New Yorkers boast about their city’s resilience, and with good reason: They’ve had plenty of comebacks. September 11, the financial crisis, and the nation’s most severe Covid lockdowns all disrupted residents and businesses, but the economy resurrected swiftly each time. It’s enough to make a young socialist take the city for granted.
Yet the real risk for New York City and other big cities doesn’t come from catastrophes. Economies stagnate when they’re layered with policies that slowly sap their productivity and orderliness—some red tape on business here, budget cuts to policing there. That’s what New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is risking with his latest tax proposal.
Mamdani announced the scheme to coincide with Tax Day. “When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well today, we’re taxing the rich,” he said to the camera in one of his trademark short videos.
