Hey. Remember that chirpy video the commie mayor of New York City dropped on Tax Day this year?
Well, he got what he wanted on those ritzy second homes for the folks who can afford them. Again, these have already had both humongous real estate taxes paid when they bought them, not to mention (what any sane person would consider) the crippling annual city and state property taxes commensurate with places of stratospheric value.
That wasn't enough for the commie the city elected, though. And after the mayor personally targeted Citadel founder Ken Griffin's place as Example Number One of the rapacious filthy rich in his video, he started agitating for the additional punitive levy on the wealthy who keep the city funded as punishment for the crime of being wealthy enough to own multiple, really nice cribs. NY State Gov Daffy Kathy Hochul was initially against it, until she, too, saw dollar signs, and lobbied the legislature to allow it, which they obligingly did.
NEWS: Mamdani's "pied-à-terre" tax on luxury second homes in NYC is set to go into effect tomorrow
— Lit News Network (@litnewsnet) June 30, 2026
The tax will be implemented in two phases, with an initial two-year 6.5% tax on homes valued at over $5 million pic.twitter.com/HFgWpFp5oq
Let him count the days, literally.
...Under the new law, New York City will tax second homes worth more than $5 million. The law passed the state legislature in May and went into effect July 1.
More than a third of 92 high-value apartments at 432 Park Avenue probably meet that criteria, according to a Wall Street Journal review of property and tax records, making the property one of the biggest piggy banks for the city’s pied-à-terre revenue.
Condo owners at the building will be on the hook for at least $3 million annually, based on records indicating that at least 36 units are used as second homes. The tax bill would be on top of the $3.6 million in property taxes these owners already pay.
At the extreme end, an owner’s tax bill might double. A penthouse on a high floor that already owes $189,000 a year in property tax would pay twice that in property taxes under the pied-à-terre provision.
But the actual tax bill from the property could be considerably higher, if more owners are leaving their units vacant than the available public records indicate.
Determining what qualifies as a luxury second home could get messy and cause problems for city officials. Ultrawealthy owners, with near-infinite resources for accountants and attorneys, are likely to contest the city’s valuation of their homes, as well as their residency status, real-estate professionals said.
“If you come up with something that’s too complicated, you don’t get revenue right away, you just get litigation,” said Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty.
...A few blocks from 432 Park is 220 Central Park South, where Mamdani recorded a video promoting the policy, gesturing up from the sidewalk to billionaire Ken Griffin’s $238 million spread on the 50th floor. (Griffin could end up owing $1 million a year, on top of the $837,000 in property tax he pays now.)
I know everyone is interested in seeing what sort of responsible use the mayor puts all that additional revenue to.
It hurts less to write the check if you know the cause is worthy, even when you are forced to pay more than your fair share and then some.
For the record, Drag Queen Story Hour now receives more city funding than the Department of Veterans Services.
— Hon. Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) July 2, 2026
Understand where we are. https://t.co/vwQxqBVxUK
For his part, Citadel's Griffin hasn't forgotten the mayor's 'creepy and weird,' not to mention potentially dangerous, stunt out in front of his part-time home. He's been keeping the personal potshots to a minimum while rallying business leaders in the city at every opportunity to 'fight' for their city.
Billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin is encouraging New York's business leaders to take on socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, warning that the city's future could be at risk if employers and investors stay quiet.
"They need to find their voice and fight for their city," Griffin said Thursday at a Manhattan event, according to Bloomberg.
"My advice is to speak up. What’s the worst that’s going to happen? It will be that New York empties of talent and that’s a catastrophe. If the mayor wants to say a few words about you, your record speaks for itself: You create jobs, you create value and you pay taxes."
Business runs on long-term projections.
..."Everything should be viewed through the lens of, Citadel will be here far longer than he’ll be mayor," Griffin said.
But that doesn't mean that there aren't consequences for actions in the meantime, as other major business types were quick to remind the mayor when the spat blew up.
...Griffin, 57, who lives in Miami after leaving Chicago following clashes with Democratic lawmakers in Illinois, has also donated hundreds of millions of dollars to New York institutions such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the American Museum of Natural History.
“He built his businesses largely outside NYC and NYC is lucky he is growing it substantially here,” said Lloyd Blankfein, 71, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “Ken brings construction investment, high-paying jobs, tax revenue and a remarkable commitment to local philanthropy. Not sure why that pisses off the mayor.”
