There’s a special kind of panic that only the ultra-rich can experience — the kind that hits when they realise the world they built, the one with helicopter rides to the Hamptons, $50,000-a-year pre-schools, and mayoral candidates who take their calls, might be slipping away. And right now, that panic has a name: Zohran Mamdani .
In the Pilates studios of the Upper East Side and the wine-soaked dinner tables of Tribeca, he’s become an existential threat disguised as a 33-year-old socialist. The man from Queens who talks about free buses and rent freezes is leading the mayoral race — and Manhattan’s wealthiest residents are losing their collective cool.
The Fear: “How did this happen?”
The very people who believed they ran New York — the hedge fund billionaires, the podcasting wives, the real estate tycoons — are suddenly discovering their influence isn’t what it used to be. They’ve tried everything: whispered deals to clear the field for a centrist saviour, million-dollar donations to anti- Mamdani PACs, desperate strategy sessions over caviar. But Mamdani’s campaign, fuelled by a younger, angrier, and poorer electorate, is steamrolling their efforts.
The disbelief is almost comical. Some donors admit that they’d rather have a deeply unpopular Cuomo in office because, by comparison, he looks like Winston Churchill. Others confess they never realised how much resentment was bubbling beneath the surface until Mamdani’s primary victory slapped them awake. For a class used to shaping reality with money and access, it’s like watching gravity stop working.
The Rage: “How dare he?”
Mamdani hasn’t just challenged New York’s elite — he’s mocked them. One campaign ad, featuring an actor lampooning rich people for complaining about socialism while eating lobster, ricocheted through Manhattan’s wealthiest ZIP codes. The reaction? Equal parts outrage and reluctant admiration. Many of the city’s power brokers are furious that they’re being openly caricatured, but they’re also unsettled by how effective the message has been.
It’s not just politics anymore — it’s cultural warfare. The private school crowd is now playing “what if” scenarios over lunch: What if taxes go up? What if crime returns? What if we move to Miami, or Israel, or at least our second homes in Bedford? Most of them admit, behind closed doors, that they’ll probably stay put. But the very fact that they’re asking those questions reveals a deeper fear — that they’re no longer in control of the script.
The Shock: “This wasn’t supposed to happen”
For decades, New York’s elite operated under a simple assumption: that money and influence could keep radical politics at bay. Mamdani has shattered that illusion. His campaign has built a coalition that isn’t swayed by threats of capital flight or lectures about how “job creators” keep the city afloat. These are voters who don’t care if billionaires threaten to decamp to Florida — because they were never invited to the billionaire parties in the first place.
Even Mamdani’s nods to moderation — trimming the city bureaucracy, using tech in schools — haven’t eased their anxiety. Free buses and childcare might sound utopian to working-class New Yorkers, but they’re meaningless to people who spend more on their dog walkers than most families spend on rent. The disconnect is profound, and it’s making the city’s elite realise how out of touch they’ve become.
The Grudging Acceptance: “Maybe the guillotine isn’t coming”
Some in the 1% are slowly talking themselves down from the ledge. A few believe Mamdani might keep the current police commissioner, which would soothe Wall Street’s nerves. Others are even cheering him on, cynically betting that a socialist mayor will cause such chaos that voters will swing hard to the right in the next election. And then there are those quietly making contingency plans: more time in Europe, more weeks in the Hamptons, maybe a pied-à-terre in Rome — just in case.
The panic isn’t about policies anymore. It’s about power. Mamdani represents the first serious threat to New York’s elite since the Gilded Age — a reminder that political gravity still pulls downward, and that wealth alone can’t guarantee control. One retired banker summed it up with weary resignation: it’s not as if the guillotine is being rolled into Central Park. But for a class used to dictating the terms of civic life, even the hint of losing their grip feels like a revolution.
The Big picture
This is what class anxiety looks like in 2025: Pilates instructors gossiping about socialism, billionaires plotting over pasta, and Manhattan’s most powerful people asking each other if they should flee before the buses become free. Mamdani hasn’t even won yet, and he’s already forcing the city’s ruling class to confront an uncomfortable truth — that their era of uncontested dominance might be ending.
