Mayor Zohran Mamdani is haggling with Albany over every cent he can get for New York City in the state budget. But he is raising no objections as the state embraces a tax policy, widely criticized by economists, that will cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars.

Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing to eliminate state income taxes for tipped wages up to $25,000. The move followed pressure from her Republican challenger in this year’s election and would align New York with an identical change to the federal tax code enacted by President Donald Trump last year. The state Senate and Assembly are backing Hochul’s proposal, meaning it will likely be approved in the final state budget.

With its populist appeal, “no tax on tips” has enjoyed bipartisan support since Trump first proposed it during his 2024 presidential campaign; Democrat Kamala Harris quickly followed suit. But tax policy experts across the ideological spectrum are deeply skeptical, calling the policy unfair and potentially harmful to the workers who need the most help.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is staying on the sidelines as a fight over the state’s climate law reaches a boiling point.

Mamdani has pointedly avoided taking a position on Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed rollbacks to the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA, even as his socialist allies in the legislature rail against the proposals. Asked directly by New York Focus on Wednesday, Mamdani twice declined to say whether he has a position on Hochul’s push, saying only that he supported the original law.

From fitness watches to period-tracking apps, health products are increasingly collecting personal data from everyday activities. The issue has drawn increased attention since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, amid reports of data being used to target anti-abortion ads at clinic visitors and to prosecute people seeking gender-affirming care across state lines.

Last year, Albany lawmakers passed a bill to prohibit companies from collecting and selling health data without users’ consent — but business groups argued its provisions were too far-reaching, and Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed it. Now, legislators have introduced a narrower version they hope can make it past the governor’s desk.