New York City Mayor Mamdani says he’s delivering on a core campaign promise: taxing the rich.
On Tuesday, Mamdani backed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal for the state’s first-ever tax on ultrawealthy second-home owners.
To make the point, Mamdani singled out one of the most expensive homes in the country — hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin’s penthouse, which he bought for $238 million in 2019 — in a video posted online.
“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich — well, today, we’re taxing the rich,” Mamdani said in the video.
“This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth over $5 million whose owners do not live full time in the city, like for this penthouse,” he added, pointing to the Manhattan skyscraper that Griffin’s residence is in.
The proposal has not yet been approved by the state legislature.
Griffin’s four-floor condo at 220 Central Park South set a record when he bought it in 2019, said to be the most expensive home ever sold in the US at the time.
The new “pied-à-terre” tax would apply to one- to three-family homes, condos, and co-ops valued at more than $5 million when the owner’s primary residence is outside New York City.
The mayor’s office says the measure is designed to target billionaires and global elites who use New York real estate as a store of wealth rather than a primary residence.
Griffin, the founder of Citadel, moved his firm’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022 and has increasingly built out a presence in Florida — a state with no personal income tax, making it a magnet for wealthy Americans seeking lower tax bills. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin all have homes in Florida.
Business Insider could not reach Griffin for comment.
The mayor’s office said it expects that the New York tax would raise at least $500 million annually, with funds earmarked for priorities such as free childcare, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods, Mamdani said.
Mamdani framed the policy as a fix for what he called an “unfair system,” adding that while all New Yorkers contribute to the city, the wealthiest should shoulder more of the burden.
“As mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play,” he said. “And some, a little bit more to give than others.”
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