Will Gov. Hochul Stand Up for Working-Class New Yorkers? Or Does She Only Care About Billionaires Like Barry Diller?

Advocates rally outside The Carlyle, the luxury hotel where billionaire donor Barry Diller has resided for decades, to demand that Gov. Hochul make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share

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New York, NY –– Advocates from Alliance for Quality Education, Citizen Action of New York, Invest in Our New York, New York Communities for Change, NYC-DSA and Strong Economy for All Coalition held a rally and press conference Thursday outside the luxury-hotel residence of IAC Chairman Barry Diller, one of the many billionaire donors Gov. Kathy Hochul refuses to make pay their fair share. 

Diller, who with his wife, Diane von Furstenberg, has donated more than $100,000 to Gov. Hochul, has lived for three decades at The Carlyle, one of New York City’s most expensive hotels — and recently dropped another $11 million on a penthouse apartment in the building associated with President John F. Kennedy. Imagine spending millions of dollars on an apartment you don’t need and still being worth $5.2 billion. Guess who can’t relate: the 1 million New Yorkers poised to lose their health insurance and 200,000 at risk of losing SNAP benefits due to cruel federal attacks.

Diller has consistently wielded his influence to serve himself and his billionaire buddies. He has been an apologist for Jeff Bezos’s meddling at the Washington Post and defended Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone for capitulating to Donald Trump. He lobbied against the leadership of then FTC Chair Lina Khan, known for blocking corporate consolidation and fighting for consumers, in a potential Kamala Harris administration. And he donated half a million dollars to Fix the City, the pro-Andrew Cuomo super PAC that poured exorbitant amounts of money into opposing Zohran Mamdani’s affordability agenda. What’s more, he has allegedly visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island “many times.”

This is who has Gov. Hochul’s ear as state budget negotiations drag on — despite supermajority support for making the ultra-wealthy pay what they owe in taxes, proposals by the Senate and Assembly to raise taxes on the highest earners and most profitable corporations, and the thousands of New Yorkers set to lose their food and healthcare assistance. Advocates want to know: Gov. Hochul, which side are you on? Are you listening to working-class New Yorkers, or to billionaire donors like Barry Diller?

“The governor’s continued refusal to tax her ultra-wealthy donors ensures that people like Barry Diller, who is worth $5.2 billion and lives at one of the most extravagant hotels in New York, will never have to pay their fair share,” said Brahvan Ranga, campaign manager for Invest in Our New York. “We’re here to demand that she listen instead to working-class New Yorkers — who rely on underfunded public services and overwhelmingly support making the very rich pay what they owe — instead of the donor class. It’s not too late to make the right decision, Gov. Hochul.” 

“Gov. Hochul calls herself the state’s first mom and grandmother governor and says our families are her fight — but that rings hollow as childcare workers, largely women of color and immigrants, are being pushed to shutter their doors because she refuses to invest in the workforce that holds this system together. We have heard her turn away from our calls to tax the rich again and again, even as New Yorkers across the state demand that the ultra-wealthy, like her billionaire donor Barry Diller, pay their fair share. She keeps claiming the rich will leave, but the reality simply does not match up,” said Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, Co-Executive Director of Alliance for Quality Education. “Gov. Hochul, you could clear CCAP waiting lists and make sure essential early educators are paid thriving wages they can live on, but instead you continue to side with your Epstein billionaires over the people you were elected to serve.”

“Kathy: Don’t be greedy, don’t be self-serving, don’t be the billionaires’ champion. Stop siding with your Epstein list donors and side with the people,” said Cleo Acevedo, NYC Organizer at Citizen Action of New York. “You have the opportunity to set a trend and be at the forefront of something great — don’t miss the opportunity by letting your greed get to you first.”

“In our era of extreme inequality and widespread suffering, there’s one simple solution for many of our problems: New York leaders must tax the rich and redistribute the wealth,” said Michael Kink, Executive Director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition. “Barry Diller is a happy, successful New York billionaire who just bought an $11 million penthouse on a whim. He made $3.8 million last year, his corporation took in $3.5 billion in revenue, and they both got a huge tax cut from Trump and the Republicans — dude can afford to pay more in taxes.”

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