Mamdani Says He's Balanced New York City Budget

New York City's new mayor says he's erased a $12 billion budget hole—without touching homeowners' property tax bills, CBS News reports. Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday rolled out a $124.7 billion spending plan that leans heavily on higher taxes for the wealthy, $4 billion in fresh state aid from Gov. Kathy Hochul, and nearly $1.8 billion in agency savings largely from unfilled jobs and efficiency moves. He also opted not to raid the city's rainy-day fund. "We have balanced the budget," he said, framing the plan as a win for "working New Yorkers" and claiming the city has been pulled back "from an existential fiscal brink." The budget deficit Mamdani inherited was one of the largest since the Great Recession, ABC 7 reports.

The most contentious piece: a new pied-à-terre levy on luxury second homes, projected to bring in about $500 million a year but not yet fully defined. Billionaire Ken Griffin warned New York risks driving out top earners, while President Trump urged Mamdani to "cherish" people like Griffin rather than tax them. (Trump also, however, said he "really" likes Mamdani and called him a "nice guy," Politico reports.) Republicans blasted Hochul's aid as a "daylight robbery" of taxpayers elsewhere in the state. The proposal also boosts funding for schools, the city's housing authority, libraries, parks, and transit discounts, while trimming a business tax break that largely benefits millionaires. Many elements still need sign-off from Albany, where lawmakers are negotiating both the state budget and the details of Mamdani's tax agenda.