A Staten Island judge has temporarily blocked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rollout of a new tax targeting second homes worth more than $5 million, according to multiple reports.
The ruling, issued by state Supreme Court Judge Wayne Ozzi, a Democrat, required the city to remove a public list identifying more than 900,000 homes potentially subject to the tax. It also barred the city from taking any further action based on letters previously sent to roughly 17,000 property owners regarding the pending “pied-à-terre” tax.
Ozzi issued the ruling in response to a lawsuit filed last week by a group of homeowners against Mamdani’s administration. Randy Mastro, who served as first deputy mayor under Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams, is reportedly representing the plaintiffs.
Shortly after the ruling, the city filed court papers Monday evening to appeal, according to The New York Times, a move that blocks Ozzi’s order from taking effect until a higher court reviews the case. The Hill has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.
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Mamdani first proposed the tax in April alongside New York Governor Kathy Hochul, framing it as a way to help close the city’s budget deficit. In May, Mamdani said he had managed to balance the city’s $12 billion budget gap through a combination of state support and cost savings, without raising property taxes.
The proposed tax would function as an annual surcharge on one- to three-family homes, condominiums and co-ops owned by individuals who maintain a separate primary residence elsewhere. While Mamdani and Hochul’s proposal projects the tax would generate $500 million in additional annual revenue, a 2019 analysis conducted by the city’s independent budget office on a similar proposal estimated it would raise closer to $232 million.
Mamdani notified affected property owners of the new tax last month, sending the letters that ultimately became the basis for the plaintiffs’ lawsuit. At the time, he said the city needed long-term solutions to address its fiscal challenges.
“Today is the first step in implementing this tax and collecting critical revenue to fund our parks, schools and libraries,” Mamdani said in a release. “We will diligently implement this law and ensure that we collect what working New Yorkers — and this city — deserve.”
