New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio targeted the city’s wealthiest residents on Thursday, calling for taxes that “redistribute wealth” and fund recovery efforts after the coronavirus pandemic.
De Blasio outlined his revitalization plans during his final speech “State of the City”. The mayor argued that higher taxes on the rich would generate revenue to help reform a local economy that is suffering from the pandemic.
“We are going to work constantly for a more just economy, and that means that we must tax the rich and redistribute the wealth of this city to those who do the work,” de Blasio said in the speech. “Even during the height of the pandemic, we saw the stock market boom. We saw 120 New York billionaires increase their net worth by $ 77 billion.”
De Blasio called for the distribution of wealth, even as he faced criticism from local business leaders about how to deal with the pandemic. Defenders of the New York City restaurant industry and local small businesses argued that Democratic leaders imposed strict restrictions and did not provide adequate support, contributing to hundreds of closings.
Progressive New York lawmakers, including De Blasio and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have repeatedly called for raising taxes on the rich as a means of helping struggling Americans.
Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the state could raise taxes to address a historic budget crisis without additional federal aid. It is estimated that 70,000 net residents left New York City from the beginning of the pandemic in March until last December, costing about $ 34 billion in lost income, according to a study by the analyst firm Unacast.
De Blasio said his government “will join the fight for higher taxes for the rich and a new tax for billionaires”, adding that the initiatives “would give us the resources that can build a recovery for all of us”.
In addition to his call for higher taxes for the wealthy, de Blasio detailed the launch of a small business recovery tax credit, as well as a loan program for entrepreneurs trying to recover from the pandemic.
He praised the success of his “Open Restaurants” program for outdoor dining, which, he said, allowed the city to “bring these restaurants back and save 100,000 jobs”. Indoor dining is currently prohibited in New York City, although it is due to restart soon.
The mayor spoke at length about his plans to combat climate change, arguing that New York City “must lead the way in ending the use of fossil fuels”. De Blasio has pledged to commit $ 50 billion in city pension funds to investments in renewable energy over the next 15 years, pulling any remaining financing to fossil fuel companies.
New York City will add two-way bicycle lanes to the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges, add “bicycle boulevards” in the five districts and open more streets for pedestrians and cyclists.
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“These are the kinds of changes that allow us to move from the era of fossil fuels and the automobile to a green future as part of our commitment to New York City’s Green Deal,” said de Blasio.
De Blasio said New York set a goal to vaccinate five million city residents by June and to fully reopen schools by September. In addition, City Hall plans to use federal stimulus funds to create a “City Cleanup Corps”, which de Blasio likened to a “New Deal” program by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression.
De Blasio will leave the mayor’s office at the end of 2021 due to the term limit.