When my parents came to New York in the 1980s, and started off in a small apartment in Coney Island near Avenue Z, they had the same dream as many other immigrant New Yorkers: to work hard, own something of their own, and pass it on to their children.
This tax punishes that dream.
According to the Center for Migration Studies, immigrants — specifically, naturalized citizens — have the highest rate of home ownership in New York. Close to 45% own their homes.
This tax will devastate immigrant families and other communities of color who spend a lifetime trying to build something, only to see that it will crumble at the time of their passing.
Why would the government want to punish parents for trying to take care of their children? It doesn’t make any sense.
The truth is — this is totally unnecessary.
Our state government is spending more and more taxpayer money and delivering less and less value for New Yorkers.
New Yorkers are worried about whether their families are safe, whether their streets are livable, and whether their government is actually working for them. Our current Attorney General is failing to address these issues.
Crime is up. We see repeat offenders released again and again and people being pushed in the subways.
Homelessness is up. We see people suffering from mental illness and addiction being left out in the cold.
Fraud is up. We see a stunning drop in enforcement, where even previous Democratic Attorneys General recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted taxpayer money, and Letitia James simply has not. That is money that could be used to make ends meet for the city and the state.
We don’t need a tax hike. We need a new Attorney General.
As Attorney General, I will do everything in my power to protect New Yorkers, and that includes protecting their property rights. I will prosecute crime, bring the homeless inside, and root out fraud.
Doing so will make New York safer, make New York less expensive, and make New York a place where the American dream is once again possible for everyone.