Last week, the NYC Department of Finance began doing the grunt work to actually enforce the City's new "pied-à-terre tax," which involves identifying the properties that qualify and telling owners what they owe.
As predicted, the enforcement of the pied-à-terre tax is no easy task. Many of New York City's most expensive properties are vastly undervalued due to the City's arcane property tax system. At the 220 Central Park South building where Citadel CEO Ken Griffin owns a $238 million penthouse, the most expensive property is only valued at $15.5 million, according to the City data. And the tax itself is under scrutiny because of how much it has hurt billionaires' feelings. (Remember Griffin accusing Mamdani of doxxing him at his building that was already totally public, "triggering" his "trauma"?)
The DOF's bureaucratic process turned into a minor shitshow this weekend, when the agency did what it is legally required to do on an annual basis, and published a "market value roll" of New York City properties. This is the first administrative step of several steps to come, and allows property owners to see how the City has valued their property (and start mounting a defense if they think it's incorrect). But when the public started looking at a list of properties the City said could be subject to the pied-à-terre tax, many people got very confused indeed, and some even accused the City of publishing "a hit list" for rich people.