Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio mocked President Trump after he announced he would leave New York and make Florida the state of his permanent residence. Cuomo tweeted,” Good riddance. It’s not like @realDonaldTrump paid taxes here anyway… He’s all yours, Florida.” De Blasio echoed, “Our deepest condolences to the good people of Florida as Trump attempts to outrun his past (and near future).”
What Cuomo and de Blasio ignore are these salient facts: more people reportedly leave New York City daily than any other city in the nation, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, between July 2017 and July 2018, New York state lost 48,560 people, the biggest plunge in the U.S. The New York Post added, “In 2017, roughly 131 people left the metropolitan area each day, compared with 43 in 2014.”
Bloomberg News wrote in August that according to 2018 Census data, “Scores of people are leaving the New York City area behind every day. New York leads all U.S. metro areas as the largest net loser with 277 people moving every day — more than double the exodus of 132 just one year ago.” Bloomberg added, “Seven cities had on average more than 100 new arrivals every day. Dallas, Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Austin.”
Forbes noted in September 2019:
The costly living expenses, crumbling infrastructure and high tax rates are a big problem for residents. If you live in NYC, you are forced to pay exorbitant taxes. The schools, bridges, tunnels, trains, airports and hospitals are falling apart. Casually walk the streets of NYC and you’ll notice that they are crowded and dirty … The politicians don’t seem to care. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, was out of the state—busy with his Don Quixote quest for the presidency of the United States—while New York suffered a major blackout.
Marketwatch reported in January 2019, “Data released by personal finance site GoBankingRates.com reveals that the No. 1 financial fear of people who live in the Northeast is that they will live in debt forever; the Northeast is the only region of the country ranking this factor as No. 1.”
As Kristin Tate wrote in The Hill in May 2019 of a fictional character considering whether to move to Florida from New York, his “$100,000 salary would go much further outside the Empire State. After inflation and relative costs, that amount would be equivalent to only $87,000. In Florida, the same $100,000 is worth roughly $101,000. Tally up the totals and it is easy to understand why so many people flee New York for Florida, especially as they enter peak earning years and think about retirement.”
Trump wrote on Twitter, “I cherish New York, and the people of New York, and always will, but unfortunately, despite the fact that I pay millions of dollars in city, state and local taxes each year, I have been treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state. Few have been treated worse. I hated having to make this decision, but in the end it will be best for all concerned.”