New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tax-the-rich agenda is facing an early business backlash after Citadel founder Ken Griffin said New York’s political message is pushing him to expand further in Miami.
The flashpoint is a proposed New York City pied-à-terre tax targeting luxury second homes worth more than $5.0 million that are not used as primary residences. The proposal, championed by Mamdani and backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, is aimed at raising about $500 million, with Hochul estimating roughly 13,000 homes would be affected.
“What the mayor of New York has made clear to us, is that we need to double down on Miami,” Griffin said in a conference, framing Mamdani’s politics as a signal that New York is becoming less welcoming to wealth, business formation, and high-income taxpayers.
The comment lands because Griffin is not just another wealthy property owner in the debate. Citadel has said its staff contributed $2.3 billion in taxes over five years, making the firm’s footprint a material part of the broader fiscal argument around whether aggressive wealth taxes raise revenue or push mobile capital elsewhere.
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The dispute escalated after Mamdani filmed a “tax the rich” video outside Griffin’s $238-million Manhattan penthouse. Griffin called the video “creepy and weird” and said it put him “in harm’s way,” citing the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson blocks from where he lives in New York.
Citadel’s New York posture is now under scrutiny. Reuters reported that the hedge fund is expanding operations in Miami, while its New York development plans remain undecided. The Wall Street Journal reported Griffin suggested Citadel may scale back in New York while continuing to assess a major Midtown Manhattan project tied to 350 Park Avenue.
The political risk for Mamdani is that the controversy gives opponents a clean narrative: a tax designed to extract more from the ultra-wealthy may instead accelerate the migration of high earners, corporate headquarters, and investment activity to lower-tax jurisdictions such as Florida.
On the other hand, the proposed levy is aimed at a narrow class of non-primary luxury homes, not ordinary residents, and the projected $500 million annual revenue target is significant for a city facing affordability and service-funding pressures. Mamdani’s office has defended the policy as tax reform requiring the wealthiest New Yorkers to contribute more while still saying the city wants entrepreneurs and business owners to succeed.
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