Hochul mocked for urging wealthy New Yorkers to return years after telling them to head to Florida

WASHINGTON, DC: Governor Kathy Hochul is taking heat after asking wealthy former New Yorkers to move back, even though, not long ago, she told some conservatives to head south to places like Florida. Business leaders and political watchers have jumped on her remarks.

Lately, Hochul’s been urging high earners who left for states like Florida and Texas to return, saying New York needs their tax dollars. Her plea shows how much state officials worry about people leaving and the impact it has on the budget.

Kathy Hochul says New York needs high-net-worth individuals to support generous social programs

According to reports, Hochul appealed to former residents to return and reinvest in New York.

During remarks at Politico's "New York Agenda: Albany Summit" event last week, the Democratic governor reportedly explained that she needs individuals with a "high net worth to support the generous social programs that we wanna have in our state."

She highlighted the issue by suggesting that wealthy individuals should visit Palm Beach, Florida, to "see who you can bring back home, because our tax base has been eroded."

The 67-year-old explained that New York is "in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals. And I would say remote work changed everything."

Hochul claimed that "Wall Street businesses looking at Texas" are moving due to taxes.

"We have to be smart about this," she said, adding that "We can fund what we want to fund with what we already are taking in." 

The comments are a far cry from Hochul’s much-derided remarks from her 2022 election campaign, where she ripped her GOP opponent, Lee Zeldin, as well as then-Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and President Donald Trump, telling them and other New York Republicans to leave.

“Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro – just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. OK? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values... You're not New Yorkers,” Hochul said at the time.

John Catsimatidis rejects Kathy Hochul's appeal calling it a 'joke'

Billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis responded to Hochul’s push, dismissing the idea that former residents would return.

“This is a joke, nobody who has gone down to Florida is coming back,” he said in remarks that circulated widely.

He also criticized what he described as policy direction in New York, suggesting that higher taxes and regulatory pressures have contributed to the outflow. “And right now, I'm worried about New York because they want to lower the estate tax. But they're punishing not only the rich. They're not only punishing the billionaires and the millionaires.”

The businessman spoke up about changes to estate tax thresholds. He said those changes wouldn’t just hit wealthy people, they’d hurt middle-class homeowners too. He pointed out that if these policies go through, they’ll push more folks to pack up and move out of the state.

Catsimatidis wasn’t buying the big-picture argument either. He challenged the idea of asking people to come back just to help cover the state’s spending. According to him, that kind of appeal just doesn’t work.