Below is my column in the New York Post on the sharp decline in millionaires in New York, costing the state billions as many flee. The exodus has been building for years but may now be accelerating. As Mayor Mamdani holds another press conference promising to end the “violence of evictions,” businesses are reading the writing on the wall. Rather than work to make the state more attractive to wealthy residents and businesses, Democrats are seeking to diminish the appeal of two-tax states. They want to tap into a long-barred area of taxation: the wealth rather than just the income of citizens. By passing a national wealth tax, Democrats will reduce the benefit of fleeing high-tax states like California and New York.
Here is the column:
“Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leavin’ today” — that’s how the famous song “New York, New York” captures the Big Apple’s draw.
Today, the line is becoming more ironic than iconic: Many people are indeed leaving … from New York, New York.
Worse yet, those “vagabond shoes” that “are longing to stray” are on the feet of the wealthiest New Yorkers.
And as they flee, according to a new study, they’re taking away billions in badly needed tax revenue.
As Mayor Zohran Mamdani and others pledge massive social programs and free services by taxing the wealthy, the wealthy are just melting away.
The reason is simple: if “you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”
In today’s economy, it’s no longer necessary or even particularly beneficial to be in New York to make money in financial and other areas.
When any business meeting is a screen and a click away, you can go to a low-tax state like Florida or Texas and do as well as you can in the Big Apple.
Not surprisingly, many are choosing the money over the mystique and the madness.
This week the Citizens Budget Commission reported that New York’s share of millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to 8.7% in 2022 — the largest drop of any state.
The exodus of wealthy citizens left New York short $10.7 billion in tax revenue.
By denouncing the remaining wealthy as effectively freeloaders who are “not paying their fair share,” Mamdani is only spurring them on.
It’s a demonstrably false claim that I discuss in my book Rage and the Republic — and part of a growing class-warfare theme the left is deliberately using to fuel political rage.
Yet it’s easy to form a mob — and far more difficult to control it.
That is particularly the case when your economic policies destroy your economy, and your ability to pay for all the free services that you’ve promised.
There’s a good-faith debate to be had over optimal tax levels, but the fact is that the top 10% of Americans pay more in taxes than the other 90% of the country. The top 1% pays roughly 40% of federal taxes.
As rational actors flee the state, Mamdani and New York Democrats are forced to cull the shrinking herd of high-end taxpayers who remain, layering on special fees like a pied-à-terre tax to be imposed on NYC’s luxury property owners.
And rather than change course to make New York a more attractive place to do business and live, national Democrats are moving to make other states no better — by nationalizing wealth taxes and by taxing fleeing citizens as if they still lived in the state.
Many are following Sen. Bernie Sanders’ and Rep. Ro Khanna’s call to impose a federal wealth tax they’ve dubbed the Billionaire Tax.
The idea is to stem the exodus from California and New York by giving the highest earners no place to go . . . except out of the country.
That’s the option many took when similar wealth taxes were attempted in countries like France, only to be rescinded after doing massive economic damage.
Fleecing the wealthy is a revenue loser.
New York is losing billions, and California has reportedly lost trillions due to top taxpayers’ departure.
Unwilling to adopt greater fiscal restraints and truly compete for businesses and residents, Democrats are looking for pockets of new areas to tax.
The wealth tax is a virtual bonanza of untapped revenue — if it can make it through the courts.
Our Constitution was amended in 1913 to allow for an income tax, not a wealth tax.
Once you pay taxes on what you earn, you’re supposed to be able to use your hard-earned money to buy whatever you wish, from bikes to boats.
Democrats now want to tax those possessions: “your Rembrandts, your stock portfolio, your diamonds and your yachts,” as Sen. Elizabeth Warren once dramatically warned.
And Khanna recently confirmed what some of us have been saying for years: The Billionaire Tax isn’t only for billionaires.
“The tax should not stop at billionaires,” he said in a pitch to his party’s rising socialist movement; “it must reach centimillionaires. The tax has to reach all fortunes $50 million and up.”
Khanna and others hope that, once taken nationally, a wealth tax would destroy the benefit of moving to low-tax states — and open up literally trillions in new potential revenue.
In the meantime, New York will continue to burn billions as it taps its dwindling number of millionaires.
As their wealthy neighbors depart, those remaining will have to make up for their loss.
Being among the last to leave New York will be a costly distinction.
They will indeed “wake up” — and find that they’re “king of the hill, top of the list” for wealth redistribution.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times bestselling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
“There’s a good-faith debate to be had over optimal tax levels, but the fact is that the top 10% of Americans pay more in taxes than the other 90% of the country. The top 1% pays roughly 40% of federal taxes.”
The other 90% of the country adds the majority of the value the top 10% harvests to be the top 10%.
What is missing from the conversation is the tax rate alternative. Taxation isn’t a 1-dimensional problem to discuss; it’s the avoidance of taxes that makes things interesting. The billionaires want to avoid taxes by simply eliminating them so they can invest in gutting the middle class of homes and building factories in emerging economies, such as China. Prior to that, the billionaires could avoid taxes by investing in American factories and American research and development and better wages and health insurance for workers and vacations and so on.
The Reagan era began the elimination of the need for those by cutting the tax rate, so they stopped investing and started market manipulation with stock buy-backs.
Capitalism always wins because people like having stuff.
Till they get old…..
Anything is better than the current system. Kiss property ownership goodbye.
