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Judge Orders New York to Scrap Rollout of Second-Home Tax and Start Over
The New York Times ^ | Sept. 29, 2026 Updated 6:01 p.m. ET | Mihir Zaveri

Posted on 09/29/2026 3:35:42 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

A Staten Island judge sided with a group of homeowners who had sued the city over its introduction of the tax, dealing a blow to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

A Staten Island judge on Tuesday dealt a major setback to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to raise taxes on the wealthy, saying that the city had mishandled the rollout of a tax on high-end second homes and must start over.

The judge, Wayne M. Ozzi of State Supreme Court on Staten Island, sided with a group of homeowners who had sued the city. The homeowners had argued that the Mamdani administration’s Department of Finance did not try hard enough to determine who should owe the tax before moving toward collecting it.

“Homeowners are being substantially harmed and penalized needlessly by D.O.F.’s method of implementing the tax law,” Justice Ozzi wrote.

The lawsuit did not challenge the legality of the tax on second homes, also known as pieds-à-terre. Unveiled by Gov. Kathy Hochul in the spring and backed by the mayor, the tax was popular among voters and hailed by Mr. Mamdani’s supporters as a way to make good on his pledge to “tax the rich.” It was expected to close a budget gap by raising some $500 million annually to fund city services.

But the bumpy rollout of the policy on a short timeline drew immediate criticism from the mayor’s opponents, and some allies, including Ms. Hochul.

“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,” said Randy Mastro, a lawyer for the homeowners and a former city official who has criticized the...


(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


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1 posted on 09/29/2026 3:35:42 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Very unusual for a court to impede anything that’s moving left.


2 posted on 09/29/2026 3:38:30 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

but Mad-Dani has already spent that money ,LOL


3 posted on 09/29/2026 3:40:26 PM PDT by butlerweave (Fateh)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Wayne M. Ozzi

Any relation?


4 posted on 09/29/2026 3:41:02 PM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Typical judge crap.

Not disagreeing with the tax. Just the implementation.

Sounds like SCOTUS on mail-in ballots.


5 posted on 09/29/2026 3:43:49 PM PDT by Fledermaus (Free Republic is going to be intolerable during the Republican Presidential primary in 2028.)
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To: Larry Lucido

Looks like Michael Jackson ...


6 posted on 09/29/2026 3:45:01 PM PDT by bankwalker (Feminists, like all Marxists, are ungrateful parasites.)
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To: Steely Tom

Judge was probably on the list. If this were only about taxing the billionaires, it would be allowed.


7 posted on 09/29/2026 6:35:12 PM PDT by griswold3 (Truth, Beauty and Goodness)
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To: griswold3
Judge was probably on the list.

That might explain it.

8 posted on 09/29/2026 7:22:57 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

mamdani needs the taxpayers to pay for his housing.


9 posted on 09/29/2026 8:03:01 PM PDT by gildafarrell (To Strive, To Seek, To Find and Not To Yield!)
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