The Florida Chamber of Commerce, in a new Times Square ad posted Monday, named New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani its "Economic Developer of the Year" in a jab at how his socialist policies are driving traffic to the southern state.

The new massive billboard is located at the corner of Broadway and West 43rd Street and reads: "Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Florida Economic Developer of the Year, thank you for the jobs!" 

The ad comes as the country witnesses a boost in candidates affiliated with or endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City last year by defeating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and then again in the general election when Cuomo ran as an independent. 

"We wanted to thank him for the jobs, the companies, the people that they're pushing out of New York — and a lot of them are coming to Florida," Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Wilson told Fox News. 

"America is at a crossroads right now. I think everyone that's paying attention knows that our country was built on freedom and free enterprise and people having the liberty to make their dreams come true," he continued. "And there's a push in our country right now to take those liberties away and to attack free enterprise. And that's never worked anywhere, and it won't work in America.

"What Mayor Mamdani is doing is dangerous for the country, right? It's bad for New Yorkers. It's bad for New York. It's very harmful for the country," Wilson added. "What we're hoping happens from this campaign is that we refocus America on free enterprise."

The chamber also emphasized that Florida gains approximately $2.4 million in net taxable income every hour, while New York loses approximately $1.1 million per hour, and Florida gains a net 551 residents daily, while New York loses 115 residents daily.

Wilson said New York state also has a budget that is more than double his state's and New York City’s municipal budget alone is more than $8 billion higher than the entire Florida state budget. 

"What do people like Mayor Mamdani do? They want to then increase taxes on the people who are left, which just further accelerates people leaving places like New York," Wilson said. "Florida's lowered taxes over 50 times in the last 15 years. And we have record revenues coming in because people want to be here. And when the economy grows, tax revenues grow. That's how free enterprise works."

The CEO also clarified that he does not want New York to fail or do badly, but is rather hoping that the state will see Florida's success and want to follow suit.

"We're hoping that these other states will say ‘no’ to this move towards socialism and say ‘yes’ to the very policies that our country was founded on," he said. "This isn't about spiking a football or looking at the scoreboard about Florida versus New York. This is really about trying to save our country from crazy."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.