Posted on 09/02/2026 7:56:40 AM PDT by Libloather
Manhattan’s wealthiest residents just found a new way to dodge Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax: Don’t buy at all.
The city’s luxury rental market is shattering records as wealthy New Yorkers who could easily afford $20 million or $50 million trophy homes are choosing to rent instead, brokers say, a trend accelerating since the new tax on high-value second homes took effect.
Manhattan median rents hit $5,295 a month in July, a record high, up 6% compared with last July and unchanged from June’s plateau, according to a Corcoran Group report obtained by The Post, with the average rent citywide up 10% year-over-year to $6,555.
But the real action is at the top.
The average price for luxury rentals, the top 10% of the market, soared 35% over the past year to $17,464 a month, or roughly $121 per square foot.
The number of apartments renting for more than $50,000 a month has more than doubled compared with 2025. Units renting for more than $100,000 a month are up sevenfold.
“The $100,000-a-month number is almost normal now,” Laura Klein of Bespoke Real Estate, who recently brokered a Chelsea penthouse rental for $177,000 a month, told CNBC. “These are renters who want turnkey, unique, trophy properties.”
Two recent examples — a four-bedroom, five-bathroom penthouse in Tribeca at 161 Hudson St. just hit the market for a whopping $99,000 per month, listed with the Deborah Grubman Team at Corcoran. And a duplex penthouse with sweeping views overlooking Central Park at 988 Fifth Ave. listed for $95,000 per month, listed with Noble Black of Corcoran.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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When you try to soak the rich, the rich always figure out workarounds. The only way you can really soak the rich is to confiscate everything they have, and then either put them in a re-education camp, or kill them. The problem is that you can only do that once, and then not only are you poor, but everyone is poor, and life becomes like China during the cultural revolution, or Ukraine during the Holodomor, or Zimbabwe when it decided it didn’t like being Rhodesia.
Just pass on the cost
I wish I could afford a $100K per month apartment. I would never spend that much but the ability to do so would be nice.
How is that avoiding the tax?
Renters pay the tax. They may pay the tax to the landlord but they still pay the tax.
The outsized rise in rents is precisely related to renters seeking out luxury rental properties and those landlords taking advantage of the increased demand.
Rent by the hour?
Yeah, for truckers!.....😉
“How is that avoiding the tax?”
Exactly.
Is this just a matter of supply and demand?
I’m not familiar with New York City real estate. But i’ve heard that in the other boroughs of NYC, rentals are a lot more reasonable.
It sounds like you pay a premium price to be in trendy Manhattan neighborhoods. The same thing happens in upscale areas of every city.
the flip side of not buying but renting would be for the owners who normally don’t stay but a few days in their rich “second home” digs is to rent them out at other times, thus the digs become rentals, not second homes ... most high end vacation homes elsewhere [like beach houses] are rented out like that anyway when not in use by the owners ...
So they can rent a nice place for $60K per year, and not pay any property taxes. And if they want to leave, no selling hassles.
Kathy and Abdul will try to nail them another way.
“How is that avoiding the tax?”
the pied-à-terre tax is a surcharge on top of regular property taxes for so-called “secondary” residents, and the surcharge would not apply to rentals ...
A korporation they control buys the property. No pied-a-terre tax since they don't own the property. They then pay rent to the korporation.
I am originally from New York
I just can’t imagine coming down from my $100K/month rental onto a street where some guy’s illegal halal food truck is blowing smoke into my building lobby, the streets are flooded when it rains, and there’s a homeless guy on the curb who smells like shit and is screaming at passers-by
I don’t care if its even the upper West Side - its simply not worth it.....
Its truly a tale of two cities. Would be interesting to do a study on the few children that are being born to Manhattan’s elites and how they grow up.
For now. They’ll surcharge the renters
furthermore, the dwelling becomes an asset to the corporation and all expenses can be written off if the dwelling is also used to temporarily house visiting execs, customers, clients, and or consultants ...
It speaks to the economic resilience of New York even under Mamdani.
$100,000 per month???????
Own nothing.
Control everything.
How the rich stay rich.
“ $100,000 per month???????”
We are talking about 3000+ sq foot apartments overlooking Central Park. Apartments that sell for 20-30 million dollars. If they have it online, look at Trump’s NYC apartment.
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