In Cambria Heights and across Southeast Queens, Black homeowners gathered in what they described as an emergency response to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to raise property taxes by 9.5% to close a $5.4 billion budget gap.
These were not luxury developers or corporate landlords. These were long-time homeowners — many on fixed incomes — who built their lives in neighborhoods that for decades represented one of the strongest concentrations of Black homeownership in New York City.
According to ABC7 New York (WABC), homeowner Vivian Campbell stood in front of his two-story Cambria Heights home — a house he bought after graduating college in the 1990s — and made it clear how personal this issue is.
“I don’t plan to move. It’s my home. I’m not leaving,” Campbell said.
That house, he explained, is his American dream. A starter home that became his forever home. Recently retired and living on a fixed income, Campbell invested nearly $35,000 into a new roof and front porch. Now, with the mayor proposing a property tax increase, he says he feels misled.
“He lied. Not feel. It’s obvious,” Campbell told ABC7.
Other homeowners echoed the frustration.
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani, you are out your goddamn mind?” said homeowner James Johnson.
Pierry Benjamin added, “To the mayor, with the greatest respect, and every campaign speech and every debate where you engaged, we opened our ears to listen. Now today, accept the words echoing from us now, do your job as mayor and leave our taxes out.”
This is not abstract political debate. This is a community responding to a direct financial threat.
To close the city’s budget gap, the mayor says he has two options: persuade Governor Kathy Hochul to raise taxes on the wealthy — something she has refused — or raise property taxes.
“Faced with no other choice, the city would have to exercise the only revenue lever fully within our own control. We would have to raise property taxes,” Mamdani said, according to ABC7.
But in Southeast Queens, homeowners see something different. They see themselves being used as leverage in a larger political fight.
“You are giving only two options,” Johnson said. “You’re saying if we don’t tax the rich then I gotta increase property taxes. We are not a pawn in Southeast Queens. We are not part of your negotiation tactics.”
That statement captures the heart of the issue.
Cambria Heights is not Manhattan high-rise luxury. It is single-family homes owned largely by Black middle-class families — teachers, city workers, small business owners, retirees. Many bought decades ago when the city was struggling and stayed when others left.
These homeowners maintained their properties. They paid rising insurance premiums. They absorbed increasing utility costs. They invested in roofs, porches, plumbing, and upkeep that stabilized their neighborhoods.
Now they are being told that a nearly 10% property tax increase may be necessary.
For retirees on fixed income, even modest increases matter. Property taxes are not optional. They are not adjustable. They are a fixed cost tied directly to whether someone can afford to remain in their home.
The mayor’s office frames this as a difficult choice forced by budget realities. But in Southeast Queens, homeowners are asking a simpler question: Why does closing the gap land here?
The City Council would have to approve any increase, and Council Speaker Julie Menin has already said the proposal “should not be on the table whatsoever,” according to ABC7. Meanwhile, Governor Hochul has shown no indication she will reverse her position.
But while City Hall and Albany negotiate, Black homeowners in Queens are left wondering whether the stability they built over 30 years is now negotiable.
The people who showed up in Cambria Heights were not activists. They were homeowners protecting what they worked for.
And their message was clear:
Do not balance the budget on our backs.
Give the tax hike to Hispanics, Asians, or the privileged white folk.