{"id":691,"date":"2026-09-02T21:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T21:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=691"},"modified":"2026-09-02T21:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T21:42:59","slug":"blakeman-sends-fake-pied-a-terre-letters-in-campaign-stunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=691","title":{"rendered":"Blakeman sends fake pied-\u00e0-terre letters in campaign stunt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

More than a month after the worst of the rocky rollout of New York City\u2019s pied-\u00e0-terre tax, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman\u2019s campaign is sending some awfully official-looking \u201cmemorandums of tax assessment\u201d to New York City homeowners, claiming those people would be subject to the city\u2019s new tax on second homes while soliciting them for campaign donations. He appears to be treating as a potential donor list the same homeowner data he criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for releasing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Harry Nespoli reflects on the evolution of the labor movement<\/a><\/p>\n

City & State obtained pictures of the materials, which were sent to a couple in Queens. \u201cAccording to our records, you own a secondary property that has been identified as subject to Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s pied-\u00e0-terre tax,\u201d reads the letter leading the package. \u201cYour information, including your full name and address, has been released publicly by the city\u2019s Department of Finance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The letter, labeled a \u201cmemorandum of tax assessment\u201d in the header, does contain the necessary campaign disclosures associating it with the Blakeman campaign. \u201cNot official government business\u201d is printed in the header as well, and the bottom of the document includes the disclaimer \u201cPaid for by Blakeman for New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the recipients, described as \u201cdie-hard Republican immigrants\u201d by the source who shared the photos, were immediately panicked when they first opened their mail and saw the letter. And it wouldn\u2019t be the first time they panicked over such a thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city publicly releases tax rolls yearly which contains information on homeowners related to their taxable properties. But the list released in July caused confusion and concern as it contained hundreds of thousands of primary residences despite purporting to detail residences that could be eligible for the second-home surcharge. In the end, the city directly contacted only 17,000 people to notify them they may need to pay the tax, meaning the vast majority of people on the public list never received official correspondence on the matter.<\/p>\n

The source added the recipients would own only one home \u2013 their primary residence \u2013 and are not subject to the tax. \u201cIt\u2019s bad enough Mamdani screwed up the rollout, even worse when the (gubernatorial) candidate they support sends it again and makes them panic,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the \u201cmemorandum of tax assessment,\u201d the package includes a separate explanation from Blakeman and a plea for campaign contributions. \u201cI sent you this tax memorandum today because Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani want you<\/em><\/u> to pay a new pied-\u00e0-terre tax to fund their socialist agenda,\u201d the letter signed by Blakeman reads. \u201cI\u2019m writing you as the Republican Nominee for governor of New York because on day one of my administration, I will move to ELIMINATE<\/u> this ridiculous tax.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more City Council grills Mamdani\u2019s pick for key housing position<\/a><\/p>\n

A post script implored recipients to \u201cjoin (his) team with a $50 or more contribution.\u201d The full package of materials also included a contribution form and a return envelope addressed to Blakeman\u2019s campaign PO box.<\/p>\n

Republicans across New York have sought to tie their opponents closely to the democratic socialist Mamdani \u2013 and that\u2019s especially true of Blakeman\u2019s approach to Gov. Kathy Hochul. It\u2019s not a new tactic, as Republicans in the past have similarly sought to link Democratic governors to New York City mayors unpopular in the suburbs. But statewide polling shows that Mamdani is still popular, and the governor hasn\u2019t been shy about standing with the mayor in areas of agreement, such as the tax on second homes she signed. Still, the rollout of the pied-\u00e9-terre tax is not the governor\u2019s responsibility, but the city\u2019s \u2013\u00a0making it a bit of a reach to campaign on.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Blakeman didn\u2019t provide an answer when asked how the campaign chose the addresses to send these campaign materials to. But it likely relied on a list of 950,000 New York City residences released by the city Department of Finance of homes that may have been eligible for the second-home surcharge. The release of the information was widely panned, especially by the conservatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani owe New Yorkers a tremendous apology \u2013 for making New York even more unaffordable with another tax and then botching its rollout so badly that they published the wrong addresses on the city\u2019s official website,\u201d Blakeman said in a statement when reached for comment about the mailers.<\/p>\n

Blakeman\u2019s frequent use of artificial intelligence has garnered scrutiny in the past several months, raising questions about whether failing to disclose that use may violate election law, as they can constitute\u00a0 deceptive political communication. The package sent to New York City homeowners on their face appear potentially deceptive as well, but election attorney Sarah Steiner said they are technically allowed. \u201cSadly, lying and misleading are not necessarily illegal,\u201d she said in a text to City & State. \u201cThis is manipulative scaremongering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hochul says Trump is \u2018defunding the police\u2019 amid growing tension with Washington<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The GOP gubernatorial candidate has graduated from potentially deceptive AI to potentially deceptive mail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,148,3,92],"tags":[8,151,7,93],"class_list":["post-691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-new-york-gubernatorial-election","category-bruce-blakeman","category-new-york-state","category-politics","tag-2026-new-york-gubernatorial-election","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-new-york-state","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nBlakeman sends fake pied-\u00e0-terre letters in campaign stunt - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=691\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blakeman sends fake pied-\u00e0-terre letters in campaign stunt - 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