Dyker homeowners seek Cuomo’s help to lower property taxes
Carl Esposito’s property tax bill is going to be $9,600 this year — and he’s not happy about it. “It went up $1,200 from last year,” he said. Esposito, a resident of 64th Street in Dyker Heights, said his parents paid $35,000 when they bought the three-family house in 1961. Today, the home is worth much more than that. But he doesn’t feel rich. “I’m lucky the house is paid for and I don’t have a mortgage. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’d do,” he said.
Esposito was one of a small group of homeowners who joined Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis at a Feb. 1 press conference during which the Republican lawmaker called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to impose a mandate to bring New York City in line with other cities around the state where property tax levies are capped at two percent.
Under a 2011 state law, cities around the state are prohibited from raising property tax levies more than two percent. New York City was not included in the law. “We want to be part of that cap,” said Malliotakis, whose assembly district includes parts of Bay Ridge and Staten Island.