New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani spotlighted Citadel CEO Ken Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse in a viral video asserting a brand new pied-à-terre tax. (Credit score: NORGES BANK INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT)
New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated Friday he has tried to fulfill with billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin after the hedge fund government blasted the mayor’s viral “Tax the Wealthy” video focusing on him.
Mamdani stated a member of his group reached out to Griffin however had not acquired a response.
“We reached out to arrange a gathering,” Mamdani stated Friday. “We’re nonetheless ready to listen to.”
“That continues to be an open invitation, and it’s a part of invites that I’ve made to quite a few enterprise leaders throughout town,” he continued. “I’m there to hear and there to have a dialog that goes past locations of settlement, however maybe locations of disagreement to listen to sincere reflection and critique, with out placing any precondition on the character of that dialog.”
BILLIONAIRE SAYS MAMDANI’S ‘TAX THE RICH’ VIDEO OUTSIDE HIS NYC APARTMENT WAS ‘CREEPY’ AND ‘FRIGHTENING’
On April 15 (Tax Day), NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a video outdoors Ken Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse selling a brand new “tax-the-rich” coverage. (Spencer Platt/Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
The outreach comes after Mamdani posted a video on April 15 highlighting Griffin’s property whereas selling a brand new pied-à-terre tax proposal.
Within the video, the mayor — who has pledged to lift taxes on rich New Yorkers — stood outdoors Griffin’s 24,000-square-foot penthouse, which Griffin bought in 2019 for $238 million, the costliest residential sale in U.S. historical past.
Griffin later criticized the video, calling it a “creepy and peculiar” political commercial.
A spokesperson for Griffin didn’t say whether or not he plans to fulfill with the mayor.
MAMDANI TAX BREAK PROPOSAL SPARKS FEARS AS BUSINESS LEADERS WARN OF ‘FRAGILE’ NYC ECONOMY
Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin known as New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s viral video singling out his Manhattan penthouse whereas asserting a brand new tax a “private assault” and a “profound lack of judgment.” (Denis Balibouse/Reuters / Reuters)
“Ken cares deeply about New York Metropolis and welcomes considerate, severe conversations concerning the insurance policies that may develop town’s financial system and create extra alternative for all New Yorkers,” the spokesperson stated in an announcement to FOX Enterprise. “Reckless political theater serves no function and undermines the way forward for one of many world’s most essential cities.”
Within the April video selling greater taxes on rich New Yorkers and a pied-à-terre tax on second houses, Mamdani singled out Griffin’s penthouse for instance of what he known as a “essentially unfair system.”
“That is an annual charge on luxurious properties value greater than $5 million whose homeowners don’t reside full-time within the metropolis—like this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin purchased for $238 million,” Mamdani stated within the video.
Talking on the Milken Convention in Los Angeles earlier this month, Griffin stated Mamdani’s “horrifying” video reaffirmed his choice to “double down” on enterprise in Miami.
MAMDANI THANKS SAME BILLIONAIRE HE TARGETED IN TAX VIDEO FOR NYPD MONEY
New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated his group reached out to Citadel CEO Ken Griffin following criticism over a viral tax proposal video. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
“Mamdani has made it very clear—New York doesn’t welcome success,” Griffin stated in the course of the panel.
Citadel is at present constructing a brand new headquarters in Miami, and Griffin reiterated plans to broaden the corporate’s presence in Florida, citing the state’s pro-business insurance policies.
The mayor’s workplace beforehand instructed Fox Information Digital that Mamdani “needs all New Yorkers to succeed,” together with Griffin, whom it described as a significant employer within the metropolis.
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New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani has beforehand criticized billionaires, together with Ken Griffin, whom he not too long ago thanked for supporting police. (Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
“That doesn’t negate the very fact, nonetheless, that our tax system is essentially damaged,” the assertion continued. “It rewards excessive wealth whereas working persons are pushed to the brink.”
“The established order is unsustainable and unjust,” it added. “If we wish this metropolis to grow to be a spot that working folks can afford, we’d like significant tax reform that features the wealthiest New Yorkers contributing their justifiable share.”
FOX Enterprise’ Nikolas Lanum and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