I had a hound once, great hunting dog. He got covered in ticks, they were everywhere. He went from a robust animal to a shell of himself. The ticks were sucking the life blood right out of him. I had to dip him and in some cases pull ticks off of him. It was a dirty business, almost killed him. Once I got all the blood sucking parasites off of him, it was amazing, he returned to his former self.
Make Hounds Great Again!
Without property ownership the poor will never acquire assets; without assets they will never escape poverty. Such people should not be permitted to replicate or multipy. In cases where they do, they should be denied all financial assistance and sustenace.. All we’re doing is building a permanent, ever-expanding, poverty-stricken underclass. Meanwhile the average New Yorker is probably paying upwards of forty-five percent in taxes, much of which goes directly to corruption. Add that anything in excess of ten percent taxes is, quite literally, “highway robbery,” and in fact, “slavery.” What is the optimal tax level? In terms of general economic welfare? I would guess it’s fifteen percent or less.
Mao took the fields away from the owners. China starved.
Stalin took the fields away from the Kulaks. Russia starved.
Zimbabwe took the fields away from the owners. Zimbabwe starved.
Kim took the fields away from the owners. North Korea starves.
Castro took the fields away from the owners. Cubans are still starving.
And so it goes.
Quickly
Was going to see either “Young Washington” or “Odyssey” tomorrow but just learned that Odyssey’s Woke Director cast a 5’1″ female trans as a male soldier. We have had enough of this nonsense. We are going to see “Young Washington” It is probably closer to REALITY.
Elliot Page
My wife and I saw it on the 5th. It was great . At the ned she actually applauded and in the 50 years we’ve been married she’s never done that before.
What’s the source on this 5:1 trans soldier??
Elliot Page (formerly know as Ellen Page of Juno fame)
“. . . Odyssey’s Woke Director cast a 5’1″ female trans as a male soldier.”
Far more revolting is that Nolan (the director) butchers Homer’s artistic genius. He transformed an epic adventure story into a propaganda vehicle, by basing the move on a hideous, contemporary translation of the Odyssey.
Open AI has made odyssey a box office hit. I’m sanding peeling paint today.
“It’s the [freedom], stupid!”
– James Carville
___________________
The freedom is far more important than any one man.
Musk is a great man; freedom is a great environment.
The poor shall always be with us.
Shabbat shalom everyone 👏🥰🎉🎁☀️🏆🥳🎊🎈💥👏🥂🍾🎊🍷🍷🍷 🍞 🍞 🍞
(OT)
The comments section has been poisoned by those spitting venom at Musk.
To borrow a famous line:
“The sound perception of an ant does not include thunder.”
Musk is a grifter. Ants don’t give a rats ass.
When Musk became a trillionaire, 4200 of his employees became millionaires. Did Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren ever make anyone a millionaire?
No they didn’t. Nor have they ever wanted to. Why? Millionaires don’t need them.
Musk WAS a paper trillionaire for all of 12 days.
At the market close today with SPCX at $124 his net worth is $793 billion, down 45% from his highest net worth just over one month ago.
His net worth has been cut almost in half, and it has a long way yet to fall because fair value is $63.
Half of the publicly tradable shares have been sold short, indicating that Wall St. predicts a crash in the stock price.
When the first lockup of insider shares expires in about 3-4 weeks there will be a sudden influx of 912 million shares which will triple the publicly available float. The selling by insiders will crash the stock price. Musk’s net worth will drop dramatically to less than the the $290 billion net worth of Larry Page, currently the second richest man on the planet.
Get your popcorn ready.
This will be historic.
OH NO- THE HORROR ONLY 793 BILLION SAYS ANON
Is this your whole shtick?
Is Musk all you have MORON ANON??
MORON ANON HAS TDS AND MDS!!! both deadly!
Musk’s lifestyle won’t be affected. Thank God he had the money to buy Twitter and keep free speech a reality. Thank you, Elon.
He didn’t have the money to buy Twitter.
He sold $20 billion of his Tesla stock. He borrowed the rest and was paying $1billion a year in interest, and that was killing the company. X never turned a profit after Musk bought it because the debt burden was huge. That was why he merged X and his AI company into SpaceX just before the IPO. In that way he unloaded the debt from both companies onto the new shareholders of SpaceX.
The whole SpaceX IPO was a scam to shift his X debt, as well as the huge debt from his AI company onto the SpaceX shareholders.
Wall St. understands this , and that is why the SpaceX stock has tanked 45% from its high in just over a month.
Musk STILL has more cash that you pee-on.
Stock goes up and down. Part of life, get use to it,
Musk has far more money then you ever will.
Now go cry in you’re beer.
“. . . his net worth is $793 billion . . .”
Considering he came to America with nothing, that’s not a bad day’s work.
The Democrats make people much poorer not richer.
Everyone wants to be a millionaire! I quote from the Bible, “the love of money is the root of ALL evil”. . .
Name the gifts before I buy stock. Waiting.
. . . spitting venom at Musk
We can redeem that with truthful information about Musk’s amazing accomplishments. Here’s another video essay from Maxinomics:
oldman
Why are you, and the rest of the MAGA mob, so invested in the success of Elon Musk?
A rhetorical question of course. The reason is that he is a fellow cult member.
Musk is a mentally ill grifter, just like Trump.
He has admitted to having Asperger’s syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum.
He has also admitted that he suffers from depression and uses ketamine.
