Liberal podcaster says he was 'doxed' by Mamdani's 'wanted poster' of property owners
Liberal podcaster Scott Galloway said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's pied-a-terre tax database amounts to doxing property owners, turning a tax list into a "wanted poster."
Prominent liberal podcaster and NYU professor Scott Galloway called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s publicly accessible database, saying it endangers landowners like himself.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened a new front in his ongoing battle with New York City's wealthy after his administration published a searchable database identifying affluent property owners who could be subject to the city's proposed pied-à-terre tax, a move critics say could expose them to harassment and public safety risks.
The database, released by the city's Department of Finance, allows users to search properties and view the names and addresses of owners whose non-primary residences could be subject to the proposed tax. A spokesperson for the department said publication of the property roll was required by state law.
Galloway was one of the database’s latest critics, calling it out on the latest episode of the "Pivot" podcast with co-host Kara Swisher, as reported by New York Magazine’s Intelligencer.
"I’ve been doxed," the liberal professor announced on the podcast. "I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Mayor Mamdani has decided to release a list of the 950,000 residences with addresses and names that might be eligible for his pied-à-terre tax."
"I don’t love this," co-host Kara Swisher agreed. "I can’t say I love this. It feels a little bit like doxing. Just tax them and get on with it is my feeling."
Galloway proceeded to read out the definition of doxing as "’publishing private identifying information to expose someone to public pressure or harm without their consent,’" and said that while he is a fan of the tax, he is not a fan of how the list has become a "wanted poster" for property owners.
"He’s taken a legitimate source of tax revenue, and he’s turning it into a wanted poster," he said of Mamdani’s tax list. "The question I would have is, other than trying to identify and imply these people have done something wrong — and then, 18 months after a healthcare CEO was executed in the street, published the list — what is the upside here? Why is he doing this?"
After also addressing Mamdani's comments about arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Galloway lamented that the New York City mayor was vindicating conservatives’ worst fears.
"He’s not only playing into the worst fears about him, but he’s making it harder for all progressives," he said. "I believe in a progressive tax structure. I believe we should raise tax rates. The Republicans, in order to create deficits and continue to transfer money from the poor to the rich, they argue that progressive tax structures are persecution. This plays exactly into that entire narrative."
"He’s implying we’ve done something wrong because we’re successful," Galloway later added. "New York is the last place you want to demonize success."
Galloway went on to argue that it goes against the very appeal of New York.
"The reason people move to New York is they think, ‘I want to be successful on Broadway. I want to be successful in business. I want to be successful in the arts. No one’s going to get in my f---ing way if I’m really talented and work hard,’" he said. "We’re going to celebrate it. We’re not going to put a big R on your door and say you’ve done something wrong because you’re successful."
One key quality Galloway noted was that "Ninety-five percent of the people on the list supposedly aren’t going to be subject to the tax. Other than implying these people have done something wrong and publishing their address without their permission, without their consent, what possible upside is there from publishing this list?"
Fox News Digital reached out to Galloway for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.
When contacted for comment, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) President James Whelan told Fox News Digital, "We opposed this tax in part because we warned that determining who is and is not subject to it would be extraordinarily complicated. The fact that so many owners appear to be receiving inaccurate notices raises serious questions about the City's readiness to administer the program. Even we did not expect implementation to be this flawed."
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Mamdani's office told Fox News Digital, "It is very important to note that the City publishes property tax rolls (as do other localities) and have for many years," and pointed to remarks the mayor made at a recent press conference addressing concerns.
"So, I just want to — for the sake of clarity — establish a few things," the mayor said. "The first is, and the reason for establishing this is some of them have been conflated. The first is that, just like localities from Nassau to Albany, we publish property tax rolls in accordance with the law, as the city has done twice a year for years, frankly, if not decades and centuries."
"And the tax property role that was posted last week is a reflection of all properties across New York City, not a reflection of those specifically that the pied-à-terre tax will be levied upon," Mamdani continued. "And that is an important distinction because as you've heard from the commissioner, the pied-à-terre tax is something that will be levied upon non-primary residences that are worth more than $5 million."
"When it comes to the recently passed law, there was a requirement to publish this role once again before the implementation of this surcharge," he added.
A city official noted further that state law mandates they "publish a roll of every property parcel that is subject to NYC property taxes - with ownership name, assessment, and how much taxes will be. This is not new."
"The roll is not a pied-a-terre list," the official continued. "It is a state mandated roll that has to be generated to be used as a pool/universe that DOF will examine to identify which properties are subject to a surcharge. This is separate from the 17,000 individuals who received the ‘you may be subject to...’ letter letting them know that they may be potentially subject to the second home surcharge."
"The same type of citywide property tax rolls has been published publicly on an annual basis for decades in adherence to New York State laws," the official added. "Any new type of surcharge or property taxes have gone through the same process: State passes a bill, a roll is published, and DOF uses the roll to identify the appropriate properties to levy based on parameters legally set by the State. People can search for property and property tax records by name, BBL, and address on ACRIS already."
The official also noted that Gov. Kathy Hochul stated that this is not new and highlighted a Bloomberg reporter's tweet saying "The data included in this release is regularly released as part of the city’s property tax assessment roll. It’s a huge data file that anyone can search if they have the bandwidth to download it and look. It’s not new."
The official went on to cite numerous tax rolls in other cities, including Nassau, Buffalo and Rochester, saying they have similar publicly available information.
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