Will New York City’s new pied-à-terre tax drive major art collectors from the Big Apple into the tax-friendly arms of competing cultural hubs?
That is the question at the heart of an ongoing debate, prompted by a database published last week by the New York City Department of Finance (DOF). The list identifies numerous prominent art-world figures as potentially subject to a surcharge on multimillion-dollar second homes, know as as pied-à-terres.
According to the DOF database, first reported by Artnet News’s Katya Kazakina, other names include billionaire collectors Steven A. Cohen, Leon Black, and Len Blavatnik, and Mitchell Rales, as well as blue-chip market figures like art adviser Allan Schwartzman and dealers Larry Gagosian, David Zwirner, and Pace Gallery’s founder Arne Glimcher and chief executive Marc Glimcher.
A number of the are linked to limited liability companies that own qualifying properties. Gagosian’s East 75th Street mansion, for example, is owned by Sugar Shack LLC and is valued by the city at $63.3 million.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled the pied-à-terre tax initiative in May as part of the state budget agreement, following New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge to help close the city’s multibillion-dollar budget gap by taxing wealthy owners of luxury second homes. The measure applies to residential properties valued at more than $1 million, depending on the type of property, that are not the owner’s primary residence.
To promote the proposal, Mamdani released a video filmed outside billionaire collector Kenneth C. Griffin‘s $238 million penthouse on Central Park South, which could be subject to an estimated $1 million annual tax under the new surcharge.
On July 24, the DOF released two property assessment rolls covering roughly 960,000 properties, listing each owner’s name, address, and the city’s assessed value. The agency emphasized that inclusion on the list does not necessarily mean a property will be subject to the pied-à-terre tax, noting that the database is still being refined. It also stressed that the information is public record and that publishing an annual property tax roll is standard practice, despite the unprecedented attention surrounding this year’s release.
That attention was understandable: as Artnet News and the Real Deal reported, the database revealed for the first time the individuals linked to LLCs behind scores of luxury townhouses and condominiums across the city, prompting some owners to prepare legal means to prove that their properties qualify as primary residences.
Adam Lindemann, a collector, dealer, and Artnet News contributor, was among those named in the database. The city assigned his Upper East Side residence an assessed value of $41 million, despite Lindemann’s statement that he has “paid New York City taxes [his] entire life.” He criticized the release of the records, calling the tax roll a “violation of privacy.”
Zwirner’s East Village residence was also included in the database, with the DOF assigning it an assessed value of $10.6 million. A spokesperson for his gallery told the publication that “David is a NYC resident and that is his primary address.”
ARTnews has contacted Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office for comment.
The new surcharge, which went into effect July 1, could add tens of thousands of dollars to the annual tax bills of some luxury second-home owners, per the Wall Street Journal.
”On Tax Day earlier this year, I promised that we would tax the rich, and with our new pied-à-terre tax, that is exactly what we have done,” Mamdani said in a statement last week. “If you have a second home in New York City worth more than $5 million, check your mailbox when you’re back in the five boroughs—because you’ve got mail.”
The notices apply to the first phase of the tax, which also includes condos and co-ops valued at $1 million or more. Tax rates will range from 0.8 percent to 6.5 percent, depending on the property type and value. Owners of houses and condos have until August 21 to apply for an exemption, while co-op owners have until August 24. The city will send out official tax bills in November, according to DOF.
