Levine Calls For Pied-A-Terre Tax
City Councilman Mark Levine has been calling for a luxury tax on “pied-a-terre” properties in the City.
The term “pied-a-terre” – French for “foot on the ground” – refers to properties that the resident only occupies part-time, usually for vacations or business trips. Manhattan electeds began pushing for a pied-a-terre tax after news broke of a penthouse in New York that was sold to hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin for a record-breaking $238 million.
Mark Levine, who called the transaction “grotesque”, resented the idea of that level of wealth moving into the neighborhood without benefitting the surrounding community in any way.
“7 rent-stabilized tenants were evicted to make way for construction of this new tower, where the penthouse just sold for $238M to a billionaire who will pay zero local income tax,” Levine said in a tweet. “Exhibit A for why we need a pied-a-terre tax in NY now.”
Ben Kallos Stands with NYCOSH
City Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Lenox Hill, Carnegie Hill) braved freezing temperatures yesterday to speak at a rally for construction safety in New York, held by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH).
At the rally, Kallos spoke about NYCOSH’s recent “Deadly Skyline” report, which revealed that although construction fatalities have been decreasing in the City, the fatality rate for New York State has been rising.
Kallos said that the state can facilitate safety by ensuring that construction employees receive adequate training.
“These deaths can be prevented, very simply by giving people the skills and knowledge to safely do their jobs,” said Kallos.
Women’s Caucus Stands United Against Title IX Rollbacks
The NYC Women’s Caucus, co-chaired by Councilwomen Margaret Chin (D-Battery Park City, Chinatown) and Helen Rosenthal (D-Central Park, Lincoln Square), wrote a strongly worded letter to the Department of Education (ED) yesterday regarding their proposed new rules related to sexual harassment.
Late last year, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) outlining a series of proposed changes to Title IX. According to the letter, the new rules would absolve schools of responsibility for acknowledging sexual harassment and force them to ignore cases that aren’t deemed severe enough, among other changes.
“The Women’s Caucus stands united against the rollback of protections of Title IX,” reads the letter. “We refuse to stand by as the current administration attempts to roll back decades of work to expand the rights of women and trans individuals.”
