PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — New York City just got dumped — and the breakup message is hard to miss.
Towering over Times Square this week are digital billboards that read: “Dear NYC, it’s not you. It’s me.”
It’s not a romance gone wrong — it’s a recruitment pitch from Palm Beach County, which is now openly courting Wall Street firms and high-earning executives to relocate to Florida.
A breakup in bright lights
The campaign, launched by the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County (BDB), is the latest chapter in the area’s decade-long “Wall Street South” push — a coordinated effort to turn the Palm Beaches into a national finance hub.
“Yes, our campaign reads as a relationship breakup — ‘Dear NYC, it’s not you, it’s me,’” said Kelly Smallridge, President and CEO of the Business Development Board. “We’ve blasted it everywhere because the executives are breaking up with New York and making the move to come here.”
This week alone, Smallridge says her team mailed 500 relocation packets to New York CEOs, shipped branded merchandise to influencers, and launched digital campaigns aimed at decision-makers in finance and tech.
Politics and timing
The marketing blitz comes just days after Zohran Mamdani was elected New York City’s new mayor, pledging to raise taxes on the area’s wealthiest corporations and individuals — a move that has rattled many in the business community.
“We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that the election just a week ago has had a tremendous impact,” Smallridge said. “Our phones are ringing. We’ve done numerous media pitches, and there’s a real buzz right now.”
A wealth wave heading south
That “buzz” marks the biggest surge in interest since the pandemic, when about $39 billion in wealth left the Northeast for Florida — and roughly $10 billion of it landed in Palm Beach County, according to the BDB.
BDB records show the region has since become the fourth-fastest-growing wealth hub in the world, now home to nearly 70 billionaires and more than 70,000 millionaires.
See also: Boca Raton Mayor feels Mamdani win is a big opportunity for the city
Local real-estate agents say the latest wave is already showing up in their inboxes.
“We all know it originated during COVID, but for those folks who got busy and stayed put, I think this mayoral race really gave them a turbo charge,” said Bonnie Heatzig, Executive Director of Luxury Sales at Compass Florida. “It’s reignited interest not just in moving here personally, but in bringing their businesses too.”
Building “Wall Street South”
Palm Beach County’s financial sector has grown rapidly over the past decade, with more than 19,000 financial and business-service firms employing 120,000 people, and 570 corporate headquarters already established.
The BDB says it’s also focusing on aviation, tech, life-sciences, and manufacturing companies to diversify the economy.
“Fifteen years ago, we were built on tourism, agriculture, and construction,” Smallridge said. “Now we’re building stability — bringing in good-paying jobs and giving young graduates a reason to come back home.”
