Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday he still had not heard back from Ken Griffin, days after his office tried to reach out to the billionaire in an effort to calm a feud that began with a video outside Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse. Mamdani said he wanted business leaders across New York to know he was willing to meet them, not just spar with them online.
“We’ve reached out to make it clear that I’m willing to meet with any and all business leaders across the city,” Mamdani said, adding that he was trying to ensure he met with anyone who is part of the city’s future. Asked on whether Griffin had responded, he said: “Not as yet.”
The exchange lands after a sharp public clash that went viral last month, when Mamdani posted a video outside Griffin’s Manhattan home to promote a pied-à-terre tax on wealthy property owners who spend only part-time in New York City. Griffin called the video “creepy and weird,” and Mamdani’s office has since tried to repair the relationship as it reached out to him and other business leaders following backlash over tax proposals aimed at wealthy New Yorkers.
The outreach matters because Griffin is not just another critic. He is described in the material as a major employer in New York City and a powerful figure in the local economy, and Mamdani has been trying to show he can talk to that world even as he presses a plan that many in it oppose. That balancing act was on display Monday, when Mamdani met in person with Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase’s new headquarters in Manhattan.
City Hall said Dimon and Mamdani discussed reducing government waste, cutting red tape tied to development projects, and expanding public-private partnerships. JPMorgan said the conversation also focused on New York City’s competitiveness, while Dimon said the city has to compete with Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Nashville. JPMorgan’s headquarters is home to 26,000 employees, underscoring the scale of the institution Mamdani is trying to keep close.
Dimon expanded on that point Thursday in a TV interview, saying, “Every city has to compete. And they have to compete at every level – arts, science, schools, that is what it is. I’m not inventing that, he can be an ideologue, he has to compete, too,” Dimon said. He added, “And we’ll see: will he learn that he’s got to make this city a place where people want to grow and build and live and have families and work?”
A JPMorgan spokesperson described the Monday meeting as constructive and friendly. That leaves Mamdani with a clear task: he has started reaching out, and some of the city’s most powerful business figures are listening closely. The next test is whether that conversation can move beyond a private meeting and a viral spat with Griffin into something sturdier, because for Mamdani the argument over mayor mamdani vs ken griffin is really about whether he can lead the city while still winning over the people who help shape its future.
