Cuomo’s Pre-K Plans Set Up Tax Conflict With de Blasio
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| Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo delivered his budget address on Tuesday in Albany. Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times |
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled abudget plan containing a glittering prize for Mayor Bill de Blasio: money for the prekindergarten classes that he had made a centerpiece of his insurgent bid for mayor.
Mr. de Blasio sent back a calm, but firm message: Not good enough.
It was the latest twist in a battle that has captivated New York politics, with consequences that could reach far beyond the issue of childhood education, and a clear signal that the tension between the state’s two most powerful Democrats is not likely to abate any time soon.
Mr. Cuomo, a centrist accustomed to governing by the art of the possible, is confronting a new challenge in the form of Mr. de Blasio, a staunch liberal who has channeled the impatience of a national left fed up with leaders who trade ideology for compromise.
The mayor electrified liberals with his campaign promise to provide prekindergarten classes in New York City by raising taxes on wealthy