President Trump made it clear Tuesday that he opposes Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new tax on second homes in New York City, saying on his social media platform that he is exploring whether the federal government can intervene to block it.
Passed by the New York legislature in May with the backing of Mamdani and New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul, the so-called pied-a-terre tax would apply to certain second homes located inside New York City, with the proceeds going toward a variety of local programs, including education and public safety.
“I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn,” Trump wrote.
The president, who is likely to have to pay the tax when enacted, claimed that the “dangerous political ‘experiment’ in New York will destroy what was once a great City and State.” He added that “Financial, and then Social, RUIN, is a 100% certainty.” He also linked the property tax to congestion pricing, a fee imposed on cars entering lower Manhattan that he said was the work of “Radical Left Jihadists.”
A judge briefly blocked the New York tax on Monday. Wayne Ozzi, a state judge in Staten Island, ordered the city to withdraw its list of nearly 1 million properties that were potentially subject to the tax, and to halt any enforcement actions ahead of a hearing scheduled for August 31.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Mamdani said the city would defend the tax in court. In the meantime, given the city’s appeal, the tax rollout is allowed to continue.
“We are confident in our position,” Mamdani said. “And that is a confidence coming from both the legality of the City’s actions as well as the importance of a surcharge on secondary homes worth more than $5 million, a surcharge that will help fund safer streets, that will help fund stronger schools, and it will help fund the city that New Yorkers deserve.”