New Yorkers seeking to flee Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's Democratic socialist agenda are being given an open invitation to Florida by one county sheriff, pitching it as “the start of a brand new life.”
“Should you're an NYC resident or an amazing NYPD officer sad with the outcomes of tonight's Mayoral election, let me be the primary to ask you into the welcoming arms of Volusia County,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood wrote on Facebook Tuesday night time.
Chitwood, serving his third time period as the highest regulation enforcement boss within the East Coast county that features Daytona Seaside and Edgewater, made the supply hours after Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, defeated impartial candidate Andrew Cuomo and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.
The 61-year-old pitched openings in his workplace to law enforcement officials in search of higher assist than what they seemingly obtain as New York's Best.
“To my NYPD associates, if you wish to come to work in a corporation that's leading edge, innovating day by day, a spot the place you're appreciated by the group and supported by the elected officers, then try the Volusia Sheriff's Workplace and check out how we're getting the job executed,” he stated.
Chitwood claimed the realm was a “rising group,” secure from crime and ideal for beginning companies and elevating households.
“To all New Yorkers, when you're in search of a greater high quality of life, from training, to the outside, to the attractive climate, try Volusia County,” he wrote. “We're open for enterprise. Tonight's election just isn't the tip. It may be the start of a brand new life.”
Fellow Floridians disagreed with Chitwood's open invitation, saying they don't need New Yorkers to maneuver to Volusia County.
“Mike man we now have no extra room right here, actually,” one resident wrote.
“I see a mass exodus coming Relax individuals. He's simply in search of skilled officers,” one other stated.
“Don't New York my Florida,” a 3rd particular person stated.
Chitwood, a vocal critic of soft-on-crime politicians, referred to as out his New York counterparts within the aftermath of the deadly capturing of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller.
Diller, 31, was gunned down by profession felony Man Rivera throughout a site visitors cease in Queens on March 25, 2024.
In a submit honoring Diller, Chitwood identified that Rivera had “21 prior arrests by the NYPD, together with 9 felonies, and a few stints in New York state jail.”
Almost 1,000,000 New Yorkers claimed they might transfer out of the town if Mamdani gained the mayoral race.
About 9% of the 8.4 million residents, or roughly 765,000 individuals, stated they might “positively” bolt following Tuesday's election, a survey carried out by J.L. Companions discovered, in accordance with the Daily Mail.
One other 25% of New Yorkers — about 2.12 million — stated they might “think about” packing up and leaving.
Between 2018 and 2022 greater than 125,000 New Yorkers fled to the Sunshine State, ditching excessive taxes and crime for a sunnier, cheaper and safer way of life.
“Individuals thought we had been loopy after we had been telling them this nevertheless it simply began getting increasingly bleak in New York,” Alex Taub, who moved to Miami in 2020, instructed The Publish in Could. “For a similar value that we had been paying [for a two-bedroom apartment] in New York, we had been getting a five-bedroom, four-bathroom home with a pool and a yard.”
The mass exodus took practically $1.4 billion in revenue away from New York.
Mamdani, who stated “we're unapologetic about our socialism,” has beforehand referred to as for the NYPD to be defunded.
“We don't want an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer and a serious menace to public security,” he wrote in a submit in June 2020, following the deaths.
He has since apologized for the language he used, saying he was calling out the “particular practices” used and never the officers.
