Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Randy Mastro | Attorney Leading Lawsuit Against Mamdani's Pied-à-Terre Tax Celebrates Big Win

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Randy Mastro | Attorney Leading Lawsuit Against Mamdani's Pied-à-Terre Tax Celebrates Big Win · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So let me get right to my friend, and what
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: can I say, Randy? Congratulations. You did an amazing job
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: on behalf of a lot of New Yorkers. I was
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: with comedic actor Robert Wall last night at the Yankee game.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: He lives in L.A., but he's got a second house,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: an apartment right here in New York City, and he
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: was thrilled. So on behalf of a lot of New Yorkers,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: thank you for your hard work in making sure we
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: got the win yesterday. I know you want to feel
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: like a million bucks.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: And I am just so happy for thousands of New
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Yorkers who never should have been subjected to this botched
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: rollout by the Mondani administration. And this judge, Justice Ozzie,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: right down the line, he gave it straight. It's a
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: compelling decision. They botched the rollout. They screwed up. They
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: scared thousands of people who should never have to pay
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: this tax. And now they're going to have to do
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: it over. So I'm just... Extremely gratified by the decision,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: but more importantly, that thousands of New Yorkers can rest
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: easier because they know they were victimized and now they've
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: gotten justice.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: They really were. I mean, this mayor actually put the
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: onus on homeowners to prove they own the homes, which
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: is just ass backwards and ridiculous and really awful. He's
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: a terrible guy. I don't get it. But I was
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: talking to a gnome this morning, and they sent it
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: out to about 17,000 people.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: And I believe you told me last time that maybe
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: as many as 7,000 or 8,000 never should have gotten
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: it in the first place.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Well, the city has admitted it. They admitted when we
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: had the court hearing back in August 31st that about 7,000
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: of those 17,000 had already been told they shouldn't have
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: gotten that letter or had applied for exemptions, which... is
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: not something that is a process that exists under that
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: state statute. It's something the Mondani administration made up to
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: ensnare people. But when you apply, you had to prove
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: yourself with tax returns. You had to submit your own
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: tax returns to Zoran Mondani. Can you imagine that? This
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: is antipathy to wealth and private property ownership. You had
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: to submit your tax returns to this city hall. But
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: those people aren't going to owe the tax, and they
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: had already admitted that. That left $ 10, 000, and thousands more
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: of them probably won't owe the tax. But now the
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: city has to do it over because the city was
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: supposed to make that determination in the first instance. And, Sid,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I want to add one more thing. Thank you for
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: squeezing me in. I'm on the way to the airport.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I'm on the road. I'm trying to get my way
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: back to my beloved hometown. But, Sid, we also brought
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: suit yesterday to kill the pianotare tax altogether. It's unconstitutional
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: and illegal. So that's the next case. Nobody should have
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: to pay this tax.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: No, I love this. Thank God you said that. I
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: feel like successful New Yorkers are being punished. I mean,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: God forbid you actually work really, really hard and enjoy
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: some success. That means I got to fit the bill
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: for everybody else. That's crazy. And now I kept telling
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Marshall Kramer last night that even though, yes, Randy Mastro
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: and the city won this first round, that come January 1st,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: the bill is still out there. And I kept thinking
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: to myself, well, let's get rid of it. So I'm
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: so happy that you filed that lawsuit yesterday because it
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: should go away.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Well, and let me just say this, Sid. It's not
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: just wealthy people. I don't represent, in the case I brought,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: the billionaires. There's a second case related, brought by different lawyers,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: representing a couple of billionaires. Okay. Billionaires deserve justice, too.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: I'm representing people who just happen to have, by circumstance,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: a second home in New York City, or who got
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: ensnared by this tax because they bought or sold on
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: dates that where the tax retroactively applied means they have
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: to pay it. Because January 5th, last 2026, is the
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: effective date. Whoever owned it on the 26th. If you
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: bought it after that, you're going to end up, your
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: unit or your home, you're going to end up owing
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the tax if the person who was in there on
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: January 6th, 5th, 2026, owed the tax. And here's one
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: that just drives me nuts, Sid. Somebody bought their place
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: from an estate. The only place an estate lives is heaven.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: But because the estate owned the place on January 5, 2026,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: sold to this new owner, a New Yorker who pays
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: New York City taxes. In February, that person owes the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: surcharge for 2026. That is insane. Insane. Insane.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, insane. So do you really feel, I know you
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: don't get into these things to lose. You're a winner,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Randy Mastro. You just are. You're a winner, whether you're
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: working for Giuliani or Eric Adams, depending on the city.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Do you really feel in your heart of hearts, you've
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: got a pretty good case to make this whole thing
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: go away?
