Keep up with the latest in New York City politics and what’s happening in Albany on Wednesday as New York City lawmakers refused to roll back any restrictions on Airbnb rentals as the World Cup approaches.
“We want to make it clear: this is not a proposal that we will entertain,” reads a letter to City Hall, which was obtained by The Post.
City Hall is also expected to be a no-show at the City Council’s first round of budget hearings — as the Big Apple faces a purported $5.4 billion budget gap.
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New York City’s budget watchdog said renters are poised to take the biggest hit if Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed property tax hike goes through.
In testimony at a City Council budget hearing Wednesday, Independent Budget Office Director Louisa Chafee said the proposed 9.5% property tax hike would be felt "most extreme" by renters.
“And renters traditionally are at the lower end of the income level,” she told Council Speaker Julie Menin, after the speaker asked whether a property tax increase is necessary.
Chafee declined to offer a direct yes or no opinion on the hike. Instead, she pointed lawmakers to an explainer the office released Tuesday on how the city sets property tax rates and who ultimately pays.
That report notes that landlords generally pass at least part of rising operating costs, including higher property taxes, on to tenants through rent increases.
As a result, the report warns, higher property tax rates can put a disproportionate burden on renters in large apartment buildings compared with co‑op and condo owners in the same tax class, who benefit from existing tax breaks.
A major debt-rating agency warned investors Wednesday that it may soon to downgrade New York City's credit rating — a major blow to the Big Apple that would trigger increased borrowing costs.
Moody's Ratings said it has changed the city's credit status from stable to negative, the first step in potentially lowering its Aa2 issuer rating.
"The negative outlook reflects the emergence of sizable and persistent projected budget gaps that signal underlying structural imbalance and reduced financial flexibility, despite New York City's still favorable economic conditions," the agency said.
Bronx, NY: Cea Weaver, Tish James, and Zohran Mamdani speak at a Rental Ripoff hearing on Wednesday at Fordham University in the Bronx. .(Lone Pine Press for NYPost) Lone Pine Press for NY Post
The potential rating slide, which warns lenders that the city could be a riskier client, leading to higher interest rates, comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushes his massive $127 billion budget.
Hizzoner's budget includes slapping property owners with a 10% tax and and the draining of city savings accounts to cover the ballooning financial plan that he proposed last month with few cuts.
Mamdani has used his unpopular revenue generator to put pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul to bail out the city through increased taxes on the state's highest earners and corporations.
City Comptroller Mark Levine called the news a "sobering wake-up call."
“It is the first negative outlook the City has received since the COVID crisis," he said. "The fact that this is happening at a time of relative health in our local economy is all the more remarkable."
Moody’s Ratings said it has changed the city’s credit status from stable to negative, the first step in potentially lowering its Aa2 issuer rating. AFP via Getty Images
"The underlying challenge is clear: New York City is currently spending more than it is bringing in," he added. "The fact that the preliminary budget achieves balance only by drawing down reserves underscores the need for a more sustainable fiscal plan."
Under Mayor Eric Adams, the city repeatedly received positive reviews from the four debt-rating agencies, and repeatedly touted the accomplishment.
A City Hall rep downplayed the move as "premature," saying state legislature's one-house budgets signal Albany will soon ship out $5 billion and bail the city out.
"These proposals reflect a real commitment by Albany to investing in the services New Yorkers rely on, and the fiscal health of our city," the spokesperson said. "We look forward to continuing our productive conversations with our partners in Albany and the City Council as we work to close the inherited deficit and restore the city to firm financial footing after years of underbudgeting and mismanagement.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz is challenging New York state Attorney General Letitia James over controversial transgender care and sexual reassignment surgery for youths, saying, “Our children are not guinea pigs.”
James is threatening legal action against NYU Langone Medical Center if it doesn’t reinstate its transgender youth health program, which hospital officials announced last month it was scrapping.
Dr. Mehmet Oz is challenging New York state Attorney General Letitia James over controversial transgender care and sexual reassignment surgery for youths, saying, “Our children are not guinea pigs.” Getty Images
“Our children are not guinea pigs,” Oz said in the March 10 letter to James, which The Post obtained.
