Mamdani Pied-A-Terre Planning Tax
Mayor Zoran Mamdani announced plans to tax luxury second homes owned by absentee residents in New York City.
Ken Griffin and Zoran Mamdani’s latest feud has intensified after the billionaire said the New York mayor had put him in danger by showing his penthouse in a video promoting his latest tax initiative last month.
Citadel’s CEO is speaking out against the mayor following a video used in a tax campaign and an email sent to Citadel employees last month hinting that his company may not pursue multibillion-dollar projects in the city.
“He seems to forget that just a few blocks from New York, where I live, the CEO of another American company was assassinated, and it’s inappropriate for one of our political leaders to put the public at risk,” Griffin recently told CNBC.
Here’s what you need to know about the entire conflict.
Mayor Mamdani explains the new tax in an online video. Why is Ken Griffin angry at Mamdani?
Last month, Mamdani released a video explaining the new pied-à-terre tax.
The proposal plans to “impose an annual surcharge on one- to three-unit homes, condominiums, and co-ops over $5 million if the owner has another principal residence outside of New York City,” the city said. The mayor stood outside Ms. Griffin’s home and used it as an example of who would spearhead the new proposed legislation.
Griffin bought the penthouse at 220 Central Park South in 2019 for about $238 million, WSJ reported at the time. Set a record for the most expensive home ever sold in the United States
Citadel’s response to Mamdani tax video
At the time, Griffin’s company issued a statement to employees calling the video “disgraceful,” according to an employee email first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Citadel Chief Operating Officer Gerald Beeson sent an email last month disapproving of Mamdani’s use of Griffin’s home in his video imposing taxes on the wealthy.
“It’s shameful that Ken’s name was used as an example of those who don’t seem to be bearing their fair share of the burden of New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending,” Beeson said, according to a WSJ report.
“In doing so, the mayor once again revealed the elite political class’s ignorance and contempt for the people who have consistently worked to build one of the world’s greatest cities.”
He also suggested the company may not be able to move forward with new projects in the city.
“We are about to embark on the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, which will create 6,000 good-paying construction jobs in Midtown New York and support the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs,” Beeson said.
“If we move forward with this project, we will need to spend more than $6 billion.”
At a separate news conference last month, Mamdani said he would be happy to speak with Griffin, “because regardless of our differences over fiscal policy or whether the state should tax non-resident New Yorkers’ secondary homes worth more than $5 million, we all believe in the same city.”
Ken Griffin makes new comments about Mamdani feud. What did Ken Griffin say about Mamdani?
In an interview with CNBC, Griffin said the video turned him into a “political puppet.”
“It’s also disconcerting that this tax itself is a tax that discriminates against a select group of people. As you know, we’re looking at investing $6 billion in New York City… Are we going to apply a special tax rate to office building owners who live out of state? For example, where in New York is this stop?”
And he said, “What’s really upsetting about the video is the fact that he harmed me.”
“He seems to have forgotten that just a few blocks from where I live in New York, the CEO of another American company was assassinated,” Griffin said.
He even called Mamdani’s video “creepy and bizarre” in a Tuesday briefing, according to Fox Business.
“What the mayor of New York has made clear to my partners, and primarily my partners in New York, is that we need to double down on our bet in Miami because we want to be a state that embraces business, embraces education, embraces individual liberty and liberty.”
Mamdani responds to Ken Griffin’s backlash
In a statement to USA TODAY, Mayoral Spokesman Joe Calvello said, “Mayor Mamdani wants all New Yorkers to succeed, including the business owners and entrepreneurs who create good-paying jobs and make our city a powerhouse of America’s economy.”
“This includes Ken Griffin, a major employer and business mogul in the city. But that doesn’t negate the fact that our tax system is fundamentally broken, rewarding extreme wealth while pushing working people to the brink,” the statement continued. “The current situation is unsustainable and unfair. If we want to make this city a place that working people can afford, we need meaningful tax reform that includes making sure the wealthiest New Yorkers pay their fair share.”
Amethyst Martinez is a NYC Connect reporter for USA TODAY Network.
