NYC Property Tax Overhaul Pits Neighbor Against Neighbor

The push to reform New York City’s property tax system is a zero sum game that has various types of home owners, developers, investors, and even renters jostling with each other for a leg up.

The commission formed to update the city’s complicated tax structure for the first time in more than 20 years is instructed to make any proposals “revenue neutral.” That means tax cuts for one group have to be balanced with increases for another group—places in Staten Island pitted against Manhattan; condo owners versus investors; even a state assemblymember against Mayor Bill de Blasio over whose cuts ...