Partly because of these mental health conditions, he has been denied a “Sensitive Compartmented Information” (SCI) and Special Access Programs (SAPs) clearance by NASA. Because of this he is excluded from access to Spacex’s most sensitive national security projects and he is legally barred from even entering any Spacex facility where work on spy satellites is performed. He is not permitted to have any information regarding the nature of the classified payloads that his rockets launch into orbit.
He is forbidden from even talking to the engineers he employs, and who have clearance to work on the classified projects.
He is regarded as a national security risk because of his known unofficial communications with foreign leaders, including Putin.
He is a dangerous loose cannon, just like Trump.
I’m just invested in the truth. People who are truthful are known to seem like “cult members” to psychotic Estovir-solipsism sufferers, so I’m not surprised you referred to both me and Elon Musk in those terms.
Speaking of which, your compliments are really over the top at this point. It wasn’t enough that you flattered me by voluntarily becoming my own personal online stalker. Now you go to a whole new level of flattery by putting me in a class with Elon Musk.
You should know I pay cash on the barrel for compliments like that. So in your reply to this message just leave your mailing address and you should see some serious money come your way soon 😉
MORON ANON IS FOS(full of..)
“Why are you, and the rest of the MAGA mob, so invested in the success of Elon Musk?”
Because we’re still Americans.
Unlike the envy-bitten, we cheer for achievement and success.
I want to take a moment to thank the mentally-ill anonny who thinks everyone else is Estovir. He has now become my very own cyber-stalker, which I appreciate very much.
BTW, psychiatrists have identified a particular variety of solipsism which they now call Estovir-solipsism. It occurs when a mental patient has a psychotic break and ends up thinking they are the only person on earth who is not named Estovir.
Estovir, there aren’t many people on these threads. You drove them all away years ago.
We were here ‘before’ you. We remember all the debates that used to unfold. But then your boring puppets got in the way of every discussion. And one by one, most of the real commenters peeled off. Consequently you and George are the only conservatives who hang here on a regular basis. Meyer stops in once and awhile but never stays long; same with Olly.
Estovir, during the week of Easter in 2020, you rolled out a whole roster of puppets that have been here ever since. And you keep creating more. That’s what makes the blog so boring now. Everyone sounds like you!
One imagines you’re handicapped and have no other life. But the blog would be a lot more fun if you took a long hiatus. It would be fascinating to see how these threads would develop in your absence.
Dear Stalker – you portray me as having way more power than I actually have. But then I am not surprised, since 97% of psychiatrists agree that you not only suffer from Estovir-solipsism, you also live in opposite world. But it was fun chatting anyways.
oldman, I see you’ve managed to capture the attention of this blog’s remora. How he thinks you are Estovir is truly bizarre, not to mention his assessment that you and one other comprise the extent of conservatives here. Saying he lives in an alternate reality would be an understatement.
Olly – true, but ultimately I’m flattered to have my very own online stalker.
Olly, you were here ‘before’ Estovir. We had all-day debates back then in which everyone took part. These threads haven’t seen that kind of participation in more that 5 years. Something obviously changed and it began in the spring of 2020 when Estovir created his first brigade of puppets. And that’s when we first saw Old Man (among many others).
Ano
Seek real help. You need it.
Estovir, the character Old Man is constantly changing. Sometimes he really sounds like an old man in Kansas. But he’s constantly in flux. Same thing with Witherspoon.
Keeping all these characters consistent for 12 hours per day is more work than even the best writers could handle. No wonder you get bored. Who wouldn’t? And that’s when you get sloppy.
Speaking of sloppy. Look who is here, Ano as usual.
Do you scream at the moon too
“. . . who thinks everyone else is Estovir.”
And all this time I thought you were lin.
But wait a minute. If lin is Estovir, and you’re lin, then that means . . . you’ve been outed.
It’s nothing new. New York City started shrinking in 2017. The exodus slowed in 2023, but a lot of that was because of all the illegals that came in. Still, it shrank by 140,000 people.
IT’s not just bad tax policy. Bad housing policies. Bad law enforcement. Bad schools. Bad economic policies.
Mayor Gulliani had NY cleaned up, safe and solvent. The Democrats following led to a cesspool that could cost you your life if you make a wrong turn. Sickening
It’s such a tiny universe. Elon is trying to leave. 😂
Are you scared ano?
Sure looks like it.
Want to increase affordability? End income and wealth taxes.
End income and wealth taxes..??
Oh sure, the government can just run on autopilot. And we don’t need to spend anything on defense. If we stop spending on defense, Russia and China won’t have to either.
Federal income taxes have only existed for the last 113 years in America, with the 16th Amendment. It was able to run before that on other types of taxes such as excise taxes and tariffs. It was able to spend money on defense during that time.
Old Man (Estovir), you’ve never read Charles Dickens?
The 19th Century was a nightmare for anyone poor or handicapped. What we call slums today are luxurious compared to slums of the 19th Century. And one should note that people died much younger then. What’s more, paved roads weren’t necessary in the days of horse and buggies. Cities weren’t nearly as big. Infrastructure needs weren’t as great.
With regards to military needs, America was much cheaper to defend before that advent of airpower and missiles.
Estovir, to be convincing as an ‘old man’, you need to sound much wiser. You can’t just wing it as a MAGA redneck.
Anonny – thank you, I am gratified to have my very own online stalker.
I’ve read Charles Dickens many times. Most of his stories are set in England. I was talking about America. I would have thought the phrase “in America” might have clued you into that, but apparently not.
