{"id":658308,"date":"2026-03-15T22:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T22:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/658308\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T22:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T22:16:12","slug":"top-veteran-ex-nyc-mayoral-aide-rips-mamdani-for-rookie-mistakes-over-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/658308\/","title":{"rendered":"Top veteran ex-NYC mayoral aide rips Mamdani for &#8216;rookie mistakes&#8217; over budget"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Eric Adams\u2019 veteran former top deputy said Sunday that lefty Mayor Zohran Mamdani made \u201crookie mistakes\u201d in his budget planning, which<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/13\/us-news\/sampp-credit-rating-firm-becomes-2nd-to-sound-alarm-over-nyc-finances-under-mamdani\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> has already spooked crucial bond-rating agencies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/12\/us-news\/nycs-credit-rating-on-downslide-as-moodys-sounds-alarm-over-budget-gaps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Moody\u2019s and S&amp;P Global Ratings warned last week<\/a> that they are deeply concerned Mamdani wants to raid the city\u2019s emergency-reserve funds to balance the budget.<\/p>\n<p>If the top-rated agencies downgrade the city\u2019s credit rating, that could lead to higher interest rates for the Big Apple when it comes to it issuing bonds \u2014 or raising money \u2014 to pay for capital construction programs, he said.<\/p>\n<p>A top deputy of former Mayor Eric Adams blasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani for making \u201crookie mistakes\u201d with his proposed city budget. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a self-inflicted wound by a new administration,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/07\/us-news\/nyc-deputy-mayor-randy-mastro-resigns-with-ice-cold-parting-shot-at-zohran-mamdani\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ex-Mayor Adams\u2019 first deputy, Randy Mastro<\/a>, told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not in a budget crisis. We should not be dipping into reserves and threatening tax increases,\u201d Mastro said.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-top mayoral aide, who also appeared Sunday on 77 WABC radio\u2019s \u201cThe Cats Roundtable,\u201d said it is clear that \u201cthe mayor is learning on the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the mistakes are rookie mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also claimed that Mamdani\u2019s full-court press to raise taxes instead of taming spending to balance the budget is counterproductive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s created a crisis-like atmosphere around the city budget,\u201d Mastro told host John Catsimatidis.<\/p>\n<p>Former First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said Mamdani is clearly \u201clearning on the job\u201d when it comes to the city\u2019s finances. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was an unforced error because the city isn\u2019t in crisis. Its budget isn\u2019t in crisis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that he wants to spend $11 billion to $12 billion more and generate higher taxes to pay for it doesn\u2019t mean the city is in a crisis. It is not,\u201d Mastro said.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani is lobbying Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to help cover what he says is a $5.4 billion budget deficit in his $127 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, using an array of tax increases.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>His proposals submitted last week include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/22\/us-news\/mamdanis-corporate-tax-push-could-cause-exodus-to-jersey-business-honcho-claims\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Increasing the city corporate tax <\/a>to 10.8% from 9% for financial-sector firms and from 8.85% to 10.62% for non-finance sectors, which could raise an estimated $1.5 billion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Increasing the city\u2019s Unincorporated Business Tax to 4.4% from 4% for those with business income more than $5 million, raising around $250 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Instituting a property-tax surcharge for homes valued at $5 million-plus, to raise $725 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Calling for a tax increase on home sales over $1 million, to raise $161 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding a state-level surcharge on capital-gains income over $500,000 per year, to raise $12 billion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lifting the exemption of sales tax for sales of precious-metal bullion and coins over $1,000, to raise roughly $600 million statewide and $300 million in the city.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The mayor vowed to push to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/23\/us-news\/black-nyc-homeowners-slam-mamdanis-property-tax-increase-scheme\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">increase property taxes by 9.5%<\/a> if Albany doesn\u2019t approve the other tax hikes targeting wealth. Virtually all tax increases must clear the legislature in Albany, except for property tax rates, which the mayor and City Council set for the Big Apple.<\/p>\n<p>People protesting Mamdani\u2019s plans to hike property taxes to fund his city budget outside of City Hall on March 2, 2026. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Mamdani is] trying to force tax increases on New Yorkers, corporations and property taxes for the wealthiest,\u201d Mastro said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be raising taxes. It\u2019s not good for the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wealthy people have the mobiity to leave the city and state to escape higher taxes, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you\u2019re mayor, you have to make tough choices. You can\u2019t fund every program you\u2019d like to fund. You have to live within your means,\u201d Mastro said.<\/p>\n<p>Mastro said drawing down reserve funds where there isn\u2019t a financial emergency is short-sighted.<\/p>\n<p>City Hall had no immediate comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eric Adams\u2019 veteran former top deputy said Sunday that lefty Mayor Zohran Mamdani made \u201crookie mistakes\u201d in his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":658309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,13237,5289,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,618,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-658308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city-budget","10":"tag-eric-adams","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-taxes","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-us-news","25":"tag-usa","26":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116235507331943936","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}