Fuming homeowners rail against Mamdanis pied--terre tax rollout at fiery NYC Council hearing: Where is the justice?

Fuming and flummoxed New Yorkers testified Tuesday that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s botched rollout of the new pied-à-terre tax left them flailing for answers — and feeling under “direct attack” from the government.The testimony from roughly 30 homeowners and members of the real estate industry made up the bulk of the 3-hour oversight hearing by City Council pols hoping to take Mamdani to task – only to have the administration skip it.Robert Bertagna, an Upper East Side retiree who has lived in his home for 30 years, recounted receiving a notice from the city Department of Finance alerting him that he’d be on the hook for $52,000 annually under the surcharge, unless he successfully applied for an exemption.“This is my primary residence.I pay taxes in New York.

I vote in New York.My driver’s license in New York.

There’s plenty of records to establish the fact that I’m a resident of New York,” he told the council.“This is a clear intrusion by our government, intimidation by our government and, frankly, a direct attack and a target on private wealth,” he said.“I filed an exemption, but that’s not the point.

The point is the government is assuming that I’m guilty unless I can prove myself to be innocent.”Even supporters of the tax — which is meant to target only luxury second homes in New York City — argued the rollout by Mamdani administration officials was confusing and raised thorny questions.New Yorker Kyle Braff testified that a friend who purchased a brownstone 40 years ago recently called him to ask whether the tax would apply to him, especially because the property is likely now worth over the levy’s $5 million cutoff.“He’s concerned now because he kept his brownstone here so that he can keep in touch with his kids and his grandkids, whether or not he’ll be subject to the pied-à-terre,” Braff said about his buddy, who retired down south to stretch out his savings and for the weather.“I want to be clear that any l...