In America, when the federal government has gotten into the business of helping with urban blight, they have only made it worse. Since you’re so erudite – or pretend to be – you have surely read Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. You see, anonny, the housing projects in NYC destroyed the vibrant neighborhoods that used to be there. Poverty and crime got notably worse.
Are you seriously positing that the slums in NYC and on the South Side of Chicago are wonderful places to be after 75 years of federally-subsidized projects, which are more dangerous than a war zone?
And in typical leftist fashion, you seem to attribute all the progress in science and health to the activity of the federal government in levying income taxes. Seriously? Government activity is responsible for all the progress between the 19th century and today? Are you even a rational being? Have you ever lived in the real world? It would seem not.
Estovir, Today’s housing projects are still better than 19th Century tenaments. And that’s true for both New York and Chicago; two cities you’ve obviously never been to.
If you think we could run this country today on a 19th Century budget, you’re way off in some Libertarian fairyland.
Dear Stalker – I’ve spent quite a bit of time in both cities. And the housing projects are hell on earth. You’d have a better chance of survival in a combat zone. Those projects replaced the vibrant neighborhoods that used to exist, where there was a lively and energetic culture and “eyes on the street” at all times to reduce crime. You really should read the Jane Jacobs book I mentioned if you don’t believe me. You might have your eyes open to reality.
And BTW, it hasn’t escaped me that you’re making a false comparison when you bring up the 19th century. That would only make sense if that’s when the federal government had started funding urban renewal. Even if we assume for sake of argument that the neighborhoods were bad in the 19th century, they were far better by the 1940s and 1950s, and all of that improvement – from the 19th century to the 1940s – had exactly nothing to do with federal income taxes which, in case you’ve forgotten, is what we’re talking about here.
Estovir, your history of cities is way too rosey. You seem to think that all the infrastructure needs could be handled on shoestring budgets. That’s what makes me doubt you’ve ever been to New York or Chicago.
Dear Stalker – my understanding of American cities comes from both personal experience and from reading non-fiction books about the way they were before I was born and before the feds ruined vast swaths of them.
My understanding of the topic was federal income taxes.
By your own admission, your understanding of cities comes from reading fiction set in a different country on a different continent. And you seem to think the topic of discussion is spending by any level of government on any project based on revenue derived from all forms of taxation.
I am not surprised. The defining feature of modern liberalism that fiction counts for more than fact, and they can’t seem to stick to the topic under discussion.
Oldman
I’m getting jealous, you have a new stalker. How do I get one. (-:
Are todays housing projects better than 19th century tenaments ? That is a close call.
Standard of living even to the least well off is much higher – free market did that, not government.
As to actual living conditions? You were likely safer n a 19th century tenament
Life expectancy has risen – but again that has nothing to do with government – there were no IV fluids, no antibiotics and we were just learning the importance of antiseptics. Again – nothing to do with government
Absolutely we could run this country today on a 19th century budget.
The entire cost of US courts, criminal justice, and even the penal system today is a little over $1T/year.
That is ALL government, not just federal. A libertarian would slash defense – but even if you leave it alone – that is a bit more than $1T. A libertarian would privatize roads – but again – leave them alone, and that is about 400B more.
We are at $3T on a 30T economy – that is 10% – and we have not cut roads – which were not a consequential part of 19th century budgets.
That would leave 6-9T in the hands of the citizens. There is almost no one that could not replace all the “benefits” they get from government for less than we are currently paying for them. Better still – if your Social Security and medicare taxes were directed to investment – you would not only have more income and money for health insurance when you retire – but you would be passing massive wealth on to your children.
Today the average family is barely 2 kids. A catholic school education TODAY costs about $3500/year for the first kid – less for the 2nd and out performs public schools. So the average family would spend just under $100K to send 2 kids to private schools.
my school taxes are almost 10K/year – I am losing money to private education after 10 years.
There is no benefit you get from government that would not be far cheaper to purchase in a free market.
Further – markets do NOT deliver one size fits all solutions – you want to pay more for education – your choice, less your choice.
Put away more or less for retirement and future health insurance – your choice.
Government provides everyone nearly the same thing – even if that is not what they want. And for most of us hat governent provides is NOT what we want.
Regardless we already live in a bizzare hybrid socialist/libertarian system.
The only reason that works at all is because the free market raises standard of living rapidly enough to afford the wasted spending of the socialist portion.
What IS however true is that if you boosted 19th century spending to 21st century levels – the economy would have collapsed.
It is the free market that has made the crappy luxury benefits that you deem important even possible.
Do the math – take the 19th century economy increase government spending from 8% to 42% – and see if it is even possible to deliver a fraction fo the equivalent benefits that the social welfare state delivers today – it is not, it is not a close call.
The governent we have today can only exist because the free market has boosted standard of living dramatically.
But that has been slowing down a government grows. We are already not growing fast enough to afford what government spends – hence the growing debt. The more benefits you deliver the slower growth becomes until eventually the economy fails.
John. Speaking of out of control government.
Just look at Calif not-so high speed rail. To NO-where.
Government greaters slums it does not fix them. Regardless Dickens wrote about London, and workhouses and debtors prisons – none of which existed in the US.
Further how do you left wing nuts reconcile your contradictory views ?
You claim that without government spending we would have horrible slums.
But then you claim we can allow 20M illegal poor low or no skill immigrants into the country in 4 years and it will cost us nothing.
Does anything in your ideology have to make sense ?
