{"id":10963,"date":"2026-04-17T02:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=10963"},"modified":"2026-04-17T02:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:05:26","slug":"mamdani-filmed-his-pied-a-terre-tax-video-outside-ken-griffins-238-million-penthouse-social-media-loves-him-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=10963","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani filmed his pied-\u00e1-terre tax video outside Ken Griffin\u2019s $238 million penthouse. Social media loves him for it"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Tax Day isn\u2019t normally a cause for celebration. The annual due date for filing taxes usually comes with headache-inducing financial stress and mountains of difficult-to-decipher paperwork. But this year, Tax Day apparently came with an unexpected upside for some New Yorkers, thanks to an announcement from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich,\u201d Mamdani said in a video posted to social media<\/a> on April 15. \u201cToday, we\u2019re taxing the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani went on to say he had secured a new pied-\u00e1-terre tax, or second home tax, a first for the state of New York. The tax would incur an annual fee on residential properties worth more than $5 million in New York City\u2014provided that their owners don\u2019t live in the city full time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pied-\u00e1-terre tax is specifically designed for the richest of the rich, those who store their wealth in New York City real estate, but who don\u2019t actually live here,\u201d Mamdani explained. \u201cBut even so, they\u2019re able to reap the huge financial rewards of owning property in, dare I say, the greatest city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@nycmayor)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mamdani specifically called out billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, whose $238 million penthouse served as the backdrop for the mayor\u2019s video. Griffin\u2019s purchase of the penthouse in 2019 was the most expensive residential sale in United States history, inciting a proposal for a pied-\u00e1-terre tax that was swiftly killed in the New York Senate. This time around, though, the tax just might have staying power.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time, these units are sitting empty since, again, they don\u2019t actually live here,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThis is a fundamentally unfair system that hurts working New Yorkers. Now, it\u2019s coming to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani said he expects the tax to raise $500 million annually, directly for the city, which he\u2019d put toward efforts like \u201cfree childcare, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play in contributing to our city\u2014and some, a little bit more than others,\u201d he concluded. \u201cHappy Tax Day, New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

A collaboration with Gov. Hochul<\/h2>\n

Though Mamdani is an avid supporter of the pied-\u00e1-terre tax, it\u2019s Gov. Kathy Hochul who will formally propose it and include it in the state\u2019s annual budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City is the greatest city in the world, and the people who call it home should not be left carrying the burden alone,\u201d Hochul said in a statement on April 14. \u201cIf you can afford a $5 million second home that sits empty most of the year, you can afford to contribute like every other New Yorker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s move of including the tax in the state budget, rather than proposing it as a stand-alone bill that would be voted on separately, makes it much more likely to succeed. In her own video posted to social media on Tax Day<\/a>, Hochul called the tax a \u201ccommonsense surcharge.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re part of our skyline, but those people are not part of our city,\u201d she said. \u201cThis proposal simply ensures that they\u2019re contributing in a meaningful way to keeping New York City the greatest city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be taxing the ultra-wealthy and global elites,\u201d Mamdani added in response to Hochul\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

Social media celebrates Mamdani\u2019s announcement<\/h2>\n

Politicians making good on their campaign promises (let alone so soon after election) is all too rare in America, so a move like Mamdani\u2019s caught attention online from New Yorkers and out-of-town fans alike.<\/p>\n

The tax is being viewed as another point supporting Mamdani\u2019s reputation as a rare politician who makes tangible changes for his constituents. \u201c100 days before Mamdani was Mayor, all we heard was taxing the rich, like this was impossible,\u201d one X user reflected<\/a>. \u201cThis is a great beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a novelty to deliver on a campaign promise,\u201d wrote another user<\/a> in a post praising Mamdani\u2019s follow-through.<\/p>\n

Just days ago, Mamdani announced the first site the city has selected for its slate of city-owned grocery stores, La Marqueta in East Harlem, which is expected to open by 2029. The first of Mamdani\u2019s municipal grocery stores, however, is set to open in late 2027 in a yet-to-be-announced location. Plans are in place to have one city-owned grocery store in each borough before the end of Mamdani\u2019s current term as mayor.<\/p>\n

The slate of grocery stores was a campaign promise that Mamdani\u2019s critics also decried as far-fetched during his campaign. Combined with the pied-\u00e1-terre tax, his supporters say that Mamdani is proving that political progress doesn\u2019t have to move at a snail\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n

And to anyone who\u2019d find the tax unfair, some users pointed out that there\u2019s an simple way around it for rich property owners: actually occupying the residences they\u2019ve shelled out millions for.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cool thing about this policy is that there is a very easy way for the rich to avoid it: They can simply live in NYC full time,\u201d one viral post put it<\/a>. \u201cInstead of incentivizing the rich to leave New York, it incentivizes them to *stay* in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n