12 hours ago
If New York elects a far-left mayor, Miami stands to gain — again
There's a saying down here in Miami: When New York sneezes, Miami catches the money.
If candidate Zohran Mamdani survives Tuesday's New York Democratic mayoral primary and becomes mayor in November, Miami will need tissues by the truckload.
As the former mayor of Miami Beach — affectionately known as New York's Sixth Borough — I say that only half-jokingly. I love New York. I root for it. And as a centrist Democrat, I don't believe a left-of-center leader spells doom for a city.
But Mamdani isn't left of center. He's left of reality.
He's a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist with a policy agenda that reads like a Berkeley dorm room manifesto: a $30-an-hour minimum wage, free public buses, city-run grocery stores and a $100 billion social housing scheme.
To fund it? You already know: massive tax hikes on businesses and high earners like millionaires and billionaires — the people who create jobs and power the city's economy.
The exodus to Miami and other parts of the state this would cause wouldn't be about money alone. It would also be about sanity — just like the great COVID exodus of 2020.
Back then, thousands of families, entrepreneurs and business leaders fled a city that felt increasingly hostile to success, safety and common sense. Many came to Miami, where we offered stability, sunshine and tax breaks.
New York will take three steps back with Mamdani. He wants to freeze rents, double city debt, replace cops with 'community responders' and punish development unless it's socialized. It's the Bill de Blasio era on steroids, with a dash of anti-Israel dogma mixed in.
Remember: This is the same Mamdani who called Israel an apartheid state and refused to condemn Hamas on Oct. 7, yet he appears to be gaining ground in a field of 11 candidates. Electing Mamdani mayor of the most Jewish city in America would send a chilling message that extremism and antisemitism have a home in New York's city hall.
Compare that to Miami. According to the 2024 Jewish Miami Community Study from Brandeis University, roughly 25% of Jewish adults here moved to the area in the past decade — and a staggering 26% came from New York. They brought with them a strong sense of community and a drive for prosperity.
That's why, as catastrophic as Mamdani would be for New York, he'd be a gift-wrapped economic boom for Miami.
Every time New York rejects capitalism or turns public safety into a sociology experiment, another U-Haul parks on Brickell.
And why not? We've got the lifestyle, the diversity and the infrastructure — without the ideological baggage. While New York debates whether capitalism is a moral good, Miami is living proof that it is.
But here's where I'm torn.
As much as I want what's best for Miami, I still believe in New York. It's more than a city — it's a symbol of the American dream.
If someone like former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running for mayor of New York, mounted a comeback and won, it would be good for New York and good for America. It would show that competence is back in style. Cuomo represents a New York that's tough but fair, progressive but not allergic to prosperity. His return would signal that the city is done flirting with the political fringe.
That would slow the migration south and tell investors the Empire State wants governance over activism. And yes, it might dim Miami's shine a bit. But we can handle the competition.
The truth is, there's room for more than one great city in America.
I believe in a future where New York and Miami are competing to make each other better, safer, freer and more aspirational.
I hope that happens. But if New York chooses the other path — if it sneezes — Miami will be ready with the tissues.
After all, someone's got to be the real capital of the American dream.
Philip Levine, a cruise industry entrepreneur, is a former two-term mayor of Miami Beach and a onetime Democratic candidate for governor of Florida.