During the 19th century the US had mass immigration, total government spending – Federal State and Local LOWER than 8% of GDP
and the standard of living for the working class doubled every 15 years.
yes there were poor – there are ALWAYS poor – by definition 20% of people will ALWAYS be in the bottom quintile
There were no govenrment benefits, no social safety net – and we did NOT have dickensian horror, the UK did not really have Dickensian horror either, but it was worse than the US. Ireland did have mass starvation – due to very bad british policies
and millions of Irish came to the US where they rapidly sent money back, and did very well for unskilled or low skilled labor during the 19th century.
I personally have no problem with mass immigration – it is a NET good – but immigrants still need vetted as we did in the 19th century.
And you can not come here and immediately get a free ride.
But I am aware – and you should be aware that mass immigration while NET positive lots of negative consequences.
The FED found that illegal immigration during Biden raised housing prices and rent 30%
Further while overall employment rose – the employment of working class citizens was static or declined.
Nothing is all positive. Nearly all government spending is net negative – not ALL negative, but significantly NET negative.
Now we have social welfare.
What does NYC or NYS spend on defense ?
Fraud starts with massive amounts of federal money to cover all the states medicaid costs. And of course, no one to do any auditing. So free money with no accountability.
It’s lost JS. Sadly…
Tax Uniformity Amendment
Section 1. All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects.
Section 2. The effective rate of taxation on a subject shall not be made to depend on the quantity of the thing being taxed.
Section 3. The effective tax rate shall not exceed ten percent on any subject.
Section 4. This Amendment shall apply to all taxing authorities whether federal, state, or local.
Okay, that’s my proposal. Go ahead and take pot-shots. Tell me how it can be improved.
Two things I’ll say in its favor: it will spur economic growth, and it will (perhaps paternalistically) prevent states and cities from destroying themselves through bad tax policies that allow politicians to gain power through demagoguery.
Get rid of ALL taxes except a national sales tax and possibly tarifs.
The Federal government collects the tax and each state gets a share based on what is collected from that state.
Not other form of taxation.
This encourages investment.
This elimantes myriads of forms of double taxation.
It is the most efficient form of tax – because all tats is ultimately a tax on consumption.
And it gives everyone a stake in what government does with our taxes.
Interesting story related to the name change of Palm Beach airport to Donald J Trump airport.
United has just announced that any passengers with reservations into or out of the airport can change the reservation to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami without incurring a penalty or increased fare. They will do an even swap even if the fare would otherwise be higher.
Why would they do that ???
They have been inundated by complaints, and passengers have been demanding a change in the reservation because they refuse to set foot in the airport. If it was just a handful of passengers, then United would just tell them to suck it up, but clearly they have been inundated with complaints.
So, what’s next ??
Passengers start avoiding the airport, airlines reduce flights and the airport closes.
So United is catering to the mentally ill. It’s a business decision. Really not all that interesting to anyone with an IQ above 60.
Sounds like go woke, go broke.
So what ?
Fly to Palm Beech, don’t. Your choice.
But I would bet the issue disappears quickly
Contra the left given a choice between ideologil puffery and convenience – eventualy everyone opts for convenience
commies really hate this idea that Americans are free to remove themselves from their clutches at will.
How’s your tyranny gonna take root now commie?
The idea is to stem the exodus from California and New York by giving the highest earners no place to go . . . except out of the country.
That’s likely why leftists tend to be globalists. Having an ever-growing, intrusive, confiscatory state in one nation is not enough. They need to make sure people have nowhere to escape. Their socialist plans can only ultimately be realized through a worldwide government where people have nowhere to flee to find liberty.
Old Man (Estovir) Aren’t the globalists supposed to be Jews? Since when are Jews all ‘communists’??
I never said all Jews are communists. And that’s the odd thing about antisemitism. Everyone hates the Jews. The present-day DSA hates Jews, but is also globalist. But, but, but, globalists are Jews.
Supposedly Jews control everything, and Mossad is telling Trump what to do. Never mind that nobody has ever told Trump what to do in his life, and in fact Trump is telling Bibi not to undertake military operations that Bibi favors but are bad timing for Trump. But, somehow, in the fever mind of an antisemite, Bibi is telling Trump what to do.
Crazy, right? Those kinds of irrational hatreds are never consistent or logical.
Oldman
(people have nowhere to escape)
That reminds of a wall built in Germany. By the Russians.
*. It’s simply robbery, theft and temporary land grab which is also robbery and theft. How existing laws apply isn’t tested, yet. Freedom does include economic freedom.
It’ll leave the poor poorer and the nation in ruin. You’ll need to stop them. Christ again, the rich have their own reward. Yes, they do and that afterlife doesn’t include the poor. They really dislike robbery and theft.
I’m not qualified to address the law but I can say a homemade beef stew was 5 dollars and is now 25 dollars. The poor aren’t eating beef. Try chickpea stew. It’s in our future.
Stop the democrats.
What can you say? The New Yorker’s wanted it and they got it.
Let the chips fall where they may. They asked for it.
The rest of the country doesn’t give a rat’s ass about New York City …
Why care? Because people are being used without conscience.
“Many people are indeed leaving … from New York, New York.”
New York City is suffering a widely known “domestic exodus.” In the last year, some 114,000 residents fled the city. The first wave of that exodus was primarily the top 40% of income earners. The new wave is 40% of the *bottom* income earners. (That source is, among others, realtor.com, which I don’t think is owned by Murdoch.)
Funny, isn’t it, that according to the Left, the People are always right. Except when they’re not.
