Mamdani admin confident state will grant NYC more money in budget
First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan said Thursday he is optimistic the state will be able to pour more money into the city as the city grapples with a possible $5.4 billion budget shortfall.
The mayor has pushed Gov. Hochul to pass tax hikes on wealthier New Yorkers and businesses, while arguing more generally that the city is not getting a fair share of the pie and that the state should give more funding to the Big Apple.
“This is part of the effort that we’re discussing now, I believe, successfully in Albany,” Fuleihan said at a New York Law School breakfast.
State grants make up 16 percent of the next budget, while federal grants make up 6 percent, Fuleihan said, adding, “We hope the state will be well above 16 percent.”
Mayor Mamdani said the city was facing a budget deficit of more than $5 billion following financial mismanagement under former Mayor Adams.
State lawmakers are expected to formally unveil their nonbinding budget resolutions — which are expected to include tax hikes — next week, Politico first reported.
Mamdani has threatened to raise the city’s property tax rates — the only tax increase he can approve as mayor — if the governor doesn’t step in to help the city balance its budget and fund its affordability-focused agenda items, like universal child care.
“It’s not a frustrated face. I’m not frustrated. I know how to do that,” Hochul said in response to a question about whether she was upset by Mamdani’s ultimatum.
Hochul has strongly opposed tax hikes on the wealthy, although she has signaled some openness to raising the corporate tax rate.
Speaking at a news conference in East Harlem with Mamdani, the governor noted that the state Legislature proposes tax increases on the wealthy every year. She also stressed that she is committed to sending the city billions for child care and helping the city close its budget deficit.
“I think the moral of the story and the lesson is that there has never been this level of cooperation, because I am equally invested in the success of the city,” Hochul said. “I don’t think governors usually talk like that.”
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Wednesday that the upper chamber would include increases for the wealthiest New Yorkers and the highest corporate tax rate.
“We’re certainly trying to seize the moment,” she said, “and raising revenue would certainly be part of our agenda.”
“We will make our case and I’m sure the governor will make his case, as will the mayor and everyone else,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters. “That’s what it’s all about.”
