Fox News anchor Sandra Smith criticized New York City for driving earners out during a Friday segment of “Outnumbered.”
Smith noted that while many businesses, primarily restaurants, remained shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, taxes were still rising on top earners. Coupled with dramatic spikes in crime rates, she said many who could afford to leave the city might do so. (RELATED: Tourist On Vacation In New York City Hit By Stray Bullet Near Times Square)
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“For anybody who has been in New York City during the pandemic up ’til now, it is, I mean, we sound like a broken record talking about it but businesses are boarded up restaurants are closed, crime is spiking. You do not feel safe walking even a block in this city right now,” Smith said.
She went on to note that even as she left a Manhattan vaccination site just a few days earlier, she had walked by a man urinating on a police car just a few blocks away.
“There is a lack of respect, morale is down, it is brutal here,” Smith continued. “And guess what they are doing? Raising taxes on the wealthy, the earners, the employers in this city, further driving was people away. It is going to be impossible for businesses, corporations who were based here, who want to potentially return here, to attract and retain top talent.”
Smith argued that oppressive tax rates, in addition to the spikes in crime, would drive people out of the city or keep them from returning. Someone making over $1 million would face a combined tax rate of over 52%, she explained.
“That means you will be giving more to local, state, and federal government of your paycheck than will actually be taking home,” she said. “I don’t know how you can do that to this city in this moment!”