Anirban Sen, Suzanne McGee and Lananh Nguyen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street and the financial industry are deeply concerned about front-runner Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor of New York, but many expect him to downsize as he prepares to run alongside him.
Mamdani’s policies include a variety of taxes on New York’s wealthiest people, a corporate tax hike, a freeze on rent-stabilized apartments and an increase in publicly subsidized housing, worries in the financial community that the city’s competitiveness will suffer.
“There are a lot of ideas that are well thought out. I agree that he has captured real passion,” said Cromwell Coulson, head of Manhattan-based markets data and trading platform OTC Markets Group. Still, Coulson raised concerns, saying some people may be forced to leave the city if it becomes an unfriendly place for trade.
“It won’t be day one, but you’ll see where our hiring footprint goes,” said Coulson, who said he would eventually back Mamdani’s main challenger in the race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a moderate Democrat. November 4 Republican Curtis Sliwa is also running in the upcoming election.
Reuters spoke to more than half a dozen other members of the financial community, including executives or representatives of financial firms or industries, who declined to be named to discuss the policy.
“If the election goes the way the polls suggest, … let’s hope that the worst fears about what might happen next are not borne out and the new mayor, whatever it may be, will continue to recognize the importance of the business community to the city,” Peter Orszag, CEO of financial advisory and wealth management firm Lazard, said recently at a closed conference call. Orszag served as the head of the Office of Management and Budget for former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
Some financial heavyweights have poured money into the effort to defeat Mamdani. Prominent investor Bill Ackman declared in Sunday X that Mamdani’s “anti-business policies, including higher corporate taxes, will destroy jobs in New York and send companies fleeing.” According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board website, Ackman has donated $1 million to Defend NYC, which describes itself as “a bipartisan group of New Yorkers united by a common concern about Zohran Mamdani’s policies and record,” and $750,000 to Fix the City, which supports Cuomo.
Billionaire investor Dan Loeb has donated $600,000 to Fix the City and $100,000 to Defend NYC. Representatives for Ackman and Loeb declined to comment.
Still, with betting website Polymarket giving Mamdani a 95% chance of winning, Wall Street leaders are increasingly focused on how to work with him. Indeed, Mamdani communicated directly with business leaders. He spoke to CEOs at meetings organized by the Partnership for New York City, which includes Wall Street banks, private equity firms and law firms, according to Kathryn Wylde, the organization’s CEO. Over the summer, he spoke by phone with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who offered to help if Mamdani became mayor, one of the sources said. Another source said Mamdani was involved in the real estate industry.
The conversation with Dimon was previously reported by Bloomberg.
Yasser Salem, CEO of OneNYC, an independent spending committee that supports Mamdani, said in an interview with Reuters that he is putting together an advisory board of business leaders to work with Mamdani if he wins.
“We’re very focused on building concrete cases and demonstrating confidence” with the business community, Salem said.
Representatives for Mamdani and Cuomo did not respond to requests for comment.
Although New York’s mayor does not directly oversee Wall Street, the mayor sets the tone for whether the global heart of capitalism is perceived as pro-business. Gov. Kathy Hochul backed Mamdani in an opinion piece in The New York Times in September, saying she wanted to keep New York at the center of the world economy.
Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York, noted that in order for the tax increase to go through, Mamdani would have to work with Albany, which must approve any city tax increase.
“Whatever process happens will be incredibly slow and will never really affect” the wealthy population, Greer said.
RIPPLE EFFECT THROUGH THE CITY
Real estate could have a ripple effect as Mamdani seeks to freeze rents on apartments that have stabilized rents. The measure was initiated by former Mayor Bill de Blasio but reversed by outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.
The potential rent freeze has spooked many landlords and lenders, said Paul Rahimian, CEO of Parkview Financial, a Los Angeles real estate lender with an office in New York. Rahimian said the firm is taking a “hold and see” approach to making new loans to real estate developers and projects in New York until after the election.
“There are a lot of owners who are not making money now but whose property is costing them money every year,” he said.
Isaac Toledano, founder and CEO of Miami-based real estate investment firm BH Group, said he predicted that by 2026 will be busy moving from New York to Florida if Mamdani wins.
“There are a lot of people who don’t agree with what he’s going to do,” Toledano said.
(Reporting by Anirban Sen, Tatiana Bautzer, Lananh Nguyen, Suzanne McGee; Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, Matt Tracy, Megan Davies; Writing by Megan Davies; Editing by Leslie Adler)
