Gov. Kathy Hochul defended the state’s $4 billion bailout of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s New York City budget, while critics slammed it as a vote buying giveaway at the expense of the rest of the state.

“People should be glad that the finances of New York City are going to be stable. Thousands of Long Islanders work in New York City. They don’t want New York City to be on unsound fiscal footing,” Hochul said on LI News Radio With Jay Oliver.

But Republican lawmakers from the suburbs and upstate said the bailout lacked real belt-tightening by Mamdani and just encourages higher taxes and spending for all in the Empire State. 

“Hochul is buying votes $1 billion at a time,” sneered upstate Sen. George Borrello (R-Jamestown), noting Democratic Hochul is running for re-election this fall.

He’s worried that the new pied-a-terre tax Hochul approved for owners of luxury second homes in New York City will be extended to resort towns elsewhere. 

“We don’t want bad ideas in NYC spreading like cancer to the rest of the state,” Borrello said.

“The answer is always more tax and more spending.”

Long Island Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-Riverhead) called the Big Apple bailout “outrageous.”

“When you look at the ballooning size of New York City’s budget, there’s no accountability. They’re kicking the can down the road. There’s no end in sight,” Palumbo said.

“It’s complete insanity.”

---

Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics

---

Hochul played defense on the radio show, insisting the assistance for Mamdani and the city budget would not come at the expense of other regions of the state.

For example, Hochul noted she recently earmarked an additional $125 million to the city public school system on top of what she proposed in her executive budget plan.

But she said all school districts will receive more funding this year, including more than 400 that have declining enrollment.

Hochul also said she increased assistance to other upstate cities.