More than 1,000 people rallied Wednesday at the New York State Capitol, calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul and leaders of state government to raise taxes on the rich to fund New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda.
Organizers hoped the event, which was billed as an "Albany takeover," would be a tour de force that would show broad popular support for increasing taxes as part of the state budget. But Mamdani and other bold-faced names didn’t show, and the governor was unmoved.
While the gathering was smaller than organizers expected, it brought together a cross-section of people organized by progressive groups, labor unions, the Democratic Socialists of America and Our Time, a nonprofit that grew out of Mamdani’s campaign.
“Hopefully the crowd and the number of people coming out does make a difference, and does sway some opinions — because it is important, ultimately, for the people of New York,” said Chris Rademacher, a 30-year-old consultant who lives in Astoria.
Rademacher canvassed for Mamdani and said he was on one of 26 buses from New York City that brought people to Albany, leaving around 6 a.m.
It’s unclear how much momentum the demonstrators have for their cause. No senior state officials attended the rally; the keynote address was instead delivered by Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, a NYC DSA member and Brooklyn Democrat first elected in 2020. New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé served as master of ceremonies.
Celebrity supporters including Mark Ruffalo and Cynthia Nixon both created Instagram videos supporting the Tax the Rich campaign that drew more than 1 million views. Neither attended in person. An event organizer said the groups were trying to secure an appearance from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but it never came through.
“The stars of tomorrow are here,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a DSA member first elected in 2020.
An organizer earlier this week said the event was hoping to draw a crowd of at least 3,000. The rally was held at a former armory near the Capitol that has a capacity of 4,300 people, though it was only a third full.
Hospitals and a union representing health care workers once organized more than 30,000 people to come to Albany to protest potential cuts. Gun rights advocates brought more than 5,000 people to the Capitol in 2014 to protest new regulations.
“The crowd size does give you a sense of where people are at,” said Stephen Madarasz, who spent years as a spokesperson for the Civil Service Employees Association union. That group once worked to organize 20,000 protesters against Gov. George Pataki.
Volunteers from Our Time have been organizing since December to bring the same kind of boots-on-the-ground spirit that powered Mamdani’s successful mayoral campaign in support of his affordability agenda.
The group aimed to gather some 25,000 letters by the end of January from supporters to send to lawmakers in support of taxing the rich to pay for child care through door-to-door canvassing. Just under 7,000 messages have been sent so far, according to a leaderboard on the group's website.
The mayor said Wednesday that he remains committed to the importance of taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers, corporations and “ending the drain” that he said has long defined the fiscal relationship between the city and the state. He said it is important to create a fair tax system and to close the city’s $5.4 billion budget hole.
“My not attending one event does not change in any way the strength with which I believe this, the urgency with which I believe we have to respond to it,” Mamdani said.
He also said he is in regular communication with Hochul. “We have a long budget process to go through and I’m encouraged by the beginnings of it,” he added.
The governor wasn’t at the Capitol on Wednesday. She has continually said she doesn’t want to raise income taxes and panned Mamdani’s proposal to increase property taxes to fill his deficit.
Hochul has already pledged $1.7 billion of increased child care funding, which she and Mamdani said would let New York City launch a pilot program of care for 2-year-olds starting this fall. Hochul last week amended her $262.7 billion budget plan to include another $1.5 billion of aid for the five boroughs.
The governor’s spokesperson didn’t return a message seeking comment on the rally.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat, said Tuesday that she has begun having talks with Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie about the state budget ahead of the March 31 deadline.
Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, told reporters on Wednesday that his chamber would include new revenue measures in its budget counter-proposal.
“Raising property taxes in the city is a nonstarter,” Heastie said. “But I have no doubt in my mind that we will come to a resolution that helps the city.”
Proponents of raising income taxes said it was important to redistribute wealth from the wealthiest New Yorkers to working-class people who are squeezed by the rising costs of rent and child care. They said the rich can afford to pay more in taxes, and noted the number of millionaires in New York increased after the last income tax increase in 2021.
“It's really important that we create a livable state,” Gallagher said. “We are losing people to other places that have more livable environments.”
Opponents note that New York City already has one of the highest combined top state and local tax rates in the country. They said the state’s share of millionaires is decreasing relative to other areas.
“While affordability is a real issue, so too is outmigration and reallocation of wealth and income,” said Heather Mulligan, president of the Business Council of New York State.
“Lawmakers need to make New York more competitive, not less, through policies and reforms that will entice businesses and residents to stay here.”
State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Niagara County Republican, said he opposes tax increases and dismissed the rally as “performative theater.”
“Is there momentum? I don’t know,” Ortt said. “This is standard to me. I don’t look at this as out of the blue. These groups come down here every year that I’ve been here.”
Voters at the rally said they were making an important point and would continue to advocate. Olympia Kazi, a longtime activist from Washington Heights, attended the event while wearing a cardboard top hat that said “Tax the Rich.”
“It's not easy to come up here, but we want to make sure that beyond having elected Zohran as the mayor, they understand that we are here to stay and we expect a systemic change,” she said.
