There Mayor Zohran Mamdani goes again, exulting in stomping on those \u201crich\u201d New Yorkers who don\u2019t \u201cpay their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crowing that the city has mailed out its first notification about the new pied-\u00e0-terre tax, he gloated<\/a> on X: \u201cIf you have a second home in New York City worth more than $5M, check your mailbox when you\u2019re back in the five boroughs \u2014 because you\u2019ve got mail.\u201d<\/p>\n Message to his fans: He\u2019s making \u201cthe rich\u201d pay their \u201cfair share\u201d!<\/p>\n Message to his targets: Pay up, you fat cats!<\/p>\n Except they\u2019re not all fat cats: The mayor emphasizes the $5 million eligibility floor, making it sound like this tax is only aimed at people who can afford to own an empty mansion. <\/p>\n But that $5 million limit applies only to 1, 2 or 3-family homes, which are taxed starting at 0.8%<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n For co-ops or condos, which are far more likely to be owned as second residences, taxation starts on units valued at $1 million, and the starting rate is an eye-watering 4.0%.<\/p>\n That hits a much more modest crowd than the mayor implies.<\/p>\n Far from applying just to some oligarch who parks tens of millions of dollars<\/a> in an empty luxury high-rise, it includes, for instance, a retired couple who bought a modest one-bedroom 20 years ago for $350,000 that the city now says is worth $1 million.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n This couple, perhaps living in their apartment for four months of the year, or letting a relative stay there occasionally, would now owe an added $40,000 in taxes on top of whatever property taxes they already pay.<\/p>\n As with most \u201ctax the rich\u201d plans, Mamdani\u2019s $5 million cutoff couldn\u2019t raise enough cash to satisfy his spending dreams, so he \u201cdiscovered\u201d that the moderately well-to-do or even somewhat prosperous<\/a> are also failing to chip in their \u201cfair share,\u201d though he\u2019s careful not to brag about that. <\/p>\n