Mamdani team skips NYC Council hearing on pied-à-terre tax rollout

NEW YORK - The New York City Council held an oversight hearing on Mayor Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax Tuesday, but no one from the mayor's office showed up.

Department of Finance Commissioner Richard Lee was supposed to testify, but submitted written testimony instead, leaving a row of empty chairs at City Hall.

What they're saying:

City Council Speaker Julie Menin called the administration's absence "unfortunate" in a statement.

Council Member Gale Brewer, who chaired the oversight hearing, submitted 11 pages of questions back to the Mamdani administration, saying she expects every one to be answered.

Brewer added that the hearing was not meant to challenge the tax itself, but rather to discuss how the rollout has impacted New Yorkers.

"This has been a terrible rollout. Obviously, there will be next year, but we have to fix this year. I have to tell you, people are really upset," Brewer said.

Other council members expressed frustration with the administration's absence, stating, "We don't want to hear a press release from the administration or a talking point. We want to hear your error rate. How many New Yorkers did the government unnecessarily frighten? How many hours did people collectively spend fixing something that City Hall could have gotten right beforehand?"

FOX 5 N.Y. asked the mayor's office why no one from the administration was present to answer questions at the hearing. 

"As Commissioner Lee noted in his submitted testimony, the Administration made a good faith effort to work with the Council to find a more appropriate time for this important hearing," Spokesperson Matt Rauschenbach said in a statement. "The Administration offered to postpone it to a date in the near future, but the Council declined." 

"Given the ongoing litigation — and the fact that today's hearing was explicitly focused on the same issues at the heart of the litigation, which was brought by family members of a Council Member and others — the Administration did not believe that it would be prudent and in the legal interest of the City to appear in person," he added.

"The Administration’s focus remains on ensuring this surcharge can do what is intended to do: generate the revenue our city needs to serve New Yorkers across the five boroughs," he said. 

Prior to the hearing, homeowners rallied at City Hall to protest the rollout. "17,000 New Yorkers, 17,000, received a letter and were told you are guilty until you are proven resident," one speaker said.

A lawsuit filed by homeowners challenges the city's requirement that residents prove full-time status and criticizes the publication of nearly one million property addresses online.

Though the city clarified that only the 17,000 letter recipients are subject to the tax—which targets second homes over $5 million and condos or co-ops over $1 million—the list caused widespread confusion.

An appeals court allowed the tax to move forward during litigation, and the Mamdani administration extended the exemption deadline to Sept. 18, according to FOX 5 N.Y. reporting. As of Tuesday, 9,884 exemption applications have been started, 5,001 completed and 2,318 approved. 

Local perspective:

Randy Mastro, who is representing the homeowners in the lawsuit, appeared last week on "Good Day New York" and commented on what he called a botched rollout of the pied-à-terre tax. 

"The city, in a heartbeat, could figure out who is potentially subject to this tax, but they didn't do the homework," he said. "Why? Was it negligence? Was it laziness? Was it intentionality to try to ensnare thousands of New Yorkers who don't owe this tax into having to pay it?"

PoliticsNewsNew YorkEconomy