Galloway Meets the Tax List
Scott Galloway, the NYU professor and liberal political commentator, is now objecting to a New York City database tied to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed pied-à-terre tax. The tax targets people who own valuable homes in the city that are not their main residence. Galloway said on a podcast that his name appeared in the city’s searchable database, along with property details. He called it being “doxed,” which is a serious charge when names and addresses are placed where anyone with internet access can search them.
What the City Published
According to a Fox News report, the city’s Department of Finance released a searchable property roll listing owners of non-primary residences that could fall under the proposed tax. The report said users can search properties and view names and addresses. A department spokesperson said publication of the roll was required by state law. That may explain the paperwork, but it does not settle the public safety question. Government databases have a way of being described as routine until someone notices the routine includes their front door.
Why Galloway Objected
Galloway said the list covers about 950,000 residences and argued that Mamdani had turned a tax tool into something more dangerous. “He’s taken a legitimate source of tax revenue, and he’s turning it into a wanted poster,” Galloway said. He also asked what the upside was in publishing the list, especially after a health care CEO was killed in the street. That concern deserves a sober hearing. Public records may be legal, but legal is not always wise, especially when anger is so easily aimed at a name and address.
The Clip Circulating Online
Even Swisher Was Uncomfortable
Galloway’s co-host Kara Swisher also said she did not like the setup. “It feels a little bit like doxing,” she said, adding that the city should simply tax people and move on. That is the part worth watching. A policy sold as a clean revenue plan can quickly become a public naming project, and then officials act surprised when people object. The fight is not only about who pays. It is about whether City Hall should make a searchable map of people it wants to tax and call that normal administration.
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