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, I think we have a great case because the
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: core of the case, federal constitution, the founders, they embodied
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: in the constitution. You can't discriminate. A state can't discriminate
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: against citizens of another state. And the state can't burden
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: interstate commerce. Well, that's exactly what this tax was intended
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: to do. We don't have to guess. The intent and
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: effect of the tax is to go after out-of-staters who
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: have a second home in New York City. The governor
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: said it. State legislators said it. Mondani said it. They
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: all said it. So we don't have to guess. And
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: that's illegal under the federal constitution, something called the Privileges
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: and Immunities Clause and the Dormant Commerce Clause. And more
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: than that, you know, they actually tried to hide under
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: the state constitution that this is a tax. They called
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: it a surcharge. But a tax by any other name
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: would cost as much. This is a tax. And as
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: a tax, there's a cap under the state constitution. on
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: how much can be raised through real estate property taxes.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: This legislation purported to exempt this tax from that cap.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: That's illegal under the state constitution. So for all those reasons,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: and the retroactive application to have the tax... apply as
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: of January 5th, even if the new owner is a
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: New York City taxpayer and lives in New York. I mean,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: that is insane. So for all those reasons and more,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: we should win several times over.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Love this. Two more quick ones. I know you've got
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: to fly home. You're also representing the landlords in this
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: ridiculous frozen rent case. where people are claiming, hey, the
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: mayor kept his promise. He said he was going to
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: freeze rents and he did it. Now, correct me if
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I'm wrong. It's only a few apartments, only a few
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: compared to all the apartments in New York City. And
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the truth is, while he may be making some tenants happy,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: he's screwing off the landlord. So it's not a win
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: for the mayor and New York City either, is it?
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: It is not for the following reason. OK, we say
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: we want to have more affordable housing. Well, small landlords
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: can't afford upkeep and to improve their properties and keep
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: them on the market when they don't get any fair
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: rent increase, because they're This rent freeze, unprecedented in city history, zero, zero,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: across-the-board freeze, never happened before. That really kills the small
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: landlords and has prevented them from— this is the count. You
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: see it on TV ads now that some affordable housing
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: group is running 60,000 empty apartments because the landlords can't
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: afford to keep them up and put them on the market.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: This is insanity. Again, I hate to use that word,
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: but this policy makes no sense. And the Mondani administration
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: imposed it on what's supposed to be an independent rent
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: guidelines board for the first time in its history doing
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: a zero-zero across the board rent freeze. And here's the rub, right?
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Last night, a little before midnight, the city was ordered
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: by a judge to produce documents. Top city hall officials
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: and the rent guidelines board Just that they produced hundreds
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: of documents, including from their personal devices. We couldn't get
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: into them last night because the way they were produced,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: the codes didn't work. We're getting into them this morning,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: and we will have so much more to say about
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: that later today. We got those documents, and we can't
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: wait to review them.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, my God. I got to call you later. I
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: got to hear myself. Last one, Randy, you're a great
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: friend of the Jews. in New York. You really are.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Every administration you work with, you actually love the Jewish
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: people and care. I don't care how many videos this
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: guy does. I don't care what Sukkot he goes to,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Lubavitch or Satmar. I don't care if he spends $ 7
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: million or $ 7 billion. No one's going to convince me
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: that Mamdani is not a raging, I mean a raging anti-Semite,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: him and his skank wife. You don't got to say that.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I'll say it, OK? But did you see this ridiculous
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: video he put out yesterday where he's combating anti-Semitism?
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: I haven't seen it personally. And Sid, you know, I
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: don't use the same language you do, particularly not when
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: I'm talking about wives. But let me just say this.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: You may not use the same language, but you may
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: not disagree. right, Randy?
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Well, I agree that Our mayor is not standing up
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: against anti-Semitism, and I have heard and read about what
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: he put out yesterday. Where is the actual definition of anti-Semitism?
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: There's an international definition. It was accepted. and has been
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: accepted around the world, and that Eric Adams, by executive order,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: made the definition of anti-Semitism, the official definition for our city,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: that Mondani voided on day one, and he still doesn't
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: have a definition of anti-Semitism. And of all those crime categories,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: what crime category is going up? And thank God our
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: police are doing a great job. Hate crimes against Jews.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Hate crimes against Jews.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: It is funny that he's trying to combat anti-Semitism, but
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: like you said, he wiped out that executive order day one,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: defining anti-Semitism, and at no point yesterday did he define anti-Semitism.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Hard to really defeat something when you're not exactly sure
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: how to describe it. That's Mayor Mamdani. Listen, Randy, again, congratulations.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: The work you're doing for this city is really unbelievable.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: You should get like a New York Purple Heart or something.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know. You really are spectacular, Randy Mastro. We
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: love you. Thank you so much.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Sid. Appreciate you. Bye-bye.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Appreciate you, too. Have a safe trip home. Randy Mastro
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: right there. So there it is. The mayor now has
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: to redo that whole peer-to-peer tax nonsense. And now Randy
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: is trying to make the whole thing go away. I
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: would love that. He's also fighting for the landlords in
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: this process. frozen rent fiasco, another fiasco by the mayor.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: And as I said at 6 o'clock, and he just
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: reiterated it, the fact is you can't fight something you
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: don't define. And the reason why Mamdani doesn't define anti-Semitism
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: is because he's guilty of it almost every single day.
• 11:59
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• 12:02
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• 12:05
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• 12:26
  Speaker 3: so you never have to wonder.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?