Dallas mayor invites ‘concerned’ New Yorkers to move to Texas over Mamdani

The mayor of Dallas issued an open invitation for “concerned” New Yorkers to flee the Big Apple for the Lone Star state over Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral primary victory.

“Dear Concerned New York City Resident or Business Owner: Don’t panic! Just move to Dallas, where we strongly support our police, value our partners in the business community, embrace free markets, shun excessive regulation, and protect the American Dream!” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson wrote on X Wednesday.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson speaking at the Republican National Convention. Getty Images

Johnson, who switched from the Democrat to the Republican party in 2023, shared a Wall Street Journal article about how the financial industry is “rattled” by the possibility of the Democratic socialist serving as mayor of NYC when he made the offer.

Within minutes of Mamdani’s primary win, luxury real estate brokers in NYC received calls from high-end clients asking to walk away from property deals in the city. The wealthy buyers are now looking to go elsewhere.

Mamdani, 33, has vowed “to lower the cost of living for working-class New Yorkers,” offering free buses, city college tuition, child care, a freeze on rents and more.

Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, campaigning. AFP via Getty Images

The self-described socialist has also promised to open city-run grocery stores across the Big Apple, which he argued would help lower prices for consumers.

Mamdani has also advocated to increase taxes on the wealthy, made anti-police statements and refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which many interpret as a call to exterminate the Jews. 

Over the weekend, Mamdani vowed to ramp up property taxes in “richer and whiter neighborhoods.” He also declared that billionaires shouldn’t exist.

Mamdani was seen in a recently resurfaced video pushing for “seizing the means of production” at a 2021 Young Democratic Socialists of America conference.

“It is critical to the way that we organize, the way that we set up our, you know, set up our work and our priorities that we do not leave any one issue for the other,” he added in the video.