Hedge fund executive Ken Griffin is pushing back at New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s attempt to single him out as a luxury real estate owner who is not paying his fair share of taxes.
Last week, Mamdani used a social media video filmed in front of the Central Park South apartment building where Griffin paid $238 million in 2019 for a penthouse, a record-breaking price for a US residence.
“We’ve secured a pied-à-terre tax,” Mamdani said in the video. “This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live full-time in the city. Like for this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million.”
The tax cited by Mamdani was not “secured,” as he claimed, but was only proposed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul – details of the potential tax have not been released.
Griffin, whose primary residence is in Miami, did not publicly respond to the video. However, the Wall Street Journal reports an email was sent yesterday to employees of Griffin’s Citadel LLC and Citadel Securities that suggested a major Griffin-financed construction project planned for Manhattan may not got through.
“We are about to commence the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, creating 6,000 highly paid construction jobs and supporting the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in mid-town New York,” wrote Gerald Beeson, Citadel’s chief operating officer. “The project—if we move forward—will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending.”
Beeson also blasted Mamdani for trying to present Griffin as someone who is not financially supportive of New York City.
“It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending,” Beeson’s email stated. “In 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.”
Beeson added that Citadel’s “principals and team members (including nonresidents) have paid nearly $2.3 billion dollars in city and state taxes” over the past five years while Griffin has personally directed $650 million in charitable gifts to support the city.
“We have nearly 2,500 colleagues who have chosen to build their careers here,” Beeson wrote. “We understand that our hard work and success will, on occasion, make us targets for political rhetoric. But it should not diminish the pride we take in building firms that will continue to help New York City thrive for decades ahead.”
Photo: Screen shot of Mayor Mamdani’s “tax the rich” video.
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