“The tax base has gone/To Boca Raton” crooned the singer of a satirical YouTube song that mocked then-Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral bid. Last summer, Mamdani shocked New York’s Democratic establishment in a stunning primary win over disgraced former state governor Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani proceeded to win November’s election, again defeating Cuomo, who continued his race as an independent and also mused that he would move to Florida if he lost. (Still no sign of him here.)
On January 1, Mamdani was sworn in as mayor, defiantly promising to “govern as a democratic socialist.” But New Yorkers displeased by higher taxes, the prospect of less policing, and what the new mayor calls the “warmth of collectivism” are apparently looking to the South’s warmer climes. One city has been fighting particularly hard to bring them down.
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Only a 30-minute drive south of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Boca Raton sprawls at the southern edge of Palm Beach County. Planned in the 1920s by famed architect Addison Mizner, the city presents a more open alternative to the tonier, more insular Palm Beach to its north. Boca’s historic downtown even imitates Palm Beach’s pastel colors and distinctive Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial revival architecture.
Like Florida itself, which by state constitutional amendment has no income or inheritance taxes, Boca has long been an easy sell for fed-up blue-state exiles. Billionaire Leon Cooperman reportedly spends much of his time managing his New York-based investment firm from Boca. And many California billionaires, including Google’s Larry Page, are currently fleeing for the Miami area.
The city’s fiscal consciousness makes for a marked contrast with Mamdani’s tax-and-spend plans. Boca has for the last eight years boasted the lowest property taxes of any full-service Florida municipality. Last September, in line with Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s state-level commitment to return unused funds to the taxpayer, its nonpartisan city council approved a small reduction in property taxes. Compare that with New York, where Mamdani’s threatened tax on millionaires could soon increase the city’s combined top marginal state/local tax rate to nearly 17 percent, with heavier tax burdens imposed on “richer and whiter” neighborhoods.
Thanks in part to its low-tax approach, Boca Raton has fully shared in the Sunshine State’s recent prosperity. The city is home to headquarters of more than 40 publicly traded companies. Property values have surged by over 48 percent since 2020, yet Class A office space still costs 30 percent less than in Manhattan. As a result, younger residents are flooding in and graduates of the city’s three colleges are forming “a strong and expanding talent pipeline.”
Boca Raton started trying to lure New Yorkers south even before Mamdani triumphed in the Big Apple in November. Almost as soon as the primary ballots were counted, Mayor Scott Singer—now term-limited out of the mayoralty and running for Congress—began touting the advantages of his city by the sea.
“I’ve pitched them on moving their corporate headquarters,” he said of the New York executives whom he had spoken with after Mamdani’s victory. “We expect more inbound calls. We expect to have more people coming because of high taxes—and we’re ready.”
In case anyone in Gotham missed the point, shortly after New York City’s primary, Boca dropped $70,000 on a roughly 30-foot-by-50-foot billboard in Times Square to show off the city. It drew an estimated 2,600 visits to a specially dedicated “NYtoBoca” website featuring promotional information about the Florida city.
After Mamdani won in November, Singer launched a full-court press, appearing on Newsmax, Fox News, network television, and online media to promote his city. In a letter to New York business leaders excerpted in the New York Post, he declared that “New York’s message to the financial sector couldn’t be clearer after Mamdani’s election: success is something to regulate, not celebrate.”
Reporting suggests some disenchanted New Yorkers are taking up Singer’s offer. The morning after the election, the mayor reported getting calls from prospective new Boca residents. Talbot Sutter, CEO of a North Palm Beach real estate agency, told local media that Mamdani’s election has been “completely a game changer” for his business.
“The election has definitely sparked renewed interest in Boca Raton,” says Ella Sari, a Boca-based real estate agent. “We have seen a significant uptick in inquiries and buyers looking to develop a plan to relocate.”
The early signs of an exodus should be a warning to Mamdani—and a sign of the benefits of Florida’s low-tax, high-prosperity model. New York’s new mayor has stressed that the wealthy need to pay up. They might choose to move south instead.
Top Photo by: Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images