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Should NYC tax the views on Billionaires’ Row?: VIDEO
The "user" fee could be dedicated to the city's parks and affordable housing
It’s about time residents along Billionaires’ Row start shelling out some serious cash.
In a New York Times editorial, Max Frankel, the newspaper’s former executive editor, argued that residents with choice views of Central Park or the waterfront should pay anywhere from $10 to $25 a month as a “user fee” for their access to the city’s most attractive locations. The new tax could be dedicated to the city’s parks, streets and affordable housing. The suggestion comes as a slew of new tall and slender towers rise above Central Park, but also as the future strength of the high-end market remains uncertain.
Jonathan Miller, of Miller Samuel, told Bloomberg that the residents of the lofty towers along Billionaires’ Row are already paying exorbitant property taxes.He also pointed out that the race to build taller buildings in the city, dating back roughly 100 years, has long left older buildings in the shadow of new towers.
“One of the axioms of New York real estate is no views are guaranteed unless you are located on Central Park,” he said. “The whole argument is pretty ridiculous.” [Bloomberg] — Kathryn Brenzel