New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, has stated he intends to “Shift the tax burden” to “more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods” if he’s elected in November.
Mamdani’s proposal originates from a policy memo titled “Stop the Squeeze on NYC Homeowners,” in which he says his “administration will shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
Momdani details his plan:
“The Mayor can fix this by pushing class assessment percentages down for everyone and adjusting rates up, effectively lowering tax payments for homeowners in neighborhoods like Jamaica and Brownsville while raising the amount paid in the most expensive Brooklyn brownstones.“
The proposal has drawn quite a bit of attention since Mamdani won the Democrat primary on June 24, 2025, drawing criticism from both Republicans and Democrats online, as Fox News’s Joe Concha explained:
“Not only an anti-Semite and [socialist]… but a full-blown racist against ‘whiter neighborhoods.’ Yep - Mamdani is totally the roadmap for winning elections, guys. Keep going with that one.”
Even former congressional candidate Brianna Wu (MA-D) spoke against Mamdani’s plan, sarcastically exclaiming “Here we go. Zohran proposing taxing people more based on race – specifically white people. Love that this man is going to represent Democrats nationally in the public mind. This is going to go well.”
Aside from the criticism of taxing based on race, the legality of the practice has come under equal fire as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dhilon, has threatened to investigate Mamdani’s proposed tax plan due to its alleged discrimination.
Dhilon even proclaimed that “Racial discrimination is illegal in the United States – period. Full stop! The illegal discriminatory scheme described by Mamdani would violate federal constitutional and statutory norms, and might even violate New York law,"
As Mamdani's controversial tax proposal sparks fierce debate and legal scrutiny, the path to New York City's mayoral election grows more contentious, with radical implications for the city's (and possibly the entire country’s) future.