{"id":213746,"date":"2026-04-29T06:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T06:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/213746\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T06:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T06:57:07","slug":"kevin-oleary-calls-mayor-mamdanis-nyc-tax-plan-stupid-as-wealth-flees-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/213746\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin O\u2019Leary calls Mayor Mamdani\u2019s NYC tax plan \u2018stupid\u2019 as wealth flees the city"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A renewed push to\u00a0raise taxes on wealthy\u00a0individuals and corporations in New York City is drawing criticism from business leaders as policymakers weigh how to balance budgets without driving away investment.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Leary Ventures chairman Kevin O\u2019Leary joined FOX Business\u2019 Stuart Varney on \u201cVarney &amp; Co.\u201d to weigh in on <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/17\/opinion\/mamdani-wants-to-eat-the-rich-then-who-will-be-left-to-feed-the-citys-ginormous-budget\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">proposals targeting high earners<\/a>, arguing the approach risks undermining the economic activity cities rely on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, let\u2019s just look at the policy itself and stay out of the emotional aspect of it \u2026 These people do not live in the city, they do not burden the city with anything because they\u2019re obviously out-of-towners,\u201d O\u2019Leary said.<\/p>\n<p>His comments come as <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/18\/us-news\/kathy-hochul-begs-wealthy-new-yorkers-to-come-back-as-mamdani-pressures-her-to-hike-their-taxes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">major firms and high-net-worth individuals increasingly signal a\u00a0willingness to relocate capital<\/a>\u00a0in response to tax policy, a trend that has reshaped migration patterns across several high-tax states in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin O\u2019Leary called Mayor Mamdani\u2019s tax plan for NYC \u201csheer blind stupidity\u201d while speaking on FOX Business. FOX Business<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani has been pushing to\u00a0raise taxes on wealthy\u00a0individuals and corporations in NYC. Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Leary pointed to the role that outside investors play in funding development and supporting\u00a0local economies through spending\u00a0and taxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey spend 5 million plus dollars \u2026 Not using any of the city\u2019s services, which is what the city needs, less people putting pressure on it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey pay taxes, and they pay maintenance jobs to maintain the buildings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Leary said Mamdani\u2019s approach risks undermining the economic activity NYC relies on. FOX Business<\/p>\n<p>He argued that policies targeting those investors <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/28\/business\/mayor-mamdanis-budget-mess-is-creating-chaos-in-the-nyc-bond-market\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">risk discouraging activity that cities depend on<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me count how many ways this policy is stupid \u2026 You want more of these people \u2026 That don\u2019t live here, pay taxes, pay maintenance, create jobs \u2026 And don\u2019t use the city\u2019s services, that\u2019s sheer blind stupidity, that policy,\u201d O\u2019Leary said.<\/p>\n<p>The debate highlights broader questions about how cities can balance revenue needs with maintaining a competitive environment for\u00a0investment and growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A renewed push to\u00a0raise taxes on wealthy\u00a0individuals and corporations in New York City is drawing criticism from business&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14927,37386,57,9,56,63,65,64,19032,2780,58,82],"class_list":["post-213746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-city-budget","tag-kevin-oleary","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-tax-reforms","tag-taxes","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213746","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=213746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}