Mayor de Blasio, on his first trip to Albany since taking office, is making his presence felt at the state Capitol.
Literally the new big man on campus, de Blasio came to Albany for Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State Address and spent the morning rallying support for his plan to increase taxes on the wealthy to fund universal pre-kindergarten classes. The new mayor began his day by meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan).
“We have to get this done for the people of New York City and I echo what Speaker Silver said, we are simply asking for the right to tax ourselves,” de Blasio said during a brief media availability with Silver.
De Blasio said he would continue to push for the new tax even if Gov. Cuomo proposed a way to fund pre-k without raising taxes.
“Everyone knows I have long and very respectful relationship with the governor,” de Blasio said. ” think the central point here is that we need the reliability and the constancy that this tax will provide. We’re talking about $530 million year, so over half a billion for five years.”
De Blasio sidestepped a question about Cuomo’s recent package of proposed tax cuts, saying the governor was in a different “reality” than the city of New York.
“I’ve always said there is a different reality for the city of New York than for the state of New York,” he said. “I respect the governor and his leadership. He has a vision for the state of New York and that’s appropriate that he would pursue his personal vision for the state in the way he deems best. For the city of New York, what we need to do is fix our schools.”
Silver reiterated his full support for de Blasio’s Albany agenda, saying “we should give the mayor what he asks for.”
After meeting with Silver, de Blasio headed to a reception hosted by Bronx Sen. Jeff Klein and the Independent Democratic Conference. He praised Klein and the IDC for their courage in coming out in favor of his agenda to bring greater income equality to the city and boost pre-k.
“This is exactly the moment where we have to right the wrong,” he said.
