Mayor Zohran Mamdani (L) and Steve Witkoff
(AP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and other wealthy New York City property owners are facing hefty tax increases under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new tax on luxury second homes, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Witkoff also recently repaid nearly $78,000 in property tax breaks after discovering he had continued receiving benefits reserved for primary residents despite relocating to Florida, according to the outlet.
Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax targets properties worth at least $5 million whose owners maintain their primary residences outside New York City, part of the mayor’s broader effort to increase taxes on the wealthy.
For Witkoff, 69, the new surcharge will add approximately $101,000 annually, more than doubling his current property tax bill, the Journal reported.
Witkoff also lost a $24,000 annual abatement intended for owners who use their New York apartments as primary residences, according to the report.
Public records reviewed by the Journal show that Witkoff established his primary residence at a Miami Beach waterfront estate in 2019, subsequently registering to vote in Florida and formally declaring the state his permanent home.
His estranged wife remained in their Manhattan apartment until 2023, when she also relocated to Miami Beach. The property continued receiving the tax benefit afterward, records showed.
A spokeswoman told the Journal that Witkoff was unaware of the abatement and repaid nearly $78,000 after the newspaper contacted his representatives.
His attorney, Robert Pollack, said the couple had never been notified about residency reporting requirements.
“The continued application of the abatement here was inadvertent and resulted from that gap in process, not from any misrepresentation by the owners,” Pollack said.
Witkoff is not the only wealthy property owner caught up in the city’s tax crackdown.
The Journal identified several other Florida residents who received New York primary-residence tax breaks while simultaneously claiming Florida homestead exemptions.
Cerberus Capital Management executive Lee Millstein faces losing a $13,000 annual abatement on his Manhattan apartment. Records reviewed by the Journal show he and his wife purchased a $22 million Coral Gables mansion in 2020 that is listed as their primary residence.
Hedge fund executive Ruben Kliksberg received a $14,000 annual abatement after moving to Florida in 2022, the Journal reported. His spokesman blamed a clerical error and said Kliksberg was making the necessary payments.
Financier Ronald Olin has received benefits in both states since at least 2018, records showed. He told the Journal he was unaware of the New York abatement.
The newspaper noted that tax bills for all three were mailed to out-of-state addresses.
City officials said stepped-up residency audits have already removed approximately 10,000 apartments from the abatement program.
“It’s a really flawed system,” property-management executive Paul Brensilber told the Journal.
Mamdani’s new surcharge also faces a legal challenge after a state judge ordered the city to redo its rollout. The city appealed, temporarily putting the ruling on hold.
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