Communism Is Unconstitutional
The Singular American Failure Is The Judicial Branch, With Emphasis On The Supreme Court
The entire communist American welfare state is unconstitutional, including, but not limited to, admissions affirmative action, grade-inflation affirmative action, employment affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, minimum wage, rent control, social services, forced busing, public housing, utility subsidies, CRT, DEI, WIC, SNAP, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, PBS, NPR, Fed, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc.
Article 1, Section 8, provides Congress the power to tax for ONLY debt, defense, and “general Welfare”—ALL or THE WHOLE, WELL PROCEED through governmental provision of security and basic infrastructure—omitting and, thereby, excluding any power to tax for individual Welfare, specific Welfare, particular Welfare, favor, or charity.
The same Article enumerates and provides Congress the power to regulate ONLY “the Value of money,” “Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes,” and “land and naval Forces.”
Further, the 5th Amendment right to private property was initially qualified by the Framers and is, therefore, absolute, allowing no further qualification and allowing ONLY the owner the power to “claim and exercise” dominion over private property.
Government exists, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to provide maximal freedom to individuals, while government is severely limited and restricted to facilitating that maximal freedom of individuals through the provision only of security and basic infrastructure, which constitute “general Welfare.”
The Necessary and Proper Clause is nothing more than a perfunctory redundancy for the purposes of clarification—a reinforcement of that which was previously codified—and may not be wielded to amend and impose separate acts that do not represent but alter the letter and spirit of the Founders and Framers.
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution. Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto. The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then, and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.
Where the —- is the Supreme Court?
Cozying up to the Communist Manifesto.
______________________________________________
“[A] limited Constitution … can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing … To deny this would be to affirm … that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
– Alexander Hamilton
Where is scotus? I imagine it has succumbed to death threats and bulletproof vests? A coercive force as gifts are. Death threats are emollients? It’s a gift.
Manhattan alone contains nearly 500 million square feet of leasable office space. By comparison, the entire Miami office market totals roughly 50 million square feet—meaning Manhattan’s corporate infrastructure is roughly ten times larger than Florida’s premier business hub. Remember, Manhattan alone contains nearly 500 million square feet of leasable office space. By comparison, the entire Miami office market totals roughly 50 million square feet—meaning Manhattan’s corporate infrastructure is roughly ten times larger than Florida’s premier business hub. Remember, that’s just Manhattan.
Manhattan remains the benchmark for premium pricing. Average Class-A asking rents sit at $84.79 per square foot, with elite submarkets like the Plaza District commanding north of $94.53 per square foot.
Due to limited supply and intense corporate demand, Miami rents have skyrocketed. Average asking rents hit $70.70 per square foot, with premium Brickell office spaces pushing past $100 to $120 per square foot for top-tier spaces. In terms of trophy office costs, Miami now directly rivals Manhattan.
If an executive moves a business to Miami or Tampa, they will enjoy unparalleled corporate tax savings (a flat 5.5% corporate tax rate and 0% personal state income tax). However, the physical reality of maintaining that office space is no longer cheaper. Between hyper-inflated commercial rents matching Manhattan and the compounding threat of Florida’s commercial property insurance crisis, the structural cost of keeping the lights on in a Florida high-rise can easily outpace New York City.
In New York City, climate conditions allow residential and commercial buildings to completely turn off their air conditioning for 6 to 7 months out of the year. In Florida, massive HVAC systems and commercial chillers must run continuously day and night to battle high heat and 90%+ humidity.
Because cooling infrastructure never rests, a typical building in Florida consumes drastically more total kilowatt-hours over the course of a year than a building of identical size in New York.
Electricity rates a a lot cheaper in Florida, BUT….they run their very power-hungry A/C constantly to fight humidity and year round a/c. That means higher utility costs in Florida.
Lower wage professionals who moved to Florida expecting tax savings suddenly realize those savings are wiped out by high home insurance, needing a car and insurance and poor school choices. Many end up going back to NYC.
Corporations can stay put, but individual professionals and families are moving back to New York City in record numbers. Real estate and moving data indicate a substantial “boomerang” effect, particularly among upper-middle-class tech, finance, and creative workers.
Those corporations who moved to Florida for the tax advantages are also forced to keep their workforces in NYC because it’s too expensive for them to move to Florida. It means Florida’s tax benefits won’t last long for those billionaires and millionaires. Not without addressing the rising costs of lower wage workers who keep the infrastructure and services running in Florida.
“However, the physical reality of maintaining that office space is no longer cheaper.”
GSX has now become a major corporate CFO and a realtor. Companies moving to Florida will move to nicer spaces and maintain a rent close to what they paid before. Even if they pay more than desired $20 – $50 per square foot of office space is inconsequential compared to the reduced taxes and over-all labor costs in NYC that includes a much higher sales tax for every employee.
Rational thinking eludes GSX.
no silly , an estimated 22% of Manhattan’s inventory—primarily outdated Class B and C buildings—suffers from a massive oversupply
you just lie and lie…slipping
This lingering glut continues to impact the city’s commercial real estate and economy in several key ways:
Flight to Quality: Tenants are disproportionately flocking to modern, amenity-rich buildings. Companies are giving up excess square footage and upgrading to higher-tier spaces, which has rapidly drained the available sublease market.
Plummeting Valuations: The glut of obsolete office space and high interest rates have tanked the value of many older office towers, with some publicly traded landlord portfolios seeing values fall below their 2020 pandemic lows.
