Deborah Hammond

So basically what will happen is this: >Owners of $5 million+ properties who don't live in NYC full time will immediately look to sell before the tax kicks in... flooding the top end of the market with inventory all at once. >But buyers will factor the new annual fee into what they're willing to pay, meaning sellers can't get what the property was worth before the tax existed, so values at the high end drop. >Some owners won't sell and won't pay...they'll just stop using the property, let it sit, and fight the bill in court for years, which is exactly what wealthy people with expensive lawyers do. >Others will convert their ownership into an LLC or trust structure designed to obscure primary residency status, and the city won't have the staff or resources to unwind thousands of complex real estate holding structures. >Foreign owners, yhe ones the politicians are actually talking about, will simply ignore the bill, because the city has no mechanism to force collection from someone with no US income, no US bank accounts, and ownership held offshore. >The city will collect far less than $500 million because the pool of people who just comply and pay is much smaller than projected, leaving a budget gap that still needs to be filled. >Meanwhile the high end of the real estate market has been spooked, construction financing for luxury developments dries up, and the trickle-down effect hits construction jobs, broker commissions, and the city's existing property tax base. >Albany will eventually water down enforcement to keep the real estate lobby quiet, and what's left is a tax that raises a fraction of what was promised and costs more to administer than anyone budgeted for. Bookmark this for 2 years from now.

Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich.

Alan Cumming on how women have ruined feminism for him.

The Baby Bust recently turned 18. It’s not going to be pretty for colleges.

This is something people aren’t talking about: The dating pool in NYC is changing. With jobs leaving and higher taxes, many of the successful men and women people want to build a life with are leaving or not even trying to come here in the first place. Texas has more finance jobs - AI and tech are elsewhere… I was talking to two Gen Z women I know. Friends of the family. One is planning to move to D.C. and the other already moved to Chicago, both because of the dating pool, even though they both voted for Mamdani. That’s the disconnect. Even though they both voted for Mamdani, the kind of men they are looking for are not the ones who want free stuff, socialism, and taking a free bus to a cheap grocery store. They apparently don’t want a “hot guy for Zorhan.” 👇 And “tax the rich”… when every woman I know wants to be wealthy. Including these two Gen Z women - They work hard. They want to be successful and financially independent. And they want a man that is as well. This is after just a few months. If this continues, what does the city look like in a few years? This comes down to who stays, who leaves, and what’s left.