NYC biz leaders left shaking over prospect of Zohran Mamdani mayoral win: ‘It would be disastrous'

New York Post

5 days ago

They want none of his business.
Big Apple business leaders are shaking in their boots that socialist Zohran Mamdani will pull off an upset win in Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary and coast into Gracie Mansion, The Post has learned.
Frightened movers and shakers said that a Mayor Mamdani would be 'disastrous' for New York City — with some loath to speak out publicly for fear of ticking off progressives and galvanizing the Queens assemblyman's lefty, anti-business base.
'It would be disastrous for the city,' said startup entrepreneur John Borthwick — who recently met the surging candidate during a Partnership For New York City meeting.
Mamdani, who spent just three years in the workforce between graduating college in 2014 and being elected to the state Assembly in 2020, struck Borthwick as out of his depth.
'He's a very nice charming human who I think who has absolutely no idea what it would take to run a city government,' Borthwick, the CEO of Betaworks, said.
3 Zohran Mamdani's surge in the Democratic mayoral primary has some business leaders running scared.
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'Given the challenges the city faces with the state budget and federal government, they will eat him for breakfast.'
The business community's fear has been rising along with Mamdani's standing in the polls — culminating with an Emerson College Polling/Pix 11/The Hill survey Monday shockingly finding him edging out former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in eight rounds of ranked-choice voting.
Mamdani's surge in the polls has been driven by his unabashedly socialist, freebie-heavy platform promising free buses, city-run grocery stores and higher taxes on the rich.
But many business leaders such as billionaire John Catsimatidis — who threatened to close his Manhattan-based grocery chain Gristedes if Mamdani wins — have claimed that the Democratic socialist's proposals will lead to an exodus from the city.
3 Billionaire John Catsimatidis threatened to move his Gristedes grocery chain out of New York City if Mamdani wins.
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Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis gleefully weighed in on the recent poll showing a Mamdani win by boasting of boon for the Sunshine State — at least for the well-to-do.
'Just when you thought Palm Beach real estate couldn't go any higher…' he wrote on X.
Frank Garcia, national chairman of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who lives in New York, bluntly said business leaders were very concerned about Mamdani getting elected.
'He's like Bill de Blasio. He's anti-business,' Garcia said.
One New York business industry leader, who spoke with The Post under the condition of anonymity out of concern that Mamdani may actually win, said the outspoken progressive would bring 'uncertainty.'
'Uncertainty is never good for businesses, it's never good for the market,' he said, even going so far as comparing Mamdani to President Trump and his erratic tariff policy.
'It's almost like Trump in reverse,' he said.
One of Mamdani's people-pleasing planks is a promise to raise New York City's minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.
'In the world's richest city, making the minimum wage shouldn't mean living in poverty,' his campaign's platform states.
Tom Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said his borough's merchants — of whom 90% have 10 or fewer employees — are worried about Mamdani's promises.
'A $30 minimum wage is unsustainable,' he said. 'The average merchant can't afford a minimum wage increase now. That would kill the bottom line. They'd have to cut employees.'
But other business leaders have publicly kept their concerns to themselves.
3 Kathryn Wylde, CEO for the Partnership For New York City, said business leaders have stayed silent in the Democratic primary because their 'kind words' are not helpful.
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Kathryn Wylde, CEO for the powerful Partnership For New York City nonprofit business group, said their silence isn't necessarily unusual, noting they don't typically comment on political races.
'Plus, they are not plugged into social media, so few were forewarned about the possible far-left direction of the mayoral race,' she said.
'Many have some history with Cuomo — as some pundit put it 'the devil they know' — who was looking for their dollars but not for public endorsement in a Democratic primary, where kind words from the business community are not helpful.'