As Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 12-year reign draws to a close, some of New York's wealthiest expressed worries about the city without the billionaire at the helm, Women's Wear Daily reports.
Front-runner Bill de Blasio's plan to raise taxes on New York's highest earners drew considerable alarm at a gathering Monday at the Park Avenue residence of Christine and Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of the Blackstone Group.
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"I fear for New York City if Mr. de Blasio gets elected," socialite Muffie Potter Aston said at the party for Diana Taylor, the mayor's girlfriend. "He just wants to tax everyone to smithereens."
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Author and socialite Jacqueline Weld Drake echoed this concern. "It's not a city that's going to benefit from high taxes because people who have substantial incomes have a choice. They have a choice of venues. New Jersey beckons. Florida beckons," Drake said. "We are really biting the hand that feeds us. No question about it."
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