De Blasio Faces Limits of NYC Mayor’s Power as Budget Gaps Loom
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New York Mayor-elect Bill De Blasio scored a landslide victory championing an ambitious agenda that includes taxing the rich to pay for universal pre-kindergarten, building or preserving 200,000 units of low-income housing and creating better-paying jobs for city residents.
When the 52-year-old Democrat is sworn in on New Year’s Day, he’ll confront a deficit of as much as $2 billion in the next fiscal year and the limits of his power. The only tax he can raise without the approval of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature is on property. To boost the levy on income above $500,000 to pay for his education plan, he’ll have to go through Albany, where Cuomo has appointed two commissions on how to lower taxes.