Anonymous1 day ago
Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have jointly proposed an annual surcharge on roughly 13,000 second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more, projected to generate $500 million annually for the city's strained budget. The proposal revives a pied-à-terre tax that has been introduced and killed in Albany since 2014, though a changed political coalition, a $7 billion budget gap, and an aligned mayor-governor front give it the best chance of passage in a decade. Real estate industry opposition, thin international evidence that such taxes lower rents, and unresolved legal and enforcement questions all complicate the projected revenue.