Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is threatening to close the company’s Manhattan office following the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor, calling the 34-year-old Democratic socialist a “Communist” and warning that his administration will “wreck the business climate.”
During a recent YouTube livestream, Portnoy, 48, said Mamdani’s victory made him seriously consider relocating Barstool’s headquarters to Hoboken or Jersey City. “I hate the guy,” Portnoy said. “Thirty-something-year-old Communist running New York City who’s never had a job in his life, hates America — doesn’t seem like the best.” Though he admitted that moving the office would disrupt his employees’ lives, he said he has already told Barstool’s finance team to “start looking around for property.”
Portnoy’s frustration with Mamdani has been growing for months. Over the summer, he appeared on Fox Business warning that Mamdani “hates capitalism” and is “closer to a Communist.” After networks projected Mamdani’s win over former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Portnoy posted on X, “Thank God I don’t live there anymore.” Other business leaders echoed his alarm — including Palantir CEO Alex Karp, who told CNBC the city is “about to have a complete disaster.”
Mamdani, born in Uganda and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, ran on a progressive platform that includes rent freezes, city-run grocery stores, and expanded public housing. Supporters see his victory as a historic shift toward affordability and equity, while critics fear it will drive employers out of the city. Portnoy says he’s torn between taking “a principled stand” and sparing his New York employees from upheaval — but insists he “can’t stand the thought” of Mamdani running the city.
