Exclusive — Rep. Lee Zeldin: ‘American Dream Is No Longer a New York Dream’

The American Dream is being killed in New York state by Gov. Kathy Hochul and that state’s ruling Democrat Party, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), a Republican candidate running for governor in the Empire State, said on Thursday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.

“Your American dream is no longer a New York dream,” Zeldin lamented, describing an ongoing exodus of New Yorkers fleeing for greener pastures in other states.

Zeldin linked the flight of resident from New York to government-driven rising rates of violent crime, costs of living, and violations of constitutional rights ostensibly imposed as “public health” measures by state authorities to reduce COVID-19 transmission.

New and growing families fleeing New York due to unaffordable living and the threat of violent crime drives familial fragmentation with aspiring grandparents, Zeldin observed.

He stated, “Here in New York, it’s pretty bad. It’s impacted the business climate. It’s impacted individuals and families. It’s harder to go out and obtain that first home, and you can have your first kid in the basement of mom and dad’s house you can go buy a home in another state.”

“New York leads the entire nation in population loss,” Zeldin remarked, “and a number one reason it gets cited is because of the cost of living.

Breitbart News reported that over 300,000 people fled New York City in the first eight months of 2020, primarily due to lockdown and shutdown decrees and increasing criminality.

The Census Bureau estimated New York City’s population to have declined 3.5 percent between July 2020 and July 2021. According to the bureaucracy, New York state “had the largest annual and cumulative numeric population decline” of all states in 2021, “decreasing by 319,020 (1.6%) and 365,336 (1.8%), respectively,” with New York’s shrinking population attributed to “negative domestic migration.”

Zeldin noted that New York state’s massive governmental apparatus provides the state with deep economic control at the expense of justice and prosperity. 

“A lot of New York’s economic policies pick winners and losers,” he said. “They’ve jacked up taxes so much and they have this poor regulatory environment.”

Zeldin said state authorities can only “recruit companies” to set up shop in New York state is to “throw money” at such businesses with “special grants” or a “bribe” lessening the burden of regulation and taxation. New York state will “essentially pick a business [or] pick an industry to be a winner,” he added.

The New York Republican said it was “crazy” that New York City’s budget ($101.7 billion in fiscal year 2022) is nearly that of Florida’s ($110 billion for fiscal year 2022).

Hochul and New York Democrats have driven up crime — including homicides — with “pro-criminal laws” such as cashless bail, the HALT Act, and the prospective “Clean Slate Act,” Zeldin determined.

Breitbart News Daily broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.