“Given that emerging medical evidence continues to demonstrate the harm these procedures inflict on children, it is both irresponsible and false to declare the other side of this ongoing scientific debate definitively ‘medically necessary.’”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani made his first appointment to the New York City Campaign Finance Board on Wednesday, tapping political professional Mohammad Khan.
Khan, who currently serves as a political director for the progressive public advocacy group MoveOn, is replacing an appointee of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose term expired in November of last year.
“The CFB’s agenda of making our local elections more open, inclusive, and accountable provides immeasurable benefits to New York City’s democracy,” said Khan, a Queens native.
“It is an honor to serve as a Board Member of the CFB and support the advancement of this vital mission," he said of the board--which votes to approve or deny public funds payments to city political campaigns.
The CFB consists of five members total who each serve a five-year term. The city council speaker and the mayor each appoint two members to the board, while a fifth chairperson is chosen by the mayor after consulting with the speaker.
Khan is expected to be the only mayoral appointee until the next appointee's term is up in 2027.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman is demanding that Gov. Kathy Hochul launch a state probe of New York City’s first lady, Rama Duwaji, over her alleged “antisemitic rhetoric.”
He also called for a “public apology” from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife for promoting hate.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman is demanding that Gov. Kathy Hochul launch a state probe of New York City's first lady, Rama Duwaji, over her alleged "antisemitic rhetoric." Anadolu via Getty Images
“The Mamdani family has sent a chilling message to Jewish New Yorkers: the savage violence of Oct. 7th — rapes, violence and the brutal murder of babies — was merely a punchline for online laughs and likes,” Blakeman, the current Nassau County executive, said in a statement.
City Hall is expected to be a no-show at the City Council's first round of budget hearings — as the Big Apple faces a purported $5.4 billion budget gap.
The New York City Council's Finance Committee is kicking off budget negotiations on Wednesday without anyone from the administration slated to attend for the first time in more than 25 years, according to a review of agendas.
The Mayor's Office of Management and Budget has been the first to testify under the last four administrations dating back to 2000, as the Council and City Hall hammer out thier budget each year.
The absence comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatens to raise property taxes by nearly 10% if Gov. Kathy Hochul doesn't ship billions of dollars to the Big Apple by increasing taxes on businesses and the highest earners in the state.
City Hall has been mum on the no-show, with insiders saying Mamdani's budget director Sherif Soliman asked to delay his appearance until after Ramadan since he was fasting.
But the admin offered up no reasoning as to why no one else was sent in his place.
Soliman is set to testify with OMB on March 25, notably five days after the Mamdani administration is expected to release its savings plan.
Earlier this year, Mamdani ordered agencies to issue a public report on how they would shave off 1.5% of costs by March 20.
City Hall later would only point to the budget director planned testimony later this month, but wouldn't answer any questions about why no one was sent in his place.
The Big Apple needs to reign in its out-of-control spending by more than $6 billion — including massive cuts to a controversial housing voucher program and school funding, the city’s fiscal watchdog said.
Comptroller Mark Levine said Tuesday that even if Albany swoops in to bail the city out of its budget deficit this year, it still needs to start making cuts to ensure it can pay its bills in the future.
“It’s going to take us giving a really hard look at some of these fast-growing expense lines,” Levine said ahead of his testimony at the City Council’s first budget hearings Wednesday.
Big Apple lawmakers are refusing to roll back any restrictions on the home-sharing rentals as Airbnb pushes the new admin to loosen the laws ahead of the World Cup, The Post has learned.
Airbnb has recently made another massive attempt to break back into the New York City market, after burning millions of dollars previously, pushing new legislation to allow home rentals without the owner present, the paper exclusively revealed last week.
The New York/New Jersey's FIFA World Cup 2026 logo is revealed during the kickoff event in Times Square in New York City in 2023. REUTERS
But a coalition of council committee chairs has already shut the door on any changes.
"We want to make it clear: this is not a proposal that we will entertain," reads a letter to City Hall, which was obtained by The Post.
"These rules are in place for a reason. Suspending short-term rental regulations, even temporarily, would undermine housing stability at the exact moment when renters are the most vulnerable."
Big Apple lawmakers are refusing to roll back any restrictions on the home-sharing rentals as Airbnb pushes the new admin to loosen the laws ahead of the World Cup, The Post has learned. https://t.co/HuyOZypqlspic.twitter.com/lFMI4pOP4I
Freshman Mayor Zohran Mamdani sided with the council, shutting down the proposal.
