For more than 30 years, New York City charged a reasonable, minuscule income tax — 0.45 % — on approximately 800,000 suburban workers who make daily use of our city's
roads, subways, police and other services.Over the strenuous objections of then - mayor Rudy Giuliani, Silver strong - armed his own Democratic members and ended up making an alliance with Republican members to
kill the tax — not for any rational reason, but simply to boost the political prospects of an obscure suburban Democrat who was trying to win a Senate seat in a special
election.