Mamdani Says He Will Raise Property Taxes In NYC By 10% to Help Make the City ‘Affordable’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) announced on Tuesday that he would seek to raise city property taxes by some 10% if he remains unable to convince New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Mamdani swept into office last fall by making a series of campaign pledges around affordability, which he promised to make the city’s highest earners pay for. However, acknowledging the fiscal realities of paying for his programs, like free buses and city-run grocery stores, the mayor warned that without Albany’s help to raise taxes statewide, he will soak NYC’s property owners.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Mamdani’s “budget recommends raising city property taxes by 9.5%, which would generate $3.7 billion. He also called for drawing down the city’s reserves by $1.2 billion to help close a looming budget deficit.”

Mamdani was asked about the proposal during a presser at City Hall on Tuesday and doubled down, insisting that the steep tax hike would be the only way to “make this an affordable city” if Albany doesn’t help.

“This is an election year for Governor Hochul and the legislature. We already have a situation where the governor said, “I’m not going to raise — I don’t want to raise taxes on millionaires.” And this morning she said she doesn’t support property tax hikes. I wonder if we have a situation where this is a clash between ideology and reality, and if faced with the fact that you won’t get those taxes from Albany, would you really, really, really raise property taxes here in New York City?” asked a reporter.

“This is not a conversation on the basis of ideology. This is a conversation about a fiscal crisis. I have long believed in the importance of taxing the rich. I’ve said so publicly many a time, and I’ve long believed in the need for the state and the city’s relationship to be a fair one. What we are speaking about in this moment, however, is not just that long-standing belief, the long-standing issues that have characterized that relationship, but a generational fiscal crisis of $5.4 billion,” replied the mayor, adding:

And when faced with this crisis, the question is: who should pay these taxes? I believe that it should be the wealthiest New Yorkers, the most profitable corporations. I believe they can afford to pay a little bit more. We are in the most expensive city in the United States of America. I firmly believe in the need to make this an affordable city. I believe that we do so and reckon with structural crises by pursuing the first path — one of raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers, the most profitable corporations, and ending the drain.

The reporter followed up, “When push comes to shove, raise the property taxes.”

“I do not want to raise property taxes. I have said time and time again that it is a broken system, one that we are sincerely looking to reform, which is why we’re going to be sending up a proposed piece of legislation in the next few weeks. What I am showcasing to New Yorkers is that there is one tax the city can raise. It is a broken property tax system. We do not want to do so, which is why we have said, time and again, that we want to work with Albany to ensure that we resolve this fiscal crisis by addressing the structural roots of it,” Mamdani replied.

Watch the clip above.

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