Lawrence:
Welcome back. An estimated 33,000 New York City residents left for the Sunshine State between fall 2020 and July. But mayoral candidate, Eric Adams, is hopeful he can bring them back. Adam’s telling The Wall Street Journal if he’s elected, he will take “a flight to Florida and tell all those New Yorkers that live in Florida, ‘Bring your butt back to New York.'”
But the question is, will it work? Buddy Foy is one of those business owners who left New York City for Florida, taking most of his business with him. And he joined us now. Buddy, what do you think? This guy may be the next mayor of New York? Can he convince you to bring your butt back to New York?
Buddy Foy:
Well, is he either mayor of fairy land or New York City? Because the bottom line is people got a taste of that sweet life in Florida, the tax break, the Sunshine State. It’s going to be very difficult to pull that off.
Lawrence:
So what was the motivating factor for you going to Florida? Was it the taxes, low crime? What was it?
Buddy Foy:
It was COVID. It was a free state. We own a restaurant in New York and upstate in Bolton Landing, New York. I had motivated employees that didn’t want to stay home and collect unemployment checks. And when we got shut down at 10:00 PM, we said, “You know what? Let’s go to Florida and open a restaurant and give it a shot.”
And we took a big risk that Florida was open for business and it worked out for us. So we were forced to move there.
Lawrence:
Yeah.
Buddy Foy:
We would not have done it without the policies that were taking place. Now that we’re there, we’re seeing the benefits of taxation and the overall way they run that city from a freedom perspective. We’re full-time Florida residence now.
Lawrence:
Buddy, could you ever see yourself coming back to New York?
Buddy Foy:
Well, I’m coming back in the summertime. We have our business in New York that we’re now operating seasonal only. Don’t get me wrong. We weren’t packed during the winter time because we are in a seasonal town, but we did stay open. We did employ people. We did pay New York taxes. Now we’ll be paying our New York sales’ taxes, and as far as everything else goes, no, we do not see ourselves moving back to New York.
Lawrence:
Buddy. I only got a few seconds left. What is life like in Florida? Because the mainstream media has a way of covering it in this derogatory sense. So tell me what it’s like in Florida.
Buddy Foy:
Lawrence, it’s freedom. People are respecting each other. They’ve got masks if they’re feeling sick. No one’s harping on people. Are you vaccinated? You’re not vaccinated. It’s a freedom state and it feels like living in the USA. Florida feels like the USA used to feel like, and it’s phenomenal. And Lawrence, we love it.
Lawrence:
Buddy, when you get a taste of freedom, it’s kind of hard to return to a state like New York. Trust me.
Buddy Foy:
Amen.
Lawrence:
I’m from Texas and it’s hard living here every day, brother. Thank you so much for joining the program.
Buddy Foy:
Amen. Thank you, Lawrence.