Gov. Kathy Hochul is begging wealthy New Yorkers who fled the city to encourage their rich pals to come back and continue padding the Empire State’s lavish public handouts.  Hochul cannot be trusted.

     Hochul made the case against caving to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s demands that she hike income taxes — by saying she not only wants fat cats to stay in the city, but also by clawing at those who have moved to states with better business climates like Florida.  “Maybe the first step should be to go down to Palm Beach and see who we can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded,” the Democratic governor said at a forum hosted by Politico last week.

     “I have to look at the fact that we are in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals,” she said.  The comments are a far cry from Hochul’s much-derided remarks from her 2022 election campaign where she ripped her GOP opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin, as well as then-Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and President Trump, telling them and other New York Republicans to scram.  “Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro – just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. OK? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values,” Hochul said at the time.    

     Hochul, who faces re-election in November, has made the pitch defending high-earners to shore up the state’s tax base in recent weeks as Mamdani and his “tax the rich” crew of lefty lawmakers demand she further jack up income taxes.  The governor was particularly poking at the group “Patriotic Millionaires” in her remarks last week, after the tax-loving lefty group got behind Mamdani’s push for an additional 2% citywide income tax on those making more than a million dollars and other proposals to squeeze more money out of New Yorkers such as lower the estate tax threshold.  Hizzoner wants to use funds raised by the tax hike to help pay for his democratic socialist wishlist and cover the $5.4 billion budget gap he claims the city faces.