New York City is one step closer to collecting a tax on expensive second homes, and the city's mayor just won an early round in court.
A Brooklyn appellate court on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, set aside a temporary order that had put the so-called pied-à-terre tax on hold. That means the city can keep moving ahead with the rollout, at least for the next few weeks.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani supports the tax, and he came out on top this round.
The homeowners who sued say the city's rollout has been messy. They point to an online assessment roll that flagged hundreds of thousands of properties as potential second-home tax targets, even though many of those homes appeared to be worth less than the tax cutoff. The city sent about 17,000 notices to owners who might owe the surcharge, and some New Yorkers who say their homes are their primary residences found themselves on the list.
That confusion is at the heart of the lawsuit. The homeowners argue that making mistakenly listed owners apply for exemptions unfairly puts the burden on them, when the city should be the one figuring out which properties are actually taxable.
Staten Island Justice Wayne Ozzi agreed with them earlier this week. On Monday, he suspended the rollout and ordered the city to remove the assessment roll while the case plays out. He also barred the mayor's team from acting on the roll or the mailed notices.
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The city moved fast to appeal, and Appellate Judge Phillip Hom blocked Ozzi's order while a higher court decides whether to take the case.
Both sides kept coming back to one date in their court filings: Sept. 18. That is when owners must request an exemption from the tax, and the clock is ticking.
The city originally gave owners until Aug. 21 to ask for an exemption, then pushed that deadline to Sept. 18. The delay gave people more time, but it also means decisions are coming fast.
Randy Mastro, the homeowners' lawyer and a former deputy mayor, said in a Thursday filing that letting the city ignore Ozzi's order would let it dodge the judge's ruling entirely, since any appeal would take weeks to resolve. He put it more bluntly in a statement: "It is a shame that the city can't own up to its own mistakes and admit that it has badly botched the rollout of this surcharge. Instead, the administration is doubling down, going to court to ensure that it can continue harassing and threatening New York City homeowners who clearly are permanent residents - something the city would know if it would only do its homework."
The city says it is handling the flood of exemption requests. In its own Thursday filing, it reported 4,300 requests so far and said nearly half had already been approved, including one from a plaintiff in the case.
This tax targets second homes, which means it only hits people who own a pricey place they do not live in full time.
Nearly one million properties appeared on the city's assessment roll, which is the kind of number that makes anyone with a New York address look twice. The city says the roll was never meant to be a list of properties that owe the tax, but that explanation has not calmed the backlash. City Council members said they were caught off guard by the roll's release, and some homeowners were stunned to see their longtime primary homes on it.
If the tax survives the legal challenge, the added annual cost could factor into what people are willing to pay for luxury homes and high-end apartments in the city. If it does not, the rollout becomes a cautionary tale about how a well-intentioned tax can trip over its own execution.
The next court date is set for Aug. 31, and whatever happens there will shape what comes next.
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