It didn’t take long for Zohran Mamdani to declare New York City’s budget a crisis situation, or that the only way to fix it is to raise taxes. Mamdani announced on Tuesday, “We must raise taxes on the wealthiest few in New York City so that we can invest in the many.” No mention of cutting spending.
Mamdani intends to increase spending on a host of new programs for New Yorkers, as long as he can get New York Governor Kathy Hochul to allow him to raise taxes.
New York City already has one of the most progressive tax systems in the world. According to the Empire Center, 1% of New Yorkers pay 40% of the city’s income taxes. They write:
Currently, the top 1 percent of city taxpayers paid 40 percent of the city’s income tax in 2022. In other words, two-fifths of the city’s income-tax revenue came from about 34,000 filers.
Income millionaires similarly accounted for 41 percent of the state’s income tax revenue in 2023.
If Mamdani’s proposal were to become law, the share of city income tax revenue generated by the top 1 percent of filers would likely rise to more than 60 percent.
The current marginal rate for state and city income taxes in NYC is 14.8%, but during his campaign, Mamdani proposed an additional 2%. Layering 16.8% on the city’s highest earning residents, in addition to their federal obligations, is punitive in the extreme.
Action Line: Politicians like Mamdani want to use Americans to fund their radical agendas. No wonder so many New Yorkers are fleeing the city and the state. They’re looking for a better America. When you’re looking for a better America, begin your search with Your Survival Guy’s 2025 Super States, and click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter and be among the first to receive my forthcoming 2026 Super States.
