Mamdani wants to convince NYC’s wealthy residents paying more taxes would better their quality of life

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said Sunday he hoped to convince wealthy New York City residents that paying increased taxes would improve “even their quality of life.”

“How do you bring these wealthy residents to the table as mayor? Stop them from saying they’re leaving, going to Florida because we need that tax revenue to pay for some of the things you’re talking about. How do you pay for it if they’re gone?” MSNBC “PoliticsNation” host Rev. Al Sharpton asked Mamdani. 

Mamdani said the top 1% of earners in the city make about $1 million annually and stressed he wants them to remain. Sharpton followed up, “How do you get them to stay?”

“In part by showing them that asking them to pay more in taxes would increase even their quality of life. Because when you ask New Yorkers what is it that is making them feel uneasy in this city, you often hear from them about the cleanliness of our city, the safety of our city, the affordability of our city. We are not asking to raise these taxes for the sake of it,” Mamdani responded.

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Mamdani said he wants wealthier New Yorkers to pay more taxes to fund free buses and create a new Department of Community Safety.

“That relationship, proving that that tax dollar leads to that investment, because we know that it’s not just a fiscal policy that takes somebody from New York City to somewhere else,” he continued.

Mamdani argued that New Yorkers leave for other high-tax states, such as California and New Jersey.

“For the top 1%, we’d raise their personal income tax by 2%. So that would be if you make $1 million a year, $20,000 extra in taxes. And the point, and my responsibility, would be to deliver on that, to show them that it is a worthwhile investment,” he said. 

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Mamdani told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in June that “we shouldn’t have billionaires.”

Mamdani’s campaign website features a plan titled “Stop the Squeeze on NYC Homeowners,” which argues that New York’s current property tax system disproportionately benefits wealthy White homeowners, particularly in Manhattan and affluent parts of Brooklyn, by allowing them to pay less in taxes due to outdated assessment caps.

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Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.