Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Randy Mastro | Former Deputy Mayor & Attorney Speaks on Leading Lawsuit Against Mamdani's Pied-à-Terre Tax

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Randy Mastro | Former Deputy Mayor & Attorney Speaks on Leading Lawsuit Against Mamdani's Pied-à-Terre Tax · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Randy has been a great New Yorker and a tremendous
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  Speaker 1: fighter for a very long time. So here he is
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  Speaker 1: back on siding friends in the morning.
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  Speaker 2: It's been a minute.
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  Speaker 1: As they say the young kids, my friend Randy Mastro, Randy,
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  Speaker 1: good morning, buddy, how are you great?
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  Speaker 3: Said, and a pleasure to be with you again.
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  Speaker 1: Oh God, I love having you back too. I saw
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  Speaker 1: you on TV on New York One. It's a communist channel,
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  Speaker 1: but I know you have to do it. And I
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  Speaker 1: saw you talking about Elizabeth Street Garden. I've actually taken
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  Speaker 1: a lot of interest in that, going back to last
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  Speaker 1: year when they tried to, I guess get rid of it.
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  Speaker 2: So is that fight over that gordon over?
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  Speaker 3: Where? Is that? Well said? The New York Times reported
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  Speaker 3: yesterday that the Mandanie administration has decided to settle the
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  Speaker 3: case on terms where the garden will stay a garden
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  Speaker 3: and there will be affordable housing built on other sites,
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  Speaker 3: exactly the solution that we came up with in the
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  Speaker 3: Adams administration. You know, the New Yorkers go to court,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the housing advocates and the developer who was
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  Speaker 3: going to turn Elizabeth Street Garden into affordable housing development,
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  Speaker 3: even though we order offered that developer a better site
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  Speaker 3: nearby where more housing could be done. Apparently everyone is,
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  Speaker 3: you know, getting together to do the right thing. Elizabeth
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  Speaker 3: Street Garden will remain dedicated parkland, and there'll be affordable
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  Speaker 3: housing built elsewhere, more of it elsewhere, So it's a
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  Speaker 3: win win garden for the people, affordable housing.
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  Speaker 2: What was it that drove this idiot mayor to.
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  Speaker 1: The conclusion that your plan to keep the garden and
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  Speaker 1: get more affordable housing was actually a better plan.
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  Speaker 2: You knew that initially.
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  Speaker 1: Why did it take them so long to cooperate.
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, there were certain people who just had a
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  Speaker 3: knee jerk reaction. It was going to be affordable housing.
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  Speaker 3: It has to be affordable housing. Meanwhile, we have another
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  Speaker 3: problem in this city. We need affordable housing, yes, but
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  Speaker 3: we also need parks and open green space where people
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  Speaker 3: can experience the beauty of being in the outdoors together.
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  Speaker 3: Elizabeth Street Garden is a treasure, and in our administration
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  Speaker 3: we managed to save it by dedicating it as parkland.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm glad to see and I applaud that now
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  Speaker 3: everyone is coming around and this administration is doing the
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  Speaker 3: right thing at Elizabeth Street Garden. And maintaining it is
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  Speaker 3: dedicated Parkland.
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  Speaker 1: Why Randy, you're doing yeomen's work here, God's work in
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  Speaker 1: fighting spiritier attacks and sending up a New Yorkers seventeen
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  Speaker 1: thousand on a list.
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  Speaker 2: I know forty three hundred.
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  Speaker 1: Have already bought for exemptions. But this guy, this mayor,
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  Speaker 1: he loves to embarrass New Yorkers. I mean, whether it's
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  Speaker 1: standing outside at Ken Griffin's house, you remember that bask all.
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  Speaker 1: What's really pissed off Ken? And Ken was right to
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  Speaker 1: this list of seventeen thousand.
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  Speaker 2: What made me.
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  Speaker 1: Happy, I'm not gonna lie, is that some people on
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  Speaker 1: this list, like Cynthia Nixon, are very very odd and
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  Speaker 1: supporters of this mayor. But when does he get the
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  Speaker 1: bulls to put this list out there publicly with seventeen
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  Speaker 1: thousand names, many of which don't even own a second home.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, SID, most the vast majority of those seventeen thousand
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  Speaker 3: are never going to owe this surcharge. They are New
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  Speaker 3: Yorkers whose primary residences here, SID. I got one of
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  Speaker 3: those threatening notice letters. I've lived in this city for
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  Speaker 3: forty years. I've paid city income taxas in forty years.
