Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in the New York City mayoral race has left some of the city’s wealthiest families in a quiet panic. Within minutes of the Associated Press calling the election, parents started reaching out to school consultants, determined to find a way out, and fast.
“Within the first 30 minutes of AP announcing Mamdani’s victory, I got three messages from families looking to move,” said Christopher Rim, founder and CEO of Command Education, a Manhattan-based placement firm. By the next morning, Rim said he had heard from more than 20 families hoping to transfer their children to elite private schools outside the city.
The reasons, he said, go beyond money. “They’re saying they’re worried about safety in their everyday life,” Rim told the New York Post. “I don’t even think it’s a financial thing. I don’t think it’s the taxes or how much more money they would have to pay to live here.”
Many of the families reaching out to him, Rim said, are Jewish and uneasy about rising antisemitism in the city. Mamdani, a progressive from Queens, has faced criticism from some Jewish leaders over his stance on Israel, which they describe as divisive. The reaction, though, appears to be as much emotional as political, a mix of fear, frustration, and fatigue.
According to Rim, a number of families didn’t wait for Election Day to act. “Over the summer, I started hearing families say, ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do if this guy wins,’” he said. Six of his clients packed up before the vote, moving to Connecticut towns like Greenwich, Darien, and Riverside. “They were like, ‘He’s going to win, and there’s no reason to wait,’” Rim recalled.
Now, the calls are pouring in from parents with children enrolled at some of the city’s most elite schools, including Trinity, Riverdale, Horace Mann, Ramaz, and Avenues. They’re asking Rim to help them navigate new admissions to schools in Florida, New Jersey, and Connecticut. American Heritage in Plantation, Pine Crest in Boca Raton, Ransom Everglades in Miami, and Greenwich Country Day in Connecticut have all seen sudden interest.
Still, Rim warns that getting into those schools won’t be easy. “Even if you know someone at the school, you need to have a very strong application,” he said. “You have to get all the recommendation letters together. Students haven’t necessarily been preparing for all of this.”
The sense of alarm isn’t limited to Rim’s clients. Rabbi Marc Schneier of The Hampton Synagogue announced plans to open a Jewish day school in the Hamptons, “in anticipation of the thousands of Jewish families that will flock to the Hamptons and greater Suffolk County to escape the antisemitic climate of Mamdani’s New York.”
A poll conducted just before the election by J.L. Partners found that 9 percent of New Yorkers said they would “definitely” leave if Mamdani won, and another 25 percent said they were seriously considering it.
Whether that exodus actually happens is another story. But for now, Rim’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing. “These are families who’ve been thinking of leaving, wanting to leave,” he said. “This is just the final thing that pushed them over the edge.”
