NY’s grip as finance capital imperiled by high taxes, poor business climate: report

Published

2 years ago

November 2, 2023

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The Empire State is losing its grip as the nation’s financial services capital.

New York’s financial services industry – a great contributor to the state’s gross domestic product – has been imperiled by the plummeting population of high-income residents, who are fleeing amid towering taxes and rising housing costs, according to a sobering new study.

“As other states attract talent and investment in the sector, there is no guarantee of future success,” said the report from the Business Council of New York State.

“Addressing the states tax burden, business climate, and cost of living can help to ensure New Yorks position as a national and global leader for finance.”

Over the last three years, the top four states landing new high-paid financial services and insurance jobs over the last three years were Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia, the analysis conducted by the Business Council found.

New York ranked 36th in terms of percentage growth — at a rate of a puny two-tenths of 1%.

“North Carolina and Florida have rapidly added jobs in the finance and insurance sector while New Yorks employment has remained below national growth trends,” the report said.

Each finance sector employee generates nearly an additional three jobs in other sectors — so any loss of employment ripples through the entire economy, the study noted.

“This report should serve as a call to action for leaders across New York to forcefully address the competitiveness issues that threaten one of its most valuable and critical economic forces, the finance industry,” the study said.

The average compensation package in New York’s financial services industry is a nation-high $309,000 per year — $275,800 in salary plus $34,000 in other benefits.

The figures showed continuing trends of population decline in New York – with a 2.7% decrease from 2019 to 2022 — marking the worst loss among the 50 states during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the population loss was in New York City and its suburbs, home of most of the state’s wealthiest residents.

A review of net migration of residents showed that the largest flight of gross income was from Manhattan at nearly $11 billion.

“The data confirms the flight of the wealthiest from the New York City area,” the business group’s review found.

In 2021 alone, the Empire State saw a net decline of $9.8 billion in income that migrated to Florida, according to the report.

It’s not a coincidence, the study said, noting that the Tax Foundation think tank rates New York as having the highest combined state and local tax rate on residents, and the Sunshine State the lowest.

“This single competitive factor [taxes] is likely playing an influential role in the migration of high-net-worth individuals as they have the most to gain by leaving a high-income tax state for a low, or zero, income tax state,” the study said.

It also pointed out that New York is also one of a small collection of states that levies a tax on estates, derisively referred to as the “death tax.”

“High-wealth individuals are likely factoring this tax into their location decisions,” the report said.

“Forceful action is necessary,” the analysis concludes. “The state will need to address the tax burden, business climate, and cost of living issues that hurt the states competitiveness.

“If the state does not address these issues, it risks losing its dominance in the finance and insurance industry, and ultimately, jeopardizes the health and prosperity of New Yorks economy.”

World

At least 100 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza – ‘complete families wiped out’ says health ministry

Published

3 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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At least 100 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza - 'complete families wiped out' says health ministry

At least 100 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Sunday, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Local medics also report that women and children were among the dead – as Israel launches an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas.

“Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment,” Khalil Al-Deqran, Gaza health ministry spokesperson, told the Reuters news agency.

Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said it received the bodies of 20 people killed in strikes that hit houses and tents in the Muwasi area. Hamas described that as a “new brutal crime”.

In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed in two separate strikes, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al Balah.

Meanwhile, first responders from the health ministry and the civil defence reported at least 36 people were killed in multiple strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes.

Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March. It is attempting to pressurise Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the whole of Gaza and controlling aid.

It comes as peace talks between Israel and Hamas take place in Qatar this weekend, although sources told Reuters there had been no breakthrough.

Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”

Earlier on Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”.

“After putting the European Gaza Hospital out of service a few days ago, the Israeli occupation has intensified its targeting and siege of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip since dawn today,” it added.

Israel has previously denied deliberately targeting civilians and accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.

This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.

Separately, the Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they had targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with two ballistic missiles.

The Houthis have fired at Israel because of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel has carried out airstrikes in response, including one on 6 May that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.

The conflict began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s military response has seen the deaths of more than 53,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Politics

Retired artist loses $2M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator

Published

4 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Retired artist loses M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator

Retired artist Ed Suman lost over $2 million in cryptocurrency earlier this year after falling victim to a scam involving someone posing as a Coinbase support representative.