Conversion Challenges: To reduce the glut, developers are pursuing massive office-to-residential conversions. However, these projects are highly complex and face major financial and structural hurdles.
Economic Ripple Effects: Because offices generate a massive chunk of the city’s property-tax levy, the devaluation of these properties presents a long-term risk to city revenues that fund public services.
I can use AI too X.
“Manhattan alone contains nearly 500 million square feet of leasable office space. ..”
Major investment banks have more staff in TX, than NYC – and that is not counting what is in FL.
Banks leaving NYC is a huge deal.
Buildings are not leaving NYC – people are. Arguing that the Citicorp building has not picked itself up and moved to TX or FL is hilariously stupid.
But what is new – you still thin that changing your zip code boosts your intelligence.
Is there a massive vacancy problem in NYC ? There has been a problem in corporate space everywhere since Covid – but it is worse in and arround NYC. Regardless will office space in NYC get rented – certainly. The law of supply and demand still works
Ultimately NYC will replace everyone who leaves. Look at Strip malls in the US. The franchises most of us are familiar with are gone.
The still malls are still rented – with businesses like asian nail salons.
NYC is not going to die – but it is going to change. The tax base will not disappear – but it will shrink.
Rents will drop – or they will rise more slowly than the rest of the country.
Arguing that physical buildings have no left NYC is just stupid. Elliott Management — The activist hedge fund, long based in Manhattan, relocated significant operations and talent to Florida as part of the “Wall Street South” migration. Like several peers, it sought no state income tax and a more business-friendly environment.
AllianceBernstein — The global asset manager moved key functions and personnel out of New York, contributing to the drain of high-paying finance jobs. The firm joined others shifting toward southern hubs amid concerns over rising costs.
Citadel — Ken Griffin’s massive hedge fund has expanded aggressively in Florida, with reports of co-headquarters or major operational shifts away from traditional New York bases. The move aligns with a pattern of elite funds diversifying southward.
Goldman Sachs — While maintaining a strong New York presence, the investment banking giant is building an 800,000-square-foot, $500 million campus in Dallas set to open in 2028 and consolidate over 5,000 employees. Goldman now employs thousands more in Texas than in New York in certain counts, signaling a clear pivot.
JPMorgan Chase — The banking powerhouse now employs more workers in Texas (31,000) than in New York (24,000), despite opening a gleaming $3 billion Park Avenue headquarters. The shift highlights how even Wall Street titans are spreading operations to lower-tax states.
Charles Schwab — The brokerage giant has been cited among firms whose departures or expansions elsewhere have contributed to New York losing thousands of high-paying jobs and associated tax revenue.
Apollo Global Management — The $900 billion asset manager, founded and long headquartered in Manhattan, is exploring or establishing a second U.S. headquarters in the Sun Belt — with Austin, Miami or Nashville on shortlists. Officials indicated most future growth would occur at the new location rather than New York.
Wells Fargo — In early 2026, the bank announced it was moving its wealth and investment management division to West Palm Beach, Florida, becoming the first major U.S. bank to base that business there. The relocation drew attention as a milestone in the southward shift.
Elliott Management (expanded note) and peers like Point72, Millennium and others in the hedge fund space have followed similar paths, with Florida attracting over 250 financial firms or expansions in the Palm Beach area alone in recent years.
Starwood Capital (and related real estate/finance players) — Barry Sternlicht’s firm signaled consideration of relocation or significant shifts following the political changes, joining a chorus of real estate and investment voices eyeing friendlier climates.
This is just the top 10 recent moves. Some of this is happening fast, some slow.
Is it the end of NYC – no. Is it going to cost NYC – yes.
DFW is adding 3.5Msf of premium office space per qtr.
NYC is adding/renovating 4.3msf per year
I would note the recent structural failure in NYC was a office to housing conversion.
It is really really difficult to convert office space to housing.
It does not matter how much total space NYC has – and absolutely most of that space will get rented.
Businesses are also leaving because the rental rates in NYC are double that of other places for the same quality space.
And yes that includes Maimi and Dallas – you can cherry pick examples – but NEW premium fascilities in TX and FL are on average half the price of
old premium fascilities in NYC and much of the construction in NYC -which is only about 1/4 of that in Dallas alone is renovation.
the construction in TX and FL is new.
TX and FL increasingly offer lower costs across the board – lower rental prices, lower cost of living.
Nor is this just about Dallas and Maimi – you note that your figures are for manhattan alone.
You can get from Dallas to Fort Worth easier than you can get from Manhattan to long island.
You can get from Dallas to Fort Worth easier that you can get from Manhattan to parts of Queens.
The cost of electricity in NYC is .31/kwh in TX it is .15. Dallas is adding energy at a prodigious rate. NYC is on an ancient power grid running from Canada the cost of growing the NY grid is enormous. While expanding the grid in TX is cheap and it is growing constantly.
NYC air conditioning needs are less than TX of Florida, but the costs are higher due to higher energy prices.
NYC heating costs are way higher than TX or FL – though GENERALLY OCCUPIED office buildings do not spend alot on heating even in cold – climates usually the heat generated by humans and lighting and other equipment is sufficient to meet heating demand in cold climates.
At the same time – Newer construction is significantly more energy efficient – again most NYC construction is renovation – not new buildings.
Most office space in TX and FL is already new and construction is of additional new space.
Vacancy rates are higher – but that is because there is 4 times as much new construction in DFW alone than in NYC.
