Sorry if it was posted already, but it’s worth repeating if so. That’s the plight of the gov’t run Kansas City grocery store. Regardless the NYC mayor marches ahead.

https://www.kcur.org/news/2025...estments-food-desert

Some of this is explained by the expected march of a society. Over time, even with the fighting, we become more ‘socialized’ It’s like that lifecycle of a democracy kinda stuff. Those that don’t contribute are elevated, as they vote in more benefits of all types.

The march is very slow, but it’s there.

^^^^
Good post.

Similar to AOC’s blocking of Amazon to open a facility in her borough or district, but of a much larger and destructive scale.

An ‘opinion’ piece -

“NYC’s Marxist Mayor Doubles Down on Jabbing Job Creators as Citadel Threatens to Pull $6B Project”

https://jdrucker.com/nycs-marx...-to-pull-6b-project/

The first and last paragraphs -

“In the latest display of ideological zeal over economic reality, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has refused to back away from his public shaming of billionaire Ken Griffin, even as the hedge fund titan’s firm warns it may scrap a massive development project that promised thousands of jobs and billions in investment. This episode is not merely a personal spat; it reveals the deeper sickness afflicting America’s once-great cities, where punishing success has become the central governing strategy of the left.

Mamdani’s unyielding posture, even amid threats to vital development, confirms what many have long observed: for the modern left, punishing the successful matters more than growing the pie. New Yorkers deserve better than performative class envy dressed up as fiscal responsibility. If the city continues down this path, it will not lack for examples of billionaires it no longer hosts—but it may soon lack the jobs, revenue, and dynamism that once made it exceptional.“

quote:

“NYC’s Marxist Mayor Doubles Down on Jabbing Job Creators as Citadel Threatens to Pull $6B Project”

Good article. The whole thing is worth reading.

quote:

Deferring pension contributions is the Pandora's box of municipal finance, where a seemingly harmless action unleashes a legacy of complications. Once that seal is broken, NYC will start the descent into the same liability-fueled spiral that has hollowed out so many other cities.

This is what socialists do: They promise all sorts of new spending to buy votes, but then default on all of the basic obligations of government.

When the pension funds are bankrupt they will ask the federal government (that's the rest of us, outside of New York) to make the payments.

Mamdani Is Destroying The Tax Base His Stupid Ideas Desperately Need

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

When the Fischer-Price My First Mayor™ of New York Zohran Mamdani chose to film a “tax the rich” video in front of a Manhattan penthouse owned by Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, he wasn’t just celebrating “tax day”, he was making a policy argument.

Mamdani was making a choice about his tone (dickish), about targets (“people with more money than me are bad”), and about how the city signals to the very people it depends on to fund its ambitions (“go fuck yourself and live somewhere else”).

In a city where a relatively small number of taxpayers account for an outsized share of revenue, that kind of signaling is not trivial theater. It’s reckless, petulant, counterintuitive, childish and has consequences. But what else would you expect from a thirtysomething who has zero private sector or real world experience?

Look at this idiot.

Sure, Ken Griffin is an easy symbol. He has extraordinary wealth, a record-setting $238 million apartment at 220 Central Park South, and a business empire that spans global finance. But symbols have a way of flattening reality. The firms he built, Citadel and Citadel Securities, are not abstractions; they are employers, taxpayers, and investors.

Citadel’s principals and employees “have paid nearly $2.3 billion in city and state taxes over the past five years,” according to COO Gerald Beeson, Reuters wrote days ago. And Griffin himself has directed hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable giving tied to New York institutions, according to various reports citing about $650 million in donations highlighted by Citadel executives.

And then there is the forward-looking piece…the part that tends to disappear in political messaging. A proposed $6 billion redevelopment at 350 Park Avenue, tied to Griffin’s firm, carries the promise of thousands of construction jobs and many more permanent positions. Those are the kinds of projects cities compete fiercely to attract. But now that project appears at risk now after Mamdani’s choice to act like the spoiled Upper East Side brats he claims to loathe, according to the Wall Street Journal.

