Mamdani clashes with Kathy Hochul as ‘catastrophic’ tax plan hangs in balance

Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerry Baker warned that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s attempt to raise taxes on the wealthy would be a “disaster” as the Democratic socialist clashed with state leaders over approval of his tax plan.

“This is socialism in action, this is Democratic Party action, and the rest of the country is watching,” he told Fox News on Wednesday.

Baker’s comments on “America Reports” came after Mamdani renewed his call to raise taxes on high-income earners, a view that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has staunchly opposed.

“What we hope for, and what we will spend every day on, is to work with Albany to increase taxes on the richest and most profitable corporations so that the financial crisis does not unravel on the backs of working and middle-class New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. he said.

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Baker said the Democratic power struggle between Mamdani and Hochul won’t help the mayor if he wants his plans to come true because the tax proposal requires approval at the state level.

“There is no option to raise income taxes without the governor’s approval,” he said. “So he will try to do it in other ways, by increasing property taxes.”

Mamdani issued an ultimatum to Hochul on Tuesday, promising to raise property taxes by about 10% if he doesn’t comply with an income tax increase on the wealthy.

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Also Tuesday, Mamdani proposed a 2027 New York City budget that is more than twice the state budget of Pennsylvania, despite having roughly half the population of New York City.

New York City has $127 billion in income for its population of 8.4 million, while the entire state of Pennsylvania, with a population of 13 million, has $53.2 billion.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in front of a painting of Alexander Hamilton, speaks to reporters about the city’s finances during a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in New York. (Seth Wenig/AP Photo)

“They’ll say, ‘New York City is more, it’s expensive. Everything is more expensive here, labor is a lot more, wages are higher.’ So it’s understandable that New York costs are a little bit higher.’ But there’s no justification for that,” Baker said.

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Baker argued that the socialist mayor’s tax plan would not protect the middle class he claimed to help.

“The plan he has will not only hit the rich, as they claim, but also a lot of middle-class taxpayers,” he said.

The WSJ editor also predicted a mass exodus from New York City as Mamdani’s increased taxes move closer to becoming a reality.

“The idea that this would be good for the city, that it would be good to tax people more than they already are, is insane,” Baker said. “This means more people will leave the city than ever before. There has been a steady outflow for years.“

The sun sets over the skylines of downtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building in New York City on November 15, 2024. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

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Baker said Hochul has his own left-leaning leanings in New York’s Democratic administration, but he wonders whether Mamdani’s extremism might sing louder.

“We will see whether Kathy Hochul, who wants her own limited form of socialism, can prevail over the extremism of Zohran Mamdani in her limited form,” he said.