Robert De Niro, a man who has spent half a century perfecting the art of looking disappointed in other people, has reportedly reached his personal breaking point with New York City. According to sources close to the actor, De Niro is now seriously considering packing up his remaining belongings and leaving the city he once called home following the official takeover of City Hall by newly elected mayor Mamdani.
Speaking with visible frustration, De Niro said he feels he has “no choice” but to leave.
“He wants to take all of my savings,” De Niro explained, gesturing vaguely toward Manhattan as if the city itself were reaching into his pockets. “They say I’m wealthy. I haven’t worked in some time. My savings is all I have left.”
For a man whose filmography includes mob bosses, boxers, and emotionally unavailable fathers, this may be De Niro’s most dramatic role yet: the rich New Yorker shocked to discover that progressive tax policy applies to him too.
For decades, De Niro was one of Hollywood’s most vocal supporters of aggressively left-wing politics. He endorsed progressive candidates, praised socialist ideas in interviews, and enthusiastically backed Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, calling it “exactly what New York needs right now.” At rallies, De Niro warned that the city had been “hijacked by greed” and that it was “time for the wealthy to finally pay their fair share.”
Now, with Mamdani seated comfortably in the mayor’s office and talking openly about wealth taxes, luxury levies, and “redistributing excess resources,” De Niro appears to be reassessing what, exactly, “fair share” means.
“I didn’t think he meant me,” De Niro reportedly told friends. “I thought he meant other wealthy people. You know, the bad ones.”
Sources say the actor was particularly alarmed after attending a private meeting where Mamdani outlined plans to fund social programs by targeting “unused capital sitting in private accounts.”
“That’s when Bob went quiet,” said one attendee. “He just stared at the table like he was back in Goodfellas, realizing the guy across from him wasn’t joking.”
De Niro’s inner circle says the actor feels blindsided, despite the fact that Mamdani campaigned on these policies repeatedly, loudly, and in simple language. Campaign posters featured slogans like ‘Tax the Rich’ and ‘No One Needs That Much Money’, which De Niro previously described as “refreshingly honest.”
“It turns out they were being very honest,” said a longtime associate. “Bob just assumed honesty stopped somewhere below his bank balance.”
The situation has sparked quiet panic among New York’s celebrity elite, many of whom publicly celebrated Mamdani’s victory while privately Googling “countries with no extradition treaties.” Several high-profile figures are said to be “monitoring the situation,” which in Hollywood terms means calling real estate agents in Florida, Texas, and Monaco.
De Niro, however, has been more vocal than most.
“I love New York,” he said. “But I can’t live in a city where the government sees my savings as a community resource.”
Critics were quick to point out that this is the same man who once criticized billionaires for “hoarding wealth” and argued that extreme inequality was a moral failure of society.
Social media users wasted no time highlighting the apparent irony.
“So let me get this straight,” one user wrote. “You supported a guy who promised to tax the rich, and now you’re mad because he’s taxing the rich?”
Another posted, “This is what happens when the ‘eat the rich’ crowd realizes they’re on the menu.”
Still, De Niro insists this is different.
“I’m not rich like that anymore,” he said. “I have expenses. Property taxes. Staff. Maintenance. You don’t understand how expensive it is just to exist at my level.”
According to reports, De Niro has already begun exploring potential new residences outside New York. States with lower taxes are said to be at the top of his list, though aides confirm he is struggling with the optics of moving to a place he once described as “morally bankrupt.”
“He doesn’t want to look like a hypocrite,” said a source close to the actor. “But he also doesn’t want to watch his savings turn into bike lanes and free college.”
Mayor Mamdani, for his part, appeared unfazed by De Niro’s concerns. When asked about the actor’s possible departure, Mamdani shrugged.
“New York will survive,” the mayor said. “It always does. If someone believes in collective responsibility, that belief shouldn’t disappear when it becomes inconvenient.”
Privately, City Hall insiders say Mamdani was “not surprised” by the reaction.
“This always happens,” one aide said. “People love redistribution as a concept. They get a little weird about it when the redistribution involves them.”
Political analysts note that De Niro’s predicament may become a symbol of a larger trend: elite supporters of radical policy discovering that slogans eventually turn into legislation.
“It’s the classic arc,” said one commentator. “First comes the applause. Then comes the policy. Then comes the moving truck.”
Despite the backlash, De Niro maintains that his values haven’t changed—only his circumstances.
“I still believe in helping people,” he said. “I just think there should be limits. Reasonable limits. Limits that stop right before my money.”
Whether De Niro ultimately leaves New York remains to be seen. Friends say he is torn between his love for the city and his fear of watching decades of earnings slowly evaporate in the name of social justice.
For now, the actor appears to be stuck in what critics are calling the “find out” phase of his political journey—a moment familiar to many who enthusiastically cheer revolutionary ideas until the revolution knocks on their door.
As one longtime New Yorker put it, watching the situation unfold, “It’s amazing how fast ‘tax the rich’ turns into ‘why are you taxing me?’”
If De Niro does leave, he won’t be the first celebrity to exit New York in protest of policies they once praised. But he may be the most emblematic—a man who spent years warning others about the dangers of unchecked capitalism, now racing to protect himself from the system he helped endorse.
In the end, New York will move on, Mamdani will keep governing, and De Niro will likely find a new place to live where his savings feel safe again. But the lesson, critics say, will linger: supporting an idea is easy—living under it is something else entirely.