Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross isn’t one to mince words-especially when it comes to business and politics. The billionaire real estate developer, who’s helped shape parts of Manhattan’s skyline, is sounding the alarm over New York City’s new leadership under Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani, 34, recently made history as NYC’s first Muslim mayor, and he’s stepping into office with a bold, progressive agenda. His platform includes free public buses, universal childcare, and increased corporate taxes-ideas that have energized some voters but rattled others in the city’s business community.
Ross, who’s estimated to be worth $17 billion, is firmly in the latter camp. Speaking to Bloomberg, he didn’t hold back in expressing concern about the direction Mamdani could take the city.
“New York can’t go through good times,” Ross said. “Because the ideals that he stands for are not good for business… we’ve never seen it work anywhere. So why should it work in New York with those type of ideas?”
Ross pointed to San Francisco as a cautionary tale-a city that, in his view, struggled under similar progressive policies. He referenced the West Coast city’s recent challenges with crime, drug issues, and a wave of business departures, suggesting that New York could be headed down a similar path if Mamdani’s policies take hold.
“If everybody’s fears come to light, it could be a lot like what San Francisco went through with that type of government,” Ross warned. “That lasted four years.
It did really great damage to San Francisco. Now, they’re fighting their way through it, but you don’t just turn around the city overnight with the kind of damage that’s been done there and how people feel about it.”
Ross also took aim at California’s business climate more broadly, citing regulatory hurdles and rising costs as reasons why companies are increasingly looking elsewhere.
“Doing business in California, there’s so many restrictions, it’s so difficult, there’s so much added costs,” he said. “Corporations go where businesses can operate and make profits and government has the least amount of interference.”
He pointed to the ongoing debate over a potential billionaire tax in California as another example of policy decisions that, in his view, are pushing high-net-worth individuals and corporations away.
“That’s frightened every person that’s there,” Ross said. “That’s what California has become.”
For Ross, the concern is clear: he sees Mamdani’s vision for New York as a potential threat to the city's economic engine, and he’s not shy about voicing it. Whether those fears come to fruition-or whether Mamdani’s progressive platform delivers a new kind of success for the city-remains to be seen. But one thing’s certain: the spotlight on New York’s new mayor isn’t going anywhere.