The de Blasio Mandate

Five areas where Mayor de Blasio can make big progressive changes in New York City.

Bill de Blasio’s exhilarating landslide victory over Joe Lhota in New York’s mayoral election offers a once-in-a-generation chance for progressives to take the reins of power in America’s largest—and most iconic—city. The 
rest of the country will be watching as this proud liberal, who earned our enthusiastic endorsement in the primary, moves to deliver on his promise to “leave no New Yorker behind.” The new mayor’s to-do list will be long, and the following is not intended to be comprehensive; but here are five areas where we see immediate possibilities for meaningful change in our city under Mayor de Blasio.

The Economy and Inequality

De Blasio’s “tale of two cities” campaign zeroed in on New York City’s most fundamental problem: the dramatic widening of its income gap, a trend that accelerated greatly on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s watch. As we noted in our May 6 special issue, “The Gilded City,” the richest 1 percent of New Yorkers claimed
 39 percent of the city’s income share in 2012—up from 12 percent in 1980. Enacting de Blasio’s campaign proposal to tax earners of $500,000 and up to pay for universal pre-K would be a fine way to begin to reverse this tide, although the state legislature has to be persuaded to get on board, and it may take some time to implement the plan for more mundane reasons, such as the scarcity of classroom space.

Meanwhile, there are other steps the mayor can take to tackle the inequality that he called, in his victory speech, “the defining challenge of our time.” He will have to plug the leaks in the tax system and persuade the state to end tax breaks for luxury properties, close business tax loopholes and cut subsidies for developers (which increased almost tenfold under Bloomberg). And why not push to reinstate the commuter tax? Vast changes in the city’s tax structure aren’t likely—and its mix of personal income and business taxes is already relatively progressive—but halting giveaways to the wealthy is essential if the city is to address its pressing social needs.

Via: The Nation

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