New York, New York - New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani once again called for higher taxes on the wealthy as he unveiled a preliminary city budget for the coming fiscal year.

"As the mayor of New York City, I have a legal obligation to balance the budget. I will meet that obligation," Mamdani said during a Tuesday press conference.

Mamdani explained that he had "inherited a historic budget gap" from his predecessor Eric Adams upon taking office in January.

On Tuesday, Mamdani placed the city's two-year budget gap at $5.4 billion. The sum was down from his initial projection at over $12 billion due to savings measures, higher-than-expected revenues, and a $1.5-billion allocation from the state announced by Governor Kathy Hochul this week.

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The city's top executive described the reduction as a significant improvement, but acknowledged more needed to be done to tackle the deficit.

"There are two paths to bridge this gap," Mamdani said.

The first, which the mayor described as "the most sustainable and the fairest path," involves addressing the fiscal imbalance between New York City and State as well as raising taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals.

"The onus for resolving this crisis should not be placed on the backs of working and middle-class New Yorkers," he insisted. "If we do not fix this structural imbalance and do not heed the calls of New Yorkers to raise taxes on the wealthy, this crisis will not disappear. It will simply return, year after year, forcing harder and harsher choices each time."

The second path would require the city to raise property taxes and tap into its reserves.

"To balance the budget as required by law, our preliminary budget takes the only path within our control – the second path. The options of the second path are the options of last resort," Mamdani said.

"We will spend the coming months doing everything in our power to ensure that our final budget reflects the first path."

The preliminary budget Mamdani presented on Tuesday lays out the possibility of a 9.5% property tax increase on New Yorkers with a median income of $122,000.

It would also involve drawing down $980 million from the city's Rainy Day Fund and $229 million from the Retiree Health Benefits Trust.

"We do not want to have to turn to such drastic measures to balance our budget," Mamdani reiterated.

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Instead, the mayor continues to advocate for a 2% higher tax on those New Yorkers who make more than $1 million annually, as well as a top state corporate tax rate of 11.5%.

"I am encouraged and heartened by the relationship that we have built with Governor Hochul and the state legislature and hopeful that we can arrive at a fair solution at the end of this budget process," Mamdani said.

Hochul has repeatedly insisted she will not back the tax hikes proposed by Mamdani. Last month, she unveiled her executive budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, which included no tax increases.

Mamdani has, nevertheless, endorsed Hochul's reelection campaign over that of progressive challenger Antonio Delgado, who supports taxing the rich.

The support of the New York City Council would be required in order to raise property taxes.

Speaker Julie Menin and Finance Chair Linda Lee opposed the move in a statement, which read, "At a time when New Yorkers are already grappling with an affordability crisis, dipping into rainy day reserves and proposing significant property tax increases should not be on the table whatsoever."

"The Council believes there are additional areas of savings and revenue that deserve careful scrutiny before increasing the burden on small property owners and neighborhood small businesses, which could worsen the affordability crisis," they added.

Mamdani noted that the numbers presented on Tuesday were a preliminary budget, with an executive and an adopted budget to follow.