In the aftermath of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s mayoral race, two regions hundreds of miles apart are experiencing the same boom — and for the same reason. Both Florida’s Boca Raton and Connecticut’s wealthy suburbs are seeing a surge of New Yorkers seeking refuge from what they fear will be an era of heavy taxation and tightening regulation under the city’s incoming mayor.

While Florida is aggressively courting Manhattan’s business class, Connecticut is quietly absorbing their families. The result is a north-and-south migration pattern that’s reshaping the economic geography of New York’s wealth in real time.

In Boca Raton, Mayor Scott Singer is leading a full-court press to lure Wall Street executives and corporate headquarters away from New York. In an open letter to major CEOs obtained by The New York Post, Singer urged firms to consider relocating to the Sunshine State, arguing that New York has become hostile to prosperity under Mamdani’s platform.

“Dear New York Business Leaders: New York’s message to the financial sector couldn’t be clearer after Mamdani’s election — success is something to regulate, not celebrate,” Singer wrote. “In Boca Raton, we take a different view. Here, we believe that thriving businesses lift communities — not burden them.”

Singer’s pitch focuses on the basics of business economics. He said Boca Raton offers operating costs roughly 30 percent lower than Manhattan’s Class A office space, along with zero state or local income tax compared to New York City’s combined rate that could climb as high as 17 percent. He also pointed out that Boca has the lowest property-tax rate of any major city in Florida, a growing professional workforce from three nearby universities, and access to three international airports within an hour’s drive.

“The future of finance is moving south,” Singer said. “Boca Raton offers what New York no longer can — prosperity without punishment.”

Since Mamdani’s election, Singer said he has fielded a flurry of calls from retail, financial, and tech executives exploring relocation. Boca, already home to companies such as ADT, Office Depot, Canon, and Aerospace Technologies Group, has quickly positioned itself as a haven for firms seeking lower costs and fewer political headwinds.

Farther north, a quieter but equally dramatic shift is unfolding across Connecticut’s leafy suburbs. In towns like Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Westport, open houses are overflowing and bidding wars are erupting as wealthy New Yorkers rush to buy homes. Local brokers have begun calling the surge “the Mamdani Effect.”

Home sales across Connecticut rose roughly three percent in October compared to the previous year, with the median price climbing from $400,000 to $425,000. Inventory has plummeted to historic lows — in the Hartford metro area, there’s just 1.4 months of supply on the market, about half the national average. In some neighborhoods, listings barely stay active for a week before drawing multiple offers.

Luxury sales are leading the pack. A Fairfield mansion recently sold for $10.4 million, setting a state record outside Greenwich. Realtors say many of the buyers aren’t looking for summer homes — they’re leaving New York altogether. “The day after Mamdani’s election, I had clients making full-price offers sight unseen,” said one Greenwich broker. “People are nervous about where the city is headed. They want stability, schools, and safety — and they want it now.”

The surge is straining Connecticut’s already tight housing supply and driving record-high home prices across Fairfield County. Builders report struggling to meet demand, while middle-class residents fear being priced out of their own towns. Still, the influx of New Yorkers is giving the state’s real-estate market an adrenaline shot, fueling a local construction boom and revitalizing commercial corridors from Stamford to Norwalk.

Florida and Connecticut may represent opposite ends of the lifestyle spectrum — one promising sunshine and deregulation, the other stability and suburban calm — but both are capitalizing on the same source: New York’s economic anxiety.

Mamdani’s ambitious $9 billion social spending plan, funded through higher corporate and property taxes, has sent ripples through both the city’s financial sector and its affluent neighborhoods. His proposals include raising property taxes in what he described as “richer, predominantly white” areas to fund expanded childcare, free public buses, and affordable housing.

Supporters call it a long-overdue effort to make the city livable for working families. “The Mayor-elect’s affordability agenda will help working New Yorkers and help businesses alike — delivering universal childcare and allowing companies to attract and retain top talent from around the world,” said campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec.

But critics warn that his policies could accelerate the exodus of capital and talent from the city, driving both corporate relocations and personal migrations north and south.

Whether this shift is temporary or permanent, the early results are undeniable. From Palm Beach to Fairfield County, the Mamdani Effect is rewriting New York’s economic map — and its future.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)