In his February 17, 2026, address on the disastrous preliminary budget for New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani outlined two paths to address an inherited multibillion-dollar gap. Mamdani outlined the first path, which involves raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and profitable corporations.
He claimed that if Albany refuses this plan, the city faces a second, more harmful path: a 9.5% property tax increase. which would generate ~$3.7 billion, as well as siphoning $980 million from the Rainy Day Fund and $229 million from retiree health benefits in FY27.
After outlining this drastic path, he described it as an “option of last resort,” reluctantly included in the preliminary plan to comply with balanced-budget laws. He also urged state action to avoid burdening working- and middle-class homeowners.
In any case, starting off his comments, Mamdani claimed, “There are two paths to bridge this gap. The first is the most sustainable and the fairest path. This is the path of ending the drain on our city and raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and the most profitable corporations.”
“If we do not fix this structural imbalance and do not heed the calls of New Yorkers to raise taxes on the wealthy, this crisis will not disappear. It will simply return, year after year, forcing harder and harsher choices each time,” the self-described socialist stated.
Still not done, the left-wing radical alleged, “And if we do not go down the first path, the city will be forced down a second, more harmful path. Faced with no other choice, the city would have to exercise the only revenue lever fully within our own control. We would have to raise property taxes. We would also be forced to raid our reserves.”
Making another frightening comment, he added, “To balance the budget as required by law, our preliminary budget takes the only path within our control: the second path. The options of the second path are the options of last resort…One where we have to use the only tools at the city’s disposal. Raising property taxes and raiding our reserves.”
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“At the heart of this path is a property tax increase. This would effectively be a tax on working and middle-class New Yorkers who have a median income of $122,000…The property tax increase, if the city was forced to do so, would be at a 9.5 percent increase,” the irritating Democrat stated.
Concluding his comments, the muslim mayor asserted, “The second path also requires us to raid our reserves. It would mean withdrawing $980 million from our city’s Rainy Day Fund in fiscal year 2026, and $229 million from the retiree health benefit trust in fiscal year 2027.”
Reacting to these absurd claims, Patrick Bet-David, a famous businessman and the owner of the Yankees, stated, “Force is a word communists hate while campaigning, but love after they win elections. This is just the beginning for NYC.”
Watch the clip here:
Another viral post read, “It has only been 48 days of the Mamdani era…New York City has piles of sh*t on the streets, the call to prayer blaring, its taxes are being raised and the rainy day fund being raided. Elections have consequences.”
Featured image from embedded video