“At the same time that those at the top are doing so well, 46 percent of New Yorkers -– nearly half our city -– is living at or near the poverty level,” he said.
DeBlasio hosted an April 2 meeting at Gracie Mansion, his official Manhattan residence, that included Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy; former Governor Ted Strickland and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, both of Ohio; and Jonathan Soros, son of the billionaire hedge fund founder and philanthropist George Soros.
New Contract
They emerged pledging to create a new “contract with America” to draw 2016’s presidential candidates to their agenda. The pact would push to tax the rich to pay for job- creating infrastructure improvements and help for families struggling to pay for education and housing, he said.
While Democrats have consensus around social issues, a divide remains on the economy between the “Wall Street wing of the party” and a more populist side, said Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, which endorsed de Blasio early in the mayoral primary.
“Mayor de Blasio has become an important symbol of a national populist agenda,” said vanden Heuvel, who attended the Gracie Mansion gathering. “His mayoralty is being viewed by the country as a test case for progressive responses to what he considers the crisis of our time -- income inequality.”