Gov. Cuomo has more in common with Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota when it comes to taxes and schools than he does with the candidate he endorsed, Democrat Bill de Blasio.
De Blasio has proposed boosting taxes on those making more than $500,000 to finance universal pre-K and after-school programs.
By comparison, Cuomo campaigned for governor pledging to rein in skyrocketing property taxes. And he approved a law imposing a property tax cap in 2011.
Lhota, like Cuomo, opposes tax increases.
“There are tricky policy issues that the governor and de Blasio are going to have to navigate to have a good working relationship,” said Democratic consultant Basil Smikle. “It’s fair to say that the governor is closer to Lhota than de Blasio on taxes.”
The Cuomo camp down-played the policy difference with de Blasio.
“No mayor or governor in recent memory will have as close a personal relationship as Gov. Cuomo and Bill de Blasio,” a source close to the governor said.
But Smikle said Cuomo also is philosophically closer to Lhota than de Blasio on education issues, particularly on charter schools. For his part, de Blasio has proposed a moratorium on charters, which are publicly funded but privately run, and even supports charging them rentt.
“That would eviscerate the charter school movement,” said Smikle.
Mayor Bloomberg provides the charters co-located in public schools with free space. De Blasio also said he supports a moratorium on closing low-performing schools, arguing that more should be done to address their needs before the doors are shut.
In Buffalo last month, Cuomo said failing public schools should get the “death penalty.” Lhota supports the policy of closing low-performing schools.
The de Blasio campaign dismissed the comparison.
“You missed [Monday] when the governor endorsed Bill,” a campaign spokesman said.