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Nearly one million New Yorkers are preparing to flee the city should democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani win the race for mayor, a devastating new poll has found.
The departure of at least 765,000 citizens would be one of the biggest mass exoduses in American history, with a population equivalent in size to Washington D.C., Las Vegas or Seattle prepared to flee the Big Apple.
The crushing survey, conducted by J.L. Partners for the Daily Mail, found that nine percent of New Yorkers would ‘definitely’ leave the city, which currently has a population of 8.5 million.
To make matters worse, polling also found a further 25 percent of New Yorkers, or 2.12 million, would ‘consider’ going.
The poll revealed widespread alarm at the prospect of Mamdani taking over City Hall and highlighted the colossal economic impact a victory for the 34-year-old state assemblyman could have for America.
If anywhere near that number left New York it would crater the city’s economy and send shockwaves across the rest of the country.
Zohran Mamdani has a clear lead in the race to be the next Mayor of New York City
When asked what shape they think the city would be in after four years of Mamdani, those not voting for him chose words including ‘disaster,’ ‘hell,’ ‘chaos,’ ‘destroyed’ and ‘s***hole.’
Meanwhile, Mamdani voters said they believed it would be ‘affordable,’ ‘improved, ‘hopeful’ and ‘changed.’
Crucially, the poll found seven percent of those earning over $250,000 would definitely leave New York City under a ‘Mayor Mamdani.’
The top one percent of earners in New York pay around half the city’s income taxes.
With a significant proportion of them departing the city’s finances would collapse and there would be less money to pay for Mamdani’s policies, which involve subsidizing various parts of the city’s economy.
Pollster James Johnson, of J.L. Partners, said: ‘Who knows if we can believe people when they say it, but the prospect of Mamdani is so scary to some that they are considering throwing in the Big Apple for new digs.
‘Older New Yorkers, Staten Islanders, and white voters are the most likely to say they would pack up and leave. It is easy to see why: when asked how they would sum up Mamdani’s New York, they say it would be a “disaster”, “hell”, and – close your eyes younger readers – a “s***hole.”‘
New York could see its population fall, meaning less tax revenue to pay for Mamdani’s policies
Nine percent of New Yorkers said they would definitely leave the city under Mamdani
Staten Islanders are most likely to leave New York under a Mayor Mamdani
Experts told the Daily Mail that wealthy New Yorkers are already selling their apartments in anticipation of Mamdani winning, and others are pulling the plug on purchases.
‘These people are not thrilled about the possibility of Mamdani winning,’ said New York realtor Jay Batra. ‘They don’t want to hear about Mamdani and the rent freeze he is proposing.’
‘Two weeks ago, I had a couple of buyers In the $3, $4 and $5million price point range – one I was selling a building to – who are no longer interested in buying,’
Many are considering moving south to the Carolinas which offer lower resident income tax and lower property tax.
Scott Singer, the Republican Mayor of Boca Raton, Florida said the city would welcome businesses moving from New York.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘I’ve been working with business leaders who are already trying to anticipate this move by planning for an exodus to Boca Raton. I’ve seen strong enthusiasm.
‘With the prospect of more taxes and likely rises in crime and other problems coming, they’re looking to come to our low tax, safe, vibrant business ecosystem.’
He said firms in New York were going to face ‘serious challenges’ through higher taxes, and Boca Raton would offer a much more business-friendly environment.
He added: ‘This path is surprising and shocking. People, I think, have forgotten the vitality that New York had in the 1990s and how that was a response to the high crime and poor economy it suffered through the 70s and 80s. New York is about to repeat some of the lessons from history that many voters have forgotten or never knew.’
Many New York businesses may flee to low-tax Florida
The poll, like other recent surveys, found Mamdani is on course to win the election on November 4.
Among those who have made up their mind he was on 45 percent.
Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, was on 31 percent, Republican Curtis Sliwa on 22 percent, former mayor Eric Adams on 1 percent, and 1 percent of voters say they will write in another name.
The poll found only 59 percent of New Yorkers said they would definitely stay in the city under a Mamdani administration, while nine percent would definitely leave and another 25 per cent would consider doing so.
Men were more likely to leave, with 12 percent saying they definitely would and 25 percent considering it.
Among women voters seven percent said they would definitely go and 24 percent said they would think about it.
New Yorkers aged 50 to 64 were the likeliest to leave, with 12 percent saying they definitely would and 33 percent considering doing so.
The poll found 13 percent of white New Yorkers, and 11 percent of Asian New Yorkers, would definitely leave.
The number of people set to leave New York could equal the entire population of Washington D.C.
The number of people leaving New York could be bigger than the population of Las Vegas
Andrew Cuomo is lagging behind Zohran Mamdani in the mayoral race
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani with ally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
It found that 35 percent of Republicans would depart, as would 11 percent of Cuomo voters.
Only 20 percent of Sliwa’s voters said they would definitely stay, with 30 percent definitely set to leave and 45 percent thinking about it.
There would also be a mass exodus from Staten Island with 21 percent of residents there leaving, and another 54 percent saying they might.
In Manhattan, six percent of voters said they would definitely leave and 20 percent said they would think about it.
In Brooklyn eight percent said they would definitely be leaving and 18 percent were maybes.
The poll was conducted between October 23 and 26 among 500 registered voters and had a margin of error of 4.4 percent.
Many New Yorkers fear a rise in crime under Mamdani
Many New Yorkers fear a return to the 1980s when the city was ravaged by crime
In the 1980s New York was plagued by crumbling infrastructure and violence
Mamdani is seeking to have no fares on city buses, freeze rents and introduce city-owned grocery stores.
He wants to provide free childcare up to age five, which would cost up to $8 billion a year.
His tax pans include a 2 percent increase on New Yorkers earning over $1 million a year, and upping the top corporate tax rate from 7.25 percent to 11.5 percent.
Critics say it will lead to a surge of companies moving to low-tax states like Texas and Florida.
In recent years California has similarly lost billions of dollars in tax revenue through firms leaving.
Cuomo has said Mamdani’s policies would ‘exacerbate the problem that we’re seeing now, which is flight from New York City by high-income earners…we have to stop the exodus.’
The poll found New Yorkers expect a range of things to be worse with Mamdani as Mayor.
It found 43 percent expected the number of businesses to decrease, with only 23 percent thinking it would rise.
And 45 percent thought the problem of antisemitic views in the city would get worse, with only 21 percent thinking it would improve.
the poll showed 47 percent believe levels of crime and violence will get worse, with only 32 percent saying the city would be safer.
And 39 percent expect the risk of terrorism to get worse, with only 18 percent thinking it will lessen.
For Mamdani, the only bright spot was 39 percent of New Yorkers thinking housing would become more affordable, with 32 percent believing it would be less so.
Zohran Mamdani greets a voter in the Bronx borough in New York City
The poll also showed how split Democrat voters in New York are over Mamdani.
Among Democrat voters 32 percent expect antisemitic views in the city to worsen, 33 percent believe crime will rise, 29 percent think there will be less businesses, and 25 percent said the risk of terrorism will increase.
Last week, Scott Singer, the mayor of Boca Raton, Florida said fleeing New Yorkers would be welcome there.
‘People are already preparing to leave before a Mamdani election,’ he said. ‘There’s less and less reason to stay there.’
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This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .