Politics on the Hudson

Mayor Mike Bloomberg may not be backing Rob Astorino, but former Gov. George Pataki is.

The two Republicans toured downtown Peekskill today on what they called a small business tour, assessing the challenges of mom-and-pop shop owners in the city where Pataki was once mayor.

They met at the Governor George E. Pataki Leadership and Learning Center on Division Street.

“I am grateful to Gov. Pataki for his support of my efforts to lower the tax burden in Westchester County,” Astorino said.  “Everyone feels the Spano taxes — senior citizens, young parents, aspiring homeowners, and single people and families who pay the taxes in their monthly rents.  Small business owners, who hire the vast majority of Americans, are getting especially pinched in Westchester, and that’s costing this county countless jobs.”