NYC NOW - Mayor Mamdani’s Tax the Rich Video and the Billionaire Backlash

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

Mayor Mamdani filmed a video in front of the most expensive penthouse ever sold in the United States to celebrate a new tax on luxury second homes. It went viral, and the city's billionaires were not happy. WNYC reporter Elizabeth Kim takes us from Billionaire's Row to Fordham Road in the Bronx to speak to New Yorkers about the fight to tax the rich. Photo: Michael Lee/Moment via Getty Images -Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre. This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth worth $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city. Like for this pet house, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million. Zora Mamdani promised to tax the rich on the campaign trail. As mayor, he's doing just that.

But a video posted last month, posted last month has added fuel to the fire. On today's episode, we visit Billionaire's Row and dig into the tension between Mumdani and the city's elite. Before we get into that, though, here's what else the mayor is up to. Mumdani says he wants to speed up how quickly New Yorkers can move into affordable apartments. His administration is rolling out a series of reforms they hope will simplify the leasing process for tenants and reduce the amount of time it takes. for developers to build new housing. The reforms are detailed in a new report called Speed

that Mundani says will eliminate hurdles to building and move-ins. We want to cut the ribbon on new housing, and we will do so by cutting the red tape that's in its way. That is what speed is all about, helping government deliver tangible solutions at the scale this crisis demands and at the speed New Yorkers deserve. The changes include cutting down time

for getting building permits, expediting reviews, and eliminating redundant. inspections by city agencies. It will also make the city's affordable housing lottery easier to navigate. A major New York City Hospital Network says the Trump administration is requesting information on all minors who received gender-referming care at its facilities over the past six years. This includes services like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. NYU Langone Health says in a notice that the request was part of a subpoena from the U.S. attorney for the Northern

District of Texas. The subpoena also requests the names of doctors involved in providing the care. NYU Langone did not comment on whether it will comply with the request, and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on why it's requesting this information. I don't want to get ahead of myself, or jinx anything, but the Knicks are four wins away from their first NBA finals appearance since 1999. If that happens, one of the games at MSD could be the same day as a World Cup match at MetLife Stadium. And that could create a big problem at Penn Station and fans going to game six. NJ Transit has already severely limited its service in and out of Penn Station

to give World Cup ticket holders priority on match days. Nix fan Jim Fagan expects people will be pretty upset if they can't make it to the game on time. They're going to be pissed off. That's going to drive them crazy. I'm sure that they're going to be really upset. Transit says commuters should stay tuned for more details if the Knicks make it to the finals. The Big Apple is a tale of two cities, the working class and the elite. Coming up, we talk with WNYC's city politics reporter Liz Kim about Mayor Mumdani's promise to tax the rich and what's fueling the debate.

That's after a quick break. Welcome back. Last week, I went uptown with WNYC and Gothamist reporter, Liz. Kim. Hi, Janay. Hey, Liz. It feels a little bit like we're on the set of a movie, right? Yeah. Or maybe something like Gossip Girl.

Yeah, this area of New York City, Billionaires Row, it's really clean. We were on Billionaires Row, right on 57th Street in Manhattan. This area is home to a group of ultra-luxury skyscrapers and some of the most expensive residences in the world. You see a horse and buggy driving by. You see yellow taxis. You see tourists. see people on their way to work.

But then we're staring at this building, 220 Central Park South. 220 Central Park South really does look like a building out of a movie about New York. It has huge windows and pretty balconies going all the way up. And inside, an 82-foot saltwater pool, a state-of-the-art gym.

You have a spa, you have a sauna, you have steam rooms, you have a squash court, basketball court. And right up at the very top is a penthouse. that is the most expensive penthouse ever sold in the United States. How expensive are we talking? $238 million. And it's become a little bit of an infamous building.

It was featured in a video by Mayor Zoramam Dhani. When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we're taxing the rich. Mayor Zorah Mumdani won his election on a message of taxing the rich. I'm thrilled to announce who secured a pietere tax, the first in New York's history. But a video Mumdani made about a tax on luxury second homes last month ignited a firestorm. This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live full-time in the city.