Suman, 67, spent nearly two decades as a fabricator in the art world, helping build high-profile works such as Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sculptures, according to a May 17 report by Bloomberg.

After retiring, he turned to cryptocurrency investing, eventually accumulating 17.5 Bitcoin (BTC) and 225 Ether (ETH) — a portfolio that comprised most of his retirement savings.

He stored the funds in a Trezor Model One, a hardware wallet commonly used by crypto holders to avoid the risks of exchange hacks. But in March, Suman received a text message appearing to be from Coinbase, warning him of unauthorized account access.

After responding, he got a phone call from a man identifying himself as a Coinbase security staffer named Brett Miller. The caller appeared knowledgeable, correctly stating that Suman’s funds were stored in a hardware wallet.

He then convinced Suman that his wallet could still be vulnerable and walked him through a “security procedure” that involved entering his seed phrase into a website mimicking Coinbase’s interface.

Nine days later, a second caller claiming to be from Coinbase repeated the process. By the end of that call, all of Suman’s crypto holdings were gone.

Retired artist loses $2M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator — *Crypto scammers impersonate Coinbase support. Source:* *NanoBaiter*

Coinbase suffers major data breach

The scam followed a data breach at Coinbase disclosed this week, in which attackers bribed customer support staff in India to access sensitive user information.

Stolen data included customer names, account balances, and transaction histories. Coinbase confirmed the breach impacted roughly 1% of its monthly transacting users.

Among those affected was venture capitalist Roelof Botha, managing partner at Sequoia Capital. There is no indication that his funds were accessed, and Botha declined to comment.

Coinbase’s chief security officer, Philip Martin, reportedly said the contracted customer service agents at the center of the controversy were based in India and had been fired following the breach.

The exchange has also said it plans to pay between $180 million and $400 million in remediation and reimbursement to affected users.

Magazine: Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins’ powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest, May 11 – 17

Sports

Stars win, oust Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets

Published

6 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Stars win, oust Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets

ESPN News Services

May 17, 2025, 11:43 PM ET

DALLAS — Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets hours after the unexpected death of his father, but also had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left in regulation that set up Dallas to start overtime with a man advantage.

Sam Steel, who had scored earlier for Dallas, was on a break when Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line. The Stars called a timeout, but missed a shot and had another one blocked before the end of regulation.

The Stars move on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the West final for the second year in a row and will host Game 1. Connor McDavid and his club, which won in six games last year, wrapped up their second-round series with a 1-0 overtime win over Vegas on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to wrap up his sixth playoff series win over the past three seasons. He made an incredible diving save with 8½ minutes left in regulation, leaning to the right before having to lunge back across his body toward the left post to knock down a shot by Mason Appleton.

Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots but couldn’t prevent a loss that assured a winless record for his club on the road this postseason. Meanwhile, his final goal allowed continued a magical season for Harley, Dallas’ breakout blueliner who also played for Team Canada this season in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Not surprising to the guys in here,” Oettinger said of Harley’s rise to prominence. “We’re very lucky.”

Steel notched his first goal of the playoffs midway through the second period. He shot a long rebound from the top of the right circle, sending the puck into the upper right corner of the net just above Hellebuyck’s glove.

“I’m just disappointed,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “We couldn’t get that [penalty] kill for [the fans], and get it back to win in Winnipeg for Game 7. But you know, [I’m] really proud of this group, and the way they handled everything, and the way we fought back. … It just came up short.”

The Jets become the next in a long line of Presidents’ Trophy winners to bow out early. The award, which goes to the NHL’s top regular-season team, was won by the New York Rangers last season before they lost in the Eastern Conference final. Two years ago, the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

“We lost to a great team,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We lost to a team that was in our rearview mirror all year long.”

Scheifele’s effort was a focus for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who began his postgame media availability by saying what the Jets star forward did in playing Saturday was “courageous,” adding “I’m sure his dad would’ve been really proud of him and what he did.”

For the Stars, it’s off to the NHL’s final four, as the franchise continues to seek its second Stanley Cup title.

“I think we’ve got something special going on. We’re going to have to prove it again,” DeBoer said. “You know, we’ve been to this spot the last two years and haven’t taken the next step, so that’s the challenge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.