Attempts to undermine property rights and confiscate private property, like the recent efforts of the Democratic Socialists of America, are unfortunately not new. For decades, government agencies have used their regulatory authority to restrict what Americans may do with their own property and to undermine its value. Now, property owners from New York and Maryland are asking the Supreme Court to hear their cases and to reinvigorate one of Americans’ most foundational rights. It is past time for the court to begin that process and to ensure Americans’ property is afforded the protection it is constitutionally due.
New York’s DSA politicians discourage owning property, full stop. Not only will owning a vacation home qualify New Yorkers for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “pied-a-terre” tax, but the mayor recently published a searchable list disclosing the sensitive personal information of such individuals. Worse still, many middle-class families that are not eligible for the tax were mistakenly included. However, given the comments of Cea Weaver, Mamdani’s appointed “tenant advocate,” that she would like to “seize private property,” it may have been a convenient mistake.