Like for this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million. New York City's corporate elite said Mumdani cross. a line, singling out Griffin, and using his home as a backdrop for the video. But other New Yorkers say they have little sympathy for the residents of billionaires' role. The clash has energized an activist movement to tax the rich, and today, we'll take a look at how Mayor Mumdani is reigniting the debate over inequality in the richest city in the world. So, Liz.

Yes, Jenae. That building we visited was the backdrop of the viral video that the mayor posted last month. And before we get into that and the reactions, let's rewind, shall we? How did we arrive at this moment where the mayor of New York City is essentially doing a victory lap over attacks on the rich? Well, Mamdani campaigned and won on this message that the city is becoming increasingly unaffordable and out of reach for many New Yorkers. He promised to make it more affordable by expanding free services that the city are. offers. And to pay for it, he proposed an income tax hike on the top 1% of earners and the richest corporations. He estimated that it would generate around $9 billion in additional revenue a year.

And all of that would go towards helping him carry out this campaign promise he made, right? Well, here's the thing. Not exactly. While Mamdani initially pitched this tax as expanding the city's social safety net, he came into office facing a $5.4 billion deficit in the city budget. So Mamdani's tax the rich plan isn't just about funding his agenda now, but it's also about plugging a hole and avoiding painful cuts, the kinds of cuts to areas like libraries, parks, affordable housing. These are the types of cuts that he promised he'd never make as mayor. Yeah, but an income tax hike isn't what's on the table right now. Instead, it's a pierre tax.

The pieter tax has been something that has been talked about for years in New York City, going back to when Griffin first bought the apartment in 2019. And the argument goes like this. These are ultra wealthy individuals. They reap the benefits of the city's very lucrative real estate market, but they don't actually chip in for services, because they don't pay income tax. Governor Hockel decided this year to take it up as part of the state budget.

Now, she's been facing pressure from Mamdani and the left to implement this income tax hike on the rich, which is something only the state has the power to do. But Hockel's a moderate Democrat, and she's been consistently against raising taxes. So this pieta's hair tax is her attempt at a compromise. Now, to be clear, this is a narrow tax, right? It's expected to generate, at best, $500 million a year? Economically, that's a drop in the buck. But politically, it's very significant.

And the mayor clearly wanted to tout this as a win. And he did what he so often does, which is shoot a video. Exactly. And like you said, it went viral. Went viral for all the right reasons or the wrong reasons. Well, that depends who you ask. The tax the rich movement is really a national movement. It didn't start with Mamdani.

Polling generally suggests that taxing the rich appears to be broadly popular. I'll point to a bipartisan policy center poll that came out last month. It found that generally both Democrats and Republicans prefer spending cuts over tax increases. However, if there are to be taxes, both agree that they should be on the rich. corporations. You know, it goes, it almost goes without saying that the rich have both the megaphone and the money to fight back. They're focusing their anger on this video. And they're saying that Mamdani crossed a line by filming in front of Griffin's apartment and calling him out by name. Ken Griffin was on CNBC recently saying he felt the mayor made him a, quote, political

puppet and put him in harm's way. You know, he seems so forgotten that the CEO of another American company was assassinated, just blocks from where I live in New York. And Griffin is referring to Luigi Mangione, right, who is accused of assassinating United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson in Minto. Yes, that was an incident that sent shockwaves through the city's business community. Mangoni was allegedly found with a note that said he was taking down a, quote, parasitic industry. But Griffin also lays out this broader and very familiar argument against taxing the rich. With 1% of New York taxpayers paying 45% of all the taxes, cities in a precarious position if they make those who create value feel like they're best off moving their businesses and their lives to other jurisdictions.

So he's saying that these are the very people who generate tax revenue for the city and that if you lean on them too much, they're just going to pack up and leave. Got it. So rich people hate the plan, right? But, Liz, you went to talk to people in the Bronx about the mayor's video and the controversy surrounding it. I'm curious, why did you pick the Bronx? Is there a billionaires road there that I don't know about? I went to Fordham Road in particular. And the reason why I chose it was that this was the area where Mamdani visited days after the 2024 presidential election to talk to voters. It was one of the few New York City districts where Trump actually won.

