New York just lost one of its most famous residents. Barbra Streisand has decided she’s had enough of the city under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and she is leaving along with a wave of other wealthy New Yorkers who say the city has taken a hard turn to the left.
Streisand broke the news herself on Tuesday afternoon, standing outside her Manhattan penthouse as movers carried furniture to a truck parked at the curb. She told the reporters waiting there that she no longer recognizes the place she has called home for so long.
“Mamdani said he was only coming after billionaires,” Streisand said, fighting back tears. “I worked my whole life for that money.”
For a performer who has spent decades backing progressive candidates, the moment was hard to miss. Streisand has hosted fundraisers, recorded campaign videos, and posted countless messages urging fans to vote Democrat. Now she says the movement she supported has gone too far.
Those close to her say her biggest worry is the family. She wants to make sure her grandchildren’s inheritance doesn’t end up funding socialist programs she never signed up for. Mamdani has pushed for higher taxes on top earners, rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, and free public buses, and critics say the bill for all of it will land on people like her.
“She’s spent her whole life building something,” said a longtime associate. “She isn’t going to watch the city take it apart piece by piece.”
When a reporter asked whether she regretted the political choices that helped get New York here, Streisand didn’t pull any punches.
“This is what you get when you vote with your feelings and not your brain,” she said.
That one line set social media on fire. Conservatives shared the clip with glee, calling it a wake-up call from an unlikely source. Progressive commentators accused her of hypocrisy, saying she cheered on left-wing politics as long as somebody else was paying for it.
Streisand’s departure fits a pattern real estate brokers say they have been watching for months. High-end listings in Manhattan have climbed, while agents in Florida, Texas, and Connecticut report a surge of calls from New Yorkers looking for a way out.
“It’s not just celebrities,” said one broker who handles luxury sales. “It’s business owners, doctors, people who have been here for generations. They feel like the city doesn’t want them anymore.”
City Hall downplayed the news. A spokesperson for the mayor said New York “is stronger than any one resident” and that the administration’s policies are designed to make the city livable for working families.
Streisand did not say where she is headed next, though her Malibu home is widely expected to be her main base for now. As her SUV pulled away from the curb, a neighbor watching from across the street summed up the mood on the block.
“If Barbra’s leaving,” she said, “who’s next?”