So that’s pushing $10 billion in tax revenue and investment from Citadel and Griffin. That is a metric fuck ton of money (NYC brings in about $80 billion a year total in tax revenue) that Mamdani desperately needs to fund his $30 million state owned grocery stores, among other communist sleight of hand tricks in his bottle of political snake oil.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news...eas-desperately-need

So, what is Griffin going to do? We all hope he does the right thing and does it yesterday!

Mamdani does not want success. It's about what chellim1 said: "This is what socialists do: They promise all sorts of new spending to buy votes, but then default on all of the basic obligations of government.
When the pension funds are bankrupt they will ask the federal government (that's the rest of us, outside of New York) to make the payments."

A little more info.

https://www.newsmax.com/financ...dkt_nbr=010102m3xkk1

Citadel Hits Back After Mamdani's Penthouse Video

Ken Griffin's Citadel has pushed back against Zohran Mamdani after ‌the New York Mayor dragged in the billionaire investor's penthouse in his push to tax wealthy property owners in the city.

Mamdani, a Democrat Socialist, last week filmed a video titled, "Happy Tax Day, New York. We're taxing the rich," in front of Griffin's penthouse.

Miami-based hedge fund ‌Citadel has objected to Mamdani's attempt to use Griffin's name in his ​push to tax individuals from outside the state who own New York City residences, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

"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," Citadel Chief Operating Officer Gerald Beeson said in the memo.

$2.3 BILLION

Citadel's principals and team members have paid nearly $2.3 billion in city and state taxes over the past five ‌years, Beeson wrote.

The tussle between the two sides comes as New York ​State Governor Kathy Hochul ‌last week proposed a new tax on second homes worth over $5 million, which Mamdani backed. The so-called pied-à-terre tax ‌is aimed at supporting Mamdani's efforts to close New York City's budget gap.

Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, paid $238 million in 2019 for a penthouse condominium ⁠overlooking Manhattan's Central Park in a deal ‌that set a record ⁠for a U.S. home sale at the time.

Citadel's Beeson also teased the possibility of the firm not moving ⁠ahead ⁠with its big Midtown Manhattan construction project.

6,000 HIGHLY PAID JOBS

"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. The project — if we move forward — will entail more than $6 billion dollars ‌of spending," ​Beeson said.

"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."

Many—perhaps most—Leftists, Socialists, and Communists are true believers who are so ignorant of history, economics, human nature, etc., as well as being just plain stupid that they think they know the Truth (in capital letters). When things don’t go as they believe they should under the new enlightened way of doing things, though, most don’t give up their beliefs any more than members of other cults don’t change their opinions into which they have invested so much psychological and physical effort. They find excuses that explain why things are going badly.

One of the most obvious examples of that was in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and ’30s. Stalin implemented a great purge that targeted thousands of people who were accused of being saboteurs, agents of foreign powers, or just generic “wreckers.” The fact that so many were accused and then convicted, often following abject confessions (extracted by torture), that was proof to the masses that the woes they were experiencing weren’t due to a faulty, corrupt system, but rather because progress was being hindered by malefactors.

The same finding of scapegoats to blame society’s ills on has been practiced throughout history by other socialist regimes. In addition to the USSR, Nazi Germany and Red China were the most notable examples: “It’s not us, it’s THEM!” with the “rich” being the easiest targets. Other factors can also be blamed, but none so profitably as the evil destroyers among us and who must be controlled at the least, if not eliminated entirely.

But do the top leadership of such organizations and movements believe what they claim? Sometimes no doubt yes, other times clearly not, but whether they believe it themselves, all that’s necessary is to convince their clueless minions. And people like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and other despots didn’t get to where they were by being unsuccessful in those endeavors. As long as such people can convince enough of the stupid to follow them, they will continue to be successful.

I read money like Amazon + Citadel spends on such developments Circulates / Changes Hands / Is Taxed 4 times in the local economy.

That's the money paid to the "6,000 ‌highly paid construction jobs and supporting the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in mid-town New York".

