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Belaaz

Hochul Funnels Another $4 Billion To Help Mamdani Close NYC Budget Gap

May 12, 2026·3 min read

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to unveil a massive $124.7 billion executive budget for New York City on Tuesday without the property tax increase he had previously warned might be necessary if his push to “tax the rich” failed.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told the NY Post Mamdani backed away from earlier threats to raise property taxes by nearly 10% and dip into the city’s reserve funds to address what had been described as a $5.4 billion budget shortfall.

Instead, Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that New York City would receive an additional $4 billion in state assistance to help close the budget gap.

According to Hochul’s office, the funding package will be spread over two years and includes $2.2 billion from pension restructuring, $500 million in anticipated revenue from a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes, $508 million from postponing a public school class-size reduction mandate, $202 million from measures aimed at reducing recurring spending obligations, $150 million in additional state aid, and $361 million from other unspecified actions.

Much of the funding had already been disclosed previously, but Hochul — who faces re-election later this year — used the announcement to emphasize her working relationship with Mamdani despite political differences.

“This is what a results-driven, responsible partnership looks like and I’m proud to work with Mayor Mamdani to deliver for working New Yorkers,” she said in a statement.

Hochul has sought to balance her relationship with Mamdani since his rapid rise in city politics, attempting to appeal to progressive voters while maintaining support among moderates.

Her Republican challenger for governor, Bruce Blakeman, sharply criticized the funding package.

“Kathy Hochul just committed the largest daylight robbery in New York history, looting $4 billion from your family’s grocery and rent budget to bankroll Zohran Mamdani’s socialist experiment,” Blakeman said in a statement.

As of Tuesday morning, many specifics surrounding the city’s spending plan remained unclear ahead of Mamdani’s scheduled budget presentation.

Sources said the mayor’s proposed $124.7 billion budget will not include revenue from either his proposed millionaire’s tax or the previously threatened property tax hike.

“This whole thing proves there was never a budget crisis; it was all for the mayor saying he wants to tax the rich, it was performative,” an insider told The Post.

“It’s all these different things that were just fake. This is the theater of the absurd, manufacture a budget crisis. He basically put the whole city in panic for months.”

The proposed property tax increase and the idea of using the city’s rainy day reserves had both drawn heavy criticism from residents and financial rating agencies.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Finance Committee Chair Linda Lee praised Mamdani for ultimately avoiding both proposals.

“While we await a final state budget, we are pleased with Governor Hochul and the state legislature’s commitment to providing the City with billions in additional funds and savings,” they said in a joint statement.

City Comptroller Mark Levine warned that despite the state aid, New York City could still face major financial problems in the years ahead.

“There still is a reliance on a number of one-shot measures, and those are tools that are then going to be off the table next year,” he said. “And we are looking at about a $7 billion shortfall for the following fiscal year.”

View original on Belaaz