Will NYC Go Bankrupt?

Mass unemployment, colossal bankruptcies, and a shattered tourism industry have ravaged New York City during the coronavirus pandemic. In January 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed raising taxes on the wealthy, while cutting Medicaid and school spending to balance the multi-billion dollar budget deficit. Opponents say tax hikes could lead to a mass exodus of the wealthy New Yorkers who fund a large portion of the city’s revenue. Others say that the crisis has exasperated existing inequalities and cutting social services will only hurt those most affected.

Concern over New York City’s future is brewing as state lawmakers consider drastic measures that could hinder the city’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed in January raising taxes on the wealthy and cutting Medicaid and school spending at the state level. Conservatives argue that higher taxes could lead to wealthy taxpayers leaving the city, while progressives say reducing services could have a long-lasting impact on New York City.

New York City is highly dependent on its wealthy population. In 2018, the top 1% of earners made up 42.5% of total income tax collected by the city, according to the Independent Budget Office of New York City. That was $5 billion in revenue for the city.

“If they leave, there’s a huge fiscal crisis,” said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects with the Center for State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation. “How do you pay for all of these services? That affects everyone. The people who stay either have a higher tax burden or will receive fewer government services.”

“There’s a real question that policymakers need to address right now. How do you keep these people here? How do you make sure that post pandemic, they want to come back?” Walczak said.

But Kim Phillips-Fein, a historian at New York University, said cuts to services could hurt the city in the long run. She noted austerity measures taken during the 1970s fiscal crisis caused increasing inequalities that have haunted the city ever since.

Cornell University assistant professor Cristobal Young also pointed out that only a small fraction of wealthy people leave their states for tax purposes.

Watch the video above for more on New York’s situation and its potential road to recovery.

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Will NYC Go Bankrupt?

[HarryPujols]

Calling 60k a year “high income earner” is a joke, when the average rent in New York City sets you back 40k a year.

[nfinitik]

Born and raised New Yorker, lived there till I was 33. I'm 41 and live in Texas now. NYC is a beautiful place and I'm so very proud and honored to be from there but, for raising a family, mostly dependent on just one person can be tough. So made the hard decision to leave. Best thing I've done, live happy without so much stress of paying ridiculously high bills. It's not the same for everyone but thanks to God it worked out for me.

[kkim]

100 years from now, history will tell the people and show our next generation how ignorant these politicians were today

[plightn]

The "End of NYC" is actually the best thing that can happen to NYC. The city is so overcrowded that it's made it like a third-world country. It's infrastructure has long lagged behind and shows no sign of catching up, the subways and buildings are falling apart. Cost of living is insane, talk to anyone who moves out what a relief they experience.

[DimanjanDahal]

For a neutral foreign observer, yes it does look like a lot of cities around the world are going to collapse. People who are leaving these expensive cities to work remotely are making legitimately better decisions than those who stay.

[sunnym.]

Louis Rossmann on the actual ground of NYC is telling a different story, small businesses are abandoning ship and so are the people.
Notice are how they have no footage of all the abandoned businesses.

[hopesdaughter]

As someone who was born and raised in NYC, I can remember when my Mom, who actually passed away from Covid last year, took me to see Kurt Russell in Escape From New York. I never realized that it would become a real thing to do.

[edwardduda]

The difference between all the previous downturns and now is the internet. You still had to be in NYC to do business there. Now you don’t. Why would you wanna stay somewhere where the taxes and rent are extremely high if you can work and run your business anywhere? The exact thing is happening in LA with the music industry.

[karenyoung]

The wealthy will leave NY state. The ones that don’t leave have a group of accountants that will help them find investments, legal loopholes & legal ways to avoid paying higher taxes.

[ben]

"The rich are richer now than before."

[dragonslayer]

It cracks me up when these cities increase what theyve been doing for decades as if a new result will come

[Tomas-qlyo]

I left NYC after not having heat for two winters.
Two weeks no gas
One week no hot water
Now live happy in Poconos, PA

[Boppinabe]

Will NYC Go Bankrupt?
They're doing their very best to make it happen!

[TrainerAQ]

I didn't leave NY cause I lost Medicare there. I left it, cause 1: it's annoying the government finds every little way to make you pay money, 2: you have to inconvenience yourself to do anything, and 3: the people there are crappy to you cause they hate their own lives, which makes sense considering the other 2 reasons.

Now I make more money and just pay and save for my own Medicare and I live a much happier life than I did in NY.

[KiloMafia]

The taxes never go where they are supposed to

[ericnino]

“New York city, arguably the epicenter of the world”. That’s the problem with New York right there.

[antoniochiappetta]

No matter how much the city taxes, they always want more.

[dertythegrower]

Louis Rossmann already covered this and pointed it out months ago in many of his youtube videos, and you all said NYC was doing great until Cuomo got busted... what a joke, ha!

[kimalonzo]

I did my son's taxes this week and he. Owes NYS almost 1k in State taxes. In previous years, he never owed more than $250. The smackdown has begun!

[Jake-T]

I've been in nyc 10 years ago and I fell in love for the City. It breakes my heart to see what is happening to the City. Here in Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro, the City don't even have money to clean the streets anymore. And crime rates have exploded. I prray for good times to come.