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  Speaker 3: I was first deputy mayor last year. You legally have
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  Speaker 3: to live in this city to be first deputy mayor,
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  Speaker 3: and he sent me one of those threatening notice letters.
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  Speaker 3: It's outrageous what they did. And by the way, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you see these online trollers, you know, on exit elsewhere saying, oh,
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  Speaker 3: Randy Masher doesn't live in his townhouse. I live in
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  Speaker 3: my townhouse. I love that towdhouse, so it's straight exers,
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  Speaker 3: I live in that touthhouse.
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  Speaker 1: Really is pathetic. Don't worry about those totos on X.
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  Speaker 1: I know exactly who you're talking about. But Vicky Paladino
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  Speaker 1: asked me this morning, she loves you there and clean.
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  Speaker 1: She said, she's wondering if this is a class action
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  Speaker 1: suit and is it too late for people to join
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  Speaker 1: this lawsuit.
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  Speaker 2: What are the answers to those two questions?
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  Speaker 3: Okay, well, I appreciate Vicky's questions. It's not a class action,
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  Speaker 3: but the ruling will apply to similarly situated people because
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  Speaker 3: the city will have a ruling that the way it
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  Speaker 3: rolled out this piano tear tax was not only a
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  Speaker 3: fiasco at tobacco, it's illegal. And you know why it's illegal, said,
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  Speaker 3: because the state legislation required the city administration in implementing
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  Speaker 3: this surcharge to make a determination, an initial determination in
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  Speaker 3: the first instance, who's covered by the tax, okay, And
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  Speaker 3: that's who they were supposed to reach out to. Instead,
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  Speaker 3: this administration sent out seventeen thousand threatening letters that said
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  Speaker 3: you may be subject to the tax unless you apply
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  Speaker 3: for an exemption. And if you don't apply for an
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  Speaker 3: exemption or you don't get an exemption, you know you're
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  Speaker 3: going to be deemed to owe the tax. That is
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  Speaker 3: not the way surcharges and taxes work. The government can't
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  Speaker 3: say I'd like to tax you, so you tell me
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  Speaker 3: why you shouldn't be taxed. The government has to have
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  Speaker 3: a basis for taxing you. It has to have made
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  Speaker 3: that determination the first instance. It can't shift a burden
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  Speaker 3: to you to prove you live in your own home.
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  Speaker 3: It has to determine that you don't. So that's why
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  Speaker 3: this case is getting traction and striking such a nerve,
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  Speaker 3: and the judges already ruled we're likely to succeed on
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  Speaker 3: the merits that this is illegal what the city has
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  Speaker 3: done under that state authorizing statute and under the city's
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  Speaker 3: own rules for implementing it. And when a final decision
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  Speaker 3: has had and that will happen as early as August
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  Speaker 3: thirty one. When we're back in court, the city will
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  Speaker 3: know that it has to do a do over that
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  Speaker 3: it cannot blunderbus tell thousands and thousands of New Yorkers
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  Speaker 3: who live here always have primary residents. You explain why
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  Speaker 3: you live in your own home. It's just wrong. Oh,
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  Speaker 3: it's silly, illegal.
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  Speaker 2: It's illegal, it's silly.
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  Speaker 1: It's all those things. But just for people that are
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  Speaker 1: under the impression, because not everybody is so learned in this,
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  Speaker 1: I can promise you that, okay, that if you have success,
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  Speaker 1: this thing is going to go away.
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  Speaker 2: That's not the case.
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  Speaker 1: What you really want here is a do over which
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  Speaker 1: will be professionally done and not call out every single
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  Speaker 1: New Yorker. But the truth is this tax is not
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  Speaker 1: going away, right.
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  Speaker 3: The tax will the surcharge will not go away because
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  Speaker 3: of this lawsuit. What this lawsuit aims to achieve and
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  Speaker 3: is achieving, is that the way the Mundani administration rolled
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  Speaker 3: out the tax was not only unfair and unconscionable, listing
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  Speaker 3: every New york home on a role they published names
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  Speaker 3: addresses property values. So every New Yorker felt in jeopardy,
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  Speaker 3: but then sending out seventeen thousand threatening notice letters, they
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  Speaker 3: got to start over. They got to figure out who
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  Speaker 3: actually owes the tax. And by the way, it's easy
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  Speaker 3: to do. You know, if you're paying New York City
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  Speaker 3: income taxes, you live here as a primary residence. Nobody
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  Speaker 3: has a second home here. Who's paying New York City
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  Speaker 3: income taxes? You pay New York City income taxes because
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  Speaker 3: you live here. The state in the legislation said to
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  Speaker 3: New York City, we will, on request tell you who's
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  Speaker 3: paying city income taxes. But did the city do that,
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  Speaker 3: that simple step that would have confirmed they didn't. I
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  Speaker 3: don't know whether it was at a negligence, at a laziness,
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  Speaker 3: or intention because they want to ensnare people into paying
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  Speaker 3: a surcharge that they shouldn't have anything to do with
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  Speaker 3: because they live here. I don't know what their reason was.
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  Speaker 3: I just know the way they did this was wrong,
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  Speaker 3: and this lawsuit will tell them. You've got to do
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  Speaker 3: it over. You got to do it right, and you
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  Speaker 3: only send notices to people you've determined. Oh the tax.
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  Speaker 2: The Answeracy, just see you know, Randy, I'll answer it
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  Speaker 2: for you.
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  Speaker 1: The Answeracy they're trying to ensnare people and school people.
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  Speaker 1: And you know the situation on this tax. Just look
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  Speaker 1: at two politicians yesterday Randy Mashow to make it political
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  Speaker 1: for a second, one said, hey, if you can afford
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  Speaker 1: a house over five million dollars and we basically going
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  Speaker 1: to penalize you. You know you've enjoyed success, You've worked hard,
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  Speaker 1: so f you. That's the governor Kathy Hochel. The other
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  Speaker 1: President Trump in DC said this is going to destroy
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  Speaker 1: New York. What's the matter with these people? One hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty thousand people already left? What makes them? I
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  Speaker 1: think more won't leave when this thing, in fact goes
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  Speaker 1: into effect.
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  Speaker 2: So you listen to Hokol yesterday. He listened to Trump yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: And only one of those people, Randy Mashcrow, sounds sensitive
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  Speaker 1: to New Yorker's needs and sounds sane.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not in politics anymore. I'm just a humble
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  Speaker 3: lawyer trying to do the right things. But the rule
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  Speaker 3: of law matters, and unfortunately the Mundami administration too often
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  Speaker 3: isn't following the rule of law. That's why I had
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  Speaker 3: to bring a lawsuit like this one. And I've had
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  Speaker 3: to bring other lawsuits. They're not following the law.
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  Speaker 2: Out of line.
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  Speaker 1: One more for you, and it's just an opinion piece here, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: as a lawyer, not as a former deputy mayor of
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  Speaker 1: political all that. But you know you served alongside Woody Giuliani,
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  Speaker 1: who will forever be etched. Not just the greatest mayor
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  Speaker 1: of New York history. I think he's the greatest mayor
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  Speaker 1: in the history of any city in this country. But
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  Speaker 1: he did twenty five years ago and was unparalleled, and
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  Speaker 1: not because anybody would have done it.
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  Speaker 2: He was special.
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  Speaker 1: Bottom line still is Rudy Giuliani is a very special guy.
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  Speaker 1: And you know that there's a big petition out there
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  Speaker 1: and I'm kind of the face of this now, Randy.
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  Speaker 1: I've had Giovanni Galanti on this show twice, including just
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  Speaker 1: two days ago, to try to keep the mayor away
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  Speaker 1: from that sacred site. Let me commemorate twenty five years
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  Speaker 1: exactly thirty days from today.
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  Speaker 2: He should not be there.
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  Speaker 1: Anybody who's friends forget about associate with anybody who's friends
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  Speaker 1: with people like Hassan Piker and endorses people like Chevalier,
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  Speaker 1: people who say America deserved nine to eleven. He should
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  Speaker 1: not be there on that day. Now, I know he's
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  Speaker 1: going to be there, but that's my opinion. Most people
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  Speaker 1: share that opinion with me. How does Randy Mostro feel?
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  Speaker 3: You know, you know how much I respect you said,
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  Speaker 3: You know, I come at it a little differently, Okay, yes, yeah, yes.
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  Speaker 3: It is the case that so many of the positions
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  Speaker 3: that our current mayor has taken are antithetical to the
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  Speaker 3: emotions we feel about you know, that day and we
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  Speaker 3: all lost so many dear friends because of that horrible,
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  Speaker 3: horrible day. But I think when one is mayor of
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  Speaker 3: New York City, one has an obligation to show support
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  Speaker 3: for every community and every important event in our city.
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  Speaker 1: But what if that community doesn't finish? What if they
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  Speaker 1: don't want him there? Though, Randy, his obligation is one thing.
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  Speaker 1: How about a heart.
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  Speaker 3: He should have shown up at the Israel Day parade,
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  Speaker 3: he didn't. He should show up at the Columbus Day parade.
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  Speaker 3: He won't. Yet he's going to show up on nine
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  Speaker 3: to eleven. There's something wrong with the way that guy
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  Speaker 3: thinks and the way he governs the city. He's not
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  Speaker 3: a mayor who's uniting our city. He's governing by division.
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  Speaker 3: So I look at it a little differently than you do. That.
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  Speaker 3: What offends me most about what's going on in our
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  Speaker 3: city right now is we have a mayor who's picking
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  Speaker 3: and choosing and leaving certain communities out, like our Jewish
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  Speaker 3: community and our Italian American community.
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  Speaker 2: So what do we do moving forward? Randy?
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I was asked this the other day,
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  Speaker 3: and again, I'm not in politics anymore. I just love
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  Speaker 3: the city and I care about this city being united. Right. So,
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  Speaker 3: and if the mayor does something right, I say he
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  Speaker 3: did something right, like on Elizabeth Street Garden. He's doing
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  Speaker 3: something right now. But you know, what do we do? OK?
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  Speaker 3: When somebody tells you who they are when they're running
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  Speaker 3: for public office, believe them. He's doing exactly what he
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  Speaker 3: said he would do. And not enough New Yorkers showed up.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: It was a small percentage of the eligible voters who
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  Speaker 3: actually showed up in our last mayor election to elect
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  Speaker 3: this guy. And now he's doing exactly what he said
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  Speaker 3: he would do. And so many of us, including yourself, said,
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  Speaker 3: oh my god, he's gonna do these terrible things. He
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  Speaker 3: can't be elected. Right. Well, he's doing them. So next
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  Speaker 3: time you go to the polls New Yorkers, think about
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  Speaker 3: what you're doing, and show up because I still believe
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  Speaker 3: that most New Yorkers do not want to be governed
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  Speaker 3: by socialists and they are not socialists. So get out
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  Speaker 3: and vote. You know, last night in Wisconsin, the moderates
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  Speaker 3: got out. Okay, You've got to have common sense and
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  Speaker 3: get out and vote so that these people don't get elected.
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  Speaker 3: It's as simple as that. You get what you elect,
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  Speaker 3: or if you don't show up, you know you get this.
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  Speaker 1: It's so true, and then you bitch and complain and
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  Speaker 1: it's way too late. Randy Mashaw, you're a special guy.
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  Speaker 1: I love you, I do I think I wish you
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: go back into politics, so you keep you tell me
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  Speaker 1: three times amount of politics.
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  Speaker 2: Well get that back in.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we need people like you doing big things in
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  Speaker 1: the city, even though you already are. These lawsuits are
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  Speaker 1: very very important representing New Yorkers. You're doing a really
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  Speaker 1: fantastic job. Randy Mastrow, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you SI great to be with you, you too.
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  Speaker 1: Randy Mastrow right there, formerly worked alongside Woody Giuliani and
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  Speaker 1: Eric Adams and is now defending New Yorkers in this
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  Speaker 1: ridiculous second home I guess tax brought upon by mayor terrorist.
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• 14:43
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• 14:45
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• 15:05
  Speaker 4: next time for a new episode so you never have
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: to wonder
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: What the heck is going on here