The Democratic Party nominee for Mayor of New York City, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, told journalist Mehdi Hasan that despite headlines about wealthy New Yorkers fleeing the city because of rising tax rates, the real story is that wealthy New Yorkers are leaving the city at only 1/4 the rate of those in other economic brackets.
Mamdani, whose platform includes higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals that he says will fuel a more equitable prosperity for all city residents, also contended that high taxes is not the reason many top 1% earners leave, an assertion he supports by noting that a large percentage of wealthy people who do leave the city take flight to “New Jersey or California” — which, he says, are also “often described as high tax [states].”
“You can’t have Scandinavian public services with American tax rates.”@ZohranKMamdani explains why the wealthy won’t flee New York if he is elected mayor—despite the threats of billionaires like Bill Ackman. pic.twitter.com/fOAmfd8IMN
— Zeteo (@zeteo_news) September 26, 2025
Why do they leave? Mamdani contends that the wealthy leave because of “quality of life” issues, something he believes better-funded and more efficient infrastructure will improve.
(One famous figure whose departure seems, at least in part, to support Mamdani’s assertion is Fox News persona Sean Hannity, who said he moved to Florida from New York in 2024 because of “high taxes, quality of life, crime.” Hannity also had unique reasons that don’t impact most New Yorkers, even ultra-rich ones. “I had a hard time going to a restaurant in New York City,” he said, “because people would stare at me and hated me.”)
For his data concerning the relatively smaller share of wealthy New Yorkers who leave — and their new high-tax destinations — Mamdani cites a 2023 study from the Fiscal Policy Institute that addressed this “capital flight.” He concludes from the research that it is not “so much about fiscal policy that drives that flight, but much more about quality of life” — though Hannity, like others, named both aspects.
(NOTE: The FPI study found that “high earners do not significantly change their migration behavior in response to tax increases.”)
Mamdani says that “you feel that lack of quality of life whether in public transit, whether in sanitation, whether in our libraries, whether in a sense that the city is actually thriving,” saying this lack cannot be “disentangled” from the ability to “fund our public services.”
Both Mamdani and his critics on fiscal policy will find fuel for their fights in the Fiscal Policy Institute’s September press release parsing data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reads in part:
“New economic data released this morning show that inequality is rising in New York, with income gains for the state’s richest residents driving statewide wage growth well above the national average. At the same time, low- and middle-income households saw wage gains below the national average, and overall statewide job growth lags behind the national average – highlighting the economic challenges facing New York’s working families. Wage growth for high earners has driven strong tax revenues, contributing to the State’s $3.9 billion surplus for the most recent fiscal year.”
There Mamdani and his cohorts can find evidence of New York’s system — its fiscal policy — working positively for the top earners, creating an income-friendly environment that results in huge earnings at the top, while his detractors deploring high tax rates will scan the results as a story where the top earners are footing too much of the bill for the state’s budget.
And there are those — and it appears to be an increasing number of Americans — who are frustrated with the proposals of both sides, a quandary represented by the post below.
One reason I don’t like Zohran Mamdani is I’m pro-capitalism, and given previous statements and his policy goals, I don’t think he is.
One reason I don’t like Donald Trump is I’m pro-capitalism, and given his arbitrary raising of tariffs on trading partners, I don’t think he is.
— Carl (@HistoryBoomer) September 26, 2025
Fending off charges of “tax and spend” liberalism is also part of Mamdani’s plan, with an effort to restore government credibility through efficient, transparent spending — on the notion that people don’t mind paying taxes if they see the results of their contribution.
(Hannity, who lived in New York City for decades, must have determined for at least part of that time that his tax contribution was worth the price of the benefits he received as a city resident.)
Mamdani says — see below — that the “language of efficiency and waste and fraud” aren’t the province of the GOP or the right, but should be “at the core of any progressive politics.”
This answer from Mamdani is excellent. pic.twitter.com/mJ78XlvhBu
— Daniel Pearson (@DPearsonPHL) September 26, 2025