New York City, for all its trials and tribulations, remains the wealthiest city in the world – but at least a few of its 384,000 millionaires are packing their bags and pondering a move to Vero Beach.

“The Hamptons is basically in group therapy about the mayoral race,” veteran political fundraiser Robert Zimmerman told the New York Times at end of August.

“We have heard from five New York City clients in the past six weeks looking for a home in Vero who specifically mentioned the political situation,” said Richard Boga, co-leader of the O’Dara Boga Dobson team at ONE Sotheby’s International Realty.

“They are telling us ‘I am out of here,’” added Boga’s partner Cindy O’Dare.  “They want to move. They want six months and a day in Vero, and we have sold two houses to people in that group so far with new inquires coming in all the time.”

When state assemblyman and democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor in the heavily Democratic city on June 24, it sent shock waves through the upper economic echelons in Manhattan.

Mamdani, who is heavily favored to win in November, is running on a platform that includes rent control, free public transportation, raising the minimum wage and a 2-percent wealth tax imposed on New Yorkers earning $1 million or more annually.

“The new tax is the main issue that is motivating wealthy New Yorkers to move,” says O’Dare. “Many of them had one foot out the door already. They were already a little bit concerned about how things were going in New York and may have been planning a move to Florida in the future, but they wanted to stay for another four or five years for work or family reasons. Now that is not the case.”

Boga says Jet Blue’s recent announcement that it will fly from Vero to JFK starting in December opens the door for Manhattan buyers who want to keep working three or four days a week on Wall Street while commuting weekends to Vero.

O’Dare says they heard the first rumblings of discontent well before the June primary.

“Clear back in February [as Mamdani’s campaign was gaining momentum], we heard from a very prominent New York surgeon and his wife who wanted to buy a home here, and there was some talk about politics and what might happen in the election.

“People ask me if residents are really going to leave New York just because of who gets elected mayor,” said O’Dare. “I tell them, no, that is not the reason. That is just the straw that broke the camel’s back. They’ve been thinking about giving up the New York residency and establishing residency here for all the obvious reasons, and this is just the impetus to actually make the move.”

O’Dare says the longing to relocate from New York to Florida has not reached pandemic levels yet, but it could if Mamdani wins on Nov. 4. Betting sites have his chances of victory at 84 percent this week, up 10 percent since last month.

“We shifted more of our advertising dollars to New York after the primary, and we are networking with top agents we know in the city,” says Boga’s partner Cindy O’Dare. “They are telling us to buckle up and get ready for a flood of referrals.”

O’Dare and Boga plan a trip to New York shortly after the election, in part to capitalize on any new, post-election buyer momentum.

“We have been invited to an exclusive meeting for the top 100 Sotheby’s agents the second week in November,” Boga told Vero Beach 32963.

O’Dare also sees potential for a knock-on effect that will send new clients north from Palm Beach and Miami at the same time as New Yorkers travel south to Vero.

“We are members of the Palm Beach MLS and put our top properties on that platform,” O’Dare says. “A lot of people down there have been thinking about moving up the coast for a while.

“With the fresh influx of wealthy New Yorkers coming to Florida, this may be the time when they decide to sell for a great price and come up here and buy something on the ocean or river for much less than they sold for.

“I think 2026 is going to be a great year for Vero Beach real estate.”