(The Center Square) – The Mamdani administration has once again extended a deadline to comply with New York City’s controversial new tax on second homes as a legal challenge over it plays out in court.
In a new filing in state Supreme Court, New York City’s Law Department said the administration has established residency for 1,210 property owners who were originally notified they could be subject to the new tax on second homes valued at more than $5 million. The city has approved appeals from 2,892 property owners, while another 2,652 appeals are under review.
The city is sending out a new round of notices to 10,800 property owners based on data from the previous tax year, according to the court documents, and has extended a deadline to submit proof of residency, to Oct. 6. The city had already extended the deadline once I amid confusion over the rollout.
In the court filing, lawyers for the city defended a decision to require homeowners to prove residency, and that while property owners may find the verification process burdensome, that “does not make it illegal.”
The new details come as the city fights in court to defend the new tax, which is a key plank Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “tax the rich” campaign, following a lawsuit by property owners who claimed they were unfairly targeted by the city. The levy calls for charging eligible property owners a 4% surcharge on one- to three-family second homes valued over $5 million and on co-ops and condos valued at $1 million.
The plaintiffs claim the city’s decision to release a list of nearly 1 million properties that might be subject to the new pied-à-terre tax set off a “panic” among homeowners. About 17,000 property owners may ultimately be subject to the tax, officials have said.
Earlier this month, a state Supreme Court judge temporarily blocked the new policy, but the pause was short-lived when the judge lifted the order after the city appealed. Oral arguments in the lawsuit are expected to be heard by a judge next Monday in a Manhattan courtroom.
The Mamdani administration estimates the tax will drum up more than $500 million a year for the city to help plug gaps in the budget and fund the mayor’s far-left agenda.
But Randy Mastro, an attorney representing the property owners, called the city’s filing “an admission of a massive screw-up” in a statement and accused the Mamdani administration of forcing thousands of homeowners “to prove they live in their own homes” rather than determining if they were eligible before sending out the notice.
President Donald Trump has called the new tax a “dangerous political experiment” and said recently he is looking into ways the federal government can block it.
