Fox News’ Sean Hannity told former New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio that part of the reason he left his hometown was because people would stare at him “with daggers in their eyes” whenever he went out to restaurants.
Speaking to de Blasio, who served as NYC mayor from 2014 to 2021, about Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, Hannity expressed concerns about the impacts his proposed policies might have on the city, but ultimately concluded that he was “perfectly fine with Mamdani winning... because it’s not going to impact my life.”
The Fox News multi-millionaire said he could not stand people looking at him in the wrong way when he went out in the city.
“I left New York. You know why I left New York? High taxes, quality of life, crime,” he said. “I had a hard time going to a restaurant in New York City because people would stare at me, and hated me, and they had daggers in their eyes.”
“I’m loved down here in Florida. I don’t know why New Yorkers are so intolerant, but that was my life in New York, so I left.”
Hannity announced in January 2024 that he was moving to “the free state of Florida,” saying of New York: “I am out. I am done. I’m finished.”
“Finally, for the first time that I can think of in my adult life, I actually have representatives in the state that I’m living in that share my values,” he said of his new home.
“Like so many Americans, I left New York for good, and am now in the state with, let’s see: warmer weather, law and order, better education, more freedom, better quality of life—and guess what? No state income tax.”
Rate increases on taxpayers reporting more than $25 million in taxable income came into force in New York in 2021, meaning Hannity was likely paying a marginal rate of 10.9 percent in state taxes in addition to his federal taxes.
He reportedly earns around $25 million a year from Fox News alone, with additional income from book and radio deals. A state tax bill which may have been approaching half a million dollars a year was cut to zero when he re-located to Florida.
The 62-year-old now lives near Palm Beach, having added a $23.5 million waterfront estate and a $14.9 million townhouse located near Mar-a-Lago to an already extensive property portfolio that includes homes in six other states.
