Zohran Mamdani’s policies face a big obstacle: Gov. Kathy Hochul

June 12, 2025, 10:56 a.m.

Hochul has blocked income-tax hikes and shown little interest in changing her mind.

This column originally appeared in The Politics Brief, our weekly newsletter on the people, power and policies that shape New Yorkers' lives.

Sign up to get the full version where you can ask questions, share news tips and weigh in on the conversation. Hits inboxes on Wednesdays.

If New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to tax the rich, he’ll have to convince someone who has been unwilling to budge: Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Mamdani, a state assemblymember from Queens, has rocketed his way into second place in the Democratic mayoral primary polls. A socialist, his platform centers on affordability policies with a big price tag — fare-free buses, universal child care, city-owned grocery stores and more.

He has a plan to pay for it: an extra 2% income tax on New York City residents making $1 million or more annually; a separate tax hike on corporations; and a series of cost-saving reforms. All told, he says it would raise $10 billion a year.

The problem, though, is Mamdani’s tax plan would require signoff from the state Legislature and Hochul, a Democrat who has blocked income-tax hikes and shown little interest in changing her mind.

“I've not had an increase in our income tax because I want to make sure high-net-worth people know we appreciate them, and I don't want to drive them out of our state,” Hochul said last month on Bloomberg TV. “So that's my view.”

A very similar scenario played out in the not-too-distant past.

Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio was swept into office in 2014 on the promise of taxing the rich to pay for universal pre-K in New York City. But he had to convince a centrist Democratic governor who was resistant: Andrew Cuomo, now the leading candidate in this year’s mayoral primary.

Ultimately, de Blasio got his universal pre-K — though Cuomo didn’t budge on taxing the rich, and instead tapped into other state funds to help cover the plan.

Jasmine Gripper, co-chair of the state Working Families Party that has endorsed Mamdani as its first choice, said Mamdani is “laying out signature programs that New Yorkers find inspiring and are excited about” — much like de Blasio did in 2014.

“And Kathy Hochul, who will be up for re-election next year, will need to decide if she’ll stop those widely popular programs or will she comply and allow the resources to flow,” she said.

State Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs — a big Hochul ally — said Mamdani’s policy proposals “are attractive, and some are actually good ideas.” He specifically pointed to Mamdani’s push for free buses.

But Jacobs, who hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the race, said Hochul’s position against income-tax hikes “is the correct one.”

“There's some good ideas out there,” Jacobs said of Mamdani’s platform. “His idea of paying for it with a tax increase in the city doesn't take into account the unintended consequence, which is that you'll have a lot of high-income earners choosing to keep their 2% and moving somewhere else.”

Mamdani, meanwhile, has painted the tax hike as necessary to ensure New York City is “a city that everyone can afford.”

In the first primary debate last week, Mamdani said his experience in the state Legislature will help him in getting his tax plan approved. He pointed to his first year in office in 2021, when lawmakers and Cuomo did raise taxes on the wealthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuomo actually proposed the tax hike on million-dollar earners that year, though he tried — unsuccessfully — to get the federal government to increase funding for the state in an attempt to avoid having to do it.

“We actually overcame his objections, raised $4 billion in new annual revenue and finally funded the very public schools that he had starved for so many years,” Mamdani said during the debate.

Cuomo and Mamdani will get to square off in their second and final primary debate on Thursday alongside five other candidates.

The debate at 7 p.m. at John Jay College is hosted by WNYC/Gothamist, Spectrum News NY1 and The City, the nonprofit news outlet. It’ll be moderated by WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, NY1’s Errol Louis and The City’s Katie Honan.

Listen here

We want to hear from you

This week’s question:

Early voting begins Saturday. How do you prefer to vote — Early? On Election Day? By mail? Why?

We'll share responses in next week's newsletter. (Sign up!)

Event: ‘All Things Considered’ live at Black Spectrum Theater

By Sean Carlson, host, “All Things Considered”

We are in the home stretch before New York City voters choose the Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor, and we hope you’ll join us at the Black Spectrum Theatre in St. Albans, Queens next week for the latest in our series of live broadcasts ahead of the election that we’re calling “Word from the Curb.”

Voters in Southeast Queens have told us they’re concerned about hot-button topics this election year: affordability, public safety and immigration. But places like Hollis, Jamaica and St. Albans also provide a unique lens to look at this race as multiple candidates with roots in the area are competing for voters’ attention in the primary and general elections.

We’ll explore these nuances through conversations with WNYC reporters, local stakeholders and voters in Southeast Queens. And we’ll have some fun, too, with election-themed trivia and a visit by Ralph McDaniels (better known to some as Uncle Ralph), co-creator of the Video Music Box show that played a key role in the development of hip-hop culture at home and around the world.

We hope you join us! Tickets are free. You can register for the event here.

Talk to us: Ask a question or submit a tip

Ask a question. If you're confused about something in New York politics, you probably aren't alone. Submit a question here. We may answer it in a future newsletter and/or on air.

Submit a news tip. Is there something we should know? You can use this form to share a news tip. You can also email our editor, Stephen Rex Brown: [email protected].

This week in New York politics

NYC’s mayoral candidates are facing a question that could help define them in the Democratic primary’s home stretch: How would they confront President Donald Trump on immigration? Here’s where they stand.

Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli won their respective party primaries Tuesday in the New Jersey governor’s race. Read more about the candidates.

A federal grand jury in Newark has indicted U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver on three criminal counts tied to a confrontation with immigration authorities at a detention center last month. Here’s more about the incident.

NYC comptroller candidates Justin Brannan and Mark Levine had their final debate on Tuesday. Here’s how it went.

Rep. Charlie Rangel, the longtime Harlem congress member who died last month, will lie in state at New York City Hall this week. Here’s what to know about public viewing.

On Monday, Andrew Cuomo received more than $500,000 that had been withheld by the Campaign Finance Board. This is why it took so long.

The New York state Senate passed the Medical Aid in Dying bill, which allows a person with a terminal illness to end their life. But will Gov. Hochul give the bill a final approval?

Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order Sunday recognizing a widely used international definition of antisemitism. Will the City Council make it the law?