New York and Miami are an American contrast. Democrats must pick the right side | Opinion

Last Wednesday morning, as New Yorkers were contending with the democratic socialist takeover of their city the night before, a very different scene was playing out in a packed Miami arena.

The city’s Republican mayor, Francis Suarez, was hosting the American Business Forum, a high-octane pep rally for the American Dream. It featured Tony Robbins, Eric Schmidt of Google, top investors from around the world and even President Trump, who spoke to a sold-out crowd of dreamers, immigrants and aspiring entrepreneurs.

It showed two different visions for America: One city was watching a democratic socialist sunrise, the other was hosting a revival tent for capitalism. But for my fellow Democrats, it signaled something deeper: A time for choosing.

Do we want to side with the dreamers building businesses in Miami, or the activists trying to bulldoze them in New York?

Do we want to be the party of prosperity, or the party that punishes it?

Those should be easy questions to answer, but Democrats are frozen — including in Florida.

For generations, our state was a blue state, then later a purple one. During that time, it was the vacation destination for overworked New Yorkers. Miami was called the sixth borough of New York. Then, over the last decade, Florida began to flip red while business capitals like New York and San Francisco shifted to deeper and deeper shades of blue.

Whether it is entirely because of Republican policies or not, the reality is that Florida, and Miami in particular, have now become what New York City used to be — the capital of capitalism and the epicenter of the American Dream. It’s why, after Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win last week, New York City supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis announced he’s considering moving his company to Florida. As he told Forbes, “The key word is a commonsense place to do business.”

That’s no longer New York City, especially not if you’re in the grocery business. Catsimatidis would be joining the likes of Ken Griffin and Citadel Capital, who moved to Miami in 2022 and are currently building a $2.5 billion office tower in Brickell, and countless others.

Last year, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council worked with 45 companies to expand or relocate, committing to more than 10,000 new jobs and $806.5 million in new capital investment — a record. Florida is the place entrepreneurs and business leaders flee to from Democratic strongholds. Miami isn’t the sixth borough, it’s the first.

And for obvious reasons: No state income tax. Sensible regulations. Streets that feel safe. Schools that still teach citizenship rather than cynicism. And a government that answers its phone instead of sending you a link to a form.

I want to be able to say this was a joint effort between Florida’s Republicans and Democrats. But instead, Florida Democrats seem intent on resisting and denying the progress made in the state. They think the answer is to embrace democratic socialism in a state filled with people who fled socialism, whether from Cuba, Venezuela, or sadly, New York.

No wonder voters continue to reject them.

In order for Democrats to win again in Florida and nationwide, they can’t do what Mamdani is doing in New York. They need to embrace free enterprise and fair enterprise. They need to become a party that enables success for all, not that promises transfers from rich to poor.

They need to develop and preach democratic capitalism: a message that rewards innovation, celebrates hard work and widens the ladder so more people can climb it. A message that balances fairness with freedom, equity with excellence, and compassion with common sense.

We can be the party hosting the American Dream-fest in a packed arena — not just in Miami, but in Madison Square Garden. And in Detroit, Phoenix and Pittsburgh. It can happen anywhere Americans still believe in rising.

I believe voters — including Democratic voters — will be looking for exactly that after Mamdani’s democratic socialist experiment collapses under the weight of its own delusions. The only question is: Will Democrats be ready, or even able, to offer it?

Philip Levine, a cruise industry entrepreneur, is a former two-term mayor of Miami Beach and onetime Democratic candidate for governor of Florida.

This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 11:48 AM.