The red state New Yorkers are fleeing to as threat of progressive mayor looms
New Yorkers have persisted through extortionate rent prices, a severe homelessness crisis, and one of the highest costs of living in the entire country... but some are drawing the line at a progressive mayor.
As left-wing mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani inches closer to city hall, New Yorkers are planning their escape routes.
For many, the path leads 1,200 miles south to a city notorious for its ritzy Republican community.
New Yorkers are eyeing up properties in Palm Beach.
Real estate agents in the South Florida neighborhood say there has been an influx in affluent New Yorkers looking to purchase in the town.
City-dwellers are fleeing to the place President Donald Trump calls home in order to escape what the President himself has described as the 'communist' regime of 33-year-old Mamdani.
Mamdani himself denies accusations that he is a communist, instead identifying as a Democratic Socialist. He has pledged to increase taxes on high-earners in an effort to make New York City more affordable.
In doing so, he is pushing some residents with high incomes out of the city and into lower-tax areas.
As left-wing mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani inches closer to city hall, New Yorkers are planning their escape routes
In light of Mamdani's campaign promise to tax the wealthy, rich New Yorkers are eyeing up properties in Palm Beach, Florida
Some are migrating slightly out of New York City to Westchester, but many are abandoning the state altogether.
This widespread migration out of the city is so prominent that realtors have coined the term 'the Mamdani effect' to describe the trend.
'Most of my New York clients tell me it's about lifestyle first,' Johnny DelPrete, an agent with The Exclusive Group at Douglas Elliman in Palm Beach County, told Realtor.com.
'The weather, the beaches, the ability to be outside all year. Of course, taxes play a role, too. But, it's really about the quality of life they get here without giving up easy access to New York.'
What Mamdani is proposing for New York City aims to make housing more affordable for working-class and immigrant communities who have been hit hard by decades of rising rents and limited affordable housing options.
This plan, however, will not do much for the upper echelon.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach is not cheap, but you get more bang for your buck.
The median home price in Palm Beach sits at just over $2 million. While this is down 2 percent from last year, the median price has skyrocketed since Trump took office in 2017, when the figure was around $900,000.
President Trump lives in his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago estate (pictured) when not in Washington DC
Palm Beach is not cheap, but you get more bang for your buck
Palm Beach has become synonymous with wealth, luxury, elegance, and political activity.
'They're not really price-sensitive,' DelPrete says of his New York buyers. 'If they see something they love, they move quickly and are willing to pay for it. In multiple-offer situations, they're usually aggressive because they don't want to miss out.'
According to DelPrete, New Yorkers are eager and prepared to act: 'They're decisive, they're fast, and they come prepared.'
'They're used to competing in a tough market, so they don't hesitate when the right home comes along. Locals may take more time, but New Yorkers know how to strike when they see the right opportunity.'
Mamdani's New York City housing proposal calls for a $100 billion investment over the next decade, paired with the construction of 200,000 new publicly subsidized, rent-stabilized units.
The progressive politician has also pledged to impose a multiyear rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments and committed to doubling the capital budget for the New York City Housing Authority in order to maintain public housing.
He promised to grant 'fast-track' status to any project that is 100 percent affordable housing by cutting through red tape that usually causes delays.
Mamdani predicts that that these moves, along with a 2 percent tax on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually, could pull together $4 billion a year.
Palm Beach has become synonymous with wealth, luxury, elegance, and political activity
He plans to funnel this money into programs focusing on universal early child care and more affordable housing options.
Mamdani is up in the polls ahead of the election on November 4.
Now that the city's current mayor Eric Adams has dropped out of the race, the only people left between him and City Hall are the Independent candidate, Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim and Indian American mayor if elected.
