A threat from hedge fund Citadel to shut down its $6 billion Midtown Manhattan offices following a tax proposal Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatens the declining business of area food vendors, vendors told FOX Business.
The fund, founded by Ken Griffin in 1990, made the threat after Mamdani directly targeted Griffin by announcing a new tax on the city’s second homes.
“This is an annual tax on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners don’t live full-time in the city. Like this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” Mamdani said in a video announcing the new tax.
On April 15, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a video in front of Ken Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse promoting a new policy of “taxing the rich.” (Spencer Platt/Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Griffin, whose net worth of $51 billion places him among the 35 richest people in the world, criticized Mamdani’s video as a “personal attack” and claimed it demonstrated a “profound lack of judgment”.
The feud could end a project to build New York’s second-tallest building and inject billions of construction dollars into the local economy.
Following Mamdani’s April 15 video, Gerald Beeson, Citadel’s chief operating officer, suggested that a plan to move forward with a skyline project for Citadel at 350 Park Avenue might not come to fruition.
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“We are poised to begin the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, creating 6,000 high-paying construction jobs and supporting the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York,” Beeson wrote in an April 23 memo to employees.
“The project – if we move forward – will result in expenditures of over $6 billion,” he also wrote. The “ifs” in Beeson’s memo could carry considerable weight.
The 62-story skyscraper near the center of Midtown Manhattan’s Turtle Bay neighborhood could be a boon, not only for the city’s construction and financial sectors, but also for local food vendors who have been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out Midtown’s foot traffic.
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“If the owner brings more people, it will do a lot of business. Like now, this time is supposed to be easier,” Maria, who runs the Eggstravaganza food truck on the corner of Park and E. 52nd Street, told FOX Business.
Maria from the Eggstravaganza food truck stands in front of her truck window. Maria has been bringing her truck to Midtown Manhattan for 13 years. (Fox News Digital)
“Before the pandemic it was like I couldn’t even talk to you right now,” she told FOX Business shortly after noon. “But now everything has changed. Many businesses are moving to different locations. A lot of businesses have moved to SoHo, different locations…Hudson Yards, lots of people. »
Maria cited a number of factors for its declining client volume, including the 2025 shooting at 345 Park Avenue that prompted Blackstone to temporarily close its offices and have more than 3,000 employees work from home.
“So if this building attracts a lot of customers, that would definitely help.”
But if Citadel makes good on its threat, it could attract a much-needed influx of capital from the region.
“Canceling such a business, of course, will also affect our business because we depend on the traffic of people here,” Ash, who worked at Rafiqi’s food truck right next to Maria’s, told FOX Business.
Ken Griffin, CEO and founder of Citadel Advisors LLC, during a “Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein” interview on February 25, 2022. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
His business, which he has run in Manhattan for 25 years, is going through a slowdown.
“Prices have increased, it follows the new government here… it affects us a lot,” Ash said. “The international situation, war in Iranalso affects us. Everything goes up. It’s hard for us. We also have to maintain our prices, we can’t change a lot of our prices,” Ash added.
“When the businesses left, we all suffered,” a vendor manning a Greek halal cart on 51st Street told FOX Business. “Many friends had to return home to their countries,” said the seller, who asked to remain anonymous.
Mamdani seemed to soften his attacks on Griffin slightly, even thank the leader of the Citadel to fund a police memorial.
“I also want to thank Ken Griffin for funding a memorial wall that will open later this year,” Mamdani said.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the Unisphere in the Queens borough of New York on November 5, 2025. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)
Griffin recently met New York Governor Kathy Hochul met in late April to discuss “the future direction of New York” in the context of Mamdani’s tax proposals.
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FOX Business has reached out to representatives for Mamdani, Hochul and Citadel for additional comment.