Gov. Kathy Hochul boasted that she’s against the “tax the rich” crusade that’s a rallying cry for Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his socialist cronies — even though she pushed through a new tax on luxury second homes in the city.
The Democratic governor said she didn’t thinking squeezing millionaires and billionaires was necessary to stop an exodus of New Yorkers to less expensive states.
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“We should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals,” Hochul told FOX5’s “Good Day New York” Wednesday morning. “We should not be raising taxes on 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.”
Hochul had been asked about a damning report from the Citizens Budget Commission showing New York lagging behind the US on population and GDP growth. The governor — who is up for re-election November — has held the line on raising income taxes on the wealthy although critics have wondered if her stance would soften after facing voters on Election Day.
Mamdani has continued to push taxing the rich alongside fellow members of the Democratic Socialists of America, who mentioned Hochul as a potential political target after their candidates won big against establishment candidates in several primaries last month.
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Hochul has desperately tried to court Mamdani’s socialists, agreeing to institute a new pied-a-terre tax on high-priced second homes in the Big Apple that early reports show may be scaring off investment in New York’s luxury real estate market.
“It just makes sense, instead of putting that burden on the people who really do call New York home – that’s what we decided to do,” Hochul said brushing off the concerns.
