Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is New York City’s mayor-elect, set to assume office on Jan. 1, and some billionaires have floated relocating their businesses out of the largest U.S. city.
“The far-left gets really nuts and says the tenants don’t have to pay. Well, you can’t kick them out if they don’t pay,” Sternlicht said.
Mamdani’s camp didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We have a big office here ourselves and, I mean, we’ll see how this works, but the team in New York is saying for the first time, ‘maybe we should leave,’” he added.
Hedge fund manager Ricky Sandler threatened to move his firm, which manages about $7.8 billion, out of the city after Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June and became a very likely candidate to win the entire race.
“Personally, I am most concerned about safety and livability,” he added. “Secondarily, I worry that Mamdani’s policies and inexperience could create a fiscal crisis which could further impair safety and livability.”
Still, no business owners have laid out definite plans to exit the city yet in the wake of Mamdani’s win. But, “I think a lot of business people are reducing their exposure to New York City,” Catsimatidis told Forbes.
