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    North                       The Indian Eye

                              AMERICANNewsline

             16                                                                                                                  APRIL 24, 2026
                        Mayor Mamdani, Governor Hochul

             Announce Tax, Requiring Ultrawealthy and

                       Global Elites to Pay Their Fair Share

              A twin policy push by New York’s leadership seeks to rebalance fiscal pressure while

                                             tackling the city’s deepening housing crisis.

            OUR BUREAU
            New York, NY
               n a coordinated policy offensive,
               Zohran  Kwame  Mamdani  and
            IKathy Hochul have unveiled two
            major initiatives aimed at addressing
            New  York  City’s  fiscal  and  housing
            challenges—one targeting the ul-
            tra-wealthy through a first-of-its-kind
            pied-à-terre tax, and the other seek-
            ing to ease the burden on affordable
            housing  through  a  city-backed  insur-
            ance program.
                At the core of the fiscal strategy
            is  the  proposed  pied-à-terre  tax,  de-
            signed to generate $500 million annu-  a redistribution of burden away from   housing: insurance premiums. These   cost, the administration aims not only
            ally by levying a surcharge on luxury   residents toward absentee wealth.  costs  have  “more  than  tripled  since   to stabilize housing but also to reduce
            secondary  properties  valued  above   Hochul reinforced this argument   2017,” placing significant strain on af-  fiscal pressure on the city’s budget.
            $5 million when owned by individuals   with  a  sharper  moral  pitch.  “If  you   fordable and rent-stabilized housing.  Deputy Mayor for Housing and
            whose primary residence lies outside   can afford a $5 million second home   The program aims to reduce   Planning Leila Bozorg described the
            New York City. Framed as a cor-   that sits empty most of the year, you   premiums for approximately 100,000   initiative as a “groundbreaking effort”
            rective  measure,  the  tax  specifically   can  afford  to  contribute  like  every   homes by 2030, beginning with 20,000   that  will  “use  the  City’s  purchasing
            targets  “ultrawealthy  out-of-city  resi-  other New Yorker,” she said, linking   homes as early as 2027. It will be man-  power to lower insurance premiums,”
            dents and global elites who use New   the tax to the broader principle that   aged by an interagency working group   thereby “reducing operating costs for
            York City real estate as a vehicle for   “the people who call it home should   and  is  expected  to  become  self-sus-  owners  of  rent  stabilized  housing.”
            wealth storage rather than as homes.”  not be left carrying the burden alone.”  taining over time. By lowering insur-  Similarly, Deputy Mayor for Eco-
                The scale of wealth involved is un-  The measure, reportedly sup-  ance costs, the city hopes to reduce   nomic Justice Julie Su emphasized
            derscored by examples cited in the pro-  ported by 93 percent of New Yorkers,  operating expenses for building own-  the structural dimension of the prob-
            posal—from billionaire Ken Griffith’s   also  marks  a  political  breakthrough.  ers, preserve affordability, and stretch   lem: “Insurance is one of those costs,
            $238 million penthouse in Midtown to   While similar proposals have circulat-  public housing subsidies further.  and it has been rising far too fast for
            Russian auto-dealer Alexander Var-  ed for more than a decade, this is the   Mamdani framed the initiative   affordable  and  rent-stabilized  hous-
            shavsky’s $20.5 million property. These   first time such a tax is set to be enact-  in direct terms: “We cannot take on   ing to absorb.”
            holdings, often left vacant for much of   ed at the state level. Its passage would   the housing crisis without confront-  The  broader  housing  ecosystem
            the  year,  have  long  been  a  point  of   signal a shift in how urban wealth is   ing one of the fastest-growing costs   has responded with cautious opti-
            political contention in a city grappling   taxed,  particularly  in  global  cities   facing New Yorkers: insurance.” The   mism. Housing officials and industry
            with inequality and rising costs.  where real estate functions as both an   program, he said, is intended “to help   stakeholders  repeatedly  described
                For Mamdani, the tax is both a fis-  investment and a status symbol.  New Yorkers stay in their homes, give   the program as a necessary interven-
            cal necessity and a political statement.   Yet, even as the administration   building  owners  the  support  they   tion in a failing market. HPD Com-
            “We are one step closer to balancing   looks to increase revenue from the top, it   need to make repairs, and build a city   missioner Dina Levy called soaring
            our budget by taxing the ultra-wealthy   is simultaneously attempting to reduce   that New Yorkers can actually afford.”  insurance costs “a market failure that
            and  global  elites,”  he  said,  empha-  costs at the bottom—particularly in the   The  economic  logic  behind  the   has gone uncorrected for too long,”
            sizing that the goal is to address the   housing sector, where rising expens-  policy  is  stark.  Officials  noted  that   adding  that  “it  falls  to  government
            deficit “fairly, where the wealthy con-  es  threaten  affordability  and  stability. “every $100 increase in insurance costs   to  step  in.”  Her  assessment  reflects
            tribute what they owe and our budget   The second major initiative—a   requires $1,200 more in City capital   a growing consensus that private in-
            reflects our commitment to the work-  city-backed  insurance  program—tar-  in  new  transactions,”  highlighting   surance markets are ill-equipped to
            ing New Yorkers being priced out of   gets  what  officials  describe  as  one   how rising premiums ripple through   handle the risks associated with af-
            our  city.”  The  framing  is  deliberate:   of the fastest-growing cost drivers in   public  spending.  By  addressing  this   fordable housing.

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