He’s staying red.
Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani stuck to his socialist guns during a highly anticipated powwow with Big Apple business leaders Tuesday — doubling down on his plan to raise their taxes, if elected.
Mamdani — who just last month said billionaires shouldn’t exist — schmoozed with roughly 100 CEOs convened by the powerful Partnership for New York City at his request, for the first of two days of scheduled meetings with business bigs.
Paul Martinka
The 90-minute meeting’s temperature remained low, even as Mamdani was grilled about his communist-tinged and anti-Israel comments, including his refusal to condemn the “globalize the intifada” rallying cry, one attendee told The Post.
Asked about his intent to slap the ultra-wealthy and corporations, Mamdani told the executives that taxes had been raised on those groups in the past without it resulting in an exodus of high-earners from the Big Apple, the source said.
“He didn’t back away from any policy position, though he did so in a non-confrontational manner,” the attendee dished.
“It shows he’s a good politician. He was very confident.”
The slick Mamdani also distanced himself from his past use of the phrase “seizing the means of production,” a Marxist concept, but in a roundabout way, chalking it up to a rookie mistake, another business bigwig in attendance said.
“It was very frustrating,” the source said.
“He talks so much and says so little.”
The sit-down — which was requested by Mamdani and will be followed by a Wednesday confab with tech industry leaders — was pointedly snubbed by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who sits on the Partnership’s board, and other Wall Street titans, many of whom sent non-executive underlings, sources said.
“Everyone is just in listening mode,” joked one banking bigwig.
Dimon — who branded Mamdani a “Marxist” at an event in Ireland last week — begged off with a vague scheduling “conflict,” according to bank reps.
Even with the brush-off, Mamdani’s move to engage business leaders shows the “tax the rich” firebrand shifting toward broader outreach ahead of November’s general election, where he’ll face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, a stubborn ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden.
Those in attendance included Loews Corporation chair James Tisch, an ardent backer of Israel and the father of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch — whom Mamdani did not commit to keeping as top cop during the meeting.
A top rep from Louis Vuitton was also in the room for the confab, held at real estate company Tishman Speyer’s Rockefeller Plaza offices, sources said.
Mamdani, when pressed about the anti-Israel “globalize the intifada” cry by the business leaders, said he discouraged its use, according to attendees.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who is Jewish, pressed Mamdani for throwing around the word “genocide” about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza under Israel, the second source said.
But Mamdani evidently forged ahead smoothly.
“It was very frustrating. He speaks well,” the source said, recounting Mamdani’s response to a question about retail theft.
“He went into a lengthy discussion about people with mental illness. You scratch your head and say, ‘He didn’t answer the question. Unless you believe everyone who commits retail theft is mentally ill.’”
The source added: “(Mamdani) speaks very well, in paragraphs. He’s well organized. It’s easy to fall into the trap of not getting an answer to your question.”
The summit came as the Queens state Assemblyman shifts his campaign to the general election after his shocking win in last month’s Democratic primary.
Mamdani recently picked Jeffrey Lerner, a seasoned Democratic political veteran who once worked for top rival Cuomo, to lead his campaign.
He has been engaging with Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for NYC, as he tried to make nice with business leaders who’ve greeted his surprise primary win over Cuomo with serious concern verging into full-blown panic.
Mamdani has also extended lower profile olive branches, including meeting with many individual business leaders in one-on-ones, a source tied to the candidate said.
He met Monday with a dozen executives with the Black Economic Alliance, including chairman and techie investment honcho Charles Phillips, sources said.
“He’s proven himself to be a savvy campaigner,” a Democratic political operative said.
“The way you do it without angering your base is to quietly reach out to these people.”
And Mamdani has given tense tycoons plenty of ammunition to justify their fears.
He has pushed for a 2% tax hike on millionaires, a 4.5% increase on corporations and unhesitatingly said billionaires shouldn’t exist — all of which sparked fears a Mamdani mayoralty would cause an exodus of high earners from the Big Apple.
Some bigs have gone on offense against the leftist, such as billionaire hedge fund titan Bill Ackman, who publicly searched for an anti-Mamdani candidate before casting his lot with Adams.
Fellow billionaire John Catsimatidis likewise threatened to close or sell his Manhattan-based grocery chain Gristedes if Mamdani — who has proposed launching government-owned grocery shops — wins.
