NOT SEW FAST!
Adams says AOC has gown too far Don’t drive away rich NYers, cut fat
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got a dressing-down Monday from Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams.
Adams said the socialist’s “Tax the Rich” gown was the wrong message for New York City, while acknowledging he and the left-wing member of Congress are broadly aligned in their humble backgrounds and preferred outcomes.
“I’m a big believer that, you know, I think, AOC and I believe we both want the same things; we just have different pathways to get there,” he said on CNBC when asked about the controversial outfit she wore to last week’s star-studded Met Gala. “Her mother was a domestic worker, or did things on that level — so was my mother.
“But when you talk about just blanketly saying, ‘Tax rich in this city,’ we may have 8 million people, but 65,000 pay 51 percent of our income taxes,” Adams added. “And if you say to those 65,000 to leave, then we’re not going to have the firefighters, the teachers, all of those basic things.”
Instead of advocating for raising taxes on rich Big Apple residents, Adams said, the city should first trim the fat in the city budget and then assess whether taxes should be hiked to bring in more municipal cash.
“Let’s find a way to use the tax dollars, we’re wasting tax dollars,” Adams, the heavy favorite to win the Big Apple general election in November, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “Those tax dollars are being wasted.
“I say, let’s make sure we get our house in order through our agencies. And then, let’s talk about how much money we need to run this city’s $98 billion budget. And how much of that are we hemorrhaging?”
It’s not the first time Adams has stressed his differences with fellow Democrat AOC, as he has also said that he does not believe in defunding the police.
In July, after Adams clinched the Democratic nomination, he said, “I’m no longer running against candidates. I’m running against a movement. All across the country, the DSA socialists are mobilizing to stop Eric Adams.
“They realize that if I’m successful, we’re going to start the process of regaining control of our cities.”
Later in his CNBC interview, Adams continued to create rhetorical distance between his agenda and current Mayor de Blasio over big businesses pledging to “reset” his relationship with the five boroughs’ well-to-do elites.
“Think about this for a moment: We are the only country on the globe that we have a dream attack. While you don’t have a French dream, a German dream, you have an American dream. We are hardwired to start a business,” the Brooklyn borough president said on the financial-news network.
“We’ve lost that along the way. So, I’ve been spending the last few years talking to my business leaders and stated, if I’m fortunate enough to become mayor, we’re going to hit reset, and we want to establish that relationship.”
The cop-turned-politician’s comments came days after he decried what he characterized as a hostile approach the city has taken to businesses during the de Blasio era.
“Right now, no one wants to do business in the city,” Adams said on Bloomberg Radio Friday.
“We have been defined as a business-enemy city instead of a business-friendly city.”