Add The New York Post on Google Mayor Zohran Mamdani stubbornly insisted the Big Apple will still collect $500 million through the new pied-à-terre tax — despite his own officials slashing the number of properties that could be hit with the levy by 4,000.
“We continue to be confident in that assessment of what the annual revenue will look like,” Mamdani told reporters Wednesday.
Hizzoner’s sunny assertion came after the city said Department of Finance officials would send out new notices to 10,800 property owners who needed to prove New York City was their primary residence.
The tally is far below the 17,000 notices DOF initially sent out as the city first rolled out the tax on luxury second homes late last month.
The troubled launch has prompted mass confusion and a high-profile lawsuit — which itself led to court filings Tuesday in which city officials revealed the reduced number of notices and again extended the deadline for recipients to file for exemptions.
The uncertainty over how many properties would actually qualify under the levy raised questions over whether it’ll raise its promised $500 million, said Jared Walczak, a senior fellow with the Tax Foundation.
“When you have a tax base that starts with 17,000 and continues removing properties by the thousands, there is every reason to believe that the estimate is too high and the city based it on incomplete and overreaching assumptions,” he said.
“This is doable — they could do a new estimate with knowledge of homes that come off the rolls. It’s not a hard calculation to make.”
The pied-à-terre surcharge arose as Mamdani pushed Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany lawmakers to pass a slew of “tax the rich” measures.
Hochul largely held firm against soaking the wealthy with new taxes, but worked with the legislature to pass the pied-à-terre as a way to buoy New York City’s shaky finances.
Under the law, the tax applies to one- to three -family homes worth at least $5 million and co-ops and condos valued at $1 million or more that are unoccupied, non-primary residences.
As Hochul pitched the tax during the spring, her office estimated it would apply to roughly 10,000 homes within the city and raise $500 million a year.
But an analysis by City Comptroller Mark Levine in April cast doubt on the rosy revenue estimate.
He instead found the surcharge would likely bring in closer to $340 to $380 million, with roughly 11,000 properties qualifying.
But Hochul and Mamdani stood firm that the levy would raise the promised $500 million a year.
Asked about the revised number of potentially eligible properties, Mamdani said the original batch of 17,000 notices went out before the city had access to 2025’s income tax filings.
“That is something that is typically released in February of the next calendar year,” he said. “The state has now provided us with early access to those filings.”
The smaller batch of new letters went out based on the updated tax information, Mamdani said.
Hochul, meanwhile, has largely tried to stay away from the mess unfolding in New York City, arguing the tax’s rollout is up to Mamdani.
The governor also noted Wednesday she was “not interested” in entertaining a proposal by upstate Dems to allow their municipalities to tax ritzy second homes, too.
“I’m not interested in seeing it rolled out upstate. This was specifically intended to help the City of New York get through a financial crisis” she told reporters after an unrelated event.
— Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden
