Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Sunday defended his proposal to raise property taxes on "richer and whiter neighborhoods" as part of a broader effort to shore up the city’s shrinking tax base — and insisted that billionaires should not exist, the New York Post reported.

Mamdani said his plan to hike property taxes on affluent, predominantly white areas is not about skin color; "that is just a description of what we see right now. It’s not driven by race. It’s more of an assessment of what neighborhoods are being undertaxed versus overtaxed," Mamdani told NBC News’ "Meet the Press."

He argued that New York’s eroding tax base — as residents flee to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut amid rising living costs — demands bold action.

"We are talking about our tax base growing smaller and smaller each day, with New Yorkers leaving to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania, to Connecticut," he said. "If we do not meet this moment, we will lose the city."

Although he lacks unilateral authority to implement the sweeping tax increases without state approval, Mamdani asserted that he can take measures regarded as "a nonstarter and make it seem inevitable."

He also declared, "I don’t think that we should have billionaires, frankly."

New York City is home to more billionaires than any city in the world, with 123.

Billionaire supermarket owner John Catsimatidis, who has threatened to sell his Gristedes chain if Mamdani wins, told the Post, "Zohran is trying to be the Fidel Castro of New York."

Reflecting on his 1990 visit to Cuba, Catsimatidis warned, "If Zohran is elected mayor, he'll make New York City the next Detroit."

Mamdani responded that he does not explicitly need Catsimatidis’s support and that he has "a vision for every single New Yorker, including business leaders across the city." He noted that even proposed corporate tax hikes — to match New Jersey’s top rate — could benefit companies struggling to attract and retain talent amid high costs.

Mamdani also twice declined to denounce the phrase "Globalize the intifada," which critics say calls for violence against Jews.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose Brooklyn district overlaps parts of the city, told ABC’s "This Week" that the slogan is "clearly inflammatory language."

"Globalizing the intifada, by way of example, is not an acceptable phrasing. He's gonna have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward," Jeffries said.

Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic nominee, faces a crowded November ballot that includes incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an independent, plus another independent, Jim Walden.

Mamdani dismissed Adams' record as a "referendum" on unaffordability, charging that past leaders "have actually exacerbated" the cost-of-living crisis and vowing to make New York "affordable for every New Yorker."

President Donald Trump also weighed in, labeling Mamdani a "pure communist" and warning on Fox News that federal funding for the city could be at risk if the socialist prevails. "He’s a communist. I think it’s very bad for New York," Trump said on "Sunday Morning Futures."

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