<p>A Staten Island judge blocked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s effort to implement a new tax on high-end second homes, instructing the city to restart the process.</p>
<p>Justice Wayne Ozzi of the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of homeowners who sued the city regarding the pied-à-terre tax scheme, which imposes an annual surcharge on homes valued above $5 million when there is no primary New York City resident present. The lawsuit did not claim that the city acted unlawfully but raised concerns about the method used to determine tax liability.</p>
<p>“Homeowners are being substantially harmed and penalized needlessly” by the city’s “method of implementing the tax law,” Ozzi stated in his ruling.</p>
<p>The city’s practice of publishing an online list of nearly 1 million “properties that may be subject to the charge,” which included the owners’ names, was specifically criticized. Additionally, the city sent notices to around 17,000 New Yorkers, warning them that their properties could be subject to the tax without verifying their residency status.</p>
<p>Ozzi ordered New York City to remove the list and replace it with a more limited one showing only properties that are subject to the tax. The notices must be canceled and replaced with detailed explanations about how tax liability is determined, and the number of properties listed must be reduced.</p>
<p>The ruling was welcomed by lawyer Randy Mastro, a former city official representing the homeowners. He stated, “City Hall botched this rollout and should have just admitted the errors and fixed its own mistake, instead of wasting time and taxpayer dollars by fighting it in court,” according to the New York Times.</p>
<p>The proposed pied-à-terre tax led to a public disagreement between Mamdani and former President Donald Trump, who criticized the measure. In an April post on Truth Social, Trump stated that Mamdani was harming the city.</p>
<p>“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York!” Trump wrote. “It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK.”</p>