Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is courting powerful Wall Street leaders after months of attacking wealthy New Yorkers and pushing higher taxes on corporations.

Given New York City’s outsized role in U.S. banking, investing and corporate headquarters, business leaders warn financial instability in the Big Apple could reverberate nationwide.

Mamdani’s meetings this week with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon underscored growing concerns that the mayor’s push to tax wealthy individuals and businesses could clash with the financial sector that underpins the city’s economy.

And critics tell Fox News Digital that they view the sit-downs as part of a growing contradiction at the center of his economic agenda in the world’s largest business and finance hub.

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«The Mamdani administration has come to recognize that so much of their agenda depends on having successful businesses and wealth creators in the city,» Manhattan Institute economic policy expert Adam Lehodey told Fox News Digital.

«Simply alienating them isn’t going to solve any of New York’s problems,» he added.

Lehodey argued the city cannot fund progressive priorities like free childcare and subsidized housing without strong tax revenue and a healthy private sector. He warns that a «tax-the-rich strategy» could worsen the city’s economic challenges because it might discourage investment in New York.

«It’s a good thing that he’s meeting with them, but now he needs to follow up and deliver something substantive,» Lehodey said. «The current tax-the-rich strategy is only going to worsen the problems unless he follows up and says, ‘Let’s look at what we can do to make it easier to invest in New York State and New York City.’»

Mamdani’s outreach has also extended beyond major banking executives.

The socialist mayor recently reached out to Citadel founder Ken Griffin after previously criticizing the billionaire hedge fund manager over his Manhattan penthouse and personal wealth. Mamdani stood outside Griffin’s multi-million-dollar property in the city to tout his proposal for higher taxes on second homes in NYC worth more than $5 million.

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Citadel told FOX Business that Griffin «welcomes thoughtful, serious conversations about the policies that can grow the city’s economy and create more opportunity for all New Yorkers,» while cautioning that «reckless political theater serves no purpose.»

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos supported Griffin when on Wednesday he criticized Mamdani’s rhetoric toward wealthy business leaders. The world’s fourth-richest person accused politicians of using an «age-old technique» of «picking a villain and pointing fingers.»

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«It isn’t right… to stand in front of Ken Griffin’s house and act like he is some kind of villain,» Bezos told CNBC. «Ken Griffin isn’t a villain, he hasn’t hurt anybody, he’s not hurting New York, in fact quite the opposite.»

While Bezos said debates over raising taxes on top earners are legitimate, he criticized what he described as the «vilification» of wealthy Americans and argued that overspending — not insufficient tax revenue — is the root of the nation’s fiscal problems.

The tensions underscore the difficult balancing act facing the mayor of the nation’s financial capital: Wall Street and high-income taxpayers generate a major share of New York City’s tax revenue, even as progressive activists push for a more aggressive redistribution of wealth.

The Citadel founder is clashing with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over taxes targeting the ultra-wealthy and intensifying crime, reviving the same tensions that drove him to pull his business and billions out of Chicago. (Spencer Platt/Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Nicole Huyer, a senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, characterized the meetings with Dimon and Solomon as an effort to repair strained ties with New York’s business community after Mamdani’s «tax the rich» campaign rhetoric.

She cautioned that policies perceived as hostile to corporations and wealthy taxpayers could accelerate corporate and capital flight from New York, pointing to Griffin’s relocation to Florida as one example.

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«Jamie Dimon and David Solomon lead two of the nation’s most influential financial institutions and have enormous influence over the financial sector and labor market,» Huyer told Fox News Digital. «If policies drive major firms or wealthy taxpayers out of New York City, the impact on tax revenue, jobs and broader economic activity could be significant.»

Huyer added that «pitching class warfare and then pivoting to court Wall Street executives risks appearing politically performative.»

An Ebola treatment center in the epicenter of the deadly outbreak in eastern Congo was set on fire Thursday after angry residents clashed with authorities over the body of a suspected victim.

Rwampara Hospital was attacked by local youths attempting to retrieve the body of a friend who had reportedly died of Ebola, a witness told The Associated Press.

«The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,» Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area, told the outlet. «The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.»

The AP reported that people broke into the center and set fire to objects inside. A reporter also witnessed what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim being burned inside the facility.

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The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) said two tents used to treat Ebola patients were set on fire at the hospital. The organization said six people were receiving treatment for Ebola at the center.

Patrick Muyaya, a government spokesperson for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said medical care was continuing normally and all six patients were accounted for.

He called for calm while condemning violence against health facilities and medical staff.

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Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the individuals who burned the tents did not understand the protocols surrounding Ebola burials.

The incident underscored growing tensions between health officials enforcing strict Ebola containment measures and local customs surrounding funerals and burial rites.

«His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear,» Mukendi said. «All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.»

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Charred hospital beds stand in smoldering Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026, after it was set fire by people angry at being stopped from retrieving a body, according to a witness and police. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

In its statement, ALIMA condemned the spread of «incorrect or unconfirmed information on social media and the internet,» warning that misinformation could fuel fear and mistrust toward health facilities.

