New York mayor’s policy set to generate revenue and address housing crisis despite outcry in some quarters

New York City’s introduction of a pied-à-terre tax has provided fodder for Zohran Mamdani’s critics, who accuse the democratic socialist mayor of attacking the rich – even as others welcome it as a much-needed effort to tax the wealthy in a city known for its yawning inequality and cost-of-living crisis.

The tax, aimed at closing the city’s budget gap, covers people who own but do not live full-time in a house worth more than $5m or a condominium or cooperative unit worth at least $1m.

Food costs have soared but existing businesses fear unfair competition and programs elsewhere yielded mixed results

Carlos Collado, a Dominican immigrant who owns five independent grocery stores in the Bronx and Manhattan, has succeeded over the last three decades despite obstacles that he blames on local and state governance.

His stores have faced an increase in shoplifting, he said. The city has provided tax benefits to big corporations that opened grocery stores and took business away from his.