And that, more than any policy or promise, is what’s keeping them awake at night.
In the Pilates studios of the Upper East Side and the wine-soaked dinner tables of Tribeca, he’s become an existential threat disguised as a 33-year-old socialist. The man from Queens who talks about free buses and rent freezes is leading the mayoral race — and Manhattan’s wealthiest residents are losing their collective cool.
The Fear: “How did this happen?”
The very people who believed they ran New York — the hedge fund billionaires, the podcasting wives, the real estate tycoons — are suddenly discovering their influence isn’t what it used to be. They’ve tried everything: whispered deals to clear the field for a centrist saviour, million-dollar donations to anti- Mamdani PACs, desperate strategy sessions over caviar. But Mamdani’s campaign, fuelled by a younger, angrier, and poorer electorate, is steamrolling their efforts.
The disbelief is almost comical. Some donors admit that they’d rather have a deeply unpopular Cuomo in office because, by comparison, he looks like Winston Churchill. Others confess they never realised how much resentment was bubbling beneath the surface until Mamdani’s primary victory slapped them awake. For a class used to shaping reality with money and access, it’s like watching gravity stop working.
The Rage: “How dare he?”
Mamdani hasn’t just challenged New York’s elite — he’s mocked them. One campaign ad, featuring an actor lampooning rich people for complaining about socialism while eating lobster, ricocheted through Manhattan’s wealthiest ZIP codes. The reaction? Equal parts outrage and reluctant admiration. Many of the city’s power brokers are furious that they’re being openly caricatured, but they’re also unsettled by how effective the message has been.
It’s not just politics anymore — it’s cultural warfare. The private school crowd is now playing “what if” scenarios over lunch: What if taxes go up? What if crime returns? What if we move to Miami, or Israel, or at least our second homes in Bedford? Most of them admit, behind closed doors, that they’ll probably stay put. But the very fact that they’re asking those questions reveals a deeper fear — that they’re no longer in control of the script.
The Shock: “This wasn’t supposed to happen”
For decades, New York’s elite operated under a simple assumption: that money and influence could keep radical politics at bay. Mamdani has shattered that illusion. His campaign has built a coalition that isn’t swayed by threats of capital flight or lectures about how “job creators” keep the city afloat. These are voters who don’t care if billionaires threaten to decamp to Florida — because they were never invited to the billionaire parties in the first place.
Even Mamdani’s nods to moderation — trimming the city bureaucracy, using tech in schools — haven’t eased their anxiety. Free buses and childcare might sound utopian to working-class New Yorkers, but they’re meaningless to people who spend more on their dog walkers than most families spend on rent. The disconnect is profound, and it’s making the city’s elite realise how out of touch they’ve become.
The Grudging Acceptance: “Maybe the guillotine isn’t coming”
Some in the 1% are slowly talking themselves down from the ledge. A few believe Mamdani might keep the current police commissioner, which would soothe Wall Street’s nerves. Others are even cheering him on, cynically betting that a socialist mayor will cause such chaos that voters will swing hard to the right in the next election. And then there are those quietly making contingency plans: more time in Europe, more weeks in the Hamptons, maybe a pied-à-terre in Rome — just in case.
The panic isn’t about policies anymore. It’s about power. Mamdani represents the first serious threat to New York’s elite since the Gilded Age — a reminder that political gravity still pulls downward, and that wealth alone can’t guarantee control. One retired banker summed it up with weary resignation: it’s not as if the guillotine is being rolled into Central Park. But for a class used to dictating the terms of civic life, even the hint of losing their grip feels like a revolution.
The Big picture
This is what class anxiety looks like in 2025: Pilates instructors gossiping about socialism, billionaires plotting over pasta, and Manhattan’s most powerful people asking each other if they should flee before the buses become free. Mamdani hasn’t even won yet, and he’s already forcing the city’s ruling class to confront an uncomfortable truth — that their era of uncontested dominance might be ending.
And that, more than any policy or promise, is what’s keeping them awake at night.
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