\n<\/p>\n
The phrase \u201ctax the rich\u201d can be \u201cjust as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs\u201d, according to the New York City billionaire Steve Roth, who said that the top 1% should be \u201cpraised and thanked\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking on his company\u2019s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Roth, the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, expressed his support for fellow billionaire and the CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin, who was singled out in the 15 April announcement by New York\u2019s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, of the state\u2019s first \u201cpied-\u00e0-terre\u201d tax on second homes valued at more than $5m. In a video, Mamdani announced the policy in front of Griffin\u2019s penthouse, which he said was purchased for $238m.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all shocked that our young mayor would pull this stunt in front of Ken\u2019s home and single him out for ridicule,\u201d Roth said. \u201cThis was both irresponsible and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roth said that Vornado followed the rules and paid its fair share in taxes, which amounts to $560m in real estate taxes this year, and he was \u201cvery proud of our lifetime of achievement\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must say that I consider the phrase \u2018tax the rich\u2019 \u2013 quote tax the rich \u2013 spit out with anger and contempt by politicians both here and across the country, to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs, and even the phrase from the \u2018river to the sea\u2019,\u201d he said, referring to the controversial pro-Palestinian slogan.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the rich whom the politicians are targeting, starting with nothing, are the epitome of the American dream,\u201d he continued. \u201cThey are our largest employers and largest philanthropists, and it is the 1% that makes 50% of New York\u2019s income taxes. They are at the top of the great American economic pyramid for a reason. They should be praised and thanked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s press secretary, Joe Calvello, said in a statement that the mayor wanted all New Yorkers to succeed, including \u201cbusiness owners and entrepreneurs who create good-paying jobs and make this city the economic engine of America\u201d, and Griffin, \u201ca major employer in our city and a powerful figure in our economy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not negate the fact, however, that our tax system is fundamentally broken. It rewards extreme wealth while working people are pushed to the brink,\u201d he said. \u201cThe status quo is unsustainable and unjust. If we want this city to become a place that working people can afford, we need meaningful tax reform that includes the wealthiest New Yorkers contributing their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roth, who has supported Donald Trump since 2016 and donated $150,000 to Andrew Cuomo\u2019s campaign, suggested drafting Griffin to lead an effort to \u201celect right-minded candidates\u201d. But he also conceded that Mamdani was \u201cyoung, smart and energetic\u201d, and said that he was pulling for him to succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a little tweak here, a little tweak there, his leadership could make this great city even greater,\u201d he said. \u201cHe will learn over time that growing a tax base is a winner and raising taxes is a loser \u2026 and that the hard-working 1% are allies, not enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The phrase \u201ctax the rich\u201d can be \u201cjust as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs\u201d, according to the New York City billionaire Steve Roth, who said that the top 1% should be \u201cpraised and thanked\u201d. Speaking on his company\u2019s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Roth, the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, expressed his support for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[709,11593,24442,3099,455,1440,9168,101,20880,476],"class_list":{"0":"post-49153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-estate","9":"tag-likens","10":"tag-phrase","11":"tag-racial","12":"tag-real","13":"tag-rich","14":"tag-slurs","15":"tag-tax","16":"tag-titan","17":"tag-york"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}