Ex-CNN anchor and Democratic congressional candidate John Avlon has a history of missing property tax payments and is apparently netting more than $2,000 per year in abatements by claiming his primary residence is in Manhattan — while telling voters he really lives on Long Island.
Avlon, 51, is running to represent New York’s First Congressional District and his campaign told The Post that he is living in Sag Harbor, which the former newscaster says he has called “home” since at least 2009.
“This community is my home, and I’ve been entirely consistent about that,” he told News 12 on Friday. “I left my work at CNN to run for this office in February.”
But Avlon appears to have raked in around $16,000 in tax abatements for his $3.36 million Gramercy Park co-op unit, according to New York City Department of Finance Records, despite the savings only being eligible to units designated as a primary residence.
He and his wife Margaret Hoover, who hosts “Firing Line” on PBS, purchased the Manhattan condo in 2015 when he was serving as editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast, but the couple wouldn’t own the roughly $1.5 million Sag Harbor pad for another two years, according to a 2024 profile on the candidate in Vanity Fair.
Reports from the Washington Free Beacon and Smithtown Messenger confirmed that 2017 purchase of the Southampton home in 2017, and latter outlet was the first to reveal the city records of the tax abatement for the Gramercy Park co-op.
It also pointed to the Sag Harbor home as having a current rental listing from August to Labor Day 2024 for $25,000 on the website apartments.com, which has read “check back soon for upcoming availability” since at least April.
Other reports and social media posts by the Avlon family have centered on the Gramercy Park residence, rather than the Sag Harbor home, the Free Beacon also reported.
A picture that the Smithtown Messenger shared of Avlon also shows him entering his Manhattan condo with a copy of The Post’s April 6, 2024, front page hanging from a fence behind him.
Former New York City Finance Department Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told The Post that the abatement program puts “the onus of certifying primary residency on the condo owner or co-op tenant shareholder” and that “making a false certification” of residency could amount to either a misdemeanor or class E felony under state law.
“That said, my assumption is that the City, upon becoming aware, would likely pursue a claw-back of improperly granted abatements with administrative penalties and interest,” Sidamon-Eristoff added.
Nor is the first time the would-be congressman has run into trouble with his property tax filings.
Avlon skimped on his July payment and had to fork over an extra $133.36 in fees the following month, according to the Village of Sag Harbor Property Tax Portal, which also shows the property is owned by an LLC registered to his Manhattan condo.
Other New York public records show he was slapped with tax liens of more than $1,400 on properties he owned both in March 2008 and February 2015.
An Avlon spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the abatements — but confirmed that the missed tax payment had been made and pointed out that the candidate is registered to vote in the district where he is running whereas his Republican opponent is not.
A former speechwriter for New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Avlon is looking to unseat freshman Republican Rep. Nick LaLota, who does not currently live in the First Congressional District but nevertheless has longstanding ties to it.
The GOP incumbent is the son of a Nassau County cop and later served as an aide in the Suffolk County Legislature after years of service and three deployments overseas in the US Navy.
“CNN’s John Avlon is either a Manhattan resident or a tax cheat,” LaLota’s campaign spokesman Will Kaley told The Post. “Unlike lifelong Long Islander Nick LaLota, Avlon refuses to answer basic questions about his residency.”
“Avlon’s inconsistent and dishonest story, along with his greedy decision to claim a NYC resident tax abatement, raise even more questions, and voters deserve the truth. Real Long Islanders can smell a fake a mile away, and no amount of dark money can hide the truth about ‘Manhattan’ Avlon,” he added.
The 1st district is rated “likely Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and went for former President Donald Trump by 1.8% in the 2020 election.