New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is already facing a classic Democratic Socialist problem: He’s run out of other people’s money. According to Mamdani, NYC is “facing a serious fiscal crisis” thanks to a $12 billion budget deficit that he blames on his predecessor, Eric Adams.
Mamdani accused Adams of underbudgeting “essential” government services such as rental assistance, shelter, and special education, creating budget gaps that “were consistently and intentionally understated.” The mayor said he and his team expected to inherit a “grim” fiscal situation – but that didn’t stop the far-left politician from campaigning on several pricey promises, including free city buses and city-owned grocery stores with low prices. Liberty Nation depends on the support of our readers. Donate now!
New Yorkers need not worry, though, because Mamdani has a solution that is sure to surprise no one: higher taxes.
“We will meet this crisis with the bold solutions it demands,” Mamdani said. “That means recalibrating the broken fiscal relationship between the state and the city. And it means that the time has come to tax the richest New Yorkers and most profitable corporations. This is the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and yet we have allowed one in four New Yorkers to live in poverty. It doesn’t need to be that way.”
New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul – who is up for reelection this year – has been an outspoken opponent of Mamdani’s persistent calls for higher taxes.
“I have said, and the news flash may be to you if you haven’t heard me, we are not raising taxes in the state of New York. We are not raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes, so he will continue to say what he needs to say, and I’ll continue to say what I want to say,” Hochul told reporters.
“We will remain in constant conversation with Governor Hochul and legislative leaders, and we will do something that too many New Yorkers have learned not to expect from City Hall. We will be honest, transparent, and we will communicate the decisions we’re making and why we’re making them. We have inherited a crisis from the past New York, but it need not define our future. We will overcome this moment of hardship and chart a new course for our city. It will be difficult, but anything worth doing always is. Thank you.”
Former Mayor Adams didn’t take Mamdani’s blame lightly, slamming the Democratic Socialist for promising “a laundry list of ‘free’ giveaways to buy votes, with no plan to pay for them.”
“Now that the math doesn’t work, instead of owning the fact that he misled New Yorkers, he’s blaming me. Let’s be clear: I left him over $8 BILLION in reserves. This is the same Mamdani who spent years attacking me for not spending enough during the migrant crisis,” Adams wrote on X. “The only reason those reserves exist is because I ignored him and his socialist comrades who demanded we blow billions more with no guardrails. ‘Free’ isn’t free. It’s just a bill someone else has to pay.”
