Gov. Kathy Hochul’s clever dodge on the subject tells you all you want to know: She’s going to give Mayor Zohran Mamdani at least some of his tax hikes — next 12 months, once she’s safely re-elected.
This 12 months, she despatched him some state cash and OK’d some dodgy new borrowing, then pushed through his pied-à-terre tax; requested outright this week if she’ll give him more next 12 months as a reward for his support now, she provided only a coy “There are no quid pro quos,” conspicuously saying nothing about taxes but pointedly saying she seems ahead “to continue working in partnership” with the mayor on issues of mutual curiosity.
Until now, the gov has sworn up, down and backward to oppose rising taxes on the wealthy.
“This is not an austerity budget, but it is a disciplined one,” she announced in January at the unveiling of her spending plan, boasting that she was “protecting taxpayers.”
In July she thundered, “We should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals,” or “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.”
Not that any of that boasting stopped her from breaking her phrase and pushing through the pied-à-terre tax.
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And now even that pantomime of prudence is out the window; she didn’t even wait until the day after the election to begin backpedaling.
For readers who don’t communicate Albanyese, “continue working in partnership” means Mamdani’s getting his means.
Don’t neglect Hochul’s historical past of writing postdated checks on closed accounts.
Even before her pied-à-terre reversal, she delivered a congestion-toll bait-and-switch.
In mid-2022, just in time for her last gov election, she halted the congestion tolls, saying she needed to give the feds and the public more time to overview the program.
Then, having secured another 4 years, she turned the tolls back on — even claiming she was doing everyone a favor by beginning them off at $9, not more.
Oh, and never thoughts the damaged promise about the tolls lowering site visitors for more than a transient interval.
Similarly, Hochul this 12 months pressed “pause” on her inexperienced agenda, giving the impression she’s won’t knuckle under to anti-progress fruitcakes.
And she won’t — until Election Day is safely previous.
Most essential, don’t idiot yourself: A vote for Hochul is now a vote to empower Mamdani and his dream of statewide tax hikes to fund his New York City spending agenda.
You can still vote to derail that practice, saving New York from the inevitable boiler explosion of excessive taxes and financial ruination.
Vote Blakeman, or rue the penalties.