Happy Thursday in NYC, where people haven’t been this wrong about an exodus since Pharaoh’s advisers assured him the Israelites were bluffing.

One of the primary fears among opponents and skeptics following Mamdani’s ascendancy in last year’s mayoral election was that the 34-year-old’s socialist inclinations would drive businesses and their fat tax contributions out of the city. That mantra became one of the defining refrains of the campaign’s final few months, as enemies on all sides tried desperately to undermine Mamdani’s rapidly consolidating base.

“Both [business and wealthy residents] have already started making arrangements for the exits,” billionaire Bill Ackman wrote on X following Mamdani’s victory. The New York Post published a poll on Nov. 3, 2025, showing that nearly a million New Yorkers were preparing to flee the city.

Six months into the Mamdani era, it appears those fears were largely unfounded. As reported by the City Reporter, dozens of massive corporations — including Bank of America, Anthropic and L’Oreal — have rented new office spaces in New York City over the last three months. The total amount of office space leased in the city is approaching its highest total since 2000. Average rent has jumped and vacancy rates are declining.

“The fact that companies across sectors are continuing to make major investments in our city speaks to the strength of the fundamentals of our city’s economy,” Mamdani told The City Reporter. “They believe in New York’s future.”

According to real estate executives, businesses are betting that in 10-20 years, New York City will remain the central hub of talent and innovation in their field. The fact that new office leases are being driven by a variety of industries suggests the confidence runs deeper than one hot market.

“It is not just by one key industry but financial services, professional services, tech, artificial intelligence, consumer goods,” Frank Wallach, an executive managing director at the real estate brokerage firm Colliers, told City Reporter.

Of course, Mamdani has so far failed to deliver on his core campaign promise to raise corporate tax rates and income taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers — changes that would require support from Albany. Were he to succeed, it would truly put the exodus theory to the test.

The soundtrack of a Brooklyn summer inevitably includes the tinny melody of an approaching ice cream truck entering neighborhood streets on the first warm day in May and playing on repeat into October. 

Pierrepont Playground is no stranger to this jingle, as it has proven to be one of Brooklyn Heights’ prime locations for ice cream trucks. There can be as many as three trucks stationed there, drawing steady business from children fresh off the monkey bars and tourists taking in Promenade views. 

Behind each ice cream truck is a business shaped by franchise agreements, city permits, fleet operators, daily depot runs and an unwritten code that determines where each vendor can park. In Brooklyn Heights, as everywhere else in the city, the ice cream truck business is far more layered than it appears from the customer’s side of the serving window.

Read on to learn more.

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