Kevin O’Leary Just Gave New York’s Socialist Mayor an Award He Didn’t See Coming

New York City's socialist mayor just unveiled a $127 billion budget with a 9.5% property tax hike – the first one since the early 2000s.

Kevin O'Leary went on CNN Tuesday night and said it's the best news he's heard all year.

And when you find out exactly what O'Leary is planning to hand Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the next 12 to 18 months, you'll understand why every New Yorker writing a property tax check should be furious.

"Bat Cuckoo Crazy" – And That's a Compliment

O'Leary called Mamdani's plan "beyond insane" but made clear he loves every second of it.

"You guys live here, you're not paying your fair share," O'Leary mockingly quoted the mayor's logic on CNN's "NewsNight." "You got to pay 110%, that's the right thing to do because he's not cutting spending."

He wasn't shy about his personal stake in the matter.

"Probably sometime next year, within the next 12 to 18 months, I will meet him in Miami and give him Real Estate Agent of the Year award," O'Leary said – because the flood of New York refugees into his neighborhood is already driving him crazy.

"Everybody from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts is moving into my neighborhood," he said. "I'm pissed off, and this guy's just doing more of it."

When host Abby Phillips tried to slow him down, O'Leary had the perfect comeback: "I'm not mad about it, I'm excited, because I want you to pay, not me."

https://twitter.com/AmericaElectsHQ/status/2023985482963546326

This Isn't a Threat – It's Already Happening

Here's what the Democrats running New York don't want you to know.

The exodus O'Leary is predicting isn't coming – it's already underway.

More than 125,000 New Yorkers have already fled to Florida in recent years, taking nearly $14 billion in income with them, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

Think about that number.

Fourteen billion dollars – gone to Palm Beach and Miami-Dade while New York scrambles to fill a $5.4 billion budget hole.

The top 1% of New York earners pay more than 40% of all income taxes – which means you don't need a mass migration to blow a catastrophic hole in the budget.

Lose a few thousand high earners and the whole system starts to crack.

Ana Navarro Accidentally Told the Truth

Even CNN's Ana Navarro – no friend of conservatives – sided with O'Leary on the math.

"When you put a hike on taxes just on the very wealthy, you run the risk of those very wealthy not paying it because they'll find a way to have a loophole and skirt those taxes, even if it means moving to Indian Creek (Florida)," she said.

She added the detail Democrats keep ignoring: "It's not the person making a million dollars a year – it's the person making $50 million that's moving."

The Heritage Foundation confirms it: high earners are nearly three times as likely to move to Florida as to leave it.

When Jeff Bezos moved from Washington State to Florida, that single decision likely cost Washington billions in capital gains tax revenue.

New York is playing the same losing game.

The Mayor's Own Comptroller Admitted the Problem

Even the people inside City Hall know this is a disaster.

Mamdani's own Comptroller Mark Levine called the property tax hike "regressive" and warned it would leave the city "vulnerable to economic turbulence."

The City Council Speaker opposed it.

Governor Hochul opposed it.

And the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission called it a "false choice" designed to extort Albany into taxing millionaires who are already eyeing the door.

New York has already slipped from second to fourth place nationally in total millionaire population – behind California, Florida, and Texas.

Florida's millionaire count has quadrupled since 2010.

New York's barely doubled.

While socialist Democrats lecture the wealthy about paying their "fair share," those same wealthy people are quietly signing deeds in Palm Beach.

Mamdani calls the property tax hike a "last resort."

Kevin O'Leary calls it a recruiting tool.

And every New Yorker who just opened a higher tax bill knows exactly which one he is.

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Sources:

• Nicholas McEntyre, "Mamdani's 'cuckoo' property tax hike will land him 'Real Estate Agent of the Year' after inevitable exodus, Kevin O'Leary says," New York Post, February 18, 2026.
• Katie Honan, "Mamdani Threatens Blanket Property Tax Hike as 'Last Resort,'" The City, February 17, 2026.
• Peter C. Earle, "Escape from New York, 2025 Millionaire Edition," The Daily Economy, September 5, 2025.
• "New York's shrinking share of millionaires costs $13 billion in tax revenue," Citizens Budget Commission, August 28, 2025.
• "If You Tax Them, They Will Run: Millions of Americans Flee from California and New York," Heritage Foundation.
• "Mamdani's $127B Budget Plan Relies On Property Tax Increases And 'Raiding' Rainy Day Fund," The Daily Wire, February 18, 2026.
• Andrew Rein, Citizens Budget Commission statement on preliminary budget, February 17, 2026.