With Zohran K. Mamdani now serving as mayor of New York, many people are waiting to see what he will do next. In his latest effort to keep the city afloat, he decided to pressure Kathy Hochul into taxing the rich, warning that otherwise he would be forced to raise taxes on working- and middle-class New Yorkers. Among those also seeking to pressure Hochul is the well-known New York actor Mark Ruffalo.
In his latest video, Ruffalo urged Hochul to tax the wealthy. He began by saying that rent and child care costs were crushing New Yorkers. He also criticized Trump policies, which he claimed were making billionaires richer while causing the working class to suffer. He then said that Governor Kathy Hochul was standing in the way of Zohran Mamdani’s affordability act. According to Ruffalo and his allies, Hochul now faces a choice: continue trying to please the wealthy by avoiding higher taxes on them, or help struggling working families by finally taxing the rich.
Mark Ruffalo said that he and, according to him, roughly 60% of New Yorkers support higher taxes on the wealthy to fund child care, affordable housing, and public transit. He argued that these investments are necessary to make the city livable for working families. The New York actor also called on supporters to take part in a February 25 demonstration, where they plan to head to Albany to pressure Hochul to raise taxes on the wealthy. Mark Ruffalo said, “Tax the rich for a New York we can all afford! They can handle it, trust me.”
Online, many people were moved by Mark Ruffalo’s show of support for the New York mayor and residents. “What I love about this guy is that despite being part of such a capitalist franchise like Marvel, he’s always been authentic, always stuck to his values and been a voice of the people. I’m sure considering Disney has been his employer it wasn’t easy. Real life superhero, this man,” one user said.
Others used the opportunity to criticize MAGA supporters, arguing that they failed to see that the Trump administration was making America even more unaffordable for the working class. “What’s funny about Trump and MAGA is they reduce the taxes on the rich and make it more expensive for the poor, and the poor vote for him,” one Redditor wrote.
Some users, however, felt it was ironic that Mark Ruffalo was making these statements. One user said, “Why does he just keep saying billionaires and corporations? He is one of the ones that needs to be taxed more. There aren’t enough billionaires to make a difference. We need to tax people like him. He needs to include himself in this performative nonsense.” Others replied by saying that Mark Ruffalo likely would not mind being taxed more. Another user wrote, “There are around a thousand in the entire country. If you want to make a real difference, you need to tax the millionaires higher as well.”
