Steven Roth, chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust—one of New York City’s largest landlords and taxpayers—used his company’s Q1 2026 earnings call on Tuesday to deliver a six-minute rebuke of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling his viral “tax the rich” video “irresponsible and dangerous” and comparing the phrase itself to hate speech.
Hours later, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin told CNBC the same video had put him “in harm’s way,” invoking the 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson that occurred just blocks from his Manhattan home.
