'Enough Is Enough': Borough President Vito Fossella, Homeowners Rally Against Pied-à-Terre Tax List

Borough President Vito Fossella rallied with Staten Island homeowners against the city’s bad-faith and searchable publication of the names and addresses of almost a million people who, it alleges, may be subject to a second home property surcharge, known as the pied-a-terre tax.

Despite the tax being aimed at those with secondary condos worth more than $1 million and secondary homes worth more than $5 million, the vast majority of those named should not be on the list. Many homeowners, including Borough President Fossella, have had their names and personal home addresses wrongfully published because they don’t own a luxury secondary home.

“This isn’t about me, this is about you,” said Borough President Fossella at the rally on the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk in Midland Beach. “We’re here to stand united -- the people of Staten Island, the people who love this country, for all of you who earned your home -- to say enough is enough, stop the madness. The city has the power to suspend the list and to stop it and go back to square one and do it the right way. It is one of the most disgraceful things I have ever seen in my life -- and we can change it today.”