A New York judge on Monday temporarily blocked NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax, which hits New Yorkers who own a valuable second home.
Last month, Mamdani implemented a so-called luxury property tax on second homes valued at $5 million or more. The property tax also affected certain co-ops valued over $1 million.
Mamdani doxxed the homeowners after his Department of Finance published a database listing the names and addresses of the 960,000 properties.
“As per State law, a property roll was released for public inspection. From this list, DOF will identify properties that may be subject to the new non-primary residence property surcharge,” a Mamdani spox previously told Fox News.
Affluent homeowners said the database and doxxing could lead to harassment and violence.
Homeowners filed a lawsuit in New York’s Supreme Court to stop Mamdani’s property tax
The lawsuit argues that New York City bungled the execution of the new tax by “arbitrarily and capriciously” forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to prove they do not owe the tax.
On Monday, a Staten Island Supreme Court Judge temporarily blocked Mamdani’s property tax as the lawsuit makes it way through the legal system.
The next hearing is set for August 31.
The New York Post reported:
Big Apple homeowners fighting the controversial pied-à-terre tax notched an early victory Monday, when a judge stunningly blocked Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tortured rollout of the new levy.
Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzi issued the temporary restraining order, effectively putting the luxury second-home tax on ice until at least an Aug. 31 court hearing about the peeved property owners’ lawsuit.
The judge barred the city from taking any further action on the 17,000 notices sent by the Department of Finance to homeowners, which declared they could face a five-figure tax bill unless they requested an exemption.
Mamdani quickly promised to fight the ruling, and attempt to get the restraining order lifted and his socialist “tax the rich” policy rolling again.
“We disagree with today’s ruling, but we are confident in both the pied-à-terre surcharge and the City’s ability to implement it fairly and effectively,” said Matt Rauschenbach, a spokesman for the mayor.
“This surcharge asks those who own second homes valued at $5 million or more to contribute their fair share to the city they benefit from,” Rauschenbach said, claiming “The Law Department will appeal the ruling immediately which will stay the order, and the City will continue with the pied-a-terre’s implementation.”
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