Wall Street drops fear of ‘hot Commie summer’ in overture to Mamdani

New York City’s elite threw everything at Mr Zohran Mamdani to stop him from becoming mayor: Money, insults, scare tactics, and tweets.

The Democratic socialist’s wealthy antagonists had decried his ascendance as the start of “hot commie summer.”

Mr Bill Ackman’s attacks were so relentless, Mr Mamdani quipped on the Flagrant podcast last month: “He’s spending more money against me than I would even tax him.” 

But on Nov 4, Mr Mamdani

triumphed with a decisive victory

in the New York City mayoral election. And that prompted a conciliatory message from Mr Ackman.

“Congrats on the win,” the billionaire investor told Mamdani in a post on X. “Now you have a big responsibility. If I can help NYC, just let me know what I can do.”

It’s not just Mr Ackman. Others in the world of business are also adapting to a new reality of a critic of capitalism running the world’s financial capital.

Mr Ralph Schlosstein, who ran Evercore and co-founded BlackRock, is pledging to work with Mr Mamdani even though they don’t share the same politics. He’s exploring ways to do so, including joining a business advisory group that hopes to guide the mayor-elect.

“I am certainly not a socialist, having spent 45 years in finance, in the private sector,” Mr Schlosstein said. “I do care deeply about the city, and I’m not going anywhere, whoever the mayor is. I’m going to do whatever I can to help him be successful.”

Mr Schlosstein’s vow is a response to concerns that Mr Mamdani’s proposals like tax hikes will spur an exodus of the wealthy from the city.

It’s time for the city’s business elite to stop sulking and sketch a path to stay relevant, according to Mr Mark Kronfeld, a former BlackRock executive and a lifelong New Yorker.

“Is it a dystopian, post-apocalyptic environment because Mamdani has won? No,” he said.

Mr Mamdani used the Wall Street derision channelled in his direction as the perfect foil, Mr Kronfeld said.

“In some respects he’s the left-wing version of Donald Trump,” he said. “He wanted to be attacked by people who would never support him, it became his marketing narrative.”

To some, the anti-Mamdani campaign by the wealthy laid bare the hubris on Wall Street and social animus for the financial industry.

“There are people in the industry who think what they do allows the sun to rise and set every day,” veteran headhunter Michael Nelson said. “A lot of people don’t care for Wall Street and billionaires. ‘Screw them’ is how Mamdani voters reacted.”

To be sure, as Mr Mamdani’s campaign progressed, he seemed to be gaining ground not just with the merely affluent, but also winning closeted fans in the top rungs of finance.

A Bank of America employee who pulls in an eight-figure pay said he supports Mr Mamdani but wouldn’t dare admit it to colleagues and risk being branded a socialist.

Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz isn’t shy about the need for outreach.

“Once he’s the mayor, we’ve got to be sure he’s successful in keeping New York a thriving community,” he said.

“He’s tapping into a message that’s real: that we’ve got a tale of two cities in the Dickensian sense, to a degree we haven’t seen since we’ve been alive, and can you address the affordability issue in creative ways without driving business out.”

Other business leaders are coming around. JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive Jamie Dimon, who previously described Mr Mamdani as “more of a Marxist than a socialist”, said last month that he’ll put aside his scepticism and offer to help the upstart candidate.

And on Nov 4, Citigroup chief executive Jane Fraser said “we hope to work with the Mayor-elect on making the city an even better place for our people and clients to live and work”.

Mr Mamdani’s

criticism of Israel

remains an outstanding issue for many in the business community, said Ms Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a lobbying group with 350 CEOs in its ranks. He will have to reassure the city’s Jewish community, which has seen a surge in anti-semitic hate crimes, she said.

Ex-governor Andrew Cuomo, who

ran as an independent

in the mayoral race after losing to Mr Mamdani in the Democratic primary, campaigned as a vocal supporter of Israel. He received just over 40 per cent of the vote in the general election. 

(Former mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg, endorsed Mr Cuomo in the primary and general election and has contributed to a PAC supporting his candidacy.)

Business bridge

Mr Mamdani has sought to build a bridge with the business community.

One hedge fund founder questioned if Mr Mamdani was truly rigid about his socialist beliefs after attending a closed-door session with him. His statements to the group seemed more aligned with someone willing to take a flexible approach to reach his objectives, he recalled, even though he walked away unconvinced.

One of those bridges could be the group Mr Schlosstein is considering becoming a part. It already includes investors Kevin Ryan and Andrew Milgram, and aims to gather a panel of experts across finance, real estate, tech, health care and government.

Mr Milgram, who runs the city’s biggest medallion owner at distressed investing fund Marblegate Asset Management, worked with Mr Mamdani on the restructuring of taxi drivers’ debt.

He said Mr Mamdani worked to represent drivers who were drowning under their obligations, joining them in a hunger strike.

The young politician was relentless in finding a solution that included convincing Marblegate to buy the loans and forgive about US$400 million (S$522.4 million) in debt, Mr Milgram said.

“This was not a fly-by photo op for an aspiring politician,” Mr Milgram said of the negotiation. “He brought everyone together to drive to a solution.”

Despite his anti-rich rhetoric, Mr Mamdani’s ascent was built on the support of the city’s young professionals, many of whom are just beginning to make their way into the ranks of the wealthy.

But like many in New York, even those with six-figure salaries are struggling with high costs. At least 65,000 households making between US$100,000 and US$300,000 a year pay a third or more of their gross income to landlords, and in many of those neighborhoods, voters supported Mr Mamdani in the June primary.

“Cry me a river over the affordability, no one said you need to stay in New York,” said crypto hedge fund founder David Tawil.

In fact, in Mr Tawil’s view, for all the appeal of the affordability mantra, it’s unrealistic for New York City. “I know it’s a horrible thing to say but I don’t think there’s a solution,” he said. “I don’t think the Wall Street class thinks it’s supposed to be an affordable city.”

Mr Tawil himself moved out of Manhattan and decamped to the Jersey Shore after feeling the pinch of ballooning living costs.

Mamdani era

New York native Lloyd Blankfein sees no reason to get nervous over the imminent Mamdani era in the city.

Mr Blankfein led Goldman Sachs Group in the decade after the city was recovering from the global financial crisis, and was even personally targeted by the left-wing Occupy Wall Street populist movement.

Protesters had camped in Zuccotti Park – just blocks from the financial titan’s downtown Manhattan headquarters.

Mr Mamdani’s new role will require him to be less of a flamethrower and force him to be judged by the results he produces, Mr Blankfein said.

“Legislators like AOC or Sanders can spend a career in office without initiating and passing a single bill,” Mr Blankfein said, calling out two of Mamdani’s prominent supporters – congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.

“But mayors are executives, stuff has to get done,” he said. “Garbage has to get picked up; snow has to be moved; crime has to stay under control. Or he’ll be out after a term, and we won’t see another socialist for a long while.” BLOOMBERG