Rush Limbaugh has sold his Manhattan digs. Last year, he explained why:

Well, I announced that I was officially vacating New York after these stupid, punitive, massive tax increases, and basically I go to New York now for hurricane relief, whenever a hurricane hits. No other reason to go there. Well, sometimes I visit the overrated staff, but it would be cheaper to fly the staff down here to visit me than to pay these stupid tax increases!

In National Review Online’s interview with Glenn Beck last week, the Big Apple came up. Beck’s new novel, The Overton Window, is set in the city. In it, Beck doesn’t just write about New York – he loves New York. The book is full of warm references to his favorite spots, from Amy Ruth’s in Harlem to Central Park. Yet, Beck, like Rush, is unhappy with New York tax code – and is being tempted to leave.

“I get hammered all the time for hating New York,” Beck says. “But I don’t know a single person who doesn’t have a love-hate relationship with it. It’s the greatest city in the world and, simultaneously, the worst city in the world.”

Beck, who owns an entire floor of prime midtown office space, is worried about whether he can continue to afford to base his large media company in the city. “We need more room, so we were going to expand up into another floor,” he says. “We were blowing out all of the walls in here. Then I actually stopped because I had no idea about the tax ramifications in this city next year. I don’t know how long you can afford to do business in this city.”

So is a move on the way? “We’re actually currently getting bids from other states saying, ‘Hey, come put your stuff here, do your business in our state, look at us, we have low taxes or no taxes,’” he tells us.

“How do people live in this city?” Beck wonders. “It’s the best city the world and they do everything they can to make it impossible to live here. Congratulations, New York.”