Mamdani’s rent freeze faces keyboard vote
The final vote on June 25 could pass a rent freeze for about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in Mamdani City. Public hearings will be held across New York.
Democratic socialist Zoran Mamdani has been in office for six months now, and billionaires are paying close attention.
New York City’s mayor has run a campaign to tax the wealthy, but his governance has put him at odds with several billionaires in the past few months.
Here is a list of who Mamdani has been in conflict with so far.
ken griffin
One of the most notable disagreements to date has seen Mamdani and Griffin embroiled in drama after the mayor announced a new pied-à-terre tax proposal aimed at the city’s wealthier residents.
In a video promoting the new tax, Mamdani stood outside Griffin’s $238 million home and used it as an example of who would face more charges.
Griffin, CEO of Citadel LLC, a global hedge fund, was extremely offended by the post, calling the video “creepy and bizarre.”
“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,” Griffin said in a later interview.
“He seems to have forgotten that the CEO of another American company was assassinated just a few blocks from New York, where I live.”
Mr. Mamdani said he was open to dialogue with Mr. Griffin. However, as of late May, the two had yet to speak directly.
jeff bezos
After Griffin’s video, Bezos said billionaires should not be demonized.
“When you don’t know how to solve a problem, creating a bad guy and blaming the bad guy doesn’t solve the problem. The only thing that can solve a problem is skill,” he said in May.
“I pay billions of dollars in taxes. … If people want me to pay them billions more, let’s have that argument. But don’t pretend like that solves the problem,” Bezos said. “I can double the taxes I pay, but it won’t help that teacher in Queens, I promise you.”
After the interview, Mamdani went to X to dispute the claim.
“I know some teachers at Queen’s who disagree,” Mamdani said.
President Trump had previously expressed unexpected favoritism to Mamdani, but after the new pied-à-terre tax proposal, the president chose his words for the mayor.
“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is trying to destroy New York! No chance! The United States should not be complicit in New York’s failures,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
“It’s only going to get worse. Taxes, taxes, tax policy is so wrong. People are fleeing. They have to change their ways, and fast. History has shown us that this ‘thing’ just doesn’t work.”
After posting, Mamdani said: “Both the president and I want the city to succeed. This is the way.”
“I’ve made it clear to the president and the people that I wholeheartedly support taxing the wealthy.”
james dolan
The most recent feud was between the mayor and Madison Square Garden CEO Dolan.
An off-site Knicks NBA Finals viewing party Wednesday night was limited to a ticketed event due to safety concerns. Knicks fans have been known to become increasingly rowdy and destructive after games, and past NBA Finals games this year resulted in dozens of arrests.
However, The Garden issued a statement saying they were actually just limiting the number of fans.
A statement released Tuesday said, “The Knicks’ last few wins were celebrated by thousands of people outside of MSG. The joy and happiness was evident everywhere.”
“Apparently Mayor Mamdani and Police Commissioner Tisch do not want these celebrations to take place, despite what they are saying.”
According to The Athletic, the New York City Police Department has given the Knicks permission to hold a Game 4 party for up to 1,000 people outside the stadium. Participants required tickets and re-entry was prohibited.
The viewing party was canceled hours before the game started. Mamdani pointed at Dolan in X’s post.
The mayor then struck a deal with the NBA to live stream Knicks games on LinkNYC screens across the city.
