NYC appeals Staten Island judge’s ruling against Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office filed an appeal on Tuesday following a Staten Island judge’s ruling that barred notices from being sent to homeowners affected by the pied-à-terre tax.

A city official told The Hill the appeal invoked the “ auto stay ,” which under New York law allows the city to continue with its implementation of the tax on second homes worth more than $5 million and puts Judge Wayne Ozzi’s ruling on hold.

Ozzi ordered the city on Tuesday to replace its roll that includes all homes that are potentially subject to the tax with a more limited roll “reflecting those properties actually subject to the surcharge.”

He also ordered that all previously mailed notices be canceled and new notices will be mailed “only after an individualized initial determination” can be made.

During the program’s rollout, the NYC Department of Finance (DOF) sent 17,000 notices to homeowners affected by the tax, instructing them to an appeal process if they wish to be “exempted.” It also published a list of properties and owners subject to the tax.

Ozzi ruled on Tuesday that the mailed notices the DOF sent to homeowners “irresponsibly and unnecessarily caused homeowners to expend time and money” and further “lacked any real guidance as to the proof required.”

Mamdani created the tax alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in April, which he said would provide the city with long-term solutions to the budget deficit. The tax was the center of another lawsuit where the Mamdani administration invoked the stay as well.

“You appeal losses, and the Mamdani administration lost big time today. But its time and resources would be better spent admitting error and doing the surcharge notices right,” Randy Mastro, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs and the former first deputy mayor of NYC under former Mayor Eric Adams, told The Hill.