Update — August 13: the question this article reported — whether the city's appeal suspended the takedown order — has been answered in the city's favor, for now. The Appellate Division allowed the rollout to continue at least until the August 31 hearing, so the list this article found still online is now online with an appellate court's blessing. Our full report →
What we verified, and when
On Monday, August 10, Justice Wayne Ozzi of the Staten Island Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order requiring the city to take down its public pied-à-terre lookup list — roughly 900,000 property records — and stop acting on the 17,000 mailed notices, pending an August 31 hearing. The city answered that its Law Department would appeal immediately, that the appeal stays the order, and that implementation would continue.
Early Tuesday morning (August 12, about 1:15 a.m. ET), we checked the Department of Finance's website directly. As of that check:
- The supplemental market value roll is still posted. DOF's Property Assessments page still links the "Supplemental market value roll — July 2026" database files, and both download normally: the Tax Class 1 file (about 15.3 MB) and the Tax Class 2 file (about 5 MB), covering the records the lawsuit targeted.
- The surcharge pages are unchanged. DOF's non-primary residence surcharge page still displays the extended October 6, 2026 exemption deadline — in capital letters — with live application links for homes, condos and co-op units, and the eligibility questionnaire still runs.
- No takedown notice appears anywhere on the surcharge or assessments pages — no mention of the court order at all.
As far as we can tell, no news outlet has yet reported on whether the city complied with the takedown portion of the order. The city's website speaks for itself: two days after the order, the rollout looks exactly the way it looked before it.
Why the city may believe it can leave the list up
This is not necessarily defiance. Under New York procedure (CPLR 5519), when the city appeals an order, that appeal can automatically suspend the order while the appeal is heard — and the city filed court papers to appeal Monday night, per ABC7. On the city's reading, the restraining order is stayed and there is nothing to comply with unless an appellate court says otherwise. The petitioners presumably read it differently. Which side is right is exactly the kind of question the August 31 hearing — or an earlier appellate ruling — will resolve.
What this means for owners
Two practical conclusions, both boring and both important:
- Treat October 6 as fully live. The city's own website is still telling owners to file exemption applications by October 6 — while actively litigating to keep its process on track. Whatever the courtroom outcome, an owner who files on time loses nothing. The step-by-step process is in the notice playbook.
- Don't assume the court fight changed your bill. The tax statute is untouched by all of this. First payments are still scheduled with the January 1, 2027 bill, and the surcharge still runs on your unit's DOF market value — the number our independent database and free checker report from the same July 2026 supplemental roll the city published.
Our legal challenges tracker follows the appeal, the hearing, and any moment the city's site actually changes — we re-check it, so you don't have to.
Questions owners ask
Is the city's pied-à-terre list still online?
As of our direct check on August 12, 2026 (about 1:15 a.m. ET), yes — the Department of Finance's supplemental roll files still download, the exemption portal works, and October 6 is still posted as the deadline. A court ordered the list taken down on August 10; the state of the city's site can change at any time, and we re-check it.
Is the city defying the court order?
Not necessarily. The city filed an appeal the night of the order and takes the position that, under CPLR 5519, a government appeal automatically suspends the order while it is heard — on that reading there is nothing to comply with unless an appellate court rules otherwise. The August 31 hearing, or an earlier appellate decision, should resolve who is right.
Should I still file for an exemption by October 6?
Yes. The city's own website is still instructing owners to file by October 6, 2026, and filing on time costs nothing under any court outcome. Owners who wait on a headline risk finding the deadline restored with days to spare.
Sources
- NYC Department of Finance — Non-primary residence surcharge page and Property Assessments page (both checked August 12, 2026, ~1:15 a.m. ET)
- New York Post — Judge approves temporary pause of the rollout (Aug. 10, 2026)
- Politico — Judge blocks the pied-à-terre tax rollout (Aug. 10, 2026)
- ABC7 NY — City files appeal papers (Aug. 10, 2026)