A group of New York City homeowners has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, alleging the city mishandled the rollout of the new pied-à-terre tax on high-end second homes.
Filed on Friday, August 7, in State Supreme Court on ≥States Island, alleging the city “arbitrarily and capriciously” shifted the burden to property owners to prove they should not be subject to the surcharge.
The tax is applicable to those who do not live full-time in homes worth over $5 million or condominium units valued at $1 million or more.
Tax rolls containing around 960,000 homes that “may be subject to the charge” have been issued by the city, while letters are sent to about 17,000 addresses believed to be vacation homes. The court claims that the city did not make an adequate effort to limit the list of possibly affected homes prior to issuing the list, which contained names and addresses of owners.
Full-time homeowners received letters by mistake, causing much confusion. Karen Young, a resident of Manhattan who supported Mamdani’s candidacy, claims that the procedure makes one feel “guilty until you prove yourself innocent.”
The lawsuit doesn’t demand the eradication of the tax itself but demands that the court force the city to remove the data set and restart the process with a more precise list.
This tax, advocated for by Mamdani and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, is intended to raise about $500 million every year in order to bridge the budget gap and fix the housing problem facing the city. The city has been able to extend the exemption application deadline to September 18th and also hire more staff to handle complaints.
2026-08-08 20:36:00