Spaces are being built for the people who have not arrived – but the vacancy rates are dropping – which means all newly constructed space is being rented.
No insurance prices in FL are not higher – the cost of insurance per sq ft is the same – Buildings cost less to build in TX and FL so the PERCENT cost of insurance is higher. This has been addressed before – CA has the lowest insurance rates in the country – but the same building costs the same amount or more to insure in CA – because the building costs are much higher.
Even if as you claim the rental rates in Maimi match those in NYC – Miami can actually expand – NYC can not.
The hostile regulatory environment in NYC means that everything related to construction costs more and takes longer.
The big deal for AC costs in TX and FL is that they are year round – though honestly for all office buildings – AC is the primary HVAC cost – not heating.
Humidity is not a huge problem – in NY or FL it is MOSTLY a function of the air exchange rate – you must dehumidify replacement air and the amount of replacement air is based on the traffic through the building, the size of the building and the code required fresh air rate.
Further all commercial buidings have been doing energy recovery for decades – we do NOT do this for homes, the scale is too small.
Modern commercial buildings use heat exchangers so that the enegy to heat/cool incoming air comes from exhaust air.
Newer buildings have far more efficient energy management than older buildings.
Again MUCH NYC construction is renovation. Renovating commercial offices costs from 50% to 85% of new construction and new construction in NYC is much more expensive than TX and FL. The cost of renovations depends on whether it is an interior face lift or a gut to the structure with everything else new. You do not benefit from modern enegry management systems unless you gut the building.
Not only do you have to replace the HVAC systems entirely but you need new skin on the building – because we are much better at controlling energy loss with new materials than we were decades ago.
“In New York City, climate conditions allow residential and commercial buildings to completely turn off their air conditioning for 6 to 7 months out of the year. ” False – that is MAYBE true of houses – it is not true of commercial spaces – nearly all commercial space everywhere in the country is running AC most of the year – the environmental loads on commercial buildings are – heat from lighting, heat from humans, heat from mechanical equipment. While you are loosely correct that there is lower total AC in NYC than TX and FL – the differences is not even close to the difference in energy costs.
“Because cooling infrastructure never rests, a typical building in Florida consumes drastically more total kilowatt-hours over the course of a year than a building of identical size in New York.”
That is only true if you are talking about Homes – not office buildings, not apartment buildings, not schools – for most building types the primary heat load is NOT insolation.
And as I noted – there is very little difference in the cost of dehumidification regardless of where you are.
You only have to dehumidify fresh air – and even there – heat exchangers and energy management systems reduce those costs dramatially.
the HVAC systems of modern commercial buildings are RADICALLY different than your home heating and cooling.
Even older commercial buildings in NYC have energy management systems – though most older apartment buildings in NYC DO NOT.
As even YOU have noted rent controls in NYC have substantially slowed renovation and maintanence.
Commercial rents in NYC are not rent controlled – it pays for commercial landlords to renovate – they can get higher rents AND lower operating costs. But for rent controlled apartments – the payback on renovations – even ones that reduce operating costs is too long.
Mamdani is talking about mandating air conditioning in NYC apartment – while telling people to turn off their AC because the energy grid is struggling. When is the last time people were told to turn off their AC in TX or FL ?
Regardless 87% of americans have AC – even the poor in much of the country has AC.
20 years ago when I bought my apartment building – no one had AC. Now all units do. Many of my working class tenants bought window units.
I also gave them window units that were surplus as I swapped out units in my home for heat pumps. But now I am working to put heat pumps in apartments. My rents are NOT price controlled. I can raise rents for airconditioned apartments. Even if i put in heat pumps and done raise rents – I always raise the rent when a tenant leaves and I rent to someone new.
But in NYC lots of apartments are not air conditioned – I wonder why ? Not really.
Regardless the HVAC systems on homes, old apartments, new apartments and commercial buildings are significantly different – you can not use what you know about heating and cooling your home on a commercial property. As just one example – commercial buildings in NYC care much less about insulation – as I said they are air conditioning year round – the heat loss from poor insulation for 9 month of the year likely reduces operating costs. But in TX and FL they will build much more insulation into the envelope to reduce the heat gain from the sun.
Regardless, these systems are far more complex that you have any clue about and engineering for the HVAC systems on modern commercial buildings are operating under conditions radically different from your home and have more design parameters they can control than you do on your home.
“Lower wage professionals who moved to Florida expecting tax savings suddenly realize those savings are wiped out by high home insurance, needing a car and insurance and poor school choices. Many end up going back to NYC.”
ROFL – you can get a much larger home in FL for what you have to pay in NYC and the insurance will be about the same because even though insurance costs more per $ of building – the same building costs less than half what it does in NYC.
Yes you need a car – but you do not pay for uber or subways or taxis – and you can only travel so far in NYC without getting hit with expensive travel costs. Almost no one can afford to keep a car in NYC – parking one costs nearly as much as an apartment.
Your home in FL will have a garage and a yard.
The average FL PSAT score in 11th grade is 980, The average NYC PSAT score in 11th grade is 930.
Florida has very low education spending – NYC had near the highest in the country.
AGAIN – just spending money does not automatically produce results
We have been through this before – your understanding of educational performance is schiff
“New York City’s population has experienced fluctuations, with a decline of approximately 12,000 residents in 2025 following two years of growth post-COVID. The city had a population of about 8,584,629 in July 2025, but recent trends indicate a struggle with population growth due to increased out-migration and decreased immigration.”
Wikipeia
?