In response to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s suggestion that, if Albany does not approve a tax hike on corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers, New York City property taxes be raised 9.5 percent, Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) said, “A proposal like this is a complete non-starter and should never be considered as being on the table. It’s an affront to my constituents and New York City residents as a whole. The property tax structure in the city is extremely problematic, with many properties not necessarily taxed according to current values, so that owners of homes in areas such as Manhattan and Brownstone Brooklyn often pay far less in property tax than those who live in considerably less wealthy areas. The whole system needs to be completely overhauled. Increasing the rate is simply adding insult to injury, and would hurt the very people Mayor Mamdani said he was running to assist – middle-class and working-class New Yorkers who are already struggling because of higher costs in so many different areas.”