New York Gov. Kathy Hochul presents herself as a “mom from Buffalo.” But the Democrat is now a New York City resident — at least for tax purposes.
Hochul and her husband, Bill, were subjected to the city's income taxes in 2025 after they started renting an apartment in Murray Hill, according to state officials and the governor's tax returns.
The Hochuls said on their state tax return that they maintained living quarters in New York City in 2025 and both spent 12 months of the year in the five boroughs. In 2024, Kathy Hochul said she didn’t spend any months as a city resident while Bill Hochul said he was a resident for 12 months.
The move means that the Hochuls — who earned $1.86 million in 2025 — would be subject to an income-tax hike sought by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The democratic socialist mayor says he wants revenue to plug a budget deficit and expand free child care. Hochul, a moderate seeking a second full term, has spent months opposing such a measure, arguing higher taxes would drive wealthy taxpayers out of the state.
Michael Kink, executive director of the Strong Economy for All, a coalition of labor and progressive groups, pointed to a recent Siena poll that showed a majority of New Yorkers support raising taxes on the wealthy.
“It’s reasonable to wonder if Gov. Hochul is protecting herself from higher taxes, but regardless of whether the mayor’s policy proposal is popular in the Hochul household, the fact is that a significant majority of New Yorkers support it,” he said. “She should listen to the people — not to her billionaire donors or any whispers of self-interest.”
Hochul’s spokesperson, Kristin Devoe, said it was “patently false” to suggest the governor is motivated by self-interest.
"Gov. Hochul's opposition to raising income taxes on New Yorkers is driven only by her focus on affordability and the need to ensure that we do not push taxpayers out of the state and shift more costs onto working New Yorkers,” Devoe said. “No governor in history has provided more financial support to New York City and the governor is proud to continue contributing to the city's success — both as a taxpaying resident and by helping deliver” additional state funding.
Millionaires in New York City already pay the highest combined income tax rate in the country. During his campaign, Mamdani proposed adding an additional 2 percentage point surcharge on income over $1 million amid a slew of other tax hikes.
City Hall aides as recently as last month pushed state lawmakers to adopt the “Fair Share Act,” which would give city lawmakers the ability to raise income taxes. Supporters of the measure, including many progressive lawmakers, say it could raise $4 billion, which could help narrow the city’s current $5.4 billion budget gap.
Hochul on Wednesday proposed a pied-à-terre tax that would place a surcharge on second homes in New York City worth $5 million or more. She and Mamdani said the measure would generate $500 million a year for the city’s coffers.
But the governor said she isn’t moving on income taxes — the largest source of state revenue.
“As I've said, I'm clearly not entertaining income taxes or corporate taxes, full stop,” Hochul said. “My objective here is … identifying ways that we can be of additional assistance to the city.”
Mamdani applauded the pied-à-terre tax but continues to push for higher income taxes. His 2025 tax returns show he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, earned $143,634. Almost all of that money came from Mamdani’s earnings as a state assemblymember.
Ella Mahony, a spokesperson for the NYC-DSA Tax the Rich campaign, said Hochul’s income “shows just how out of touch she is with the affordability crisis the rest of us face.”
“We need the governor to stand up for New Yorkers even if it means paying a little more herself,” Mahony said.
Indeed, the Hochuls are in the top 1% of New York state taxpayers. Most of the couple’s income comes from Bill Hochul’s salary from the law firm Davis Polk, which paid him $1.35 million in 2025. Kathy Hochul earned $250,314 as governor, and the couple counted another $250,000 of interest and investment-related income. Bill Hochul, the former U.S. attorney based in Buffalo, also received around $65,000 from his federal pension.
No law requires government officials to release their tax returns, but mayors and statewide leaders in New York have done so for decades as a measure of transparency. That openness is eroding: This year, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and Attorney General Letitia James refused to release tax returns. A spokesperson for James said she shares financial details on a required disclosure form that is available later in the year. A spokesperson for Delgado didn’t respond.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican running against Hochul, also didn’t release his tax returns. Campaign spokesperson Madison Spanodemos said Blakeman plans to release them but did not specify when, where or how.
The Hochuls paid $576,060 in federal taxes last year as well as $117,152 in state taxes and $66,065 in city taxes. The couple paid $40,532 of city taxes in 2024, when Bill Hochul said he was a resident for 12 months of the year.
Kathy Hochul also spends a large amount of time in the five boroughs. The governor was in New York City for all or part of at least 162 days in 2025, according to a Gothamist analysis of her public schedules. A taxpayer is generally considered a city resident if they spend all or part of 184 days there.
The schedule analysis shows she spent all or part of another 45 days in Erie County, where the Hochuls own a waterfront condominium in Buffalo; and all or part of 215 days in Albany, where governors stay in the state-owned Executive Mansion.
Kathy Hochul often travels within New York state and has offices in Manhattan and Albany. A state official said the Hochuls’ main residence remains in Buffalo but they are New York City residents for tax purposes.
State Sen. Andrew Lanza, a Staten Island Republican, offered the governor a backhanded welcome to the five boroughs.
“She might be the only tax-paying millionaire not driven out of NYC by the leftist, job-killing policies she now seems to support,” he said.
