Mamdani's first bill for his "pied-a-terre" tax in New York City has gone out. Since most people in America speak English, let's talk about what a "pied-a-terre"  tax is. 

Pied-à-terre (French for “foot on the ground”) is a small secondary residence—typically an apartment or modest house—that someone maintains in addition to their primary home. It is used for occasional stays (for work, travel, weekends, or convenience) rather than as a full-time residence. The term is especially common in real estate for compact city apartments kept by people who mainly live elsewhere.

Maybe Mamdani is using languages other than English not to tax people so Americans won't understand what it means. 

As expected, the tax is already targeting people who don't have second residences.

Last week, my mom got a "pied-a-terre" tax notice. She has lived full-time in her townhouse FOR 30 YEARS (she and my dad bought it for under $1 million). She has no other residence.

Is NYC not bothering with basic checking of its own tax lists?

She's 81 and has three weeks to… pic.twitter.com/aS9Nam5Htf

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 27, 2026

Alex's mom has a townhome she has lived in for decades. It's not a second home. She got a tax bill for $56,000. Now, thankfully she is an 81-year-old woman who has a son with connections. He will likely be able to get this mistake rectified. What happens to elderly people who don't have well-connected children to assist them? Will they lose their homes if they don't pay?

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If it was in English more of us would know what it mean. Never heard the term before in my 66 years.

— Brian Cartwright (@blcartwright) July 27, 2026

Regular people don't have second residences so we have never heard of it. Zohran Mamdani has a whole other compound in Uganda. He is used to this fancy terminology. 

My goodness! Who could have possibly predicted the level of incompetence?

— Adam Lesar (@TheAdamLesar) July 27, 2026

I know, except absolutely everyone

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 27, 2026

Anything Mamdani touches will turn into a mess. 

Wait for the next phase. Taxing underutilized homes.
"You have three bedrooms, yet you live alone. You are wasting space that could be used to house other people."

— Three feet to infinity (@hyperfocal) July 27, 2026

Don't give that petty little tyrant any ideas.

Don't forgot that list is basically a list of addresses alleged to have rich owners who aren't there.

It's a major privacy violation that'll encourage theft, or worse. Your mom is now a target because of it.

— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) July 27, 2026

Residents need to sue this mayor, the city, and do it quickly. They've put seniors at huge risk by publishing their addresses as rich people who don't live in them. This is awful.

— Misty Dawn (@MiztDawnCO) July 27, 2026

Also, this! Way to give criminals an organized list of homes not occupied year round. He probably meant to do it.

Shaking down senior homeowners sounds about right. Imagine the hassle this creates for older people who might not have family who can advocate for them? This mayor and his evil socialist ideas are a damn disgrace!

— Dawn Papandrea (@DawnPapandrea) July 27, 2026

The process will be the punishment - getting a name off the list would be akin to escaping the prison known as North Korea (yea, some have managed that - but not easy) - good luck.

— Krishnan Chittur (@cheprofessor) July 27, 2026

They're counting on people just paying it to get rid of them.