Tipsheet

That Was Fast: NYC's Socialist Mayor Already Begging for a Bailout

Scott McClallen
Scott McClallen  |  April 29, 2026 9:00 PM

It only took a few months for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to run out of other people’s money after promising to make “free” services. 

New York City faces a $6 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year 2026. Now, Mamdani is looking for new revenue. 

"We cannot close this deficit with savings alone,” Mamdani said in a press conference. “We need new revenue, and we need a structural reset in our relationship with the state. That is the only way to meet our legal obligation to pass a balanced budget."


Just weeks after he filmed a video saying that he would levy a new tax on annual tax on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners don’t live in the city full-time, now, he’s begging the state of New York to give the city more money. 

Mamdani’s administration promised “free” buses, childcare, and more. 

But he apparently forgot that these items aren’t free. The Mamdani administration increased net spending by over $4 billion in fiscal year 2026, over $5 billion in fiscal year 2027, and over $8 billion in fiscal year 2026, according to a report from the New York City comptroller. 

Much of this spending are public assistance programs, shelters, rental assistance, and special education, the report says. 

The fiscal year 2026 budget assumes the city will raid its rainy day fund by $980 million. 

City expenditures are dwarfing revenue. 

“The operating surplus, which is used to prepay next year’s expenses, drops from $3.79 billion in FY 2025 to $238 million in FY 2026, a 94 percent decline. On its face, this means that in FY 2026 expenses are $3.55 billion higher than revenues… Therefore, in FY 2026 the City’s operating expenses are projected to be $4.53 billion higher than its revenues. Without the $710 million in recently announced but unspecified savings and the $1.01 billion in projected impacts of the yet-to-be-enacted State budget actions, the FY 2026 operating deficit increases to $6.25 billion.”