Published: 02:06 BST, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 03:07 BST, 11 August 2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plans to 'tax the rich' hit a snag on Monday as a judge blocked the rollout of his controversial pied-a-terre levy.
Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzi issued a temporary restraining order effectively prohibiting any action on the luxury second home tax until an August 31 hearing on a lawsuit filed by three disgruntled homeowners.
Ozzi also hit out at Mamdani's decision to release a list of the homeowners who could potentially be hit by the tax, many of whom were sent notices warning they would be liable unless they filed an exemption.
'No law permitted or required the City to publish such a list of the names, addresses and property values of more than 900,000 New York City homeowners, or to publicize that list through an irregular, mid-year publication,' Ozzi wrote in his decision, obtained by AMNY.
'[The judgment] annuls and vacates [the] city's mailed notices, and any determination that such mailed notices constitute proper notice under tax law.'
He added that city officials should have conducted an 'individualized statutorily-required initial determination' before issuing the notices to homeowners, so as to not place the burden on the property owners.
The judge then barred city officials from taking any further action on the 17,000 notices sent by the Department of Finance, which warned they would face a five-figure tax bill unless they requested an exemption.
The decision marks an early victory for homeowners Rachel O’Brien, Carmine Morano and Simon Hedley who filed a lawsuit challenging the controversial tax's rollout on Friday, according to the New York Post.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plans to 'tax the rich' hit a snag on Monday, when a judge blocked the rollout of his controversial pied-a-terre levy
The tax applies to three-family homes worth at least $5 million and condos and co-ops valued at $1 million or more that are not primary residences
The homeowners claimed they either erroneously received notices that they would face the tax despite living in their longtime primary residences or were included in the city's published tax roll of property owners who would pay the tax.
City officials originally published a database of more than 900,000 potentially impacted homeowners last month with Mamdani telling wealthy New Yorkers to 'check your mailbox when you're back in the five boroughs because you've got mail.'
However, the vast majority of the listed properties did not meet the city's criteria of unoccupied, non-primary homes.
Amid the ensuing uproar, city officials sent out a revised 17,000 notices to homeowners.
