Gov. Cuomo Challenger Rob Astorino Vows To Cut Taxes

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino presented his economic plan before a business improvement non profit in New York City on Wednesday, promising to cut taxes — a move he hopes will also help him slash Gov. Andrew Cuomo's large lead in pre-election polls.

In a wide-ranging speech before the Association for a Better New York, Astorino put himself firmly in the Republican mainstream. He vowed to reduce income taxes and corporate taxes, eliminate the estate tax by 2020, and keep the property tax at the cap that Cuomo and the state legislature set in 2011. Astorino said he would pay for the cuts by holding the line on spending and would make up for some of the lost revenue from ending business tax credits and gain new tax revenue from hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

Astorino also took a swipe at Mayor Bill de Blasio, telling the group of business, labor, non-profit and political leaders that the progressive Democrat's first city budget boosted spending by seven percent and rewarded unions at taxpayers' expense. "The budget also contained gimmicks to help it pretend to be balanced, when in fact, it borrowed billions to pay for retroactive pay increases to reward his union backers," Astorino said.

The mayor's office disputed Astorino's numbers. A spokeswoman said three ratings agencies have praised the mayor's plan.

Gearing up for his reelection run, a spokesman for Cuomo said Astorino's record in Westchester, where he's the county executive, doesn't match his rhetoric. 

With reports from the Associated Press.