And it is perhaps as far away as you can get from billionaires' row, both in class and race, and also just the feel of the neighborhood. But it's no less busy than Midtown. Are you born and raised New Yorker? I am in the Bronx site, yes. Born and raised in the Bronx? Always, yes. This is where I met Edwin Vega, a retired attorney who was born and raised in the Bronx.

This is the video. What's the issue? He hadn't seen Mom Donnie's video. but when I showed it to him, his reaction was unequivocal. First of all, I'm not going to shed any tears for a billionaire. So, I mean, I think it's absurd. If his feelings are hurt, well, boo-hoo. Who cares?

He says he thinks it's a real stretch to say that any billionaire is going to be attacked in this city. Another person I met named Edward Cahill, he lives on the Upper West Side. And he also had no sympathy for Griffin. The head of a hench fund is one of the most protected and insulated people. He's got so many resources, so much privilege. If his feelings are hurt, I think that's his problem. I also talk to Jasmine Jimenez, who lives in the Bronx. She thinks the mayor was just trying to draw attention to the city's inequality.

I don't think it's a threat. It's mostly like having New Yorkers open their eyes and also to just call out the people in general to take accountability and see how much privilege they have. That's why I would say. This is essentially the tale of two cities. Yes. In many ways, this is a long-standing conflict about inequality in the city.

But the ascendance of Mamdani has put the griffins of the city on their heels. They feel like they are not appreciated for what they do as investors in the city, as job creators. and they also feel that they're under attack in rhetoric, but also in policies like the Piazza tax. Meanwhile, those I spoke with on Fordham Road feel there's something bigger that's wrong with the system that's allowed inequality to deepen here. And that tension you're describing takes me back to Mamdani's campaign. This was at the heart of his message, right? So now that he's sparked this debate, is he leaning into the fight with the city's elite? Not really. He's kind of backing away. Listen to this exchange I had with him during a press conference, right as this controversy was really starting to take off.

All right. Last question. Let's go ahead. Hi, Liz. Okay. So I explained to some people in the business community. I explained to him what people I've been talking to in the business community are saying. But do you regret doing that video? That home when it was purchased was the most expensive home in the United States of America. It was publicly reported, and it was described as such.

He goes on to describe Griffin as an important employer. You know, he's certainly not calling him out anymore. He's certainly not running to the front of his building to film a video anymore. You know, this controversy has grabbed headlines for a month now. Janae. And this is in the city where, you know, the news cycle just turns through so quickly. But you have people like the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blank Fine, Stephen Roth, a prominent New York City developer recently criticized Mom Dani. I must say that I consider the phrase, tax the rich, quote, tax the rich,

but spit out with anger and intent by politicians both here and across the country to be just as hateful as some disgusting, racial horrors. But Roth also makes a pointed compliment of Mom Dani. Our mayor is young, smart, and energetic. With a little tweak here, a little tweak there, his leadership could make this great city even greater. He will learn over time that growing a tax base is a winner and raising taxes is a loser. Wow, that's quite a pivot.

He was just trashing the mayor. That's right, Jene. But what Roth understands is that Mom Dani, You know, he's still the mayor and he wields power. People like Roth have been around a long time. They're not new to a political fight like this. But you know what? Mamdani is.

And one of the fascinating aspects of covering his mayoralty is watching him learn on the job. Now, as a backbench assembly member and also as a candidate on the campaign trail, he was free to be an activist. But now he has to govern and he has to work with a broad and diverse group of stakeholders like the city's business community. And what this episode tells us is that he's trying to balance these two instincts. One where he's rushing out and doing a video in front of Griffin's luxury building, calling for attacks on the rich. And another where he has to actually sit across from CEOs who are weighing whether to invest and create jobs. the city. Yeah, that's a complicated situation. I'm glad I'm not mayor. That's WNYC's Liz Kim. Thanks a lot, Liz. Thanks, Jane. And thank you for listening to NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre. See you next time.