Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be unveiling his financial plan for New York City. It comes on the heels of the announcement that the state will give the city $1.5 billion to help fix a massive budget shortfall.  

Mamdani said the Big Apple is facing a big gap of $7 billion, which was lowered from $12 billion. 

A big question many have ahead of the budget release is whether he will still try to tax the rich. 

Mamdani’s team made it clear that working New Yorkers didn’t create the budget crisis and should not be the ones to pay for it.   

“The city still has a $5.5 billion budget gap, and the mayor is deeply committed to bridging it by taxing the rich and changing the structural relationship between Albany and New York City,” said Mamdani’s press secretary, Joe Calvello.

The mayor might have some trouble getting that tax approved since New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has repeatedly said no to it. 

Mamdani points the finger at Adams 

Mark Levine, the city’s comptroller, said in January that the city is facing its largest gap since the Great Recession.

Both Levine and Mamdani partly blame former Mayor Eric Adams, saying the crisis stemmed from a pattern of underbudgeting essential services.   

“This crisis has a name and a chief architect. In the words of the Jackson 5, it’s as easy as ABC. This is the Adams budget crisis,” Mamdani said in January. “He systematically under-budgeted services that New Yorkers rely on every single day.”  

A spokesperson for Adams said the former mayor inherited a $10 billion debt that was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mamdani also blamed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. A spokesperson for Cuomo said Mamdani could’ve fixed any inequities during his time in the state legislature.  

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