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Facing a looming $5.4 billion budget deficit gap this year and next, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, both Democrats, are jointly backing a tax on high-end pieds-à-terres, or second homes, in New York City, which can sit empty much of the year.

The proposal, which was presented without much detail, would tax people who own a second home in New York that is worth more than $5 million. Hochul said her goal is to raise $500 million annually, which would go toward closing the anticipated $5.4 billion budget deficit in 2027.

“If you can afford a $5 million second home that sits empty most of the year, you can afford to contribute like every other New Yorker,” Hochul stated.

Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor to its City Journal who researches urban policy, including public finance, told JNS that New York City is “long overdue” for a “full rethink of its property-tax system.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announces proposed a pied-à-terre tax to support New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s efforts to close New York City’s budget gap, April 15, 2026. Credit: Susan Watts/Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“Gently discouraging keeping a house or apartment unoccupied might make sense in the context of full property-tax reform,” according to Gelinas, a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times.

“The mayor and governor have not proposed full property tax reform, instead isolating one gimmicky, tax-the-rich idea essentially as a marketing ploy as the state budget remains stalled,” she told JNS.

“It sounds good to most people who don’t have second homes” but isn’t a “rational tax strategy,” she said. “It’s also concerning that they are making a desperate cash grab when state and city revenues, including property tax dollars, are still naturally rising with the economy.”

Hochul said at a press conference that “what I’m saying is simple and similar to what other international cities like Paris and Toronto have already adopted, because it’s a matter of fairness to all those millions of residents who actually live here.”

“Those who benefit from the city without living in a full-time capacity should contribute to the costs that it takes to run the city: public safety, world class parks, amenities, the roads, the subway system,” she said. “This proposal simply ensures that they’re contributing in a meaningful way to keeping New York City the greatest city in the world, and it goes also to help the city’s budget gap.”

Mamdani spoke on Wednesday at a Tax Day forum with leading economists Joseph Stiglitz and Gabriel Zucman.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a Tax Day forum with economists Gabriel Zucman and Joseph Stiglitz at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan, April 15, 2026. Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.

“This is a tax on properties worth more than $5 million that are owned by people who do not reside in New York City,” the mayor, a Democratic Socialist, said at the forum.

Mamdani said that the “super wealthy” buy properties and use them to “store their wealth” but don’t “pay back into that same city that generates so much of that wealth in the way that they should.”

“What we are talking about is a recognition of the inequality that has permeated politics through the five boroughs of our city, through our country, through the world,” he said. Mamdani called a projected exodus of high earners from the city, if taxes get too high, “imagined,” saying that “we have to reckon with the very real exodus that we are seeing in this city: an exodus of working-class people.”

The mayor has also proposed raising property taxes by more than 9% in the next fiscal year. That and the proposed new tax on secondary homes have met strong opposition.

Multiple real estate brokers, who cater to an ultra-wealthy clientele, declined to comment on the impact such a tax would have on the Big Apple real estate industry.

Bess Freedman, CEO of the real estate brokerage Brown Harris Stevens, wrote to her staff that “while this proposal is being framed as a tax on the ultra-wealthy, the reality is that its impact would extend far beyond a narrow segment of the market” to “every corner of our industry.”

Freedman reportedly added in the memo that “targeting the top of the market creates a ripple effect” and “when luxury values decline, it compresses pricing throughout the entire market, impacting homeowners at all levels.” (Freeman’s firm said earlier this month that more buyers spent $10 million or more to buy a new development residence in Manhattan in the first quarter of 2026 than in any other quarter of the past 10 years.)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a Tax Day forum with economists Gabriel Zucman and Joseph Stiglitz at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan, April 15, 2026. Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.

At the event with Mamdani and the economists, Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank who holds a Nobel Prize in Economics, said that in the past 25 years, “41% of all the increase in wealth has gone to the top 1%.”

“The bottom 50% of the world has gotten just 1% of that increase in wealth. So inequality has been growing,” he said. The United States has “more inequality than any other advanced country,” he said.

Stiglitz, a Jewish university professor at Columbia University, pointed to Mamdani during his remarks and told the mayor that in his travels all over the world, “one of the striking things, as we’ve traveled, is everywhere, you are known.”

“You are as famous as Donald Trump, and the point I want to make is that the election in New York got so much attention everywhere because it was symbolic,” the economist said. “It showed that there was another side of the United States, that there were, you know, a city, which is the largest Jewish city, could elect somebody of very different persuasion, a religious belief.”

“It was a real testimony to the good side of humanity, and we need affirmation that there exists a good side to humanity right now,” he said. “One can’t underestimate the influence that New York has on the entire world as a symbol of what is possible.” JNS

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has been named to Time magazine’s 2026 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, the magazine announced on Wednesday.
It marks the fifth time the longest-serving premier has appeared on the annual list.

