BREAKING: Mamdani wins appeal to impose NYC 2nd home tax

The four-judge panel unanimously dismissed a lawsuit brought forth by homeowners, saying that they had lacked legal standing. The judges overturned one issued by a Staten Island judge in September, who ordered that the city redo its rollout of the tax.

The pied-à-terre tax applies to second homes valued at $5 million or more, and condos and co-ops valued at $1 million or more. In July, the city’s Department of Finance sent initial determination notices to approximately 17,000 property owners. The tax is still facing separate legal challenges.

Mamdani said of the ruling, “From day one, those with the most have attempted to use every legal avenue available to shield their wealth and avoid contributing more to our city,” per Fox News.

Randy Mastro, who has been representing the homeowners, said, “It’s a shame that, after the City admittedly botched the rollout of this surcharge, the court today took the procedural offramp of standing to avoid addressing the merits of this case. What the City has done here is unconscionable — trying to ensnare thousands of people who don’t owe this surcharge into having to prove they live in their own homes or else have to pay it. But now, this lawless and chaotic data collection scheme will go unremedied.”

Homeowners who sued argued that the Department of Finance improperly had identified their properties as subject to the tax, despite the homes being their primary residences. New York State Supreme Court Judge Wayne Ozzi had written in his ruling siding with the homeowners, “Homeowners are being substantially harmed and penalized needlessly by D.O.F.'s method of implementing the tax law.”