Add The New York Post on Google Jeff Bezos blasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani for casting billionaire Ken Griffin as a “villian” in a bizarre video Hizzoner filmed outside his Manhattan apartment announcing a new pied-à-terre tax last month.
The Amazon honcho ripped the 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor for demonizing Griffin and filming outside the Citadel head’s home in the viral video.
“Ken Griffin isn’t a villain,” Bezos told CNBC during a Wednesday sit-down. “He hasn’t hurt anybody. He’s not hurting New York. In fact, quite the opposite. And so that piece of it isn’t right. And there was no reason to do that.”
The billionaire, however, said he was “fine” with city officials slapping the luxury fee on properties worth more than $5 million across the Big Apple.
“On the one hand, it’s perfectly fine to have a policy debate about whether you want to have a pied-à-terre tax,” Bezos said before ripping into Mamdani for his video stunt.
He stressed that policy debates don’t need to include “finger-pointing.”
Mamdani sparked backlash from business owners and city leaders after he posted the April 15 clip that used the hedge fund mogul’s record-setting $238 million Midtown penthouse as a backdrop to celebrate a proposed tax on luxury second homes.
Hizzoner beamed in the video as he called out Griffin by name and showcased his upscale property while touting how the new tax will impact home owners who do not live full-time in the city.
Griffin slammed the mayor – who campaigned with the goal of taxing the rich – for the video, calling it “creepy” on CNBC and later blaming the stunt for expanding Citadel’s operations in Florida instead of New York.
He also threatened to scrap a $6 billion Park Avenue development by Citadel.
Bezos also scorched Mamdani for pouring a record $43 billion into public schools, claiming the Big Apple spends 30% more per student – about $44,000 – than other major cities, like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston, despite mediocre test results and plummeting enrollment.
The Blue Origin founder added that the mayor’s heavily regulated housing policy is counterproductive, claiming soaring rent prices are driven by “government intervention.”
“This is not anybody’s fault other than government policy,” Bezos said.
“And this is fixable. Again, this is a skills issue.”
City Hall did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
