New York’s left-wing political establishment and its public-sector unions are rallying behind Bill de Blasio now that he’s locked up the Democratic nomination for mayor. Think of it as the Empire reuniting — and getting ready to wreak havoc on the average Joe.
By now, de Blasio’s top Democratic rivals, Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson, have both thrown their support behind him. They’ve been joined by other Dems, like Gov. Cuomo. The unions, too — even those that didn’t support him in the primary — are now getting on board.
What the unions in particular know is that de Blasio will offer them the best deal, even if Joe and Jane New Yorker have to pay the price in the end.
To start, de Blasio is openly vowing to push for a tax hike. That money, of course, will go to (surprise!) public-sector workers. And while he says the hikes will hit only the richest New Yorkers, his signals about union contracts suggest otherwise.
Many of the unions, you see, have been without a contract for four years and are demanding retroactive pay. The cost? A mere $8 billion.
The Democrat, for his part, is coy about what he’d do: “I hope to do something, if we can . . . but we’re not going to be able to do the full [$8 billion].”
Yet, even half that amount has to come from somewhere.
Unless de Blasio tries to tax the rich even more, his only other option is to hike the property tax — hitting the hardworking middle class so as to funnel big back raises to the Empire.
Yes, there’s a reason the unions and the machine pols are “uniting” behind de Blasio. So just remember that when he talks of New York’s “two cities,” he’s really talking about public-sector New York versus everyone else.
And it’s all too clear which side he’s on.