Taxes in New York are certainly something to complain about, but for those who own some of the city’s priciest apartments it appears a different strategy is in place: not pay them.
Residents who forked out tens of millions of dollars for full-floor apartments and penthouses in some of the city’s most iconic buildings, including One57, Trump Tower and the Plaza Hotel, have been found to owe hundreds of thousands in property taxes, according to a New York Post report.
The builder of One57, Extell Development’s Gary Barnett, for instance, listed his penthouse in the building for $60 million dollars, and while it never sold, he still owes the city $268,269, according to the Post. Forty floors below, the Indonesian billionaire Dato’ Sri Prof. Dr. Tahir owes $63,600 in overdue taxes on his $7.9 million apartment.
At the Plaza, five unidentified owners hidden behind LLCs owe as much as $135,000, according to the report. And in Trump Tower owners are behind on hundreds of thousands of dollars, including Lena Yelagina, who listed her pad on Airbnb illegally and still owes $82,652.
But across the city, the amount of unpaid property taxes is dropping. Almost 13,000 properties owe $484.67 million, down from last year’s debt at $517.2 million. Brooklyn has the biggest bill in the city, with residents there owing a total $174.69 million, which has also declined from last year’s overdue payments. [NYP] — David Jeans