New Polling Finds NYC Voters Side With Mamdani on Budget Fight
- New Yorkers say the best way to address the budget deficit is to tax the wealthy, not cut city services. Voters favor a millionaire and corporate tax increase over the status quo 60% to 35%, and choose taxes over “smart savings” 51% to 42% as a deficit reduction strategy—even though nearly half say inefficiency is a big problem with city government today.
- 85% of New York City voters say the state government in Albany bears “some” or “a great deal” of responsibility for the cost of living in NYC—the highest of any person or group tested, and consistent across party lines.
- Mayor Mamdani’s budget proposal already has majority support, and grows when voters learn the details. Support starts at 58% based on existing awareness, and jumps to 72% once voters hear the specifics—a 14-point persuasion gap that signals room to build a winning coalition.
As New York leaders debate how to close the city’s $5.4 billion budget gap, new polling from Groundwork Action and Data for Progress finds New York City registered voters are deeply concerned about rising costs, highly aware of the budget shortfall, and broadly prefer Mayor Mamdani’s proposal to tax the rich and receive more of its revenue back from Albany compared to slashing city services.
While closing the budget deficit is important to many voters, clear majorities of New Yorkers believe that core planks of Mamdani’s affordability agenda, like affordable housing and child care, should be a bigger priority for city government. To deliver on those campaign promises while also closing the deficit gap, voters prefer rebalancing the city’s relationship with the state government in Albany and raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers.
Key Takeaways
- Nearly 9 in 10 New York City voters are concerned about rising grocery prices and housing costs.
- Based on what they already know, 58% of New York City voters support Mamdani’s budget proposal. After learning about Mamdani’s plan to close the budget gap, support rose to 72%, a 14-point increase.
- More than 3 in 4 (76%) New York City voters support raising taxes on New Yorkers who make more than $1 million a year, including a majority (55%) who strongly support the proposal. When presented with the choice between raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to fund affordability programs versus keeping taxes as they are to protect businesses and jobs, voters choose the tax increase 60% to 35%.
- On deficit reduction, when asked to choose between raising taxes on the wealthy and largest corporations in order to invest in affordability programs, even if some millionaires choose to leave, versus finding savings and eliminating inefficiencies while protecting important programs, even if some services are cut, voters prefer to raise taxes 51% to 42%.
- Eighty-five percent of New York City voters say the state government in Albany bears “some” or “a great deal” of responsibility for the cost of living in NYC—the highest of any person or group tested, and consistent across party lines. On deficit reduction, when asked to choose between having Albany stop taking more from the city than the city gets in return in order to help fund affordability programs (even if the state reduces its surplus) versus finding smart savings and eliminating inefficiencies while protecting important programs (even if some services are cut), voters choose fixing the Albany imbalance 55% to 39%.
- New York City voters are evenly split on what they see as the biggest problem with NYC government: 47% say the bigger problem is too much inefficiency and wasteful spending, while 48% say it prioritizes the wealthy and corporations over average New Yorkers. But when tradeoffs are made concrete, concern about inefficiency doesn’t translate into majority support for cuts. When asked to choose between raising taxes on the wealthy versus finding savings and cutting services to close the deficit, voters choose taxes 51% to 42%. When asked directly whether the city should prioritize closing the deficit or implementing new programs to help New Yorkers afford basic needs, voters choose programs 60% to 34%.
Concerns About Rising Costs Are Near Universal
New York City voters are highly concerned about rising costs. Eighty-eight percent say they are concerned about grocery costs rising (64% “very concerned”), 84% about housing costs rising (65% “very concerned”), 75% about transportation costs rising, and 58% about childcare costs rising.
Albany Receives Most Blame for Cost of Living; New Yorkers Split on Root Cause
When asked who is responsible for the current cost of living in NYC, 85% of New York City voters say the New York State government in Albany bears “a great deal” (39%) or “some” (46%) responsibility—the highest of any person or group tested, with nearly equal shares across parties.
This is followed by previous mayoral administrations (82%; 41% “a great deal”), US Congress (81%; 38% “a great deal”), Governor Hochul (73%; 32% “a great deal”), the Trump Administration (71%; 41% “a great deal”), and Wall Street (69%, 31% “a great deal”). The current mayoral administration ranks last at 63% (26% “a great deal”)—a figure that reflects near-unanimous Republican blame (87%).
New York City voters are split on what they see as the bigger problem with NYC government today: 47% say it is tolerating too much inefficiency and wasteful spending, while 48% say it is prioritizing the interests of the wealthy and large corporations instead of the average New Yorker.
New Yorkers Highly Aware of Budget Deficit; Prioritize New Programs to Help with Basic Needs
New York City voters are highly aware of NYC’s budget deficit, with 59% saying they have seen, read, or heard “a lot” (25%) or “some” (34%) about it, and 68% saying reducing it should be the top priority (28%) or one of the top priorities (40%) for local and state elected officials.
But when asked to choose between closing the deficit even if it means the city cannot implement new programs to help New Yorkers afford basic needs like housing, food, and childcare, and implementing new programs to help New Yorkers afford basic needs even if it means the deficit doesn’t get closed, 60% prioritize implementing programs.
Majority of New Yorkers Support Mamdani’s Budget Proposal, and Support Grows as They Learn More
Based on what they already know about it, 58% support Mamdani’s budget proposal for this year.
After learning that the New York City government currently faces a $5.4 billion budget deficit and hearing Mamdani’s two-pronged approach, support for his proposal rises to 72%.
Mamdani’s Affordability Policies Earn Majority Backing, With Building More Affordable Housing and Millionaire Tax Drawing Broadest Support
Sixty-nine percent of New York City voters say they have seen, read, or heard “a lot” (33%) or “some” (36%) about Mamdani’s agenda to address affordability. Fifty-seven percent think Mamdani’s agenda will make New York City “much” (18%) or “somewhat” (39%) affordable for themselves and their families (net +25).
When asked about specific planks, all proposals enjoy majority support among voters, with efforts to build more affordable housing and raise taxes on the rich particularly popular.
New York City voters say the following policies should be a bigger priority for the city than closing the budget deficit: building more affordable housing (54% to 35%), free childcare for every New Yorker aged six weeks to five years (51% to 36%), and freezing the rent (47% to 40%).
New Yorkers Choose Millionaire and Corporate Tax Increase Over Status Quo
On deficit reduction, voters prefer taxes and ending the Albany imbalance over savings and efficiencies. Voters favor a millionaire and corporate tax increase over the status quo 60% to 35%, choose raising taxes over finding savings 51% to 42%, and choose fixing the Albany imbalance over smart savings 55% to 39%.
Methodology
From April 7 to 15, 2026, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 519 registered voters in New York City using SMS and web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of registered voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and recalled presidential vote. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error associated with the sample size is ±4 percentage points. Results for subgroups of the sample are subject to increased margins of error. Partisanship reflected in tabulations is based on self-identified party affiliation, not partisan registration.