New York City is experiencing a touch of nostalgia with a recent glimpse of former mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The billionaire and ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg made a subtle jab at his successor, Zohran Mamdani, as he was caught by photographers on Thursday night.
Arriving with his longtime partner Diana Taylor at the New York City Ballet’s 2026 Spring Gala, Bloomberg was greeted by photographers urging him to consider another run for mayor. They called out, “We need you back.”
With a knowing smile, Bloomberg replied, “You’re on your own,” a moment captured in a video shared by the X account New York Mickey.
Bloomberg had backed Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid against Mamdani, pouring nearly $10 million into a super PAC backing the former governor’s uninspiring and ultimately doomed campaign.
“Being mayor of New York City is the second toughest job in America, and the next mayor will face immense challenges,” Bloomberg said before Mamdani defeated Cuomo in November.
The sly dig at Mamdani on Thursday night comes as many of Bloomberg’s fellow billionaires, notably hedge fund titan Ken Griffin, have said the democratic socialist’s “tax the rich” stance and refusal to bootlick the 1% is driving them from the city.
Griffin said he’s moving more jobs to Miami as a “direct consequence” of Mamdani’s “creepy” social media video that used his $238 million Manhattan penthouse as a prop to push for a tax on luxury second homes.
The Citadel hedge fund founder — who also recently purchased a $38 million Park Avenue apartment, the Wall Street Journal first reported — had famously decamped his business from its longtime Chicago home over his gripes with the city’s leadership.
When asked about the burgeoning billionaire exodus, Mamdani has repeated that he wants all New Yorkers, including Ken Griffin, to succeed.
“That does not negate the fact, however, that our tax system is fundamentally broken,” he said Wednesday.
“It rewards extreme wealth while working people are pushed to the brink. If we want the city to be affordable, we need meaningful tax reform that includes the wealthiest New Yorkers paying their fair share.”
Bloomberg is the 18th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $109.4 billion, according to Forbes.
