New York’s Republican nominee for governor Bruce Blakeman took his campaign to the steps of City Hall on Monday, where he portrayed Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the taxing twins.
Mamdani didn’t take kindly to the Nassau County executive’s incursion into his domain, CBS News New York’s Marcia Kramer reported.
Blakeman attacks New York’s affordability
Blakeman fired some pointed broadsides at Hochul and Mamdani — two people he regards as comrade tax hikers.
“It’s no longer affordable to live in New York, and now, under what they proposed, it won’t even be affordable to die in New York,” Blakeman said.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman
CBS News New York
Insisting he is the “real” affordability candidate, Blakeman slammed a proposal made by Mamdani that would cut the estate tax exemption threshold by roughly 90%, from $7.35 million down to $750,000, and raise the top estate tax rate to 50% from the current 16%.
“They’re talking about raising the death tax, the inheritance tax, which will destroy family-owned small businesses, and it will take away the wealth of middle class workers who work hard,” Blakeman said.
“‘Comrade Kathy’ is in lockstep with Zohran Mamdani”
Kramer asked Blakeman why he would want to make Mamdani the poster boy for his campaign.
“They are in league together,” Blakeman said of Hochul and Mamdani. “I now affectionately call the governor ‘Comrade Kathy.’ She’s lockstep with Zohran Mamdani. She endorsed him. He endorsed her. I firmly believe that she has a secret plan, just like she did with congestion pricing, to raise taxes on the middle class.”
Blakeman on a crusade to “round up” people, Mamdani says
Mamdani, whose mayoral race-winning platform was all about taxing the rich, was clearly unhappy that Blakeman took his campaign to his turf. The mayor described the Nassau executive as “someone who looks at what ICE is doing and thinks it’s exactly what this city needs to see.”
“In Nassau County, his focus is on how to round up as many people as possible and send them as far away as he can,” Mamdani added.
Blakeman slammed back.
“So we have deported 2,000 illegal migrants with criminal records — from attempted murder, to rape, to carjacking, to drug dealing. Where would they like us to put these 2,000 people? Back into the metropolitan area?” Blakeman said. “Does he want them to put them here so they can prey on people?”