Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul at the New York State Financial Control Board meeting on Aug. 12, 2026. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul are proving to be the Frick and Frack that can’t shoot straight, as the planning, rollout and mulligans from their pied-à-terre tax continue to baffle victims, along with everyone else.
The latest twist: City Hall is getting set to resend letters to 10,600 property owners it believes are likely subject to the tax; that means its original list was off by a whopping 40%.
Recall that first we were told 13,000 people would be subject to the special tax on non-primary residences worth more than $5 million.
Then the Finance Department released a list of 900,000 properties — with names and addresses attached — that might be subject to the tax.
That list — which included tax-exempt embassies and modestly priced Bronx co-ops — was published a few days before the city mailed notices to 17,000 homeowners, ordering them to pay the tax unless they prove their properties weren’t subject to it.
Huh? Why did City Hall release a catalogue of names 50 times longer than the actual list they were already preparing?
One good guess? Mamdani and his socialist movement loathe private property because it chills the warmth of collectivism, and sought to send a warning shot to property owners: “You’re next.”
The latest news is that 1,200 flagged property owners who got letters are indeed city residents, another 3,000 appeals have been approved, and 2,650 other appeals are in process.
So the city is preparing a do-over, sending just 10,600 letters to the new-and-improved list of alleged owners of non-primary residences.
Hochul has tried to distance herself from this amateur-hour buffoonery, but she shares much of the blame.
After all, she threw in with Mamdani when she endorsed his election, and she renewed their vows when she delivered on his demands for more revenue.
This pied-à-terre-tax nightmare is entirely her doing.
New Yorkers are now stuck between a rock and a hard place with this goofball double act.
The good news: They can do something about half of it, at least, come November.
