{"id":208857,"date":"2026-04-24T21:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/208857\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T21:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:59:09","slug":"mamdani-doubles-down-on-ken-griffin-attack-despite-citadels-threat-to-pull-6-billion-nyc-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/208857\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani doubles down on Ken Griffin attack despite Citadel’s threat to pull $6 billion NYC project"},"content":{"rendered":"

He has Zo regrets!<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani was remorseless Friday about dragging billionaire Ken Griffin in a viral video promoting a new, proposed pied-\u00e1-terre tax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hizzoner dodged when asked if he had any regrets about calling out Griffin specifically in the video last week filmed in front of the Citadel founder\u2019s 24,000-square-foot property on Central Park South<\/a>, which he purchased for $238 million in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat home, when it was purchased, was the most expensive home in the United States of America, publicly reported, and it was described as such,\u201d Mamdani said when pressed by reporters during an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Mamdani stood in front of the Citadel founder\u2019s 24,000-square-foot property at 220 Central Park South. @NYCMayor \/X<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in a political environment where there is always an attempt to describe any increase in taxes as if it would be one that would apply to all, we wanted to make very clear that this applies to a very select group of properties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It was the latest volley in a back-and-forth with Griffin launched by Mamdani\u2019s eyebrow-raising April 15 video, in which he boasted that \u201ctoday, we\u2019re taxing the rich.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

He then spotlighted the Florida-based hedge fund titan\u2019s Manhattan penthouse as one that would be hit by Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s proposed tax on multi-million dollar secondary homes in New York City.<\/p>\n

But Griffin was not amused, with a top executive at his fund blasting the mayor\u2019s comments in a searing, company-wide email Thursday \u2014 and signaling he might pull a $6 billion development<\/a> project in Midtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom his comments, it is apparent that the Mayor\u2019s view is that these individuals do not contribute enough to the greater good,\u201d Citadel COO Gerald Beeson wrote in the missive obtained by The Post.<\/p>\n

Ken Griffin\u2019s 220 Central Park South property. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is shameful that he used Ken\u2019s name as the example of those who supposedly aren\u2019t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City\u2019s often costly and wasteful spending,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn doing so, the Mayor has once again manifested the ignorance and disdain of the elite political class towards those who have been consistently committed to building one of the greatest cities in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beeson went on to suggest that Citadel may potentially not move forward with its redevelopment project of 350 Park Avenue, which he said would bring 6,000 construction jobs and more than 15,000 permanent gigs in Midtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project \u2013 if we move forward \u2013 will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Ken Griffin\u2019s Citadel clapped back at the mayor\u2019s video, and hinted at a potential reversal on a major construction project. Getty Images<\/p>\n

When asked Friday if he was concerned about the possibility of Citadel\u2019s reversal on the project, Mamdani didn\u2019t answer directly but said he wants all New Yokers \u2014 including Griffin \u2014 to suceed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want New Yorkers to succeed. I want them to build businesses, to grow our economy and to create good paying jobs. And Ken Griffin has been a part of that. He\u2019s an important employer and business leader in our city<\/a>, and as I do with every New Yorker, I do want him to succeed,\u00a0 as mayor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0will continue to work with business leaders, including Mr. Griffin, as partners in building a city that continues to be the economic engine, not just of this state, but also of this country,\u201d he continued \u2014 before pivoting to what he called the nation\u2019s \u201cfundamentally broken\u201d tax system.<\/p>\n

Asked if he had any regrets about his video name-dropping Griffin and whether he\u2019d be willing to meet with the CEO, Mamdani only answered the latter, saying he\u2019d gladly speak to him, \u201cas I\u2019d be happy to speak with many business leaders across the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe all want this city to succeed, and that is something that I\u2019m committed to, no matter a question of unanimity on every single political issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also didn\u2019t answer when asked if he\u2019d reached out to Griffin, instead telling reporters that New Yorkers were facing a \u201ca generational fiscal crisis\u201d greater than the 2008 recession.<\/p>\n

Mamdani added that he was intent on balancing the city\u2019s budget \u201cin a manner that asks the wealthiest and most profitable corporations to pay that a little bit more so that everyone can afford to live in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that means Ken Griffin, and that means so many others across the city, and that also means those who would love to join us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani lambasted Ken Griffin\u2019s penthouse in a viral video announcing a new tax on luxury second homes. @NYCMayor \/X<\/p>\n

Mamdani was asked again if he regretted the stunt \u2014 especially in light of the assassination of another executive, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown in 2024 \u2014 with the reporter noting that he had stopped mentioning Griffin by name since posting the video.<\/p>\n

The mayor pivoted to explaining he wanted to highlight the \u201cvery select group of properties\u201d that would be covered by the pied-\u00e0-terre tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the reason that I gave other examples of this is that this piece of legislation is not motivated by any one individual. Rather, it is one that applies broadly without exception,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so the next day, I spoke about a Saudi prince who bought an apartment for $90 million a Russian auto dealer who bought an apartment for close to $30 million in cash. <\/p>\n

\u201cI say these things not because I do not want these individuals to be here in New York City or to purchase property in New York City,\u201d he insisted, \u201cbut rather to outline that we are talking about a proposal that will have a very narrow impact, and one that is being driven by an intention to ensure that everyone can remain in the city, including those that are taxed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He has Zo regrets! Mayor Zohran Mamdani was remorseless Friday about dragging billionaire Ken Griffin in a viral…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[288,426,18649,57,9,24,56,63,65,64,2780,58,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-208857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-kathy-hochul","10":"tag-ken-griffin","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-nyc-headlines","17":"tag-nyc-news","18":"tag-taxes","19":"tag-us-news","20":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}