Hochul confronted on study showing millionaire exodus in New York City

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was confronted about a new study that found the wealthy fled the city in droves between 2010 and 2022 and whether it was getting any better.

The Citizen Budget Commission (CBC) found that New York's share of millionaires in the U.S. declined from 12.7 percent to 8.7 percent between 2019 and 2022.

"Their latest report basically said wealthy individuals are moving out, families are moving out, and single filers are coming in," Fox 5's "Good Day New York" host Rosanna Scotto told Hochul. "People who really can't afford New York City are coming here. You had to bail out New York City — $8 billion this budget. They're saying they see a $10 billion budget deficit. What do you think, and how do we stop this?"

Hochul said the numbers were from 2022, as Scotto asked if she thought it had gotten any better. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, ran on taxing the rich throughout his mayoral campaign, as critics argued that the wealthy would in turn flee the city.

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"Back then a big driver of people leaving, and you could draw a through line from when the Donald Trump administration and Congress got rid of the State and Local Tax Deduction. All of a sudden, everybody in New York paid higher taxes because since Abraham Lincoln was president, and they started the tax code, you never were double taxed," Hochul said.

The CBC analysis states, "New York’s declining share of high-income taxpayers has meaningful consequences. Had New York maintained its share of the nation's millionaires over the past decade, personal income tax collections would have been substantially higher — roughly $10.7 billion more in tax year 2022."

She cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a big driver as well, saying, "So people who maybe had a vacation home or a temporary home in Palm Beach said, 'I moved my whole family here. The city is falling apart here, everybody's getting sick, I'm not staying there.'"

"I don't think that's a problem now?" Scotto pushed back.

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Hochul said she was doing what she could to prevent wealthy residents and businesses from leaving the city.

"I am doing what I can to stop that because I believe that we should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals," she said. "We should not be raising taxes on the companies that are creating the jobs and generating the revenue that helps us pay for the services that people in New York City come to rely on. So I've taken a different approach. I want to expand the pie." 

Scotto also asked Hochul about the luxury housing market.

"There's talk now, a new report today in the paper, that the luxury market, over $10 million apartments are sitting, not moving," she said. "People are concerned about the pied-à-terre tax. Are you concerned about that? Is that on your radar at all?"

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Hochul said the pied-à-terre tax was for people like Russian oligarchs and Saudi princes who were perhaps purchasing second homes in New York valued at $5 million or more.

"I'm not talking about someone who has a little apartment because they want to visit the grandkids, right? This is a $5 million apartment, and you're also getting police services, fire services," the governor said. "And so, if you want to be a New Yorker, make this your primary home — you don't have to pay the tax. But as long as you're someone from the outside, you're going to contribute more to the services that you use."