New York Supreme Court

A Staten Island judge has ordered New York City to redo its rollout of a new tax on pricey secondary homes, a signature initiative of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration expected to raise about $500 million a year for the city.

State Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzi ruled in favor of homeowners who sued the city, finding the Department of Finance's July rollout was "arbitrary and capricious," violated recipients' due process rights, and unfairly shifted the burden onto homeowners to prove a property was their primary residence. The city had posted a list of more than 900,000 properties potentially subject to the tax and mailed notices to homeowners ahead of an Oct. 6 deadline to contest the designation. Ozzi ordered the city to pull the list from its website, cancel the mailings, and issue new individualized notices using updated records, including information on how to challenge determinations.

The city has appealed and will seek a stay to keep collecting the surcharge during litigation; plaintiffs' attorney Randy Mastro says redoing the process correctly would be faster. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella called the rollout an "enemies list" and urged an apology. The ruling adds to mounting legal pressure, with President Trump calling the tax a "dangerous political experiment" and Wilbur Ross and Steve Wynn separately suing the city this week.

Joseph and Anthony Livreri, brothers who own the Ozone Park pizzeria Aldo, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to conspiracy and bribery charges tied to payoffs made to Eric Ulrich, former senior advisor to then-Mayor Eric Adams and later the city's Department of Buildings commissioner. The brothers admitted paying Ulrich $4,000 to help stop the DOB from forcing them to vacate a Williamsburg bakery shut down after a fire, one piece of a broader 2023 indictment that also alleged bribes to expedite health inspections at their pizzeria and to clear licensing obstacles for a codefendant's towing business.

The Livreris will not testify against Ulrich, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights under their plea deal, and are set to be sentenced Dec. 10. Prosecutors say the brothers had deep ties to Adams, including campaign donations and a fundraiser they hosted before his term began. Ulrich has pleaded not guilty across five indictments and faces trial Sept. 28. Adams himself was charged separately in the wider corruption probe, though the Trump Justice Department later dropped those charges.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Rensselaer County and Sheriff Kyle Bourgault after they became the sole holdouts defying the state's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bans local law enforcement agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit, filed in state Supreme Court, seeks a court order voiding Rensselaer's 287(g) agreement. It came a day after Bourgault and 14 other New York sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit arguing the state law is an unconstitutional overreach; a federal judge has set a September 9 deadline for the state to respond to their request for a restraining order. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin vowed to fight the suit in court.

Nassau County, along with Broome and Cattaraugus, previously terminated its ICE partnership after subpoenas from James's office, with Nassau Executive Bruce Blakeman calling the law "bad and dangerous" but agreeing to comply. Governor Kathy Hochul has defended the law while saying the state still cooperates with ICE on deporting convicted criminals.