Well, that’s a new one.
Gov. Kathy Hochul shrugged off backlash against Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public list of every New Yorker who could be hit with a new pied-a-terre tax — bizarrely claiming the brand new document is not “out of the ordinary.”
The Democrat governor, who pushed through the tax as part of her lengthy budget negotiations with state lawmakers, sought to connect regular public tax rolls to this curated list of possible tax targets — which has been slammed as the government doxxing private citizens.
“This is not out of the ordinary,” she said at an unrelated press conference in the city.
“This is a list that’s released on an annual basis. Nothing unusual here. Every building, property tax debt is public always has been,” she said.
The Big Apple’s Department of Finance uploaded the comprehensive list, which included the full name and addresses of property owners as well as details of whom could be subjected to the newly created tax.
The Mamdani administration is forcing those on the list to make a claim to prove why they should be exempt from the tax, which applies only to luxury second homes in the five boroughs.
The document was uploaded right after the mayor was skewered on X after his message gleefully telling wealthy New Yorkers to “check your mailbox when you’re back in the five boroughs, because you’ve got mail” while notification letters were sent out.
Gov. Hochul enacted the tax on second homes over $5 million after the socialist darling touted the policy as part of his plans to soak the rich and make them “pay their fair share.”
Hochul, who is up for re-election in November, has faced growing pressure from the socialist mayor and his comrades in the left-leaning Democratic Socialists of America to hike income taxes on wealthy New Yorkers while also increasing corporate taxes.
She has so far resisted the calls beyond the pied-a-terre tax, but has waffled between trying to appeal statewide to moderates and independents while not alienating Mamdani and his supporters, who have already threatened a potential primary challenge in the future.
Hochul said she wouldn’t question the mayor’s motives over Mamdani’s gleeful announcement about the new tax.
“There are people who have no idea that this applies to them. So, elevating the notification probably sounds like the way to make sure that people know that you can be subjected to this tax,” she said. “So I won’t question any motivation behind that, other than it’s public service, to let you know that this first time ever this applies to them.”
The mayor previously caught flack after recording a video outside billionaire Ken Griffin’s Manhattan Apartment to promote the tax, which led to Griffin expanding his Citadel Hedge Fund operations in Florida rather than the Empire State.
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