“Like President Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu once faced the political wasteland: the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, left the Israeli Prime Minister responsible for the worst security failure in his country’s history. The political comeback he then engineered may have exceeded Trump’s own,” Time editor-at-large Ian Bremmer writes. “Israel’s devastation of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, its crippling strikes alongside the U.S. on Iran’s nuclear program in the [June 2025] 12-Day War, and the eventual extraction of all remaining hostages from Gaza have boosted his standing with the Israeli public.”

Bremmer continues: “This same legacy may also poison international attitudes toward his country. The staggering human toll in Gaza, ongoing West Bank settlement expansion, another incursion into Lebanon, and a darkening war with Iran eroded support among younger Americans—even as Washington remains Israel’s indispensable security partner.

“More chapters will soon be written, but Netanyahu has yet to resolve the tension at the center of his comeback: the actions that saved him politically will also define—and complicate—his legacy.”

Netanyahu is among roughly two dozen political leaders recognized this year, alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pope Leo XIV. Also included are Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, among others. JNS

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump said a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will take effect tonight, outlining a 10-day pause aimed at opening the door to broader negotiations between the two countries.

In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.”

He went on to describe recent diplomatic efforts, adding: “On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin’ Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let’s GET IT DONE! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

In a subsequent post, Trump said he plans to bring both leaders to Washington, writing that he will invite them for “the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago. Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly!”

Despite the announcement, Israeli officials indicated that military positions on the ground will remain unchanged during the ceasefire period. A senior Israeli source told Reuters that the IDF is not preparing to pull back from southern Lebanon.

Under the arrangement, Israeli forces will continue holding the so-called “anti-tank line,” the furthest distance from which anti-tank missiles could threaten Israeli communities, and will maintain control of key elevated positions throughout southern Lebanon.

Officials further stressed that Israeli forces will retain freedom of action, noting that if Hezbollah or other hostile elements pose an immediate danger, the IDF will act to neutralize the threat.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam publicly welcomed the development, calling it “a central Lebanese demand we have pursued since the first day of the war, and was our primary goal in the Washington meeting on Tuesday.”

He continued: “As I congratulate all Lebanese on this achievement, I pray for the martyrs who fell, and affirm my solidarity with their families, with the wounded, and with the citizens who were forced to flee their cities and villages, and I hold full hope that they will be able to return to them as soon as possible.”

Salam also expressed appreciation to international players involved in the diplomatic effort, thanking “the regional and international efforts exerted to reach this outcome, especially those by the United States of America, France, European Union countries, and all Arab brothers, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Republic of Egypt, in addition to the State of Qatar and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.”

In Israel, opposition leaders sharply criticized the move. Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid said: “Not for the first time, all the promises of this government are crashing into reality.”

He added: “The confrontation in Lebanon can only end with the removal of the threat to the northern communities permanently. Under this government, that will no longer happen.”

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman MK Avigdor Liberman also voiced strong opposition, stating: “The ceasefire in Lebanon is treason against the residents of the north. We again allow Hezbollah to recover and become stronger. We can not end the war without a clear decision and the elimination of Hezbollah.”

Earlier Thursday, Axios reported, citing a Lebanese presidential source, that Trump had already informed President Joseph Aoun that a ceasefire decision had been finalized and would take effect within hours.

An Israeli official confirmed that Washington has been pressing for an agreement, and while discussions are advancing, a final deal has not yet been formally completed.

According to various reports, U.S. officials initiated the diplomatic push, believing that direct engagement between Israel and Lebanon could pave the way for either a temporary or permanent cessation of hostilities.

Even as optimism grew around the ceasefire announcement, Hezbollah responded with renewed attacks. Shortly after reports of the agreement surfaced, the group fired five missiles toward Haifa and surrounding areas. Some were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system, while others landed in open areas.

A day earlier, Trump had signaled his intentions in another Truth Social post, writing: “Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!”

However, behind the scenes, diplomatic friction persisted. A Lebanese source claimed that when Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a joint call with President Aoun, the Lebanese leader strongly rejected the idea.

After Aoun declined to participate in the proposed three-way conversation, Rubio informed him that Trump would resume discussions at a later time. Lebanese reports indicated that Aoun “insisted on an immediate ceasefire” and was assured that U.S. efforts would intensify.

Meanwhile, fighting on the ground continued. Earlier in the day, a rocket barrage struck the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, with one missile directly hitting a building. Emergency responders from Magen David Adom said no injuries were reported, though the strike caused significant property damage.

{Matzav.com}