Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s artful dodge on the issue tells you all you need to know: She\u2019s going to give Mayor Zohran Mamdani at least some of his tax hikes \u2014 next year, once she\u2019s safely re-elected.<\/p>\n
This year, she sent him some state money and OK\u2019d some dodgy new borrowing, then pushed through his pied-\u00e0-terre tax; asked outright this week if she\u2019ll give him more next year as a reward for his support now, she offered only a coy \u201cThere are no quid pro quos,\u201d conspicuously saying nothing about taxes<\/a> but pointedly saying she looks forward \u201cto continue working in partnership\u201d with the mayor on matters of mutual interest. \u00a0<\/p>\n Until now, the gov has sworn up, down and backward to oppose increasing taxes on the rich.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not an austerity budget, but it is a disciplined one,\u201d she announced in January at the unveiling of her spending plan, boasting that she was \u201cprotecting taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n In July she thundered, \u201cWe should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals,\u201d or \u201con the companies that are creating the jobs and generating the revenue that helps us pay for the services that people in New York City come to rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n Not that any of that boasting stopped her from breaking her word and pushing through the pied-\u00e0-terre tax.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n And now even that pantomime of prudence is out the window; she didn\u2019t even wait until the day after the election to start backpedaling. <\/p>\n For readers who don\u2019t speak Albanyese, \u201ccontinue working in partnership\u201d means Mamdani\u2019s getting his way.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget Hochul\u2019s history of writing postdated checks on closed accounts.<\/p>\n Even before her pied-\u00e0-terre reversal, she delivered a congestion-toll bait-and-switch.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n In mid-2022, just in time for her last gov election, she halted the congestion tolls<\/a>, saying she wanted to give the feds and the public more time to review the program.<\/p>\n Then, having secured another four years, she turned the tolls back on \u2014 even claiming she was doing everyone a favor by starting them off at $9, not more.<\/p>\n