Co-op and condo boards — and the 1 million New Yorkers who live in their buildings — have a new friend.
The Co-op and Condos United of New York, calling itself “a new umbrella co-op and condominium advocacy organization,” has announced its formation at a time when co-ops and condos are under worsening financial and regulatory pressures.
“Co-ops and condos have taken a back seat for far too long in the political process in both New York City and New York State,” Stuart Saft, a member of the new group’s executive committee and a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight, tells the New York Real Estate Journal. “Our intention is to provide a unified organization so that we can speak with one voice on the issues that matter most to our communities.”
At the state level, those issues include renewal of the J51-R program, opposition to the Cooperative Corporations Law, support for establishing a condo first lien and seeking exemption from the Scaffold Law. At the city level, the coalition is engaged on reforms to Local Law 97 and Local Law 11, while supporting the Co-op Carve Out Bill. Other targets include property tax burdens and expensive government mandates, which are contributing to the affordability crisis affecting many co-ops and condos and, indeed, most New Yorkers.
“For years, we’ve been hearing from boards and shareholders that they are facing escalating costs, both from needed capital improvements and from unexpected unfunded mandates,” says Jane Menton, legislative director of Co-ops and Condos United. “They are not exempt from New York’s cost-of-living crisis and their voice needs to be represented in the public policy conversation.”
That voice, according to some, has been ignored too long.
“Co-op and condo homeowners make up a significant and vital part of New York City’s housing landscape, yet for far too long their collective voice has been muffled,” says Geoffrey Mazel, a member of the new group’s executive committee and a partner at the law firm Hankin & Mazel. “Co-ops and Condos United of NY was created to unify that voice — to ensure that whether you live in a limited-equity co-op, a building on Park Avenue, or a co-op in the outer boroughs, you are heard on the critical issues that impact our entire community.”