PRESIDENTS’ CO-OP & CONDO COUNCIL HOLDS
HISTORIC SUMMIT
Over 50 NYC Co-op Boards Represented
BY GEOFFREY MAZEL, ESQ.
LEGAL COUNSEL, PCCC
On Feb. 29, the Presidents’
Co-op and Condo Council
held the largest meeting of
Queens Co-op Board Presidents
and members in Queens County in
the last 30 years. Over 50 Boards
were represented at the meeting
from all part of Queens, including
many of the largest co-ops in New
York City, in total representing
over 20,000 units of co-op housing,
In addition to the overwhelming
attendance by the
Co-op Community, many elected
officials and community
leaders were in attendance,
including State Senators John
Liu and Toby Stavisky; State
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein;
NYC Councilmembers Barry
Grodenchik, Donovan Richards
and Costa Constantinides; Former
NYC Councilmember Elizabeth
Crowley; Queens Chamber of
Congress President Tom Grech;
Council of NY Cooperatives and
Condominiums Director Mary Ann
Rothman; and representatives from
the offices of the NYC Comptroller,
the Queens Borough President and
US Congressman Tom Suozzi.
The reason for the unprecedented
turnout was clear: a broken
down and unfair “Byzantine” real
estate tax system in New York City
and the onslaught of overreaching,
ill-conceived, unnecessary and
costly legislation recently passed
by both the City and New York
State. There are numerous critical
issues co-op Boards are facing
in 2020, but the Summit focused
on two of the most critical: one,
the NYC Tax Commission Report
and two, the so-called “Tenant
Protection Act.”
Introductory remarks were
made by PCCC co-Presidents Bob
Friedrich and Warren Schreiber
as well as myself. I explained that
for the last decade, the PCCC has
been a “lean, mean co-op advocating
machine” and is vigorous
in pressuring both New York City
and New York State to overhaul an
unfair and convoluted real estate
tax system. Mr. Friedrich called the
current tax structure “so complicated
and riddled with so many
erroneous assumptions that few
understand it.” As Mr. Schreiber
stated, “The Presidents and Board
members in this room are the ones
who keep the co-ops affordable,
despite the onslaught of unfunded
mandates and poorly conceived
legislation.”
As a result of the work of the
PCCC and several other co-op
advocacy groups, the Mayor
of New York City appointed a
blue-ribbon panel called the New
York City Tax Reform Commission.
The charge of the Commission was
to make recommendations on how
to fix the broken tax system. The
Commission’s report came out in
January of this year.
The report is basically an outline
of what needs to be done to fix the
system. The most significant recommendation
for co-ops would be
to include them in a “Residential”
class with others forms of home
ownership, including one-to-three
family houses. Additionally, this
class would base the taxes on the
fair market value of the property.
Currently co-ops are taxed as if
they are rental buildings, so this
new system would be a substantial
change.
However, the report lacks many
l-r: PCCC Executives Mark Ulrich, V.P.; Janice Schreibersdorf,
Secretary; Michael Kurtz, Treasurer; Warren Schreiber, co-President;
Geoffrey Mazel, Esq., Executive Member/Counsel; Bob Friedrich,
co-President
actual details and leaves many
open questions. Mr. Friedrich
highlighted concerns about several
material issues with the report.
Most significantly, co-ops’ market
value relative to the overall valuation
of all property types would
increase significantly under the
Commission’s report. Mr. Friedrich
expressed great reservations about
this large increase in increased valuation
and the effect it could have
on real estate tax bills for co-ops.
A lively discussion ensued at the
Summit on this and other specifics
of the Commission’s Tax Report.
The next issue discussed was the
so-called “Tenant Protection Act.”
This legislation was passed by the
New York State legislature in June,
2019. It was designed to protect
tenants from unscrupulous landlords,
but inadvertently includes
co-ops too. The most harmful
provision for co-ops is the limit of
security deposits to no more than
one month’s rent (or maintenance,
as it’s called in a co-op). As a result,
co-ops can no longer accommodate
marginal applicants who might be
able to put money in escrow in
order to receive Board approval
to purchase an apartment. Other
provisions of the bill limit co-ops’
ability to collect late payment fees
and eliminates their ability to collect
legal fees and other charges in
Landlord Tenant Court.
The large number of attendees
at the PCCC Summit was a testament
to the dedication of its co-op
Board members. The PCCC and
its members are confident that the
strength of this united voice will
continue to be heard loudly at City
Hall and in Albany.
NYS Assemblyman Ed Braunstein
Photos courtesy of Janice Schreibersdorf
NYS Senator John Liu
April 2020 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 17