Attendees at a town hall meeting on Tuesday, June 20, at PS 221 in Douglaston. The meeting addressed Local Law 97.
More than 450 residents filled a school auditorium in Douglaston on June 20 to learn about a climate law that is slated to go into effect next year and is likely to raise the monthly cost of owning a co-op or condo.
The attendees were briefed on what’s known as Local Law 97, which was passed by the City Council in 2019, that requires building owners with properties greater than 25,000 square feet to cut their carbon emissions to a pre-determined amount or face hefty penalties starting in 2024. The law, which exempts rent regulated apartments and doesn’t apply to houses, covers condos and coops.
The event, held at PS 221, was hosted by Councilwoman Linda Lee, who was joined by Councilwoman Vickie Paladino and the presidents of several co-op boards in eastern Queens. They were calling for co-op and condo buildings to be exempted from the new law — particularly buildings occupied by low-to-middle income earners — or at the very least the bill’s implementation to be delayed.
“Local Law 97 must be delayed,” Paladino told the audience, noting that the monthly assessments would likely go up because of the law. “There is no other way around this. This is a direct attack on the middle class.”
Paladino said that co-ops and condos are a form of affordable housing, and that it is unfair that the owners of these units would be subject to the law and increased assessments.
The legislation was passed by the council in its attempt to tackle climate change, with large buildings targeted since about 70 percent of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings.
Under the rules, large buildings must meet new energy efficiency standards and comply with greenhouse gas emission limits by 2024, with stricter requirements going into effect in 2030 and every 5 years through 2050. The purpose of the new rules is to reduce building…
Read the full article here
