A story has raced across social media and some news sites claiming singer Bette Midler received a steep 2027 tax bill from New York City Hall and now says she cannot afford to stay in Midtown Manhattan. She is said to have backed Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the hope that only billionaires would feel the new rules. The quotes have not been confirmed by Midler or by major papers. The real second-home tax, however, is already on the books and will appear on bills due early next year. Readers can look at the claim, the actual rules, and the arguments on both sides.
How the Claim Spread
On November 10 and 11, 2026, posts on X and Facebook repeated the same lines. One version from an account called Red Lives Matter stated that Midler could no longer live in Midtown after getting her 2027 bill. It quoted her saying, “This isn’t my second home. I shouldn’t have to give him 20 percent of my net worth just because I have many homes. Only four of them are even in New York.” The same posts added that she had campaigned hard for Mamdani, thinking the tax would hit only billionaires, and that she still had “about $900 million to go.”
The People’s Voice ran a short piece on November 11 that repeated the story and embedded the post. Similar copies appeared on other alternative sites. No interview, statement from Midler’s team, or report in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or other large outlets has confirmed the quotes. Estimates of Midler’s net worth from several trackers sit between roughly $200 million and $250 million, not close to $1 billion. She and her husband have owned high-value homes in Manhattan and Hawaii in the past, including a Fifth Avenue apartment sold for $45 million in 2021.
Whether the exact words are real or invented, the posts have drawn attention because they touch a live policy fight. Many readers ask the same question: if even a long-time city resident with means feels the new charge, who else will?
What the Second-Home Tax Actually Does
Mayor Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul backed a surcharge on high-value homes that are not the owner’s main residence. The law passed in the state budget in May 2026 and took effect in July. For one-, two-, and three-family houses the rates start at 0.8 percent on values from $5 million to $15 million and rise to 1.3 percent above $25 million. For condominiums and cooperative units the rates are higher, reaching 6.5 percent on units valued at $5 million or more. Homes that are the primary residence of the owner, a close relative, or a tenant are exempt.
City officials have said the measure could bring in about $500 million a year and would help close the budget gap without raising taxes on most working residents. Notices went out in the summer. Owners could apply for exemptions. The first bills that include the new charge are due January 1, 2027. Early estimates from the city comptroller put possible revenue closer to $380 million after exemptions.
Public lists released by the Department of Finance named many well-known people whose properties might qualify. Names that appeared included Cynthia Nixon, a strong Mamdani supporter who hosted a fundraiser for him, fashion editor Anna Wintour, and several other celebrities and investors. The city later said the broad list of nearly one million addresses was only informational; actual tax notices went to a much smaller group of about 17,000 owners.
🚨OVERRATED LIBERAL DIVA BETTE MIDLER SAYS SHE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO LIVE IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN AFTER RECEIVING HER 2027 TAX BILL FROM MAMDANI’S CITY HALL! “This isn’t my second home,” said Midler. “I shouldn’t have to give him 20 percent of my net worth just because I have many homes. Only four of them are even in New York.” Midler says she campaigned vigorously for Zohran Mamdani, thinking he’d go after billionaires. “I have about $900 million to go.” One by one, they’re finding out the true meaning of communism. This is what you voted for. Share this everywhere so they keep finding out what they voted for!
— Red Lives Matter (@RedLivesMatterQ) November 10, 2026
Legal Path So Far
Homeowners sued over the way the city rolled out the tax. A Staten Island judge in September 2026 ordered the city to start over, saying the notices and public lists created needless burdens and privacy issues. The city appealed. On November 4, 2026, a state appeals court in Brooklyn reversed that ruling. The judges said the homeowners lacked standing because receiving a notice or appearing on a list did not show concrete harm. Mamdani called the decision a win against the ultra-wealthy trying to avoid their fair share.
Separate lawsuits that challenge the tax itself on constitutional grounds remain. Casino owner Steve Wynn and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, both Florida residents with New York properties, have filed one such case. Hearings are set for December. Until those cases end, the tax continues to move forward.
