(The Center Square) — Religious leaders are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to back New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to “tax the rich” to ease financial burdens on their congregations.
In letter to Hochul and legislative leaders, the coalition of clerics representing Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish congregations in the New York City area said working class families are still struggling under the city’s high cost of living as the Mamdani administration wrestles with a $5.4 billion budget shortfall “caused by years of mismanagement.”
“There are few ways to close a $5.4B budget gap without difficult sacrifices — and that is why we write to you, to say that working New Yorkers, our parishioners, should not have to suffer the consequences of closing this budget gap,” they wrote.
“Leaders in Albany have a choice and an obligation,” they said. “We urge you to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and most profitable corporations, those who can afford to pay a little more.”
The religious leaders said the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, has “cut the ultra-wealthy a huge break” but also put a drain on the city’s resources through cuts in federal funding and rollbacks of health care and public assistance benefits.
“Needless to say, the wealthiest among us can afford to pay a little more so those with the least don’t have to suffer,” they wrote.
The calls from religious leaders come as Mamdani seeks approval from Hochul and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature to raise taxes by 2% on households with income above $1 million and increase the combined corporate tax rate to just over 22%, which would make it the highest in the nation.
Hochul, a Democrat who is seeking reelection this fall, has ruled out support for increasing taxes during the current election cycle and legislative leaders have yet to commit to supporting his plan despite a bill filed by a group of progressive Democrats to authorize Mamdani to increase taxes. Under state law, New York City needs permission from the state to increase wholesale taxes.
But Mamdani, a democratic socialist who filed his preliminary $127 billion budget earlier this month, has threatened to increase property taxes across the board in New York City unless Albany lawmakers approve his wealth and business tax plans.
The threats have fueled concerns about an exodus of major employers from the nation’s largest city, with low-tax states like New Hampshire and Florida urging New York City businesses to relocate.
A Siena poll released last week found New Yorkers overwhelmingly back taxing the city’s wealthiest residents if it means averting a potential property tax increase.
