Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is set to outline a plan to offer tax relief to restaurants and other small businesses during an appearance in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Blakeman was expected to outline the plan during a visit to Diner 24 in Gramercy Park, pledging that if elected he would extend the Excelsior Jobs program to offer tax credits to Main Street businesses, not just Big Tech and major corporations that expand or relocate to the Empire State.
“If you look at the menu today, you’ll see the ‘Hochul Special’: it comes with the highest taxes in the nation, a side of soaring utility bills, a sprinkle of congestion tolls, and a heavy serving of regulatory nonsense,” Blakeman said.
“While the governor obsesses over whether your takeout bag has too many napkins or if your pizza oven is too old, she’s completely ignored the fact that her taxes are making it impossible to keep the lights on. At the same time, she’s rolling out the red carpet and billion-dollar tax breaks for Silicon Valley elites, while she rolls the pockets of Main Street.”
The best thing Albany can do for mall business is “lower taxes and get out of the way,” added Blakeman, who is currently Nassau County executive.
Blakeman also said he would end congestion pricing, which charges drivers a fee to enter Midtown Manhattan while also providing more small business security grants and lower heat and energy costs.
“The people at Diner 24 don’t need more ‘inspections’—they need a tax cut,” Blakeman said. “Kathy Hochul wants to keep raising the bill; I’m here to pick up the tab for the taxpayers. We’re sending the ‘Hochul Hikes’ back to the kitchen and bringing back an economy that actually works for Main Street.”
Under the Excelsior program, businesses claim the tax credits over a period of up to 10 years. The benefits include a credit of up to 6.85% of wages per net new job.
An eligible semiconductor supply chain project is eligible for a credit of up to 7% of wages per net new job.
Meanwhile, a qualified green or clean energy project can get a credit for 7.5% of wages per net new job.
Testimony by the Citizens Budget Commission in 2024 found the Excelsior Jobs program is “generally well-designed and well-targeted” with “incentives that reward actual performance in key sectors.”
But Sean Campion, the CBC’s director of housing and economic development studies, said further analysis is warranted to determine whether the jobs would have been created without the tax breaks.
