New York exodus: High costs, taxes drive residents to Florida

Here’s the thing about politicians: They talk tough when it costs them nothing — and when reality hits them in the face, they sing a very different tune. 

Take Kathy Hochul. Back in 2022, while campaigning for governor of New York, she had a message for Donald Trump and like-minded Republicans: “Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. Okay? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values.”

So much for Democratic inclusivity — to say nothing about their supposed open-mindedness. What better way to say everyone is welcome here than telling your political opponents to pack up and leave the state?

Well, fast forward just four years and — surprise, surprise — people actually took her advice.

It wasn’t just Trump. It wasn’t just Republicans. It wasn’t just the hated billionaires, either. Regular, tax-paying New Yorkers looked around, checked their bank accounts, looked again at their tax bills … and said, “You know what? Florida sounds pretty good.” 

Now Hochul — who, by the way, is running for reelection — has encountered a new problem, to add to all the others a governor of New York already has: Trying to lure those people back.

Now she says maybe officials should head down to Palm Beach and see “who we can bring back home” because — wait for it — the tax base has been “eroded.”

Eroded? That’s one........

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