Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday that he still had not heard back from Ken Griffin after his office tried to smooth over a fight that began with a viral video and a warning from one of New York’s biggest financiers. The mayoral hopeful said he wanted to meet with business leaders across the city, even as Griffin has threatened to pull a multibillion-dollar project out of New York City.
Mamdani was asked by ’s Kaitlan Collins whether Griffin had responded. “We’ve reached out to make it clear that I’m willing to meet with any and all business leaders across the city,” he said. “I think that’s important because, as the mayor of this city, I’m looking to ensure that I meet with anyone who’s a part of this city’s, not just economy, but also our future.”
He added that the dispute did not end with Griffin. “And what we’ve seen, whether it be Ken Griffin, whether it be [JPMorgan Chase CEO] Jamie Diamond, whether it be [Goldman Sachs CEO] David Solomon, so many other business leaders across the city, is people who are creating jobs in the city and even at their level of employment, whose workforce still face the pressures and the affordability crisis,” Mamdani said. “We are looking forward to partrnering with anyone and anyone to deliver on a vision that will take care of everyone across these five boroughs.” When Collins asked again whether Griffin had answered, he said, “Not as [of] yet.”
The clash started last month, when Mamdani posted a video standing outside Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse to promote a new pied-à-terre tax on wealthy property owners who spend only part-time in New York City. The video was released on Tax Day, and in it Mamdani said he was keeping his campaign promise of taxing the rich. Griffin called the video “creepy and weird.”
After the post went viral, Mamdani’s office tried to reach out to Griffin to mend the break. The tax fight matters because it has become a proxy for a broader struggle between Mamdani and business leaders over how to pay for a city where affordability remains the central political argument. Griffin’s threat to move a multibillion-dollar project out of New York gives the feud real economic weight, but Mamdani is signaling he plans to keep making the case that his city vision includes the people who build jobs as well as the people who struggle to afford to live there.
The unanswered question is not whether the feud is public anymore. It is whether Griffin will sit down with Mamdani at all, and whether the mayoral hopeful can turn a confrontation that drew attention for its sharp edges into something closer to leverage. For now, Mamdani says he is still waiting.
