Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Admits to Backing the Wrong Candidate as Property Tax Hike Proposal Threatens Working-Class Homeowners

In a stunning turn of events, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who strongly endorsed the socialist candidacy of Zohran Mamdani for mayor in 2025, has come to regret his support as Mamdani’s controversial 9.5% property tax hike proposal threatens to push working-class New Yorkers to the brink.

Mamdani’s plan, which he framed as a “last resort” to fill a $5.4 billion budget deficit—a hole he played a major role in creating—has sparked a backlash from the very people Richards claims to represent. The property tax increase would disproportionately impact homeowners in the most vulnerable areas of the city, particularly those in Southeast Queens.

Richards, who stood alongside Mamdani just a short time ago, now admits the bitter truth: “You’re going to force people out of their homes.” He made it clear that the tax hike was a “nonstarter” and cautioned that taxing the city’s working class, including seniors on fixed incomes and public sector workers, would only exacerbate the city’s ongoing housing crisis. “The foreclosure crisis always peaked in Southeast Queens,” Richards warned. “Without a doubt, you’re pushing people out of their homes.”

This admission marks a dramatic shift for Richards, who once touted Mamdani as a bold, progressive leader who would fight for the working class and deliver “progress.” But now, the very working-class homeowners, Black and Brown families, and seniors that Richards claimed to champion are facing the very policies they were promised would help them. Instead, they are watching their American Dream evaporate as their property taxes skyrocket, leaving many at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.

The situation has become a stark reminder of the consequences of socialist policies that promise “free” everything but fail to address the realities of funding those programs. As one critic put it: “Buyer’s remorse doesn’t even cover it.” While the elites behind these policies remain unaffected, it is the ordinary citizens who pay the price.

This is the painful reality of progressive promises: higher taxes, fleeing residents, and economic collapse. The truth was clear all along: socialism delivers misery for the many, power for the few.