"To terrorize homeowners": The storm surrounding Mamdani's real estate tax
The Court of Appeals temporarily lifted the freeze on the "secondary apartment tax," allowing New York to continue taxing luxury properties. President Donald Trump called to stop the move immediately: "We must prevent this disaster."
The real estate drama in New York is escalating: The Court of Appeals in Brooklyn granted a temporary victory to the New York City municipality and Mayor Zohran Mamdani by temporarily lifting the injunction issued by a lower court. The decision allows the municipality to continue tax collection procedures on luxury properties that are not used as permanent residences ("secondary apartment tax").
The law, enacted in the spring, imposes a tax on residential homes valued at over $5 million and on condo apartments valued at over $1 million. However, the legal battle is focused on the chaos created in the implementation of the move: the municipality published a list of about 900,000 property owners and sent 17,000 warning notices to residents without individual verification. Attorney Randy Mastro, representing the suing residents, attacked the municipality for its attempts to continue the taxation and called it an "astonishing display of audacity."
According to a CNBC report, Mamdani's move, intended to close the municipal budget deficit, ignited a political storm that reached President Donald Trump. In a sharp post on the Truth Social network, Trump called to stop the tax immediately:
"The tax on secondary homes must be stopped, now! I am examining whether the federal government has the legal right to prevent this disaster before it is too late."
The court's decision gives Mayor Mamdani breathing room and allows him to promote the luxury tax, but the legal battle is far from over. While the municipality seeks urgent revenues, the harsh criticism of the law's implementation and the political pressure from Washington ensure that the storm surrounding luxury properties will continue.
