Zohran Mamdani returns to Albany as mayor, makes the rounds for cash in political role reversal

ALBANY — Zohran Mamdani returned to Albany for the first time as mayor — and made the rounds, cup in hand.

The former state lawmaker, in the capital for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address, embraced his new role by lobbying state leaders for more money to fund his lefty agenda in the Big Apple.

“I’m calling on all of our partners in Albany to ensure that we can not only fund the city’s day-to-day operations at a continued scale, but also that we can fund our affordability agenda,” Mamdani said.

“There is no question that New York City requires additional recording revenue, and we inherited a budget that mismanaged finances at every turn,” he told reporters. “Our city also plays an outsized role in supporting the state that, in itself, is a legacy of the prior government.

“We also have to ensure that we have the resources, not only to fund our affordability agenda, but also to fund the demands of our city’s budget,” the mayor said.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, was elected to a Queens state Assembly seat in 2020, and served in the chamber until winning the 2025 mayoral — putting him on the opposite side of the city-state dynamic.

Big Apple mayors have long lobbied Albany for additional financial help, with Mamdani just the latest.

Asked if he would lobby Hochul to raise taxes, he said he wanted “our partners in Albany to ensure that we can not only fund the city’s day-to-day operations,” but also help fund his “affordability agenda.

“I do believe that raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, the most profitable corporations, continues to be a critical part of it,” he said.

“And this is a reflection of inheriting an administration’s financial mismanagement at every turn, as well as a prior governor’s intent to continually make it even more disproportionate in terms of the amount of money that New York City sent out,” Mamdani said in a dig at former Mayor Eric Adams and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani beat Cuomo in the heated 2025 mayoral election.