property tax increase threat a \u201clast resort\u201d to get the city out of a $5.4 billion budget hole<\/a>, but in reality, it\u2019s a bluff directed at Albany lawmakers to fulfill his \u201ctax the rich\u201d dream.<\/p>\n\u201cTax the rich\u201d is not happening in Albany. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that repeatedly. She isn\u2019t about to go back on her word in an election year. Mamdani may say otherwise, but his property tax threat is a brazen political effort to ratchet up the pressure on Hochul and the Legislature \u2014 but it is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n
The city budget is an enormous $118 billion; it is larger than almost every state in the Union. In a budget of this size, it is almost insulting that Mamdani would suggest increasing taxes before trimming programs to fill a budget gap that represents only a small percentage (4.6%) of the total budget. And such cuts can and must be found without sacrificing vital programs that New Yorkers rely upon every day.<\/p>\n
Instead, Mamdani is pursuing tax increases that threaten to undermine the city\u2019s economic health. A property tax increase, in particular, would be devastating for the middle class, the heart of the city\u2019s economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Increasing property taxes would negatively impact every New York City resident (poor, middle class and the wealthy). Most importantly, it would devastate the mayor\u2019s goal of making New York City housing more affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Middle-class property owners face higher maintenance costs, higher utility bills, and higher personal expenses for themselves and their families. Some are landlords of rent-stabilized buildings who will face further income losses from rent freezes that may soon be implemented.<\/p>\n
These owners \u2014 including those who own condominium or co-op units and single-family homes \u2014\u00a0pay some of the highest property tax rates in the country, on top of the increased costs of living in New York City.<\/p>\n
Any tax increase would give middle-class property owners just one more reason to get out of New York while they can. If you think the city can afford to lose the heart of the middle-class tax base, then go to your nearest search engine and type in \u201cNew York City 1970s.\u201d Read about the fiscal crisis that erupted and nearly bankrupted this town as a result of a middle-class exodus from New York years earlier.<\/p>\n
Mamdani undoubtedly realizes this, yet he pursues the \u201clast resort\u201d property tax plan anyway, along with the Sisyphean \u201ctax the rich\u201d effort he has in Albany. He has chosen a path of classist and political warfare instead of doing what the people of New York elected him to do: Run New York City, and make it more affordable for everyone.<\/p>\n
And we mean everyone \u2014 tenants and homeowners, business owners large and small, out-of-towners and life-long residents, regardless of race, creed, color or any other demographic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is no time for political bluffs; this is a time for real action. New Yorkers deserve it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Mamdani, joined by First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and Budget Director Sherif Soliman, speaks at a City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[58708,58709,58710,58711,30319,426,58712,58713,9,58318,56,63,58714,65,7733,64,58320,58715,58322,82],"class_list":["post-138684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-5-4-billion-budget-gap","tag-1970s-new-york-city-fiscal-crisis","tag-albany-lawmakers","tag-economic-impact-of-taxes","tag-housing-affordability-crisis","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-middle-class-homeowners","tag-municipal-spending-cuts","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city-budget-deficit","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-fiscal-policy","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-mayor","tag-nyc-news","tag-property-tax-increase","tag-rent-stabilized-landlords","tag-tax-the-rich-proposal","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"DSC_4869\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771505227_135_DSC_4869.jpg\" "\\"Editorial")
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