A Tale of Two Tax Returns (Gift Article)

For more NYC news delivered to your inbox every weekday morning, subscribe to Hell Gate's free newsletter. On Thursday, as the debate about taxing the rich dragged on, both Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani released their 2025 tax returns. Some takeaways? It's helpful to be married (ugh), even the most regrettable rap career can still pick up some pin money and, of course, the rich don't want to tax themselves (see: Bill Hochul's income). Mamdani shared his joint filing with his wife, Rama Duwaji, revealing that last year, the two had a total income of less than $150,000 (they really did need that rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, I guess!). And they seem to truly love paying taxes—so much so that they overpaid federal and state taxes in 2025, netting themselves a hefty refund of roughly $7,000. Some more fun details: Most of that income came from Mamdani's State Assembly salary ($131,296). Duwaji, an artist and illustrator (and budding ceramicist?), noted in the couple's return that she only earned about $10,000 before deductions, which Politico noted put her below the federal poverty line. Also: Girl, I know the economy is terrible for creatives, but it is a bad idea to rely on your husband's income!!! And, as in 2024, Mamdani continued to make some cash from his long-ago career as the rapper Mr. Cardamom, netting a cool $1,643 in royalties, per the New York Times. (He's not the only mayor to generate some income from a side pursuit: In 2022, his predecessor Eric Adams somehow sold enough copies of his cookbook, "Healthy at Last," to report more than $7,000 in royalties.) As for Governor Hochul, she also filed a joint return with her husband, Bill, and in 2025, they reported a whopping combined income of $1.86 million—largely thanks to Bill, whose job as a white-collar attorney at Davis Polk netted him a cool $1.3 million last year. Politico described the return as "boring" (of course the Hochuls would make a $2,000 donation to a local animal shelter), but did point out that Bill Hochul "identified himself as a full-time New York City resident for the second year in a row, paying $66,000 in City income taxes"—meaning he would likely be one of the New York City millionaires whose taxes would rise (a relatively miniscule additional amount) if the governor signed off, which seems extremely unlikely at this point, on Mayor Mamdani's plan to tax the rich. There's one notable omission in this tax return transparency spree—City Council Speaker Julie Menin refused to release her own 2025 tax return. "There is no established precedent for New York City Council speakers releasing their personal tax returns," Menin's spokesperson Henry Robins said in a statement, adding, "Like all City elected officials, the speaker complies with robust financial disclosure requirements that provide transparency into income, assets, and potential conflicts." But as many other outlets pointed out, previous speakers, including Corey Johnson and Melissa Mark-Viverito, did share their tax filings with the public. There's an obvious reason why Menin might be leery of showing her return—it would reveal, in more detail than her public financial disclosures, the scope of the wealth of the speaker and her husband Bruce Menin, the cofounder of a Miami-based real estate development firm. As the Lever recently reported, they are rich rich: The Lever's Luke Goldstein reports that Julie Menin and her husband hold a vast personal fortune, potentially worth tens of millions of dollars, including a $22 million Hamptons mansion, several luxury condos on the Upper East Side listed as their residence, and company private jets—none of which appear on her financial disclosure. Thanks to a loophole for spouses, Menin reported less than $500,000 in assets and other income. It's all making a little more sense. submitted by /u/HellGateNYC [link] [comments]