Their lives are deeply woven into the city, where they have networks of family, friends, medical care and social activities, and those ties would have to be significantly curtailed or severed entirely. Moving would uproot not just their lives but also those of their family members, including children, who would have to be enrolled in new schools.
On a much smaller scale I live in a village with its own taxes. And people say “don’t you wish you didn’t have to pay that”. And my response is, the roads are clean, the streets/sidewalks are plowed and there’s 3 parks within walking distance… the schools have UPK and meals provided. I get a lot for the taxes collected.
Quote Citation: Matthew Haag, “Rich New Yorkers Threaten to Leave. Then They Find Out How Hard That Is. - The New York Times”, Dec. 5, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/nyregion/nyc-income-tax-rich.html