Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
New York taxed the rich. It lasted six weeks.
The people most likely to pay for it are renters.
He stood outside a $238 million penthouse, the most expensive home ever sold in America, looked into the camera, and said we are going to tax the rich.
Here is what that clip left out.
A New York mayor cannot raise income taxes on his own. The state has to approve it. The state said no.
What actually passed was small. A yearly fee on homes worth $5 million or more, owned by people who do not live in New York. It started in July.
Manhattan normally sells 3 to 5 homes above $10 million every week. The week after the fee started, exactly one sold. Homes under $5 million sold fine, slightly better than last year.
The rich did not disappear. They stopped buying the one thing that got taxed.
Ken Griffin already ran this play once. He gave $600 million to Chicago schools and hospitals, then moved his companies to Miami in 2022. After that penthouse video was filmed outside his window, he made his Miami headquarters bigger.
So the backup plan showed up. A 9.5% property tax increase across more than 3 million ordinary apartments, condos and co ops. The city council refused it.
A landlord's tax bill does not stay with the landlord. It becomes rent.
Watch people by their actions, not their words.
Follow for the part of the story the headline skips.
New York taxed the rich. It lasted six weeks.
The people most likely to pay for it are renters.
He stood outside a $238 million penthouse, the most expensive home ever sold in America, looked into the camera, and said we are going to tax the rich.
Here is what that clip left out.
A New York mayor cannot raise income taxes on his own. The state has to approve it. The state said no.
What actually passed was small. A yearly fee on homes worth $5 million or more, owned by people who do not live in New York. It started in July.
Manhattan normally sells 3 to 5 homes above $10 million every week. The week after the fee started, exactly one sold. Homes under $5 million sold fine, slightly better than last year.
The rich did not disappear. They stopped buying the one thing that got taxed.
Ken Griffin already ran this play once. He gave $600 million to Chicago schools and hospitals, then moved his companies to Miami in 2022. After that penthouse video was filmed outside his window, he made his Miami headquarters bigger.
So the backup plan showed up. A 9.5% property tax increase across more than 3 million ordinary apartments, condos and co ops. The city council refused it.
A landlord's tax bill does not stay with the landlord. It becomes rent.
Watch people by their actions, not their words.
Follow for the part of the story the headline skips.
