Forty-eight hours after democratic-socialist Zohran Mamdani vaulted past former governor Andrew Cuomo to win New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, inboxes at several Manhattan law firms were filling with the same question: How fast can we get our money out, and where should it go?
As a result, a handful of veteran, Jewish real-estate investors from the New York area told The Jerusalem Post this week that they are drafting an “equity-swap” proposal that would let New York homeowners offset expected losses from Mamdani’s surprise Democratic mayoral-primary victory by buying apartments in Israel.
The businessmen, each owning substantial commercial and residential skyscrapers in Manhattan, as well as other areas in New York City, said they spent the weekend refining a one-page outline for the Finance Ministry. Under the plan, a US seller who can prove a post-primary drop in appraised value would receive a dollar-denominated Israeli escrow voucher for the amount of vanished equity, provided the owner purchases an Israeli residence of equal value within 12 months.
“My Midwood [Brooklyn] duplex was worth about $1 million last year,” one investor said. “Since Mamdani promised a rent freeze and millionaire surtax, offers are landing closer to $750,000. If Israel makes up the missing $250,000 on a Tel Aviv flat, I’ll move the family tomorrow.”
A second investor added: “You can’t dump buildings fast without taking a haircut. Give us a one-year window and an Israeli voucher equal to the wiped-out equity, and a lot of Five Towns [Long Island] people will bite.”
The men who spoke with the Post asked to remain unnamed to avoid spooking lenders while they refinance loans. An Israeli government official confirmed that “Diaspora-linked housing instruments” have been discussed informally but stressed that no decision has been taken.
Why the panic – and who else is alarmed?
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic-socialist assemblyman, vaulted past Cuomo in the June 25 ranked-choice primary, making him the general-election front-runner in a heavily Democratic city. His platform calls for a four-year city-wide rent freeze, higher income- and property-tax brackets on households earning over $1m., and billions for public housing.
Wall Street investors responded with barely concealed alarm: “It’s officially hot commie summer,” hedge-fund billionaire Dan Loeb wrote on X/Twitter minutes after the results were revealed.
Investor Bill Ackman told Fox Business that he would “bankroll any centrist willing to beat Mamdani… an opportunity to save our city and be a superhero.” Grocery-chain owner John Catsimatidis warned he would sell or close his Manhattan supermarkets if a socialist reached City Hall.
Share prices of New York-focused real-estate investment trusts and local banks fell 4-6% the next morning on rent-freeze fears, while luxury-broker Ryan Serhant told the New York Post his phone rang “within minutes” with clients seeking escape plans.
‘Overnight the equity is gone’
DURING A call with The Jerusalem Post, two businessmen sketched out the math they say is gripping outer-borough owners: “You own a house you thought was worth a million; overnight it’s worth seven hundred grand, your equity is wiped out, and taxes are going to double,” the first investor said. “You still pay the same mortgage, but you can’t get out.”
“Florida is crazy expensive now,” the second added. “Palm Beach? Impossible. Israel suddenly looks cheap – if the government helps bridge the gap.”
The pair estimated that even a pilot capped at 5,000 vouchers, roughly $1 billion in equity credits, could funnel fresh dollars into Israel’s economy without overheating prices. “Move five thousand families, and you inject a billion dollars into Israel,” the first investor said. “It’s free money, and it’s strategic.”
Other countries have deployed time-limited incentives to channel at-risk capital. Comparable schemes already exist elsewhere: Singapore’s Global Investor Program fast-tracks permanent residence for foreigners investing at least 10 million Singapore dollars in a local business or 25 million Singapore dollars in an approved fund. El Salvador’s “Freedom Visa” grants citizenship within six weeks for a $1m. investment in Bitcoin or USDT, a program already at 60% of its quota.
Israel Bonds, the state’s classic Diaspora fundraising tool, has attracted more than $5b. since October 7, showing continued appetite for Israeli sovereign paper, but no previous issue has been collateralized with overseas property.
Early market tremors
Brokers say asking prices for small multifamily buildings in northern Brooklyn have dropped 7-10% since the primary as buyers model steeper taxes and stalled rent growth. Reuters reported similar jitters among lenders worried about owners’ ability to service debt under a freeze.
Commercial real-estate lobbyists, stung by Cuomo’s defeat, are now urging Adams, running as an independent, to consolidate the moderate vote. “The industry is looking to the mayor for salvation,” the trade journal Commercial Observer wrote.
The businessmen who spoke with the Post said they are lining up Zoom briefings with Jewish federations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County to gauge demand. They insist the plan is not limited to Jews. “Plenty of Italian, Greek, and Asian landlords are calling brokers too,” one investor noted. “But Israel has the cultural pull, and right now, an apartment in Jerusalem looks like an insurance policy.”
With polls showing Mamdani maintaining a double-digit lead, one investor said urgency is rising. “The second Trump is out of office, something crazy happens, pack your bags,” he warned. “People aren’t waiting for November. They’re pricing their exits now. If Israel offers a clear path, a significant slice of that capital will go there instead of Miami.”