'New York will become like Mumbai under Zohran Mamdani' warns top US investor - as his firm looks to QUIT Big Apple

Mr Sternlicht, the chairman of Starwood Capital Group, has warned of the dangers of the "far-left" - and just what will happen when they "go nuts".

He said America's largest city will essentially turn into India's largest, and suggested tenants will be emboldened not to pay their rent.

"If people feel like their kids aren’t safe on the streets, they will pull them out of school and they will leave," he told CNBC.

"And if [Mr Mamdani] defunds the police or he doesn’t give them the honour and prestige they deserve, I think the city's in for a really tough time."

The property tycoon added: "The far-left gets really nuts and says the tenants don’t have to pay.

"Well, you can’t kick them out if they don’t pay.

"So, the neighbour finds out the neighbour isn’t paying, and they don’t pay, and the next guy doesn’t pay, and then you’re basically going to turn New York City into Mumbai."

He also warned that his own employees were now looking to relocate - just days after the first rumblings of an exodus came to light.

Developers in Miami, nicknamed New York's "sixth borough" revealed real estate interest is surging in their home city.

President Donald Trump also told business leaders in Miami last Wednesday that their city "will soon be the refuge for those fleeing communism in New York City".

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"The team in New York is for the first time saying maybe we should leave," he said.

Alongside business fears, Mr Mamdani's November 4 election romp has also prompted an outcry from his predecessor Rudy Giuliani.

Mr Giuliani, whom Mr Trump pardoned on Monday, offered the Mayor-elect some "advice".

"My advice to him is to step down and do something else," he told the New York Post.

"You think the Federal Government will give this guy a security clearance?" Mr Giuliani said. "Zohran Mamdani is a serious security threat to the United States of America."

In 2013, Mr Mamdani shared an article by Glenn Greenwald questioning whether Lee Rigby’s murder at the hands of Islamists was actually terrorism.

In the same year, his mother, Mira Nair, described her son as "not an American at all" in an interview with the Hindustan Times.

She added: "He was born in Uganda, raised between India and America. He is at home in many places. He thinks of himself as a Ugandan and as an Indian."