Trump seeks to stop NYC's pied-à-terre tax

FILE PHOTO: President Donald J. Trump hosts a Rose Garden Club luncheon in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump is taking aim at New York City’s controversial pied-à-terre tax and said he is looking into ways the federal government can intervene to stop it.

Trump called the tax on non-primary residences valued at more than $5 million a "dangerous political experiment" in a fiery social media post that claimed the move will "destroy" his former hometown.

"This doesn't work in America, and must be stopped, NOW!," he wrote on Truth Social. "I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn."

The president said the new levy, which was pushed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, will contribute to an exodus of taxpayers and businesses leaving the Empire State to Florida and other lower tax states.

His remarks come after a state Supreme Court judge on Monday temporarily blocked the new policy in response to a lawsuit filed by several Manhattan property owners challenging the city's decision to post a public list of homeowners who could be subject to the new tax.

The plaintiffs, who are represented by Mamdani nemesis and former First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, claim that the city's decision to release a list of nearly 1 million properties that might be subject to the new pied-à-terre tax set off a "panic" among homeowners. They want the judge to declare the notices "null and void" and force the city to notify only property owners that are subject to the tax.

Mamdani defended the new tax on Tuesday after the city appealed that ruling, putting the judge's order on hold.

"We are confident in our position," Mamdani said in remarks. "And that is a confidence coming from both the legality of the city’s actions as well as the importance of a surcharge on secondary homes worth more than $5 million, a surcharge that will help fund safer streets, that will help fund stronger schools, and it will help fund the city that New Yorkers deserve."

The new tax, a key plank of Mamadani's "tax the rich" campaign, calls for charging eligible property owners a 4% surcharge on one- to three-family second homes valued over $5 million and on co-ops and condos valued at $1 million. It was pitched by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and approved by the New York Legislature as part of the recently signed state budget.

The Mamdani administration estimates the levy will drum up more than $500 million a year for the city to help plug gaps in the budget and fund the mayor's far-left agenda, which includes universal childcare, tuition, free public colleges, and fare-free bus service.

While an estimated 17,000 property owners could be subject to the pied-à-terre tax, thousands have already applied to the city to be exempted ahead of a Sept. 18 deadline.