{"id":591153,"date":"2026-04-24T13:19:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=591153"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:19:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:19:04","slug":"nycs-mamdani-may-have-crossed-a-line-with-billionaire-businessman-who-already-bailed-from-chicago-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=591153","title":{"rendered":"NYC\u2019s Mamdani may have crossed a line with billionaire businessman who already bailed from Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Billionaire Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel, is reportedly livid with New York City (NYC) Mayor Zohran Mamdani for using his property to promote a new tax.<\/p>\n

On April 15, aka Tax Day, Mamdani introduced a \u201cpied-a-terre\u201d tax on barely used second properties that the rich own in NYC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city,\u201d Mamdani said while speaking right outside one of Griffin\u2019s penthouses. \u201cLike for this penthouse, which hedge-fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Happy Tax Day, New York. We\u2019re taxing the rich. pic.twitter.com\/Wky2LFXC9W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Griffin was not pleased by the disrespect from the communist mayor.<\/p>\n

In an email sent two days later to Citadel employees, CEO Gerald Beeson suggested that Griffin may potentially not move forward with plans for a huge Midtown construction project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are about to commence the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, creating 6,000 highly paid construction jobs and supporting the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in mid-town New York,\u201d he wrote, according to The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. \u201cThe project\u2014if we move forward<\/strong>\u2014will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning to Mamdani, Beeson then opened fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is shameful that he used Ken\u2019s name as the example of those who supposedly aren\u2019t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City\u2019s often costly and wasteful spending,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn doing so, the mayor has once again manifested the ignorance and disdain of the elite political class towards those who have been consistently committed to building one of the greatest cities in the world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Beeson continued by noting that Citadel \u201cprincipals and team members (including nonresidents) have paid nearly $2.3 billion dollars in city and state taxes\u201d during the past five years. He also touted Griffin\u2019s direct contribution of $650 million in charitable gifts to NYC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nearly 2,500 colleagues who have chosen to build their careers here,\u201d the Citadel CEO wrote. \u201cWe understand that our hard work and success will, on occasion, make us targets for political rhetoric. But it should not diminish the pride we take in building firms that will continue to help New York City thrive for decades ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

News of Griffin\u2019s anger resonated with fellow billionaire Bill Ackman:<\/p>\n

\n

Non-residents who spend millions of dollars on NYC apartments help drive NYC\u2019s economy. Most of the profit in condominium development is in the penthouses. The Ken Griffins of the world make NYC high end development viable, driving high-paying construction, brokerage, legal,\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/7Iv6UhGzdf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe should be applauding Ken for spending $238 million in NYC, not attacking him for doing so,\u201d Ackman wrote in a tweet. \u201cImportantly, non-resident owners of NYC apartments who leave their apartments vacant for much of the year are not a burden to NYC schools, services, or other resources while they drive growth in retail sales, restaurants, theater, and other important drivers of our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKen\u2019s company is a major employer in NYC of very high paying jobs which drive a considerable amount of our tax base. We wouldn\u2019t want him to move even more employees to Miami,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Griffin\u2019s first foray with the radicalized, confiscatory left. In 2022, he relocated Citadel from the leftist state of Illinois to the right-wing state of Florida after clashing repeatedly with far-left Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.<\/p>\n

The consequences of his decision have been devastating for the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to a 2024 report from Crain\u2019s Chicago Business, Griffin had donated more than $650 million to various causes throughout Chicago,\u201d New York<\/a> magazine notes. \u201cHis philanthropy has since shifted to Florida, where he has distributed more than $300 million since moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s specifically relocated to Miami, which at the time had the following Republican as its mayor:<\/p>\n

\n

We 100% are. NY\/Chicago\u2019s loss is our gain. Ken not only employs a lot of people in our ecosystem, he is a prolific philanthropist who has invested in everything from education to public spaces to helping the homeless. We value him and @Citadel<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/cjW7wx7Yoa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Francis X. Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Its current mayor is, however, a Democrat.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billionaire Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel, is reportedly livid with New York City (NYC) Mayor Zohran Mamdani for using his property to promote a new tax. On April 15, aka Tax Day, Mamdani introduced a \u201cpied-a-terre\u201d tax on barely used second properties that the rich own in NYC. \u201cThis is an annual fee on… Continue reading NYC\u2019s Mamdani may have crossed a line with billionaire businessman who already bailed from Chicago<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":591150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-591153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=591153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/591150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=591153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=591153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=591153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}