They finally did it.
New York lawmakers approved a monster $269 billion budget — that’s both the largest in state history and one of the latest.
The spending plan, passed late Wednesday, adds a new pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes in New York City, rolls back costly state climate mandates and delivers several other controversial election-year asks by Gov. Kathy Hochul that led to a protracted two-month fight in Albany.
The budget includes no tax on tips. Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire / SplashNews.com“Sausage making is never fun to watch in the process, but if you like sausage the outcome is good,” Hochul plainly admitted Thursday after an event celebrating the pork-filled budget.
The governor rankled lawmakers from the start by trying to roll her policy goals – namely, delaying green energy benchmarks required by the state’s climate law and reforming car insurance statutes – into the spending plan.
The strong-arming by Hochul – including prematurely announcing a budget deal had been struck – helped drag out the process long past its April 1 deadline, legislative leaders, such as Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), griped throughout the weeks of back and forth.
The Democrat-controlled legislature ultimately approved the sprawling 2026-27 budget that included a pied-à-terre tax — fulfilling Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his fellow Democratic Socialists of America members’ calls for her to “tax the rich.”
The difficult-to-enact tax plan will target second-homes owned by wealthy out-of-towners.
The state budget includes the New York City pied-à-terre tax requested by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Instagram/@nycmayorCondos and co-ops valued at $1 million, as assessed by the city Department of Finance, will pay a yearly 4% tax. The levy will increase to 5.25% for properties valued at $3 million or more, and 6.5% for any worth more than $5 million.
Single-family homes valued at $5 million or more will be taxed starting at 0.8%, going up to 1.3% for anything $25 million or more.
The budget also will:
- Push back and tweak a mandate that New York cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. The new goal is 60% by 2040, with changes to how that measure is calculated.
- Add a 50-foot buffer zone around synagogues, churches, mosques and other religious centers and makes it a crime to harass congregants heading to those houses of worship.
- Reform car insurance statutes to potentially save New Yorkers 10% on their nation-leading bills by cutting down on frivolous and fraudulent claims
- Extend mayoral control of Big Apple schools for two years.
- Set no taxes on tips for New York state income tax, following a push by President Trump at the federal level.
- Give a $557 million sweetheart pension giveaway to public-sector unions that lowers teachers’ retirement ages to 58, from 63.
- Impose sweeping sanctuary policies that ban local law enforcement from cooperating with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
- Spend $1 billion send checks for up to $200 to New Yorkers ostensibly meant to offset rising utility costs.
But despite giving Mamdani several freebies, the budget notably doesn’t include a plan to give the Big Apple more time to meet a school class-size cap – a delay the mayor wanted in order to save the city $500 million.
The delay will be handled as a separate bill as the legislative session winds down, lawmakers said.
The Post’s cover on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget. rfarainoWatchdogs and experts praised some provisions in the budget, but blasted it for being dangerously bloated.
“Shortsighted spending choices abound,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-profit civic think tank and watchdog.
“The nearly two-month late budget agreement delivers meaningful policy wins but squanders the opportunity to shore up the state’s fiscal foundation.”
James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, warned the tax on secondary homes would hurt New York City, even as he praised several policy reforms – particularly delaying the state’s climate law.
“State spending increased nearly six percent this year, and now stands over $268 billion – with tougher fiscal decisions awaiting state leaders down the road,” he said in a statement.
“New York cannot continue down its path of rising spending and higher taxes if it wants to remain an attractive place to live, work, invest, and build a business.”
But Hochul, who is running for re-election in November, said she’s not worried that the state appears incapable of reining in out-of-control costs.
“We had to step in and assist, do more, because Donald Trump is doing less,” Hochul said, resorting to blaming the president.
This year’s plan — the latest of Hochul’s tenure — is a massive $14.5 billion more than last year’s enacted budget, a 5.4% increase.
Hochul has grown New York’s spending by 17.25% since her first budget in 2022 – a whopping $46.3 billion, more than most states’ entire budgets.
Some insiders expected Hochul may have hit the limit of lawmakers’ patience for tucking policy asks into the budget.
Dave Catalfamo, a longtime GOP strategist, said Hochul was right to throw her weight around by using the budget to force policy issues, but she should’ve learned to do so sooner.
“Should you use that ability? Should you use the power of being governor to affect policy? Absolutely. But should you do it six months before an election. Probably not,” he said.
Evan Roth Smith, founding partner of Slingshot Strategies, said Hochul may have turned the screws on lawmakers just one turn too far.
“Everyone knows you want to shear the sheep. They may have killed the sheep this year, with how this budget process went,” he said.
“This may be the last time the New York state budget is done this way.”
The Legislature is done with the session next week, but the drawn-out budget fight has left lawmakers just six days to vote on non-budget items before they hit the campaign trail.
– Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
