The flight of the productive from our major cities has been going on for a while now, but nothing seems to pour accelerant on that flight faster than the election of a "democratic socialist" (you can read that as "communist") mayor, which is what has happened in New York and Seattle. In New York, in particular, anyone with a net worth in the black is looking to the exits, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani seems determined to knock the Big Apple's economy clean out and then go through its pockets for loose change.
One business leader, determined to remain in New York, is appealing to fleeing New York billionaires to come back. Will he have any luck, though?
New York leaders are desperately trying to stop billionaire bigwigs from hightailing it out of the Big Apple with their cash, businesses and thousands of jobs — as fears mount that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies will accelerate the Empire State’s nation-leading loss of wealth.
The splashy one-two punch of Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and Apollo Global Management honcho Marc Rowan pledging to expand outside New York City has been coupled with a silent wave of businesses “quiet quitting” the city over its hostile environment, insiders told The Post.
The burgeoning biz bolt has prompted Andrew Murstein, founder of Medallion Financial Corp., to launch a campaign dubbed Operation Boomerang to woo his peeved peers back into the New York groove.
“This is a personal contribution of $1 million,” he said. “I’m a big believer in New York City and tradition.
How, precisely, is that supposed to work? Is he offering to pay billionaires to ignore their obvious self-interest? He's looking to raise substantial cash for the effort:
“That’s just my money. It’s going to be a small drop in the bucket. I’m going to leverage that to be more money,” he added, estimating he’ll raise roughly $20 million to $30 million.
Color me skeptical.
Read More: New Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson Laughs Off Wealth Flight
Here's where this notion goes sideways:
“The mayor’s office is feeling pressure around this and they are looking for ways to change the narrative around business,” a city business leader who asked not to be named told The Post.
“They’re in a pickle because he’s hearing all the business leaders are looking for exit strategies now and Mamdani needs money and needs to keep his base happy.
“This might be an inflection point because NYC is already a welfare state supported by very few people at the top who can leave,” the leader added.
That's the problem. Perpetuating it won't help. And trying to reverse the flow of people, productive people, people who produce value, is the wrong move here. If these people want to change things in New York, they would be better off pursuing a political solution, because trying to work with a socialist mayor isn't going to yield the results they want. And the political solution may well require a big dose of what economists call creative destruction. In plain English, it may be necessary to let New York fail in order to save it.
Any deal-making with Mamdani is just putting off the inevitable. Any deal-making with Mamdani is just enabling his socialist agenda. Any deal-making with Mamdani is bound to fail, because he can't be relied on to take any steps, to adopt any policies, to make New York once more attractive to business. New York's productive are right to leave. Show up Zohran Mamdani for the economically illiterate fool that he is, and work to elect a saner mayor in the next go-around.
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