New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani woke up Monday morning to an unwelcome sight: a blazingly bright billboard – smack dab in the middle of Times Square, no less – honoring him as "Florida Economic Developer of the Year."
It's the handiwork of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which has launched a campaign in the Big Apple to remind the city how "progressive taxes and socialist policies are driving wealth, businesses and families to the Sunshine State."
The new billboard sits at the corner of Broadway and West 43rd Street, greeting the tens of thousands of residents and visitors that move through the area every day.
Its goal is to highlight the vastly different economic results achieved when a government allows free enterprise to flourish, as opposed to what happens when government reaches its tentacles into every part of life and squeezes the oxygen (and money) right out of it.
Florida Chamber of Commerce puts up billboard in NYC's Times Square thanking Mayor Mamdani for driving wealth, businesses and families out of New York and down to Florida.
— Fox News Flash (@FoxNews_Flash) August 10, 2026
The ad sarcastically cheers Mamdani as "Florida Economic Developer of the Year."https://t.co/nfNL6MqgGE
With Florida sitting on a $1.8 trillion economy and enjoying a huge amount of wealth migration into the state, the Chamber knew it was the right time and place to make a strike against the economy-destroying policies of Mamdani.
"We wanted to thank him for the jobs, the companies, the people that they're pushing out of New York — and a lot of them are coming to Florida," Chamber CEO Mark Wilson first told Fox News Digital on Monday.
"America is at a crossroads right now. I think everyone that's paying attention knows that our country was built on freedom and free enterprise and people having the liberty to make their dreams come true," he said. "And there's a push in our country right now to take those liberties away and to attack free enterprise. And that's never worked anywhere, and it won't work in America."
Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, saw this coming from a mile away. When Mamdani was still embroiled in the Democrat primary battle with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo back in the summer of 2025, DeSantis predicted the inevitable: a win by Mamdani would push business out of New York and into states like Florida.
Just when you thought Palm Beach real estate couldn’t go any higher… https://t.co/FAUcV2OrYD
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 23, 2025
Mamdani is going to be realtor of the year in way more places than Palm Beach if he wins. https://t.co/GkzdcqtVQY
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 4, 2025
And how right he was.
Florida has spent years vacuuming up residents – and their money! – from high-tax states like New York and business-unfriendly blue cities like New York City. The latest migration data from the IRS shows the Sunshine State gained a whopping $20.65 billion in adjusted gross income from domestic migration in the year 2023 alone, while New York watched nearly $10 billion walk out the door.
SEE ALSO: Video of Mamdani Speaking With a Very Different Accent Raises a Few Eyebrows
9/11 Families Have a Surprise Waiting for Mamdani If He Shows Up at Ground Zero
Mayor Mamdani has not commented on his new honor, but a spokesperson croaked out this statement: "By any metric, New York City's economy under Mayor Mamdani is as strong as it's ever been. We look forward to continuing to grow the economy while ensuring that working-class New Yorkers are benefiting from that growth."
Sure, Jan.
The problem for Mamdani is that Florida doesn’t actually have to make up stories about New Yorkers fleeing for friendlier economic climes – the numbers speak for themselves. DeSantis predicted exactly where this was headed more than a year ago, and now Florida is having a grand time making sure Mamdani gets the credit he deserves for all that non-New York prosperity.
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