New York City can proceed with the rollout of its pied-à-terre tax while an appeals court considers a legal challenge.
A Staten Island judge's Sept. 29 ruling blocking the tax's implementation was put on hold Monday by the Brooklyn-based appeals court, which promised to rule on the dispute by Nov. 10. Homeowners flagged as potentially eligible face a Tuesday deadline to apply for exemptions.
The tax on second homes is
The ruling by Justice Wayne Ozzi on Staten Island came in a suit that didn't challenge the legality of the tax itself. Instead, the suit claimed the city's publication of potentially eligible addresses and its requirement that owners apply for exemptions were unlawful. The judge agreed and ordered the city to start over.
Ozzi had previously blocked the rollout of the tax in an August ruling. But that order was also stayed by the appeals court.
The city's legal department referred messages to City Hall, which didn't have an immediate comment. The city had previously said that the Staten Island ruling would be automatically stayed during its appeal.
Lawyers who filed the Staten Island suit declined to comment on the latest developments.
The city sent 17,000 notices in July to properties that are valuable enough to be subject to the tax, but may be eligible for an exemption if they're used as a primary residence. City officials said Sept. 4 they had granted 4,000 exemptions requests and roughly 11,000 applications for carve-outs had been started.
Two lawsuits filed last week, including one by former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and casino tycoon Steve Wynn, challenged the constitutionality of the levy because it only targets people who live outside the city. Those suits are unlikely to be resolved during the tax's rollout.
