Photo by Síle Moloney
Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), the keynote speaker at a recent Bronx “Tax the Rich” rally organized by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), brought his usual passion, this time, to Bedford Park’s Lehman College, as he appealed to both Gen X and Boomer legislators alike to help the next generation live an affordable life of dignity.
TAX THE RICH rally with Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V1 Video by Síle Moloney
At the event, held Sunday, March 29, two days before the April 1st deadline to agree the next State budget, the message from Sanders, a former presidential candidate, the progressive wing of the New York Democratic Party, members of NYC-DSA, labor unions, and advocates was clear, and was directed at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York lawmakers: “Tax the Rich” and wealthy corporations to fund the current gap in the City budget.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V4 New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagans addresses the crowd. Video by Síle Moloney
As reported, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had already outlined two paths to closing the current City Budget gap during a press conference held last month – tax the rich or have the middle class foot the bill. Sanders highlighted the importance of raising taxes on the rich, standing up to U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic and political agenda, and decried the disparity of wealth distribution in America. Organizers of the rally said the wealthiest New Yorkers will save $12 billion dollars this year due to Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V5 Video by Síle Moloney
Sanders said the impact of the election of Mamdani was reverberating not just across the country, but all over the world and commended those responsible for their campaign efforts. “You have given America hope,” he said, adding that ordinary people knocking on doors can defeat oligarchs, no matter how much money the oligarchs have.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V6 Video by Síle Moloney
Sanders lamented that Trumpism and authoritarianism were not, in his view, the only issues facing Americans. He warned that “oligarchs like [Elon] Musk and [Jeff] Bezos” were pushing AI and robotics, which, he said, would be disastrous for the working class.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V7 Video by Síle Moloney
The senator, who previously ran unsuccessfully for president despite having huge support, went on to say that one issue which didn’t get enough attention in Congress or in the media was the “enormous level of income and wealth inequality” and said the reason it wasn’t discussed much was because the majority of those elected to serve were bought by powerful special interests, who he said paid for their campaigns. He added that corporate media was also owned by a small number of billionaires.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V8 Video by Síle Moloney
“The American people are catching on, and they know that never before in American history have there been so few people who hold so much wealth and so much power,” he said, adding that it was worse than the The Gilded Age and that campaign contributions were completely out of control.
Photo by Síle Moloney
Sanders questioned whether Americans are still living in a democracy when billionaires like Musk could spend $290 million to elect U.S. President Donald Trump and warned that similar spending would happen ahead of the midterm elections this year.
“Never before have we seen the kind of greed, arrogance, and irresponsibility that we are seeing today in the billionaire class,” the senator said, adding that the oligarchs don’t see themselves as being the same as everyone else but as “elites with a God-given right to rule.”
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V9 Video by Síle Moloney
“They’re pretty open about it,” Sanders added. “Right now, you are living in a country where the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. One man, Mr. Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. That is insane! Today, the CEOs of large, profitable corporations now make 350 times more than their average worker.” He said it used to be 20 times more or 50 times more.
“After receiving the largest tax break in history from Donald Trump’s Ugly / Beautiful Bill, 938 millionaires became $105 trillion richer,” he said. “In New York City, the top 1% earns 44% of all income, which means the bottom 99% share 56% of all income. One out of every four residents in this City is living in poverty.”
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V10 Video by Síle Moloney
H.R. 1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which has been described by Democrats as “The Big Ugly Bill,” was signed into law July 4, 2025, and was a major federal budget package that means significant cuts in 2026 to Medicaid and SNAP programs, while simultaneously providing tax breaks to certain wealthy groups.
Key provisions of the act include 80-hour monthly work requirements for Medicaid recipients (ages 19–64) and permanent tax cuts for certain wealthy groups in line with those first introduced in 2017 under the first Trump administration. Norwood News reported in 2021 on the impact, or lack thereof, on The Bronx of the 2017 tax cuts.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V11 Video by Síle Moloney
Sanders went on to say that the richest people in America never had it so good right now based on one economic reality, but he added that there was another reality. “The working class of America is being decimated and has been under attack for many, many years,” he said. “Over the last many decades, there has been an explosion in technology.”
He went on to say that workers today were more productive than ever, and yet “the average American worker is making about $20/week less today than he or she did 53 years ago after adjusting for inflation.” He said according to one conservative research group, over the last 50 years, $79 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1%.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V12 Video by Síle Moloney
Sanders said he grew up in a working-class Flatbush household in a rent-controlled apartment, both he and his brother went to high quality public schools, and the family were able to survive on his dad’s sole salary.
He said that was not possible today and added that he was certain the economic stress endured by families today is more than what it was when he was growing up. “We should be going forwards, not backwards,” Sanders said. “Bottom line, the American economy today is clearly not working for us,” he said, adding that 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V13 Video by Síle Moloney
The senator said people could not afford the basics of life in the richest country in the history of the world and that America had the highest rate of childhood poverty and senior poverty of almost any major country on earth. “Nearly half of older workers have nothing saved for retirement,” he said. Sanders said the younger generation were on track to have a lower standard of living than their parents. “We will not allow this to happen,” he said.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V14 Video by Síle Moloney
He went on to say that 85 million Americans were underinsured and that half a million Americans every year go bankrupt due to medical debt. He said the U.S. tax code system was “totally rigged” and was written by lobbyists to benefit the wealthy.
Sanders then quoted Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of the company Berkshire Hathaway. He said that in 2006 Buffett said, “There’s class warfare alright, but it is my class, the rich class, that’s making war and we are winning.” The senator said Buffett also admitted that he had a lower tax rate than his secretary, and still today, pays one tenth of 1% in taxes.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V15 Video by Síle Moloney
Sanders went on to say that a few years ago it was estimated that Musk would pay an effective tax rate of less than 3.3% last year in tax, while the average truck driver in America paid 8.4%. Meanwhile, he said Jeff Bezos paid an effective tax rate of less than 1% in tax while the average firefighter paid 8.7%. Sanders said former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who he described as the wealthiest man in New York, paid an effective tax rate of 1.3% while the country’s average registered nurse paid 13.3%.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V16 Video by Síle Moloney
The senator went on to say that after Trump’s latest tax cuts last year, Space X, founded by Musk, Tesla, owned by Musk, Palentir, founded by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Nathan Gettings, and Ticketmaster, founded by Albert Leffler, Peter Gadwa,
Gordon Gunn III, and Jerry Nelson, paid zero in federal income taxes.
Sanders said last year, combined, these companies earned $2.7 trillion, and earned $50 billion in profit. He said it was high time for large corporations to pay their fair share in taxes, adding that Mamdani was fighting for people earning more than $400,000/year to pay more in taxes, and a two-percentage point surcharge on New York City millionaires, which he said was less than 0.7% of total New York City taxpayers. He said that this would generate $300 million annually.
Tax the Rich Rally with Bernie Sanders at Lehman College, Bedford Park, Bronx, Sunday, March 29, 2026. V17 Video by Síle Moloney
“What the mayor is proposing is popular,” Sanders said in part during his remarks after he was greeted at the event by thunderous applause and cheers. “The widely respected pollsters at Siena [a polling company] found that 54% of New York State voters supported Mayor Mamdani’s tax increase, and the numbers were much higher in New York City. Today, I would ask Gov. Hochul to listen to where people are at,” he said.
See attached videos for some of Sanders’ remarks at the rally, or visit our YouTube channel. Click here for more coverage of the rally including reaction, and here to read our latest Inquiring Photographer article where we asked constituents for their take on the proposal.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.