"The Mamdani Administration is excited to welcome visitors from all over the world to enjoy our city and the World Cup. But we will not do so at the expense of working-class families," said City Hall spokesperson Cassio Mendoza when asked about the proposal.
"The Mayor is not considering any changes to the short-term rental laws that could raise housing costs for New Yorkers."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is also not considering making changes to the city’s short-term rental regulations. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post
Rob Solano, Cofounder and Executive Director of Churches United For Fair Housing, railed that Airbnb was "pushing a fantasy" to overturn the 2023 law.
"[T]his administration isn't for sale," he said. "Mayor Mamdani and the people of this city are aligned: our housing market is for New Yorkers, not for corporate speculation. With a catastrophic 1.4% vacancy rate, our city is already at the breaking point."
"The exemption proposal to City Council isn't from Airbnb," said a company spokesperson. "HTC, yet again, is espousing bold-faced lies to distract from their role in perpetuating a failed status quo that has done nothing to fix our city's affordability crisis."
President Trump and Jewish advocates slammed Mayor Zohran Mamdani Tuesday for hosting anti-Israel activist and accused Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil at Gracie Mansion for Ramadan.
“No one should be feting the anti-American, pro-terrorist activities of Mahmoud Khalil, who made his name as a ringleader of violent anti-American and anti-Semitic university protests that harmed American foreign policy interests,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Post in a statement.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani invited anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil and his family to Gracie Mansion dinner for Ramadan. Instagram / nycmayor
Moshe Spern, president of the United Jewish Teachers, said, “The mayor of New York City openly promoting someone who went out of his way to harass Jewish students at Columbia on a government social media account is a clear sign of disrespect to the Jewish community.
“This is beginning to feel purposeful and an unfortunate signal that Jewish safety in this city isn’t a priority at all,” Spern, a city public high school teacher, said.
New York City's minimum wage could hit $30 -- the highest in the nation -- under a new bill proposed Tuesday.
The bill is sponsored by lefty City Councilwoman Sandy Nurse (D-37) and echoes one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign promises to lift the Big Apple's minimum pay from $17 to $30 an hour by 2030.
The proposed pay increases would happen gradually and call for employers with upward of 500 employees to lift worker salaries to $20 an hour by 2027 and $30 an hour by 2030.
The change would affect upward of 1 million city workers who currently make minimum wage.
The minimum hourly pay rate in the city rose to $17 this year after hitting $15 in 2018.
Mamdani declined to explicitly support the legislation in a statement provided to The Post.
“Mayor Mamdani believes that all New Yorkers need to make a living wage” to address the affordability crisis, said a spokesperson for the mayor, Dora Pekec.
“As the administration reviews this specific legislation, the mayor remains committed to tackling the cost-of-living crisis using every tool at the city’s disposal,” Pekec said.
The NYPD bomb squad was probing a suspicious package near Gracie Mansion on Tuesday and evacuated an adjacent park as a precaution — just four days after thwarting a terror attack there, law enforcement sources said.
Cops responded to East 86th Street near East End Avenue on the Upper East Side in Manhattan around midday after reports of a suspect container on the promenade there, law enforcement sources said.
Cops responded to East 86th Street near East End Avenue on the Upper East Side in Manhattan around midday after reports of a suspect container on the promenade there, law enforcement sources said. Citizen App
The nearby Carl Schurz Park was evacuated as the investigation continued. Gracie Mansion, where the mayor lives, was not evacuated, officials said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted controversial anti-Israel activist and accused Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil, his wife and their young son for dinner at Gracie Mansion for the holy month of Ramadan.
“Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together,” Mamdani wrote in a Monday Instagram post.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted Mahmoud Khalil and his family for dinner at Gracie Mansion on Monday night. Instagram / nycmayor
The mayor included a photo of the celebration, showing his wife, Rama Duwaji, holding a plate of food while standing next to a seated Khalil, who was enjoying his meal with a giant smile.
Khalil, a Syrian-born activist and former Columbia University grad student, was arrested by ICE early last year, and faces deportation after the Trump administration accused him of committing fraud on his green card application.
