Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday formally asked state lawmakers to approve a two percent tax increase on the city’s wealthiest residents, putting one of his signature campaign promises to the test. Not only does Mamdani claim that the tax increase could help solve the city's $12 billion budget gap, but the proposal now sets up a direct showdown with Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, who has repeatedly voiced opposition, and will determine whether Mamdani can deliver on his pledge to hike taxes on high earners.
🇺🇸 — POLITICS: Zohran Mamdani urged state lawmakers in Albany today to raise income taxes by 2% on residents earning more than $1 million, arguing the hike would help close the city’s multibillion-dollar budget gap.
— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) February 11, 2026
• Mamdani said the tax on top earners would generate enough… pic.twitter.com/LGl7NZToMb
“I’m asking for a two percent raise in personal income taxes on the most affluent New Yorkers, someone earning $1 million a year. The top one percent of New York City can afford to contribute $20,000 more in taxes,” Mamdani told state lawmakers. “That two percent tax alone would resolve nearly half of our budget deficit. I will continue to advocate for these policies not only because they offer the most direct route out of this budget crisis, but because they will also transform what is possible in our state.”
In mid-January, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine projected a $2.2 billion budget shortfall for fiscal year 2026, which ends in June, and a staggering $10.4 billion gap for fiscal year 2027, totaling roughly $12.6 billion. The widening deficit was reportedly driven by chronic under-budgeting during the previous Eric Adams administration. Mamdani has claimed he has since reduced the projected shortfall to around $7 billion through new revenue measures and targeted spending cuts, though he has warned the city is facing its most severe fiscal crisis since the Great Recession.
His solution? What he and his Democratic Socialists of America allies wanted all along, hiking taxes on the wealthiest NYC residents.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signaled she would not support a tax increase on the wealthy, primarily because she seems willing to understand that it would disincentivize economic growth, and as she is up for re-election this year, she does not want to risk sidelining independent and moderate voters. However, so far her moves have been mostly talk, and it remains unclear whether she will stand by her words.
As for the budget crisis itself, there is a far simpler solution than taxing the rich. Mamdani’s governing vision centers on expanding the reach of city government into nearly every facet of New Yorkers’ lives, an approach that risks worsening the very fiscal strain he claims to be solving. Pulling back, cutting spending, and allowing the city’s private economy to flourish would mean far less government involvement, something fundamentally at odds with the agenda of a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, and a reversal of nearly every promise he campaigned on.