Pershing Square‘s Bill Ackman believes New York City will face wide-ranging consequences if Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the election, but he’s still optimistic on America as a whole under President Donald Trump.
What To Know: Tuesday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Ackman argued that it would be a disaster for New York City if Mamdani were to win the election.
It’s not that the Democratic mayoral candidate is wrong about the issues impacting the city, it’s that his methods for how to fix them could cause major problems, he said.
Housing affordability is one of the main issues. Mamdani has said he plans to freeze rents if he is elected, but Ackman believes that’s the wrong approach. Instead, the city should aim to develop as much real estate as possible. If there are cranes building apartments everywhere, that’s going to keep rents down, he said.
Another important issue is public safety, but Mamdani has a hostile relationship with the police, according to Ackman. He’s good at identifying the problems, but his policies are wrong, Ackman stressed.
Finally, Ackman takes issue with Mamdani’s plans to raise corporate taxes to 21% as he expects it to drive businesses out of the state.
“It’s going to destroy the city,” Ackman said.
The Pershing Square CEO told CNBC that republicans are being short sighted as he sees “follow-on implications” for the rest of the country if Mamdani wins. In order to stop Mamdani from winning, Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa needs to drop out of the race to consolidate the vote behind Independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, Ackman said.
Despite his sour outlook on the future of New York City under potential leadership from Mamdani, Ackman is optimistic on the country as a whole under Trump.
“I’m negative on New York if Mamdani is elected, but I’m positive on the country. Clearly we’ve had the most pro-business president we’ve had in a very long time,” Ackman said.
Ackman applauded Trump’s infrastructure and tax bills, which he believes will have positive effects on businesses. The productivity effects of AI are also just starting to positively impact businesses, he added.
He also noted that the Federal Reserve is in the process of cutting interest rates, which is another positive for the economy.
“He doesn’t care if the stock market goes down in the short term. He cares in the long term. And I trust the President, and I think he’s done an excellent job,” Ackman said.
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This illustration was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
