Billionaire real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht has drawn a controversial comparison between New York and Mumbai while criticizing New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
In an interview with CNBC, the billionaire said that New York will essentially turn into Mumbai under Mamdani’s rule, suggesting that tenants will be encouraged not to pay rent.
He said: “The far left have gone really mad saying tenants don’t have to pay. Well, you can’t kick them out if they don’t pay.”
“So the neighbor finds out that the neighbor doesn’t pay and they don’t pay, and the next guy doesn’t pay, and then you basically turn New York into Mumbai,” Barry Sternlicht said.
Sternlicht’s firm is considering relocation
Billionaire real estate investor Barry Sternlicht’s firm is considering relocating from New York now that Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor. He argued that other businesses are likely to follow suit.
In an interview with CNBC, Sternlicht said any failure of public safety under Mamdani will encourage people and companies to leave the city.
He said: “If people feel like their kids are not safe on the street, they’re going to pull them out of school and walk away. And if they’re going to pay off the police or not give them the honor and prestige they deserve, I think the city is in for a really tough time.”
In December 2020, Mamdani came out in support of defunding and dismantling the New York Police Department, the Daily Mail reported. He has since returned and vowed to maintain the current level of police numbers.
Sternlicht added that employees working in Starwood Capital’s New York offices have already expressed interest in leaving now that Mamdani can move into the mayor’s Gracie Mansion residence.
“We have a big office here in New York. I mean, we’ll see how it works, but the team in New York is saying for the first time that maybe we should leave,” he said.
Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital employs about 7,000 people in 19 cities in the United States and abroad. It also has investments in commercial and residential properties across the city, including two luxury hotels.
One is near the Brooklyn Bridge and the other, the Baccarat Hotel, is across the street from the Museum of Modern Art.
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