Griffin Confirms He Will Expand Footprint at Miami After Mamdani’s ‘Creepy and Weird’ Pied-à-Terre Tax Video

Billionaire hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin remained mum on his commitment to New York City while confirming Tuesday that he is set to increase his office footprint at Miami following the release of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “creepy” and “frightening” video filmed outside his apartment. Speaking with CNBC host Sara Eisen at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference at Los Angeles, Mr. Griffin said Mr. Mamdani’s video, which the Democratic Socialist filmed outside the Citadel founder’s apartment building, had forced his company to rethink its future at New York City. “What the mayor of New York has made clear to my partners, and principally my New York partners, is that we need to double down on our bet on Miami,” Mr. Griffin said.Last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Mr. Mamdani announced a new pied-à-terre tax on second homes at New York City valued at $5 million or more in the city’s five boroughs. Mr. Mamdani claimed the new tax will raise “at least $500 million directly for the city,” which he said would help fund free childcare and cleaner streets, among other services. However, last week, the New York Comptroller’s office predicted the new luxury tax would generate between $340 million and $380 million in revenue, falling well short of Mr. Mamdani’s projections.Shortly after announcing the new tax, Mr. Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, filmed a video of himself standing outside 220 Central Park South, where Mr. Griffin owns a $238 million apartment, boasting that he was making good on his campaign promise to “tax the rich” and calling out the hedge fund chief by name. Critics called the video an attempt to stir up class warfare. On Tuesday, Mr. Griffin, who admitted to watching the video three times, said Mr. Mamdani’s theatrics went from “creepy” to “frightening” in light of suspect Luigi Mangione’s alleged 2025 murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and a recent assassination attempt targeting members of President Trump’s Cabinet at last month’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.“The CEO of United Healthcare was killed just a few blocks from my house, and anything that creates an agitation in the extremist on either side of the aisle is a frightening dynamic,” Mr. Griffin added. The decision to go after Mr. Griffin, whose firms Citadel and Citadel Securities employ roughly 1,500 people at New York City, struck many as ill-advised and poorly timed. Mr. Griffin’s companies are the anchor tenants for a proposed commercial skyscraper at 350 Park Avenue that, when finished, would be the tallest-ever skyscraper at Midtown Manhattan. However, since Mr. Mamdani’s video, Citadel has signaled that it is rethinking its commitment to the project, which the company expects to create about 6,000 construction jobs and 15,000 permanent roles at the company.“What we do with 350 (Park Avenue) is still a point of discussion internally,” Mr. Griffin said Tuesday. Mr. Griffin’s tenuous commitment to New York was reminiscent of his decision in 2022 to move Citadel’s headquarters out of Chicago over what he said at the time was the city’s “broken schools, bankrupt pensions, rising crime, a declining tax base, and public corruption.”“When we moved from Chicago, there was a debate between New York and Miami. It’s unquestionably true that we made the right choice, I’ll leave it at that,” Mr. Griffin said Tuesday. Citadel reportedly agreed to increase its existing office footprint in a planned tower at Miami, leading the building’s developers to scrap a hotel that had been planned as part of the project. Last week, Mr. Griffin agreed to meet with Ms. Hochul to discuss his firm’s future in the city, among other things. A spokesman for the governor declined to comment on the specifics of the “private meeting.”In a statement to the Sun, the governor’s representative said the specifics of the new pied-à-terre policy are still being negotiated, but it would deliver the projected revenue. “The governor’s proposal will generate at least $500 million for New York City,” the spokesperson said.Mr. Mamdani has since softened his message about Mr. Griffin while slamming “a tax system that is fundamentally broken.”“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’s an important employer and business leader in our city, and as I do with every New Yorker, I do want him to succeed,” Mr. Mamdani said. Mr. Mamdani’s director of video, Olivia Becker, posted on X that the video attacking Mr. Griffin was the handle’s “most viewed video of all time.”

Griffin Confirms He Will Expand Footprint at Miami After Mamdani’s ‘Creepy and Weird’ Pied-à-Terre Tax Video

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