SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico \u2014\u00a0The TaxMam cometh.<\/p>\n
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani<\/a> was spotted rubbing elbows in Puerto Rico on Friday with state legislative leaders, who hailed him as the \u201cman of the hour\u201d \u2014 as the Democratic socialist took jabs at President Trump and doubled down on his pledge to take on his \u201cauthoritarian\u201d administration.<\/p>\n Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins hosted a reception during the annual SOMOS conference, where Mamdani was among those palling around with the very lawmakers he\u2019ll need to make his \u201ctax the rich\u201d dreams<\/a> come true.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had to face opposition on our way here; some of that opposition can total tens of millions of dollars,\u201d the 34-year-old Assemblyman quipped to the large crowd of longtime pols.<\/p>\n Mamdani attends the SOMOS Leadership Reception hosted by state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Craig McCarthy\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have seen time and time again is the very voters we have read obituaries of leaving the Democratic party, can be won back if we actually treat them with the respect and recognition that they deserve,\u201d he added, seemingly knocking the Democratic party\u2019s inability to connect with voters. <\/p>\n Mamdani urged the crowd to join forces as \u201cpartners\u201d to prove to New Yorkers that the Democratic Party can deliver real improvements while restoring their faith in government \u201clost a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani was spotted rubbing elbows with the very lawmakers he\u2019ll need to make his \u201ctax the rich\u201d dreams come true. Craig McCarthy\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cBecause in this moment lies that opportunity to address both the authoritarian administration in Washington, DC, and the affordability crisis that has ravaged our city,\u201d the Ugandan-born pol pressed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I look forward to doing so with the incredible leaders that have been fighting for this very thing in the one-house budgets you can see every single year in Albany, and to be the partner coming from New York City who works together to amplify that work and, most importantly, deliver on that work.\u201d<\/p>\n Heastie introduced Mamdani as the \u201cman of the hour\u201d and \u201cthe most important guy in the world,\u201d joking that all the \u201cgood things\u201d the mayor-elect knows, he learned from him \u2014 with Mamdani later teasing that he was \u201creally proud\u201d of himself for introducing the influential Bronx lawmaker to Prince\u2019s music. <\/p>\n Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, seen with Gov. Kathy Hochul at SOMOS in 2022, praised Mamdani as the \u201cman of the hour.\u201d James Keivom<\/p>\n \u201cThe message of caring about people actually trumps, and pun intended, trumps the bulls\u2013t,\u201d said Heastie, one of New York\u2019s most powerful Democrats, who later told reporters the assembly will throw its support behind helping Mamdani achieve his \u201ctax the rich\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to help him in his agenda, and we\u2019ll talk about it. I think it\u2019s a global conversation that we\u2019re going to have to have about how to best do right by the people of the state of New York and also try to help the mayor-elect in his agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart-Cousins also boasted about the newfound partnership between the state legislature\u2019s chambers, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani.<\/p>\n Stewart-Cousins, seen last month in New York City, touted the Empire State\u2019s newfound unity with Mamdani taking over as mayor in January. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that el momento is nuestro \u2014 the moment is ours,\u201d the longtime state senator said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the assignment, but there\u2019s never been more unity between both houses, the governor, the attorney general, and of course, our amazing partner who\u2019s leading New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n The incoming democratic socialist mayor told The Post his historic election Tuesday showed New Yorkers will support his plans to hike taxes on millionaires and corporations.<\/p>\n Mamdani greeting lawmakers and attendees at the SOMOS annual conference in Puerto Rico. Craig McCarthy\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we see is an unparalleled excitement, and finally putting forward an affirmative vision \u2014 the affordability agenda \u2014 and the necessity of funding that agenda,\u201d he said earlier Friday, at the Islamic Center Montehiedra, a mosque in San Juan.<\/p>\n \u201cI think these are two tax proposals that make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani wants to impose a 2% income tax on New York City residents who make more than $1 million a year and hike the corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5%, the same as in New Jersey.<\/p>\n Mamdani distributes meals at a mosque in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday. REUTERS<\/p>\n Doing so would pay the lion\u2019s share of Mamdani\u2019s freebie-filled promises<\/a> to provide no-cost child care, free buses and more, he argues.<\/p>\n But Mamdani said that he won\u2019t be so rigid<\/a> when it comes to how to fund his $10 billion plans.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m also open to any proposal that would fund it at the end,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s vision of having the wealthy foot the bill for his proposals has received resistance from his erstwhile ally, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who argued it would drive rich New Yorkers and businesses from the state.<\/p>\n Mamdani speaks to members of the Centro Islamico at San Juan Mosque on Friday. Getty Images<\/p>\n Hochul\u2019s stance has led to awkward confrontations in which Mamdani supporters have chanted \u201ctax the rich\u201d at her<\/a>, including at SOMOS<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more you push me, the more I\u2019m not going to do what you want,\u201d Hochul warned the raucous crowd outside the El\u00a0Caribe\u00a0Hilton Thursday night.<\/p>\n Heastie and Stewart-Cousins have shown more openness toward soaking the rich.<\/p>\n The Assembly speaker bluntly said in September that he would wield his influence<\/a> in Albany to tax the rich. <\/p>\n \u201cMillionaire taxes poll extremely well,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n Stewart-Cousins hasn\u2019t explicitly said she supports Mamdani\u2019s plans, but she and state senators have included provisions to increase taxes on the rich in their largely symbolic one-house budget proposals.<\/p>\n