I cannot believe The New York Times editorial board is totally unfeeling. So the only conclusion I can draw from its cavalier dismissal today of Governor Cuomo’s property tax cap plan is that its members need to get out more. The heights from which they write must be disconnecting them from reality.
Quick fix solution: Press “down” at the nearest elevator bank, head directly to Grand Central or Penn Station, and take the first train headed north, east, or west of the city. There — wherever “there” ends up being — talk to people. Average people. They are everywhere. And they will all tell you the same thing: New York’s property tax load is a crisis. Then beat it back to “civilization” and re-read Monday’s editorial page.
Westchester County has the highest property taxes in America, and Nassau, Suffolk and Rockland counties are right behind it. The 15 counties with the highest property taxes in the country when compared with home values, all are in upstate and western New York, where, not coincidentally, there also is an exodus of jobs and people.
But here’s how The Times editors see things:
“The state needs ethics reform, redistricting reform and marriage equality. The city needs rent regulations. What isn’t needed is a property-tax cap.”
Really?
Of course, the Times is more than happy to take advantage of enormous tax breaks afforded their new office building in the “blighted” Times Square area. A set of tax abatements set up by…Mario Cuomo.