Columbia University, the New York Times recently reported, is now the largest private landowner in New York City, with over 320 properties whose total value is close to $4 billion. The private New York University (NYU) is also among the top-ten biggest private landlords in the city. Yet thanks to a nearly two-hundred-year-old provision in the New York State constitution, both universities pay basically nothing in property taxes. As a result, Columbia saves about $182 million in taxes annually, while NYU saved $145 million this year.

Socialist New York State Assembly member Zohran K. Mamdani is hoping to change this with two pieces of legislation he introduced earlier this month. The bills would remove the property tax exemption for private universities that had more than $100 million written off their taxes in the prior fiscal year — effectively repealing Columbia and NYU’s tax-exempt status while leaving smaller universities alone. The new tax revenue would go to fund the City University of New York (CUNY), New York City’s flagship public college system, which has long struggled thanks to underfunding.

State senator John Liu has introduced companion legislation in the New York State Senate; the bills are supported by Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union representing faculty and staff in the CUNY system. Last week, Jacobin contributor Sara Wexler sat down with Mamdani to discuss the legislation and the need to fully fund New York’s public colleges and universities.