The violent clash comes as Congolese health officials reported 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected Ebola cases across two provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The United Nations said earlier this week that neighboring Uganda had reported two cases, including one death.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency Sunday, and the U.S. issued an urgent travel warning for the DRC shortly afterward.

US ISSUES URGENT TRAVEL WARNING AS DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK SPREADS OVERSEAS

Congolese police personnel and civilians stand near the burning Ebola treatment center, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak, in Rwampara general hospital in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo May 21, 2026. (REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere)

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier this week he was «deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.»

Officials said the outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rarer variant for which existing vaccines may be less effective.

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Nearly $4 million in emergency funding has been approved by the WHO to support national authorities responding to the outbreak.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rusia develó una nueva versión de su avión militar, el caza Sukhoi Su-57D, que ya hizo su primer vuelo de prueba y promete revolucionar la guerra aérea. El diferencial que prometen las autoridades rusas es que este caza de quinta generación permitirá el control a bordo de armas no tripuladas, como los drones.

Las primeras imágenes del prototipo del Su-57D fueron difundidas el martes por la Corporación Aeronáutica Unida (UAC, según sus siglas en inglés). La empresa de fabricación aeronáutica es propiedad de la corporación estatal Rostec y se encarga del diseño y manufactura de aviones militares de las fuerzas armadas de Rusia.

Sergéi Bogdan, jefe de la Oficina de Diseño Sukhoi y piloto de pruebas, condecorado además como Héroe de Rusia por el gobierno de Vladimir Putin en 2021, salió a bordo del primer avión Su-57D de quinta generación desde una base aérea de la ciudad de Komsomolsk del Amur, en el extremo oriente de Rusia, para poner a prueba el diseño de la nave.

El mismo Bogdan había sido quien, en enero de 2010, realizó el primer vuelo del primer caza ruso de combate de quinta generación, el T-50, predecesor del actual Su-75D.

Luego de completadas las pruebas, la UAC aseguró que el prototipo ya se encuentra disponible para ser utilizado como avión de entrenamiento de combate para la formación de pilotos o bien como avión de control de combate. Sobre este último aspecto estriba el principal activo del modelo biplaza: el Su-57D promete revolucionar la aviación militar al incorporar una plaza para un tripulante extra, el encargado de comandar naves no tripuladas, como drones, y otras novedosas armas de guerra.

«Han comenzado las pruebas de vuelo del prototipo del Su-57D, un caza biplaza de quinta generación. Este avión, desarrollado de forma independiente por nuestros fabricantes aeronáuticos, además de sus características de combate únicas, también poseerá las capacidades de un avión de entrenamiento de combate y de un avión de mando y control», declaró Denis Manturov, primer Viceprimer Ministro de Rusia.

Según las especificaciones oficiales, el nuevo modelo es un avión polivalente de primera línea, diseñado para realizar una amplia gama de misiones de combate. Puede atacar objetivos aéreos, terrestres y marítimos, operar las 24 horas del día, incluso en condiciones meteorológicas adversas y entornos con interferencias.

También, gracias a su baja detectabilidad, realizar misiones contra sistemas de defensa aérea modernos. Otras funciones son la supervisión de fusión de sensores o la dirección de operaciones de ataque autónomas.

La finalización del prototipo del Su-57D llevaba retrasada varios meses, fundamentalmente porque las autoridades militares y de la industria aeronáutica rusa priorizaban la producción y perfeccionamiento de aviones monoplaza básicos con vistas a la guerra contra Ucrania. Sin embargo, los recientes avistamientos de pruebas del biplaza chino Chengdu J-20S impulsaron el aceleramiento de las pruebas del Su-57D de la UAC.

La concepción de la nave se remonta a mediados de la década pasada, cuando se rubricó el acuerdo ruso-indio FGFA (o de Aviones de Combate de Quinta Generación, por sus siglas en inglés), que buscaba la colaboración entre el diseño ruso de una variante del Su-57 (a cargo de UAC) y la empresa india Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), que contribuiría en áreas como las pantallas de cabina, los sistemas de navegación, la informática a bordo y los sistemas de defensa.

Sin embargo, en 2018 la India se retiró del acuerdo con dudas respecto del cronograma de desarrollo del modelo. Ahora, ya con el Su-57D preparado para surcar los cielos, el gobierno de Argelia ya mostró interés en importar unidades para su fuerza aérea, una colaboración que permitiría perfeccionar las prestaciones de la aeronave.

«Seguimos trabajando para mejorar y ampliar las capacidades de nuestro complejo aeronáutico de quinta generación más avanzado. Confío en que la versión biplaza de la aeronave contribuirá significativamente a su éxito en los mercados extranjeros», declaró en esa línea Vadim Badeha, director ejecutivo de UAC.