Chris Dolmetsch & Laura Nahmias (Bloomberg Law): Wilbur Ross, Steve Wynn Sue Over New York Pied-a-Terre Tax

Former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and casino tycoon Steve Wynn filed a lawsuit challenging New York’s pied-à-terre tax, saying that it’s unconstitutional because it only targets people who live outside the city.

The case, unlike a previous suit filed against New York City by a group of homeowners on Staten Island seeking to delay the rollout of the tax, directly challenges the constitutionality of the levy, which was signed into law in May by Governor Kathy Hochul.

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A separate group of homeowners and a cooperative corporation also filed a similar suit against the state on Tuesday. The case was brought by former New York City Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, who was behind the Staten Island case.

The Rosses and Wynn say the tax violates the US constitution, which they say limits the state’s authority to impose “discriminatory burdens on nonresidents and interstate economic interests,” and both the US and New York constitutions, which “prevent the state from discriminatory classifications that burden the fundamental right to travel or lack a rational basis.”