’s proposals will lead to an exodus from the city.Florida’s Republican Gov.Ron DeSantis gleefully weighed in on the recent poll showing a Mamdani win by boasting of a boon for the Sunshine State — at least for the well-to-do.“Just wh...