There is fallout, and it’s just beginning for the city of New York.
The $355 million civil ruling against former President Trump already has business investors pulling out of the city.
Much was made when high-profile investor Grant Cardone pulled out of the city.
“We thought this year was the opportunity to come into Chicago, California, and New York City. I’ve been waiting for 40 years now to invest in that marketplace. I was completely confident this was the year to come,” Cardone told Steve Doocy on “FOX & Friends” on Wednesday. “And when that ruling happened, it was like pencils down. Don’t touch it. Don’t go there.”
Dear Cardone Capital team,
Immediately discontinue ALL underwriting on New York City real estate. The risk outweigh the opportunities at this time.
Recent political decisions will continue to deteriorate price and benefit states that don’t have these challenges.
Focus on Texas… pic.twitter.com/nTdJ5d4dO5
— Grant Cardone (@GrantCardone) February 20, 2024
Kevin O’Leary from O’Leary Ventures also warned that “New York was already a loser state, like California is a loser state. There are many loser states because of policy, high taxes on competitive regulation. I would never invest in New York now. And I’m not the only person saying that.”
Both Cardone and O’Leary are big-time names and are getting some time in the spotlight, but they aren’t alone.
Investor Tony Seruga has announced that they are going to pull as much as $2 billion out of the city because of the ruling.
They still have no idea what they’ve done. What is that sucking sound? I do not want to cause any additional anxiety for my partners but our family office is working on pulling $2B out of NYC as cleanly as possible. A number of pension funds that have already abandoned ESG are… pic.twitter.com/zCAcD768Y1
— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) February 21, 2024
So what is the left saying?
When Attorney General Letitia James was asked if she was worried businesses would leave she said, “Last I checked tourism is up. Wall Street is doing just fine.”
Following the ruling, New York Governor Kathy Hochul rushed out to say that Trump’s circumstance was unprecedented and that businesses have nothing to worry about.
What we are hearing from the left is very similar to what they said in late 2020 when the great migration began. They told people weren’t moving south, leaving New York and California behind.
Well, guess what, they did.
Are all real estate investors going to pull out of the city? Of course not. But are they going to invest more when they have to answer to partners and shareholders if something goes wrong…probably not.
There’s a life lesson here on what wanting revenge will do.