{"id":15343,"date":"2025-11-06T18:46:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/can-a-socialist-mayor-and-wall-street-coexist-new-york-is-about-to-find-out\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T18:46:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:46:52","slug":"can-a-socialist-mayor-and-wall-street-coexist-new-york-is-about-to-find-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/can-a-socialist-mayor-and-wall-street-coexist-new-york-is-about-to-find-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a socialist mayor and Wall Street coexist? New York is about to find out."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing a deeply skeptical business community that has long called the shots in New York. But don\u2019t go looking for the moving vans just yet.<\/p>\n

Gotham\u2019s business elite are taking a wary \u2014 but open-minded \u2014 view of the young democratic socialist who wants to hike their taxes, quotes Eugene Debs<\/u><\/a> and believes billionaires shouldn\u2019t exist<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kathy Wylde, the president of the business-backed Partnership for New York City, compared the relationship between her constituents and the mayor-elect to the seven stages of grief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re moving toward acceptance,\u201d Wylde said.<\/p>\n

Still, contingency plans are being prepared by some, even as the city\u2019s wealthiest residents consider how to court the incoming mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness people, smart business people, going into this are thinking, \u2018Watch your ass, you\u2019re in combat,\u2019\u201d said John Catsimatidis, a billionaire oil executive, grocery store tycoon and ally of President Donald Trump. \u201cI talked to him once. He\u2019s a young kid \u2026 He never ran anything. If he came in with a job application I wouldn\u2019t hire him to run a supermarket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catsimatidis, who unsuccessfully pressed Republican Curtis Sliwa to get out of the mayoral race to aid former Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s bid, is weighing his business options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m going to do is reduce my exposure to New York,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a lot of businesses in New York, I have a lot of assets in New York. Remember the old expression, \u2018Don\u2019t put all your eggs in one basket?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani will take office on Jan. 1, leading a city of 8.5 million residents that serves as the world\u2019s financial and media capital \u2014 a money powerhouse that many of the planet\u2019s wealthiest people call home. Now, those same business leaders \u2014 long accustomed to sympathetic mayors from Michael Bloomberg to Eric Adams \u2014 are adjusting to a leader who promises to upend the city\u2019s economic order.<\/p>\n

The mayor-elect wants permission from state officials to raise taxes on corporations and uber-rich New Yorkers to pay for his campaign promises like free child care and buses. His embrace of far-left democratic socialism supported by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders is anathema to the capitalists who have long wielded power in New York City.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s monied class sank millions of dollars into super PACs in a futile effort to stop Mamdani\u2019s insurgent candidacy, which was built on a populist appeal to voters outraged by the cost of living in a deeply expensive city. He did so with a volunteer army of thousands and millions of dollars in relatively modest donations.<\/p>\n

Mamdani this week signaled he\u2019s willing to talk with and work with some of the biggest of the biggest capitalists, name checking JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon during Wednesday morning remarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is critically important that we start to embody a style of leadership that does not demand agreement across every single issue,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cIn order to even have a conversation, we need to be able to deliver for New Yorkers, and that means to meet New Yorkers, even those with whom we have any disagreements. So I look forward to having those kinds of meetings, be it with Jamie Dimon or be it with other business leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mayor-elect<\/p>\n

Business titans are counting on New York\u2019s moderate Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, to block Mamdani from raising their taxes. And some met with him after he won the primary and others are seeking meetings now \u2014 determining whether the untested mayor-elect will be rigidly orthodox or open to compromise.<\/p>\n

Wylde views Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani but is heading into her own tough reelection battle next year and wary of raising taxes, as a kind of fiscal firebreak.<\/p>\n

The governor opposes hiking income and business taxes. Any deal to do so must be approved by the Democratic-dominated state Legislature and signed by Hochul.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor has done a great job of reassuring the business community since the primary that she will not allow anything crazy on taxes and that she fully appreciates that New York has to stay competitive,\u201d Wylde said.<\/p>\n

People in real estate, meanwhile, have been comforted by Mamdani\u2019s embrace of veteran City Hall hands like Maria Torres-Springer, who served three mayors, and respected city planning czar Dan Garodnick, who have worked well with the industry. Others have taken note of the mayor-elect\u2019s increased attention to bringing down landlord costs as part of the equation for a multi-year rent freeze that was a pillar of his campaign platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t going to be an exodus of people. There are definitely people that are going to leave, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be a trend \u2014 a Wall Street trend or a real estate trend \u2014 if in fact the city stays safe and prosperous,\u201d said MaryAnne Gilmartin, president and CEO of development firm MAG Partners and a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the industry\u2019s leading trade group. \u201cIf he pays close attention to that, I think people will and should give him a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even those who poured money into the unsuccessful efforts to stop Mamdani from winning are admitting he was onto something in a campaign that focused largely on cost of living issues facing New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

Scott Rechler of RXR, a major developer, said in a statement Wednesday he\u2019s \u201cready to work\u201d with the mayor-elect. Rechler donated $250,000<\/u><\/a> to a pro-Cuomo super PAC in the Democratic primary, and reacted to Mamdani\u2019s surprise win in June by expressing hope<\/u><\/a> he could be beat in the general election.<\/p>\n

Steven Roth, the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, one of the city\u2019s largest commercial landlords, also put money into a political action committee aimed at halting Mamdani. But, in an earnings call with investors hours before the polls closed Tuesday, he was sanguine. Roth said he was yet to see any pullback in demand for customers because of a Mamdani mayoralty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m an optimist and believe that everything will work out for the best,\u201d Roth said.<\/p>\n

Bill Ackman, the Trump ally and hedge fund titan who was one of the single largest donors<\/u><\/a> in the mayoral race and opposed Mamdani, congratulated him on election night in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can help NYC, just let me know what I can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a follow up post, Ackman doubled down on the conciliatory tone. \u201cMamdani won a decisive election,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHe is going to be our mayor for the next four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dimon, who reportedly reached out<\/u><\/a> to Mamdani on Wednesday, did a sitdown interview with BLN alongside Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a lifelong Democrat who left the party and is running for Michigan governor as an independent. Asked if he could imagine himself doing a sitdown alongside Mamdani, Dimon said he would help someone if they wanted his help, but didn\u2019t give a ringing endorsement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of mayors, governors, political leaders \u2014 some grow into the job,\u201d Dimon said<\/u><\/a>. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve seen a lot who swell under the job, they never get around to it. They are so befuddled with politics and ideology. I\u2019m hoping any mayor does what\u2019s right to help the citizens of that city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonio Weiss, a Treasury official in the Obama administration and investor at the New York-based firm SSW Partners, said Mamdani is \u201csubstantive on policy yet open to learning more and to hearing additional perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMamdani has made a serious effort to expand his coalition during the general election, and that has meant sitting down with people who don\u2019t necessarily agree with him,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n

The mayor-elect was a little-known state lawmaker when he launched his campaign and insiders didn\u2019t know him like they knew the past several mayors who, despite widely different politics, were city hall veterans, like Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams.<\/p>\n

One view is that Mamdani\u2019s key platforms \u2014 free buses, freezing rent \u2014 were planting flags to show he\u2019ll take bold steps but his ultimate policies will be more nuanced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he\u2019s signaling,\u201d said Tom Wright, the head of the vaunted Regional Plan Association, \u201cis he wants to fix the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Sutton contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing a deeply skeptical business community that has long called the shots in New York. But don\u2019t go looking for the moving vans just yet. Gotham\u2019s business elite are taking a wary \u2014 but open-minded \u2014 view of the young democratic socialist who wants to hike their taxes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15343\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}