Griffin is not going anywhere. He will cut a backroom deal to mitigate/off-set his new taxes and the project(s) will roll forth.

And these stupid 20 and 30 year olds supporting him will be the one mopping the floors and cleaning the toilets for these leftist elites during their miserable lives and blaming everyone but themselves all the while. Beyond dumb.

It is also while the leftist elites what to bring in droves of illegals. To enslave them.

quote:

The same finding of scapegoats to blame society’s ills on has been practiced throughout history by other socialist regimes. In addition to the USSR, Nazi Germany and Red China were the most notable examples: “It’s not us, it’s THEM!” with the “rich” being the easiest targets. Other factors can also be blamed, but none so profitably as the evil destroyers among us and who must be controlled at the least, if not eliminated entirely.

Envy, in Roman Catholic theology, is one of the seven deadly sins. The theological definition of envy is resentment or sadness at another’s good fortune or excellence, with an often insatiable desire to have it for oneself. Envy is more than simple jealousy because it includes the belief that another’s excellence or blessings lessens one’s own, and it makes one want to destroy another’s good fortune. As a deadly sin, envy is believed to generate other sins and further immoral behaviour; it can be countered with the heavenly virtue of gratitude.

Winston Churchill famously described socialism as "a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy ," arguing that its only "virtue" is the equal sharing of misery. Delivered in various forms between 1945 and 1948, these quotes highlighted his opposition to the post-war Labour government’s policies in Britain.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
And these stupid 20 and 30 year olds supporting him will be the one mopping the floors and cleaning the toilets for these leftist elites during their miserable lives and blaming everyone but themselves all the while. Beyond dumb.

It is also while the leftist elites what to bring in droves of illegals. To enslave them.

A lot of them are immigrants from CORRUPT SOCIALIST countries. Like Californians they keep voting for the things that cause the problems.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
So, what is Griffin going to do? We all hope he does the right thing and does it yesterday!

Griffin ain't stupid.
Just like he did here in Chicago, He'll cut his losses and walk away, start that project in greener pastures.

https://www.breitbart.com/econ...tm_campaign=20260508

Report: Leaders Try to Halt Billionaire Exodus from Leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s NYC: ‘They’re in a Pickle’

New York is in a tight spot as its leaders are trying to keep billionaires from leaving New York City over leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s (D) policies.

If wealthy residents leave en masse, the city will face a huge loss of money, businesses, and thousands of jobs, the New York Post reported Friday.

“The splashy one-two punch of Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and Apollo Global Management honcho Marc Rowan pledging to expand outside New York City has been coupled with a silent wave of businesses ‘quiet quitting’ the city over its hostile environment, insiders told the Post,” the outlet said, noting that Medallion Financial Corp. founder Andrew Murstein has launched a campaign called Operation Boomerang to bring the wealthy back to the area.

City Hall officials are also aware of the situation, and one city business leader told the Post officials are trying to tone down Mamdani’s rhetoric.

“They’re in a pickle because he’s hearing all the business leaders are looking for exit strategies now and Mamdani needs money and needs to keep his base happy. This might be an inflection point because NYC is already a welfare state supported by very few people at the top who can leave,” the unnamed individual explained.

cont...

The socialist mayor has also said he needs higher taxes on wealthier white people to boost his “Black and Brown” political machine of immigrants and minorities, according to Breitbart News.

“Today’s true cost of living measure confirms that the affordability crisis touches every corner of our city,” he stated, adding, “We know that these effects are not applied evenly: So often it is black and brown New Yorkers who are hit the hardest. This Preliminary Racial Equity Plan is the first in developing a whole-of-government approach to tackling that reality… to solve decades of neglect and discrimination.”

^^^
If they drive out rich ass whiteys, what are all the “blacks and browns” going to do? Seems to me that if said rich ass whiteys bolt there will be substantially less of their money to throw at the masses.

Mamdani is either a complete fool or has some kind of outside foreign money donation scheme planned in the wings. Remember when he was floating having NYC under the umbrella of “international law” rather than those of the United States of America? Saying I don’t trust him is an understatement.