Florida Chamber of Commerce paid for Times Square billboard with dig at Mamdani

In August 2026, images emerged online purportedly showing a Times Square billboard, paid for by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, that appeared to mock New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

The billboard read: “Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Florida Economic Developer of the year.”

Many online saw this as a dig at Mamdani’s mayorship, implying businesses were relocating to Florida as a result of his policies. The images spread on multiple platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and X. Snopes readers also searched the site for answers.

The billboard was real and the Florida Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the organization paid for it. As such, we’ve rated this claim as true. 

“*Paid for by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Not authorized, approved, or endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mandani,” a smaller message on the billboard read. A statement on the official Florida Chamber of Commerce website also read (archived): 

Thanks for the Jobs.

The billboard is bold. The message behind it is even bigger.

Every time a business or family relocates, an entrepreneur launches a company, or a skilled worker chooses Florida over a higher-cost state, Florida becomes stronger.

That is why the Florida Chamber recognized the leader of New York’s policies as “Florida Economic Developer of the Year.”

The message is simple: when states make it harder to build a business, investment and jobs do not disappear. They move. Increasingly, they move to states including Florida.

During an interview with Fox News, chamber CEO Mark Wilson said, “Even though Florida’s winning right now, we’re not looking for New York to lose. We’re hoping that these other states will say ‘no’ to this move toward socialism and say ‘yes’ to the very policies that our country was founded on.”

We reached out to the Florida Chamber of Congress and Mamdani’s office and will update this story if we receive responses. In a statement to the New York Post, a spokesperson for Mamdani reportedly said, “By any metric, New York City’s economy under Mayor Mamdani is as strong as it’s ever been. We look forward to continuing to grow the economy while ensuring that working-class New Yorkers are benefiting from that growth.”

In the chamber’s news release, it highlighted data comparing factors of economic growth in Florida and New York state. However, some of this data predated Mamdani’s administration. For example, a table included with the release claimed 503 businesses had relocated to Florida, while the state of New York lost 278 businesses, citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In reality, the BLS data was from 2023, when former New York City Mayor Eric Adams was in office. Mamdani did not take office until January 2026. (Additionally, Mamdani’s jurisdiction does not extend to the entire state of New York.)

The billboard, which aimed to contrast Florida’s purported commitment to a free enterprise market with Mamdani’s self-described democratic socialist policies, would reportedly run for 20 hours a day, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. According to Times Square advertisement agency AdFocus, a 15-second shared loop can cost up to $3,000 per day (or $21,000 per week), though it’s unclear precisely how much the Florida Chamber of Commerce paid for the billboard.

In sum, the billboard was real. It was paid for by the Florida Chamber of Commerce — as evidenced by the organization’s news release and its CEO making public comments about the purpose of the billboard.

For further reading, we’ve addressed other rumors involving Mamdani’s policies — including that he pushed to give himself a 20% raise and that he was responsible for raising NYC subway and bus fares to $3.

Sources