Queens lawmakers and advocates rally for pied-à-terre tax as appellate court hears case

Advocates and lawmakers rallied outside court on Wednesday in favor of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax as the city appeals a recent court decision delaying the tax’s implementation. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

The city brought its case in favor of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tax on wealthy New Yorkers’ second homes back to court on Wednesday as it appealed a Staten Island judge’s decision to require officials to restart the controversial tax’s rollout.

The city is seeking a stay in the case, which would allow the current implementation of the pied-à-terre tax to continue this year as planned.

Advocates and Queens officials who rallied outside the Appellate Division, Second Department's courthouse ahead of Wednesday’s hearing called the pushback against the tax, which mainly concerns how it was rolled out, a “temper tantrum.”

“I think it's just interesting to hear complaints about having to prove that you live in a residency when so many working New Yorkers are so deeply familiar with having to prove how much money you make, whether you're still employed in order to receive the most basic food and health benefits,” Queens Assemblymember Diana Moreno said. “I personally think that's not really an issue. I think that this is a way for wealthy corporate New Yorkers to just try to get away with not paying tax.”

Outside the appellate court in Brooklyn, advocates argued in favor of the tax – which Mamdani proposed earlier this year with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul – and further actions to “tax the rich.”

“We have tens of thousands of people moving through our shelter system, while we have a public transit system that is crumbling, while we have public schools that are crumbling that need renovation so that children have healthy and safe places to learn, and the 500 million dollars that we would raise from this tax is not even close to the total amount that we need to fund the services that working class New Yorkers need,” Samantha Kattan, the Democratic nominee for the 37th Assembly District in Queens, said.

The tax introduces a surcharge on second homes in the city valued at $5 million or higher that the owner does not live in full time.

In September, Staten Island Judge Wayne Ozzi ordered the city to start over on the implementation of the tax, because the rollout “needlessly” harmed New Yorkers.

The city publicly released a list of all the homes it claimed would be included under the tax, and also sent letters to homeowners across the city who weren’t actually required to pay the tax. Ozzi’s ruling ordered the city to toss out the list, and void the letters it had already sent.

After the court appearance, Randy Mastro, Eric Adams’ former first deputy mayor and the attorney for a group of New Yorkers opposing the tax, said he hopes the appellate court upholds the lower court's ruling.

“I think Justice Ozzi got it completely right,” he told reporters. “The mailed notices were a travesty and complete violation of the state authorizing statute. We also believe that the supplemental rule was posted in violation of the state authorizing statute. Immediate concern is for those thousands of New Yorkers who still face the jeopardy of the nasty brand from the city that they owe the tax unless they prove they don't.”

“Hopefully the city will get it right in the future,” he added.