...“Why he would do this I don’t know,” said Ken Langone, 90, a prominent Republican donor who founded Home Depot Inc. “He needs more people to come in like Ken Griffin, not less. All he’s doing, he’s putting the stick right in Ken Griffin’s eye.”
Stan Druckenmiller, 72, founder of hedge fund Duquesne Capital Management, which he now runs as his family office, told Bloomberg in a statement that he has “great respect” for Griffin, while hedge fund manager Roberto Mignone, 54, said “a smart mayor would be visiting his apartment with a thank-you note and keys to the city, rather than a populist mob.”
Mamdani has recently made some conciliatory moves to mend fences with Griffin, but the ice is not exactly thawing yet.
In the meantime, the young communist would be wise not to look so much at what Griffin is doing in NYC as at what he's doing in Miami, where he relocated his entire outfit after clashes with Chicago's political hierarchy.
He is building a Citadel campus there and might well be making sure he has enough room for most of the New York crew, too.
Ken Griffin Bought Out All 138 Condos in Miami Tower, One by One
The billionaire spent roughly $125 million to gain control of the last major property in the way of his planned Citadel campus. Now, he’ll tear it down.
...The effort illustrates the lengths Griffin has gone to assemble land around the headquarters of Citadel and Citadel Securities since deciding to move the companies from Chicago in 2022. The billionaire, who recently disclosed plans to expand his bet on Miami with more office space and apartments, paid well above market rates to get condo owners to sell.
...But Griffin's pursuit of the Solaris stands out because of his growing imprint on Miami. Since moving to the area, he has spent more than $1 billion expanding his real estate footprint, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into philanthropy and civic projects, and become one of South Florida's most influential business figures.
He’s planning a multibillion-dollar complex, including a headquarters tower for his Citadel hedge fund and securities firm, hundreds of luxury apartments, a parking garage and potentially a hotel. Acquiring the Solaris gave Griffin control of nearly the entire site, leaving only a small, city-owned historic property outside his assemblage. That building, once Miami’s first physician’s office, is almost surrounded by Griffin’s properties.
Griffin's company has what Bloomberg calls a 'growing Miami footprint.'
Well. Whose is inevitably going to shrink as Miami expands?
Hmmmm.
Ken Griffin filed updated plans for his Brickell district development on May 13, replacing a hotel component with additional office space and adding a 300-unit apartment building and 1,420-space parking garage. Griffin has also acquired all units in the 22-story Solaris condominium tower across the street and will demolish it to make room for further expansion. The revisions cover roughly five acres spanning two blocks in Miami’s Brickell financial district.
Griffin publicly vowed to expand the Miami project after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani featured the billionaire in a May video promoting a second-home tax on the wealthy. Citadel COO Gerald Beeson circulated an internal memo calling Mamdani’s move “shameful,” and the clash raised questions about Citadel’s planned Manhattan office tower. Griffin told colleagues the incident made clear the firm needed to “double down on our bet in Miami.” A Citadel spokesperson said the development “will drive the tenancy of leading global firms, including Citadel and Citadel Securities.”
The mayor might want to chill out just a tad and maybe be a little less aggressive fighting the oligarchy because, as this Manhattan Institute fellow says...
FREE BUSES NEED BILLIONAIRES
Conversely, billionaires don't really need anything and are at liberty to vacate at any time.
If you're on the supplicant side, it's best to behave accordingly and respect all your citizens, oligarchs and paupers alike, however much it offends your progressive sensibilities and allies.
Rarely, if ever, can any of you pay for one of your promises, let alone the raft of them that always come with a socialst/progressive/communist candidate.
These dream worlds are always built on someone else's sweat equity.
Beege ADDS: As I was saying...ahem.
Sergey Brin has exited a New York housing fund at a significant loss, drawing attention to the mounting challenges facing investors in the city's rent-stabilised housing sector.
— The Realty Today (@therealtytoday) July 2, 2026
Read the inside story at: https://t.co/kdNZTLfJik
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Billionaires can dump shares and leave.
Google billionaire Sergey Brin is reportedly among the many New York City landlords fearing more hurt from capitalism-hating Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rent freeze — seemingly dumping his stake in a real-estate fund for pennies on the dollar.
Amphitheatre LLC, an investment firm affiliated with Brin, last year sold shares in a New York real estate fund that holds nearly 5,900 units back to its manager, A&E Real Estate, according to documents filed in December and earlier reported by Bloomberg.
It is unclear how much Brin invested with A&E — which Mamdani called out earlier this year — or how much the group paid to buy it back, though the gross value of his stake in the properties was roughly $79 million, according to records.
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