NYC-DSA responds to Zohran Endorsement of Kathy Hochul
“NYC-DSA does not believe that Governor Kathy Hochul has risen to meet this moment, in which working people face unprecedented threats. As Governor, she has consistently sided with her billionaire donors while offering working-class New Yorkers crumbs. And in a moment of historic threats to working people, the Governor has no answer in this year’s budget for the millions who will lose healthcare and SNAP in the years to come.
Mayor Mamdani has been clear that the Governor must tax the rich. We will work to make sure she meets that demand— and so will the thousands of New Yorkers who have continued to knock doors, meet with legislators, and call their neighbors. And it’s why thousands of New Yorkers are going to Albany on February 25th to demand a state budget that delivers for working-class New Yorkers.
Governor Hochul has demonstrated time and again that she will only prioritize the needs of working class New Yorkers when she is forced. The announcement of a child care expansion earlier this year was the result of a movement of millions electing democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. But with fascism here, and ultra-wealthy hospital CEOs refusing fair pay and benefits for nurses amid a historic strike, New York cannot afford to let the Governor continue to protect billionaire donors at the expense of SNAP, Medicaid, truly universal child care, and the enactment of the mayor’s affordability agenda.
As New York faces down the largest wealth transfer from public services to oligarchs in US history, we echo the Mayor’s call for taxes on the rich. Governor Hochul has shown since 2022 that she believes the path to beating Republicans and fascists is to compromise with them, keeping her donors happy and letting the working class take on the mounting costs. Zohran’s election proves that New Yorkers are no longer satisfied with this kind of leadership and are ready to demand a vision of government for working people.
We are committed to fighting to make the affordability agenda a reality, and we will work with the mayoral administration and democratic socialists in the city and state legislatures to win taxes on the rich and a state budget that delivers for working-class New Yorkers.”