New Yorkers looking to flee Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic socialist agenda are being given an open invitation to Florida by one county sheriff, pitching it as “the beginning of a new life.”
“If you’re an NYC resident or a great NYPD officer unhappy with the results of tonight’s Mayoral election, let me be the first to invite you into the welcoming arms of Volusia County,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood wrote on Facebook Tuesday night.
Chitwood, serving his third term as the top law enforcement boss in the East Coast county that includes Daytona Beach and Edgewater, made the offer hours after Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.
The 61-year-old pitched openings in his office to police officers looking for better support than what they seemingly receive as New York’s Finest.
“To my NYPD friends, if you want to come to work in an organization that is cutting edge, innovating every day, a place where you’re appreciated by the community and supported by the elected officials, then check out the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and take a look at how we’re getting the job done,” he said.
Chitwood claimed the area was a “growing community,” safe from crime and perfect for starting businesses and raising families.
“To all New Yorkers, if you’re looking for a better quality of life, from education, to the outdoors, to the beautiful weather, check out Volusia County,” he wrote. “We are open for business. Tonight’s election is not the end. It can be the beginning of a new life.”
Fellow Floridians disagreed with Chitwood’s open invitation, saying they don’t want New Yorkers to move to Volusia County.
“Mike man we have no more room here, literally,” one resident wrote.
“I see a mass exodus coming Chill out people. He’s just looking for experienced officers,” another said.
“Don’t New York my Florida,” a third person said.
Chitwood, a vocal critic of soft-on-crime politicians, called out his New York counterparts in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller.
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Diller, 31, was gunned down by career criminal Guy Rivera during a traffic stop in Queens on March 25, 2024.
In a post honoring Diller, Chitwood pointed out that Rivera had “21 prior arrests by the NYPD, including 9 felonies, and a couple of stints in New York state prison.”
Nearly a million New Yorkers claimed they would move out of the city if Mamdani won the mayoral race.
About 9% of the 8.4 million residents, or roughly 765,000 people, said they would “definitely” bolt following Tuesday’s election, a survey conducted by J.L. Partners found, according to the Daily Mail.
Another 25% of New Yorkers — about 2.12 million — said they would “consider” packing up and leaving.
Between 2018 and 2022 more than 125,000 New Yorkers fled to the Sunshine State, ditching high taxes and crime for a sunnier, cheaper and safer lifestyle.
“People thought we were crazy when we were telling them this but it just started getting more and more bleak in New York,” Alex Taub, who moved to Miami in 2020, told The Post in May. “For the same price that we were paying [for a two-bedroom apartment] in New York, we were getting a five-bedroom, four-bathroom house with a pool and a backyard.”
The mass exodus took nearly $1.4 billion in income away from New York.
Mamdani, who said “we are unapologetic about our socialism,” has previously called for the NYPD to be defunded.
“We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety,” he wrote in a post in June 2020, following the deaths.
He has since apologized for the language he used, saying he was calling out the “specific practices” used and not the officers.
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