Supporters’ Case
Backers say New York is the richest city in the world and can ask people who treat expensive apartments as second homes or investment stores to contribute more. Mamdani has framed the charge as a way to deliver dignity—better services, housing help, and transit—without loading the cost onto ordinary residents. Some wealthy New Yorkers agree. A group called Patriotic Millionaires, including filmmaker Abigail Disney, has publicly said higher taxes on high earners and valuable property are fair and that fears of a mass exit are overstated. One former BlackRock executive told Bloomberg he would not move simply because of higher taxes. Planet Today covered that view earlier this year.
For people who already pay high property taxes and use few city services, the extra charge feels modest relative to the value of a multi-million-dollar pied-à-terre. Forbes calculated that even for billionaires the annual cost is a small fraction of net worth. Supporters argue this is progressive policy in action: those with the most pay more so the city can keep services running.
Critics’ Case
Opponents call the tax a blunt tool that hits people who are wealthy by most standards but not billionaires. They point to the messy rollout—public lists that named private addresses, confusion over primary-residence rules, and the need for owners to prove exemptions. Hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin and others have warned that repeated new charges push capital and jobs to lower-tax places such as Florida. Business groups and some city officials have echoed that concern.
Critics also note that the tax applies to properties that may already generate substantial property-tax revenue and that owners of second homes often spend money in the city when they visit. The public lists raised security worries for celebrities and private citizens alike. Legal challenges argue the surcharge may exceed limits on real-estate tax revenue or unfairly target non-residents. Even after the appeals-court win on the rollout, the deeper constitutional questions remain open.
The viral Midler posts, whether accurate or not, play into this view. They suggest that people who supported “tax the rich” later discovered the definition of rich included them. That reaction has appeared in comments across social media for months.
What It Means Beyond Celebrities
Most New Yorkers will never own a $5 million second home. The policy debate still matters to them. The city faces multi-billion-dollar budget gaps. Choices about how to close them affect services, taxes, and whether the city keeps or loses high-earning residents and businesses. Mamdani has also spoken about other revenue ideas, including higher income taxes on people earning over $1 million, and has kept the door open on cash reparations while a city commission studies the issue. Planet Today reported on that stance in July.
Housing markets already feel pressure from high mortgage rates. Pending home sales fell sharply in September as rates topped 7 percent. Extra costs on high-end properties could change buying and selling decisions at the top end and, over time, affect the broader tax base. Readers can weigh whether the second-home charge is a fair way to fund services or a step that makes the city less attractive for investment and long-term residence.
Looking Ahead
The January 2027 bills will show how many owners actually pay and how many win exemptions. Court rulings expected in December will decide whether the tax survives in its current form. Meanwhile, the viral claim about Bette Midler continues to circulate even though primary confirmation is missing. The gap between the dramatic posts and the verified policy details is large. Both the claimed reaction and the real rules raise the same practical question: how far do the new charges reach, and who decides what counts as a fair share?
Readers who follow New York’s budget fights, celebrity real-estate holdings, or the legal status of the pied-à-terre surcharge will find the next few months revealing. The facts on the books are clearer than the social-media quotes. The arguments on both sides remain open for anyone to judge.
Original source: Bette Midler, Who Campaigned For Mamdani, Suffers Public Meltdown After Receiving 2027 Tax Bill, The People’s Voice, November 11, 2026. Link. Related social-media post: X post.
Disclaimer for fact-checkers: The People’s Voice is an alternative news site that often publishes sensational claims. The specific quotes attributed to Bette Midler appear only in viral posts and low-credibility outlets and have not been confirmed by the singer, her representatives, or major mainstream news organizations. The underlying second-home tax policy is real and documented in city, state, and court records. Readers should check primary sources for the latest legal and revenue details.
Original article: Viral Bette Midler Tax Claim Spotlights Mamdani Second-Home Rules on Planet Today 🚀
Automatically republished from the main blog.