Name: Andrew Yang opposes raising taxes in confab with NYC business leaders: sources
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Andrew Yang opposes raising taxes in confab with NYC business leaders: sources

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AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsFeb 25, 2021 at 5:32 pmAndrew Yang, who is leading the pack in his Democratic primary run for mayor, recently told a group of high-powered business leaders that he doesn’t support raising taxes on New Yorkers — including the most wealthy.Yang staked out the position last Wednesday at a meeting he had with the Partnership for New York City, which represents large businesses that employ more than 1 million people in the city, two sources who attended the virtual confab revealed.Advertisement“He was clear that he didn’t favor new taxes on New Yorkers, period,” one source said. “The guy is really confident he’s going to be the mayor. He said, ‘I’ll probably be the next mayor, and I want to work for all of you.’”The source recalled being struck by Yang’s use of the word “for,” rather than “with” when he made the remark about working “for all of you” to the dozens of business leaders on the call.AdvertisementAnother source described his remarks as “an impressive performance,” noting with an ironic chuckle that he wasn’t “calling for tax increases on the evil rich.”“He tells people what they want to hear,” that source said. “He clearly knew telling people he’s going to raise taxes is not what this group wants to hear.”Yang’s comments come at a time when several bills aimed at taxing the rich have gained traction in Albany and as many New Yorkers support such measures. A survey released last September found that 90% of those polled favor raising taxes on people making $5 million or more a year.Rebecca Bailin, the campaign manager for Invest In Our New York, painted Yang as out of touch for his stance, saying that “millions of New Yorkers can’t make rent or afford to put food on the table because the governor refuses to end tax breaks on the wealthy.”“Anyone who actually spent time here would know that,” she added in an apparent shot at Yang’s time spent in his second home in New Paltz during the pandemic.NY Working Families Party State Director Sochie Nnaemeka also criticized Yang for the remarks.“New York City needs a leader who will fight to end tax breaks for the wealthy and raise real revenue to lift up struggling New Yorkers,” Nnamekea said.When asked for clarity on Yang’s position on taxes, campaign spokesman Jacob Sporn said Yang intends to “address the unjust carve-outs that are baked into the city’s budget, including an antiquated property tax reform system that forces middle-class homeowners and renters to subsidize property tax bills for the wealthy.”Advertisement“He’ll also fight to close outrageous loopholes for big corporations like Madison Square Garden and will support a new tax on the thousands of luxury condos owned by non-New York residents,” he added.City Comptroller Scott Stringer said Tuesday he supports measures in Albany to increase taxes on the wealthy. Other candidates who support those bills, or elements of the bills, include Mayor de Blasio’s former legal counsel Maya Wiley and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.Yang has said in the past that he supports the pied-a-terre tax, which would require people who own second homes in the city to pay an additional tax.During his presidential run, he supported increasing the capital gains tax and levying a tax on Wall Street transactions — measures similar to those now on tap in Albany. He was also on the record opposing the push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, arguing at the time that it would spur further automation.“This is one thing that drives me nuts about the left. I mean I run a small company,” he said in a 2019 interview. “Sometimes people imagine that, like, every business must be made of money. It’s totally not the case, particularly in this era of mega-consolidation, where you have these giant companies coming and running amok. Like, they’re made of money, sure, but is the average, like, independent business made of money, such that you can say, ‘Hey, pay everyone $15 bucks an hour and it’s not gonna have any effect?’”Yang has since changed that stance and now supports a $15 an hour minimum wage. Advertisement

AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsFeb 25, 2021 at 5:32 pmAndrew Yang, who is leading the pack in his Democratic primary run for mayor, recently told a group of high-powered business leaders that he doesn’t support raising taxes on New Yorkers — including the most wealthy.Yang staked out the position last Wednesday at a meeting he had with the Partnership for New York City, which represents large businesses that employ more than 1 million people in the city, two sources who attended the virtual confab revealed.Advertisement“He was clear that he didn’t favor new taxes on New Yorkers,...

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Andrew Yang opposes raising taxes in confab with NYC business leaders: sources

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