New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was slammed by a CNBC anchor over his video touting a new tax to soak the rich that was filmed in front of the penthouse belonging to billionaire Ken Griffin.
In the “Tax Day” message posted to social media, the Ugandan-born socialist Democrat touted Gotham’s first tax on pieds-à-terre, dwellings worth more than $5 million that are owned by people who aren’t permanent residents of the city, calling out the hedge fund CEO by name and pointing to his $238 million 220 Central Park South penthouse as an example.
Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich. pic.twitter.com/Wky2LFXC9W
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 15, 2026
“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich,” Hizzoner crowed. “Well, today, we’re taxing the rich.”
“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,” the “communist lunatic” explained.
Mamdani’s triumphant video struck a sour note with some, including “Squawk on the Street” and “Money Movers” co-anchor Sara Eisen, who blasted the mayor for “demonizing” Griffin and pointed out that such class warfare policies could backfire by driving money out of the Big Apple and to other locales that are more welcoming.
Ken Griffin employs thousands of people in NYC and is planning to build the tallest office tower on Park Ave., investing billions more and creating thousands more jobs. (For that reason, he’s also here in NYC a lot, @NYCMayor)
Meantime Miami is welcoming him and his firm, with… https://t.co/k6JrvuwaEH
— Sara Eisen (@SaraEisen) April 16, 2026
“Ken Griffin employs thousands of people in NYC and is planning to build the tallest office tower on Park Ave., investing billions more and creating thousands more jobs. (For that reason, he’s also here in NYC a lot, @NYCMayor),” she wrote in a post to X. “Meantime Miami is welcoming him and his firm, with the massive jobs, investment and tax revenue he’s bringing.”
“Making him feel unwelcome and demonizing him seems risky. Ken left Chicago and moved Citadel hq to Miami a few years ago because of bad policy. (He also sold his penthouse there),” Eisen added.
The New York Post reached out to Eisen on Friday about her post, and the CNBC anchor told the paper that “there’s no place like NYC” for businesses that “have strong and growing footholds here,” and Mayor Mamdani and other leftist politicians “shouldn’t take that for granted.”
“The general attitude I hear from business leaders is ‘We can probably get through four years of anti-business policies, but the danger is the longer-term trend’,” she said, adding, “Bad policies have consequences, as we’ve seen a migration of business out of California and into Florida, for instance.”
“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK,” President Donald J. Trump, a native New Yorker, wrote in a Thursday post to Truth Social.
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