NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio on his desire to abolish private property.

[Harshaw]

Bill de Blasio on Trump, Cuomo, and Getting NYC to Like You

What’s been hardest is the way our legal system is structured to favor private property. I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be. I think there’s a socialistic impulse, which I hear every day, in every kind of community, that they would like things to be planned in accordance to their needs. And I would, too. Unfortunately, what stands in the way of that is hundreds of years of history that have elevated property rights and wealth to the point that that’s the reality that calls the tune on a lot of development.

I’ll give you an example. I was down one day on Varick Street, somewhere close to Canal, and there was a big sign out front of a new condo saying, “Units start at $2 million.” And that just drives people stark raving mad in this city, because that kind of development is clearly not for everyday people. It’s almost like it’s being flaunted. Look, if I had my druthers, the city government would determine every single plot of land, how development would proceed. And there would be very stringent requirements around income levels and rents. That’s a world I’d love to see, and I think what we have, in this city at least, are people who would love to have the New Deal back, on one level. They’d love to have a very, very powerful government, including a federal government, involved in directly addressing their day-to-day reality.

It’s not reachable right now.

It doesn't get much plainer than that.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Bill de Blasio on Trump, Cuomo, and Getting NYC to Like You



It doesn't get much plainer than that.

If he really believed that nonsense then he could propose a very progressive property and income taxation scheme to help accomplish that.

 

[Harshaw]

If he really believed that nonsense then he could propose a very progressive property and income taxation scheme to help accomplish that.

He could also turn over all of his own properties to the government.

 

[OldFatGuy]

Bill de Blasio on Trump, Cuomo, and Getting NYC to Like You



It doesn't get much plainer than that.

Ask Mr. Bill about the value increase of his Park Slope brownstone. He often brags how he bought it from the city for back taxes, a steal.