Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed tax on luxury second homes has an unlikely defender: Jeff Bezos.
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The Amazon founder compared the pied-à-terre tax — which has been criticized by other prominent businesspeople — to a tourist tax in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.
“Taxes on out-of-towners are very popular taxes. That’s why there are hotel taxes,” Bezos said.
“There are limits. If you raise the hotel taxes too much, the tourists stop coming,” he added. “So you have to be judicious, but I think that the pied-à-terre tax is a fine thing for New York to do.”
The pied-à-terre tax would apply to New York City properties valued at more than $5 million that are not occupied as a primary residence. The tax would affect owners whose primary residence is outside the city.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul originally proposed the tax, which was later backed by Mamdani.
Bezos, who has several New York properties within his real estate portfolio but whose main residence is in Florida, would be affected by the tax.
The tax, which requires legislative approval, has been criticized by President Donald Trump and other prominent businesspeople, including hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.
In a video posted online, Mamdani pointed to billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin’s $238 million penthouse, purchased in 2019, as an example of the kind of property that would be subject to the tax.
Griffin’s deputy at Citadel said in a memo to staff that the company might rethink a $6 billion redevelopment project for one of its midtown offices after Mamdani’s “shameful” comments.
Although he described the pied-à-terre tax as a “fine thing,” Bezos defended Griffin.
“Ken Griffin isn’t a villain. He hasn’t hurt anybody. He’s not hurting New York. In fact, quite the opposite,” Bezos said in the interview.
“That piece of it isn’t right, and there was no reason to do that,” he added, referring to the singling out of Griffin’s property.
