NYC residents say Mamdani reneging on affordable housing promise with proposed property tax hike
Queens homeowners say Mayor Zohran Mamdani doing about face on affordable housing
NYC Mayor Mamdani warns of property tax hikes unless state taxes wealthy
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for the state to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy to help address city's budget deficit Tuesday, warning that the alternative option will be for the city to raise property taxes.
Some New York City residents argue Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reneging on his affordable housing campaign promises by floating potentially hiking property taxes to balance the city budget.
In rolling out a preliminary fiscal year 2027 budget, Mamdani said hiking property taxes would be a "last resort" if Albany does not cooperate by raising taxes on the wealthy.
"I don't plan to move. It's my home. I'm not leaving," Vivian Campbell, who bought his two-story single-family home in Cambria Heights, Queens, in the 1990s, reportedly told WABC.
The outlet reported that the retired man is on a fixed income and recently spent nearly $35,000 on a new front porch and roof.
"He lied," Campbell said, referring to the mayor's affordable housing messaging on the campaign trail. "It's obvious."
REAL ESTATE EXPERTS BLAST MAMDANI'S MATH-DEFYING TAX PLAN, WARN OF HIGHER RENTS AND FLIGHT
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Bloomberg Television interview at City Hall in New York on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Another man, identified by the outlet as homeowner James Johnson, declared, "Mayor Zohran Mamdani, you are out your god---- mind."
"You are giving only two options. You're saying if we don't tax the rich then I gotta increase property taxes," Johnson added. "We are not a pawn in Southeast Queens. We are not part of your negotiation tactics."
"To the mayor, with the greatest respect, and every campaign speech and every debate where you engaged, we opened our ears to listen," another homeowner, Pierry Benjamin, told WABC. "Now today, accept the words echoing from us now, do your job as mayor and leave our taxes out."
Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor's press office for comment.
Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, has called for the Empire State to hike "taxes on the richest New Yorkers and the most profitable corporations" to address the Big Apple's budget deficit.
HUNDREDS OF NYC ROLES REPORTEDLY INCLUDED IN AMAZON'S JOB REDUCTION PLAN
A helicopter flies past One World Trade Center behind the Statue of Liberty as the sun sets in New York City on Aug. 7, 2025, as seen from Jersey City, N.J. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)
But he warned that the alternative path to achieve a balanced budget, which is required, would be to hike property taxes and dip into the city's reserves, a scenario that he characterized as a "last resort."
"This would effectively be a tax on working and middle class New Yorkers, who have a median income of $122,000," he said, regarding the prospect of an increase in property taxes.
MAMDANI PROPOSES RAISING NYC PROPERTY TAXES IF STATE DOESN'T APPROVE TAX HIKE ON WEALTHY
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a press conference at Deno's Wonder Wheel on Coney Island in Brooklyn on Feb. 15, 2026. ( Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The city council has to green-light city budgets, according to the New York Times.