Former CNN anchor and Democratic congressional candidate John Avlon has previously failed to pay his property taxes and is now apparently collecting tax breaks of more than $2,000 a year by claiming his primary residence is in Manhattan – but telling voters he actually lives on Long Island.
Avlon, 51, is running for New York’s 1st congressional district. His campaign told the Washington Post that he lives in Sag Harbor, which the former news anchor has called “home” since at least 2009.
“This community is my home, and I have always been very consistent about it,” he told News 12 on Friday. “I left my job at CNN to run for office in February.”
But Avlon appears to have pocketed about $16,000 in tax credits on his $3.36 million Gramercy Park co-op apartment, according to New York City Department of Revenue records, although the savings apply only to apartments designated as primary residences.
He and his wife, Margaret Hoover, who hosts “Firing Line” on PBS, bought the Manhattan condo in 2015 when he was editor in chief of the Daily Beast, but according to a 2024 Vanity Fair profile of the candidate, the couple would not own the roughly $1.5 million Sag Harbor apartment until two years later.
Reports in the Washington Free Beacon and the Smithtown Messenger confirmed the purchase of the Southampton home in 2017, and the latter newspaper was the first to publish city records of the tax abatement for the Gramercy Park co-op.
It also noted that the Sag Harbor home is currently renting for $25,000 from August through Labor Day 2024 on the apartments.com website, which has said “Check back soon to check availability” since at least April.
Other reports and social media posts from the Avlon family have focused on the Gramercy Park residence rather than the Sag Harbor home, the Free Beacon also reported.
In a photo of Avlon shared by the Smithtown Messenger, he can be seen entering his Manhattan apartment, with a copy of the April 6, 2024, front-page issue of The Post hanging on a fence behind him.
Former New York City Department of Financial Services Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told The Washington Post that the tax abatement program “shifts the responsibility for certifying primary residence to the condo owner or cooperative shareholder” and that “issuing a false certification” of residency could be either a misdemeanor or a Class E felony under state law.
“Nevertheless, I assume that if the city becomes aware of this, it would likely seek to recover any wrongfully granted tax reductions with administrative penalties and interest,” Sidamon-Eristoff added.
And it is not the first time that the aspiring congressman has run into trouble with his property tax return.
Avlon skimped on his July payment and had to shell out $133.36 in additional fees the following month, according to the village of Sag Harbor’s property tax portal, which also shows that the property is owned by an LLC registered to his Manhattan condo.
Other New York State public records show that he had over $1,400 in tax liens placed on properties he owned in both March 2008 and February 2015.
An Avlon spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the tax abatement, but confirmed that the outstanding tax payment had been made and noted that the candidate is registered to vote in his district while his Republican opponent is not.
Avlon, a former speechwriter for New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is seeking to oust incoming Republican Rep. Nick LaLota. LaLota does not currently live in the First Congressional District, but has longstanding ties there.
The incumbent Republican is the son of a Nassau County police officer and later served as a staff member in the Suffolk County Legislature after years of service and three overseas deployments in the U.S. Navy.
“CNN’s John Avlon is either a Manhattan resident or a tax evader,” Will Kaley, a spokesman for LaLota’s campaign, told the Post. “Unlike Nick LaLota, who has lived on Long Island his entire life, Avlon refuses to answer basic questions about his residency.”
“Avlon’s inconsistent and dishonest story, along with his greedy decision to apply for a tax break for New York residents, raises even more questions, and voters have a right to the truth. Real Long Islanders can smell a scam from afar, and no amount of money can hide the truth about ‘Manhattan’ Avlon,” he added.
The 1st District is classified as “likely Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and went for former President Donald Trump with 1.8% in the 2020 election.
