Mayor Zohran Mamdani blew off concerns Wednesday from New Yorkers who argue they’re being wrongly targeted by the state’s new pied-à-terre tax — that Hizzoner claimed for months would only hit wealthy out-of-towners.
Questions have been swirling about how exactly the city determined who would be subject to the newly approved tax, though neither Mamdani nor his Department of Finance Commissioner Richard Lee could provide straight answers.
The mayor had repeatedly insisted that only rich owners of secondary homes in New York City would get squeezed by the surcharge, but some full-time residents have cried foul after DOF mailed them a notice that they “may” be on the hook for a five-figure tax bill.
At an unrelated press conference, reporters pressed Mamdani and Lee on whether the DOF should have been more diligent in vetting its mailing list before sending out potentially erroneous notices to longtime locals.
“What I would say is the Department of Finance identified homes that may be subject to the surcharge, as we know this is a surcharge on non-primary residences that are worth more than $5 million,” the mayor said, essentially just reiterating the terms of the new tax.
“As required by the law, the Department of Finance sent informational resources to homeowners to ensure that they understood the tax, that they understood the options before them, and also if they did not believe it to apply to them, that they had the time in order to be able to appeal,” he said.
But New Yorkers who believe they are being wrongly charged now have to go through what some have described as a bureaucratic nightmare to appeal the decision — and prove the DOF wrong — by Aug. 21.
Mamdani did not respond when asked later “why should New Yorkers be tasked with fixing this?”
He instead choose to only address another part of that reporter’s question, about a searchable database the DOF posted of hundreds of thousands of properties, including the addresses and owners’ names, that could be subject to the tax.
Posting the “supplemental tax roll” was required under state law, Mamdani claimed.
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Lee didn’t fare much better in offering an explanation as to how massive tax bills landed in the mailboxes of some everyday New Yorkers.
The tax is meant to apply to one-to-3 family homes worth at least $5 million and co-ops and condominiums valued at $1 million or more — that are unoccupied, non-primary residences, according to the legislation approved by Albany lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul this spring.
“We used existing information that we had, and it could have been that we don’t have updated information on the applications, filings, the exemptions, but we did use all the available information that we had in order to determine the residency status,” Lee said.
When pressed on why New Yorkers should be saddled with the task of fixing the city’s mix-up, Lee confusingly deflected, saying that the department had its hands tied by state law requiring property rolls be released twice a year for public inspection.
Neither Mamdani nor his finance department head could say how many notices had been sent out. But City Hall later said the number was 17,000, more than the 10,000-13,000 non-primary residences that government officials had estimated would be subject to the surcharge.
As the young mayor faces a brewing firestorm, sources said Hochul — who pushed the surcharge while facing pressure from Mamdani and his Democratic Socialists of America allies to “tax the rich” — seemed to be wiping her hands clean.
“The city determined how they would collect the tax. The system for identifying people and collecting the tax was not part of the legislation. It’s caused confusion,” a state official said.
An Albany insider said the state gave the authority to Mamdani to impose the tax and City Hall took it from there.
“Mamdani’s people said, ‘We have the manpower.’ They really own this one.”
A source told The Post that Lee has gotten an earful from Council Speaker Julie Menin, as well as council members including Lincoln Restler, Phil Wong, Virginia Maloney and Gale Brewer, who received complaints from constituents who were erroneously mailed notices.
Brewer, a longtime Manhattan representative and resident, was named on the DOF’s supplemental tax roll — but told The Post the commissioner assured her she wouldn’t be receiving a bill.
“I told him if I get one of the notifications I’ll throw it in his face,” she said.
Mamdani — who campaigned on government efficiency — was also asked whether anyone should have concerns about the tax being meted out fairly and accurately.
“No. We are committed to ensuring that this is a tax only levied upon those whose second homes are worth more than $5 million,” he stressed.
“And the reason that we wanted to conduct outreach months in advance of when the tax would be levied would be to ensure that the exact balance would be filled.”
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