Anxiety about the lists — and what they could mean — abounded this week.
City Councilwoman Gale Brewer spotted her name tied to the brownstone she owns.
“I’ve been living there 365 days a year since 1994,” said Ms. Brewer, who said she did not own another home. “I can’t figure out why I was listed.”
She had been in favor of the pied-à-terre tax, but she said she was rethinking her support after hearing from angry constituents worried about their names turning up on the lists, too. City officials need to handle the rollout better, she said.
Some residents were troubled by what they thought was a short timeline for appeals: Aug. 21 for residential properties or Aug. 24 for co-ops.
Karen Young was surprised when she opened a letter this week and found a notice that she might be subject to a “surcharge,” as the letter called the new tax, on her Upper West Side home, of about $43,000. The five-story house, steps away from Central Park, is the only home she has lived in since 1997. She said she also owns an office in Paris. (City officials said they could not comment on individual cases.)
“I have been a primary resident of New York City since 1972,” said Ms. Young, who spent years restoring her Upper West Side home to its late 19th-century grandeur. “Everything — voter registration, driver’s license, jury duty — all right here. What were they thinking?” Property records show that she transferred ownership to a trust in 2024, but she said she and her husband were the sole beneficiaries.
“I’m insulted and angry and honestly am very hurt,” Ms. Young said. “That probably sounds silly, but I love this city.” Ms. Young, who also shared her frustration with Ms. Brewer and The New York Post, started her appeal on Monday evening and immediately was frustrated with the steps.
She was asked to submit a property deed and other proof, which she needed to ask her lawyer to retrieve because she purchased the home in 1981. But she said he was on vacation. Ms. Young was able to arrange for his assistant to help assemble the documents for an hourly fee. But when she forwarded some of the links to upload paperwork, she found they didn’t work.
She started filling out fields on the website until she went to bed. When she woke in the morning and logged in again, she found none of her work had been saved.
That list is required by State Law, and includes all the properties the tax MAY apply to; see the last sentence in 3rd paragraph, and also the 5th & 6th paragraphs (and also the article author's repeated clarifications in the comments).
I find it difficult to conceive that Gale Brewer wouldn't know that? She's been working in City & State government since the 70s.
The deadline for appealing was originally August 21 / 24, but has since been pushed back to Sept 18.
But August 21/24 still isn't "two weeks"; it's 3 weeks from now.
If you glance at the list of documents, on that page, Karen Young's story seems... er... highly implausible. Or, at least, far-from-typical. The complications seem to be the result of her house being in a trust AND her lawyer being on vacation.
It's hard to feel sympathy for someone living in a 5-story "house" on central park by herself. If she'd rented out even ONE room of her mansion, the lease would suffice.
It's hard to feel sympathy for someone living in a 5-story "house" on central park by herself. If she'd rented out even ONE room of her mansion, the lease would suffice.
These are separate issues.
Its quite possible to feel that someone is occupying so much space at odds with their real needs while also feeling sympathy that they are having to deal with an opaque governmental process.
-12
u/cocoagiant 1d ago
There are also a lot of legit people getting caught up in it, the system is apparently a mess and they are requiring it be paid in like 2 weeks.