Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is currently running for New York governor, ripped Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax proposal in an interview with The Post — branding it the latest left-wing policy that is “losing businesses and jobs each and every day”.
The proposed tax on luxury second homes worth more than $5 million still needs approval from the state legislature. But it’s already taking heat from business execs – especially after Mamdani took aim at Citadel founder Ken Griffin’s $238 million penthouse in a viral video.
“Mamdani vilifies people who work hard, play by the rules and use their brains to create prosperity, not only for themselves but for the community,” Blakeman told The Post when asked about the video, in which a beaming Mamdani vowed to tax the billionaire’s property.
“He is a danger to the economy of New York City, which has been, up ‘til now, the financial capital of the world, but we are losing businesses and jobs each and every day because of the policies of Hochul and Mamdani,” Blakeman, a Republican, added.
Mamdani and Hochul’s offices did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Blakeman warned the tax could cause an exodus of jobs from the city, after an appalled Griffin signaled he is considering scrapping a $6 billion Midtown development project as a result.
Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman has also slammed the proposed tax on the wealthy, defending Griffin’s investments in the city and warning the proposal could drive more businesses out of New York to low-tax states like Florida.
“If I were Ken Griffin, I would wait until November because help is on the way,” Blakeman said, referring to his race in New York’s 2026 gubernatorial election. Primary elections will be held on June 23.
During an event at Diner 24 last week, Blakeman outlined his plan if elected governor, including tax breaks for small businesses and restaurants and ending NYC congestion tolls.
Hochul – who is up for re-election this year – initially resisted Mamdani’s “tax-the-rich” proposals, which are an attempt to pay for campaign promises like free childcare, free buses and city-owned grocery stores. But she flipped last week to support the tax on second homes.
“You can’t trust Kathy Hochul. She does more U-turns than a cab driver,” Blakeman told The Post – nodding to Hochul’s indefinite pause on Manhattan congestion tolls in 2024, which were ultimately made permanent in early 2025.
“Her record is high taxes, high utility costs, low economic development and making people miserable rather than happy.”
Hochul’s campaign has played up Blakeman’s ties to President Trump, who has endorsed him in the November election – calling out the Nassau County pol’s controversial “civilian militia” program and claiming he raised taxes twice.
As presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, Blakeman voted to raise property taxes by 3.6% in 1998, and again by 9.4% in 1999. He was reportedly viewed as the “principal architect” of the 1999 tax hike at the time.
“I did vote for a small tax increase 28 years ago and I admit it was a mistake. I learned my lesson and I haven’t raised taxes in my county for four straight years,” Blakeman told The Post.
New York state taxes, however, have soared sky-high, he argued – noting that New York’s budget is roughly twice the size of Florida’s, though they have similarly-sized populations.
He also argued that New York’s wealthiest are already paying a bulk of state taxes, and if they leave, it will be the middle class who will be left to bear the burden.
The top 1% of earners in New York state contribute 46.2% of all income taxes, according to a SmartAsset study of 2025 IRS data.
“We don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem,” Blakeman said. “If Zohran Mamdani and Kathy Hochul are serious about their budget issues, they should stop spending billions of dollars on people who have been here for 15 minutes.”
In early 2025, then-Mayor Eric Adams said the city has spent more than $6.9 billion to care for immigrants over the past three fiscal years.
