New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo slammed the economic platform of Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic nomination, and argued those policies would drive more high-income earners and businesses out of the city.
Cuomo, the former governor of New York, said in an appearance on FOX Business Network’s “The Claman Countdown” that Mamdani’s plan to raise taxes would push wealthy New Yorkers and businesses out of the city.
“When he says raise the state corporate rate 2%, it would be the same as New Jersey – that’s misleading. If you raise the state 2%, the state rates would be the same, but the city has an additional tax, so New York City would be about double the New Jersey corporate tax, and you would see a flight to New Jersey,” Cuomo said. “Unprecedented.”
“He’s proposing doubling the corporate tax and then the 2% on the high-earners wouldn’t make you $7 billion either. And again, would exacerbate the problem that we’re seeing now, which is flight from New York City by high-income earners,” Cuomo said.
FOX Business reached out to the Mamdani campaign.
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The problem isn’t necessarily unique to New York City, Cuomo said. The former governor said many people have left major cities across the country, citing flexible work environments after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You couldn’t do anything about it during COVID. You did see people leave cities just because they didn’t like the density,” Cuomo said. “They moved to Florida, South Carolina, wherever they moved. They then got comfortable there, they could do business from there, and many of them didn’t come back, and we have to stop the exodus.”
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Cuomo also said that while New Yorkers understand they will pay a premium because of how desirable the city is, he wants to limit that premium by keeping taxes under control.
“New York City, you pay a premium to be here, and you’re willing to pay a premium to be here because it’s New York City, it’s the greatest city on the globe, he says with all due arrogance of a New Yorker. So you’ll pay a premium, but there’s a limit on the premium you will pay, and we have to keep taxes in check,” he said.
Cuomo added that his plan also looks to address other issues impacting the livability of New York City – like cracking down on crime and building more housing to address affordability concerns.
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“My plan starts with jobs, jobs, jobs. Change the attitude, welcome business, provide incentives, help them grow. Second point, cop on the block, cop on the train, I want to hire 5,000 new police. Put them on the streets, put them on the subways, let New Yorkers feel safe,” Cuomo said.
“Third, we have a real affordability problem, and the only way to solve that in the housing arena is what I call build, baby, build. You have to build tens of thousands of affordable units. We have a 1% vacancy rate, and that’s what’s driving up the cost of rents, and that is important because young people can’t afford to come,” he explained.
