New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has downplayed concerns from residents who argue they have been wrongly targeted by the city's new pied-à-terre tax. Questions have arisen regarding how the city's Department of Finance (DOF) determined which property owners would be subject to the surcharge, a tax initially described by Mamdani as solely for wealthy out-of-towners with secondary homes.
Some full-time residents have reported receiving notices indicating they might owe a significant tax bill, leading to confusion and frustration. At an unrelated press conference, reporters pressed Mamdani and DOF Commissioner Richard Lee on the vetting process for the mailing list.
Mamdani reiterated that the tax applies to non-primary residences valued above $5 million and stated that the DOF sent informational materials to homeowners. "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.
However, residents who believe they were erroneously included in the tax notices face a bureaucratic process to appeal the decision by August 21. When asked why New Yorkers should be responsible for correcting the city's errors, Mamdani did not directly respond, instead addressing the release of a searchable database of properties potentially subject to the tax, a measure he stated was required by state law.
Commissioner Lee explained that the DOF used existing information to determine residency status, acknowledging that this data might not have been fully updated. "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 stated.
City Hall later confirmed that approximately 17,000 notices were sent out, exceeding earlier government estimates of 10,000 to 13,000 non-primary residences subject to the surcharge. A state official noted that the city determined the method for collecting the tax and identifying recipients, stating, "The system for identifying people and collecting the tax was not part of the legislation. It’s caused confusion."
Sources indicate that the state provided Mamdani's administration with the authority to implement the tax. Council members, including City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Lincoln Restler, Phil Wong, Virginia Maloney, and Gale Brewer, have reportedly heard from constituents who received incorrect notices. Gale Brewer, a Manhattan representative, stated that while her name appeared on the DOF's supplemental tax roll, the commissioner assured her she would not receive a bill.
Mamdani maintained his commitment to fairness, asserting, "No. We are committed to ensuring that this is a tax only levied upon those whose second homes are worth more than $5 million."