Black homeowners in New York City are fuming over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s threat to raise property taxes by roughly 10% — some saying it would force them out, The New York Post reported.
During Black History Month, Mamdani revealed a 9.5% property tax increase in his record $127 billion preliminary budget proposal for 2027. He pitched it as a “last resort” for raising revenue if Gov. Kathy Hochul refused to approve the income tax hike on New Yorkers making $1 million or more. However, Black homeowners feel the tax increase should not be at their expense.
Democratic City Council candidate and Cambria Heights, Queens, resident and activist James Johnson said
Mamdani is out of his “goddamn mind” and is pushing a narrative that goes against his campaign promises.“Mayor Zohran Mamdani, you are out of your goddamn mind.”
“You screamed affordability. You ran on it. You said affordability, affordability, affordability … And the first thing, not even three months into your administration, into your term. You wanna hit us with a 9.5% property tax increase?” Johnson said.
“Not happening.”
He continued to say there are other ways to go about this. “You’re saying if we don’t tax the rich, then I got to increase property taxes. There were many, many, many other options to make sure that things were affordable,” the 35-year-old said.
According to Spectrum News NY 1, the tax increase would affect over 3 million homeowners in NYC’s five boroughs, including those in Cambria Heights, a predominantly Black neighborhood with close to 90% of working-class residents living in single-family homes.
During a Feb. 19 “Hands Off Our Homes” rally, Johnson and other concerned residents highlighted that the Big Apple is already losing residents due to the rising cost of living and gentrification, and they feel this will only make matters worse. “The property taxes will displace us. It’ll push us out. We already have young people moving to North Carolina, to Atlanta, to Houston. This will hurt us,” Johnson said.
“And I just think the mayor could’ve gone about this a different way, and we don’t want to be a part of your negotiation tactics.”
Hochul seemingly agrees, telling Mamdani that she doesn’t see the need to raise taxes and wants the new mayor to go back to the drawing board.
Twenty percent of senior citizens living in the Queens neighborhood are wondering how they will afford rising property costs in the current economic climate. But residents like Oster Bryan, who has lived in Cambria Heights for 40 years, say residents are prepared to fight for what belongs to them. “New York state is horrible for home ownership, period,” Bryan said.
“So the fact that we’ve built a Black community in New York state of homeowners is really remarkable, and to lose it and to sit back idly while we lose it would be irresponsible of me.”
The first hurdle is to secure City Council approval, as the city’s budget is due June 30.
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