For a socialist who once opined that New York would be better off without billionaires, Zohran Mamdani — the mayor of a city with more billionaires than any other city on the globe — sure doesn’t mind basking in the investment boom that is currently sweeping through Gotham.

“I’m just coming from the beginning of the construction process for the new American Express headquarters in lower Manhattan,” Mamdani told me during a sit-down at Gracie Mansion.  “What we’re seeing is multi-billion dollar investments in our city and a recommitment to the very neighborhoods that not that long ago we were told would never rise again. It is truly an incredible day for our city and all the announcements we’ve heard about companies committed to the city’s future.”

In a speech at the groundbreaking, Mamdani estimated the $6 billion Amex project will ultimately support 21,250 jobs and contribute more than $11 billion to the local economy, including $250 million in tax revenue. A few days earlier, Anthropic, a San Francisco-based tech behemoth, announced plans to double its New York work force to 1,000 employees and lease a 16-story building.

Those investments come on top of JP Morgan Chase cutting the ribbon on a $4 billion headquarters last year; Bank of America signing a 20-year lease in midtown; and Google building a $2 billion headquarters in Hudson Square.  Even Citadel, whose CEO Ken Griffin was specifically targeted by Mamdani as the kind of rich New Yorker who should be taxed more heavily, is likely to be the anchor tenant of a $6 billion supertall office tower at 350 Park Avenue, where demolition recently began.

The trend is clear.........

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