Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums

The 2007 Comparative Study of Building Operating Costs has been mailed to CNYC members, and is also available for purchase in the CNYC office, 250 West 57th Street, Suite 730, New York, NY 10107-0730. The price is $25.

As it copes with the financial crisis, the City of New York has found it necessary to increase the property tax rate citywide for the second half of fiscal year 2009 on the property tax payments due in January and April. Bills are being sent to property owners specifying the amounts now due. To help taxpayers meet these increased demands, the City has extended the payment deadline to January 30th, 2009.

Additional Costs
Class 2 properties (including most cooperatives and condominiums) are taxed at 13.053%. The January and July bills will, however, also include additional sums to bridge the differential between payments made in July and October based on the 11.928% rate in effect in fiscal 2008 and the 12.139% rate for the first half of fiscal 2009, which was established by the City Council after the date that July bills were prepared.

But Quarterly Tax Payments Virtually Ensured
The City Council also raised the ceiling for quarterly payment of property taxes from $80,000 to $250,000. Cooperatives with assessed value averaging less that $250,000 per unit, and condominium unit owners with assessed valuation of less that $250,000 can pay property taxes quarterly. Entities with higher assessed valuations must pay semi-annually.

A number of co-ops have received a notice from an entity calling itself the "Corporate Records Compliance Office" in Albany, stating that under New York law, corporations must hold annual meetings of shareholders to elect directors and conduct other business. The form requests that co-ops list the names of all officers and directors and mail it back with a check for $120. It says that upon receipt of the money and the completed form, the co-op will be sent a "certificate of minutes of board of directors and shareholders" to file in the corporate minute book.

This notice is a scam. "There is no reason that a cooperative -- or any corporation for that matter — should complete this form or send in any money," said attorney Marc Luxemburg, president of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. "The company that is sending out these forms is not affiliated with state government, even though the form appears to be designed to look like an official form."

In fact, Mr. Luxemburg said, on the bottom of the form is a disclaimer: "This service has not been endorsed by any government agency and this offer is not being made by an agency of the government. This is not a bill."

REMEMBER: THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT THAT ANNUAL MEETING NOTICES BE REGISTERED.

Upper West Side Recycling and Wearable Collections will organize and publicize your textile drive. We’ll also provide a portable clothing bin (5 x 4 x 2 1/2) if your building has over 100 apartments; if it has less than 90 apartments we’ll give you a rack with large bags. Residents won’t have to haul their clothing and other textiles to a collection site—or worse—dump them in the trash. Wearable collections accepts clean clothing (wearable or unwearable), shoes, pocketbooks, curtains, sheets, blankets, comforters, and towels. Carpeting is not accepted. By participating you can do some spring or fall cleaning, keep textiles out of our landfills and recycle in an easy, convenient way.

We also recycle textiles in churches, schools, and other organizations. We also recycle textiles in residential buildings if your members are interested. Pickups are in Manhattan, and Wearable Collections will go to the outer boroughs for large quantities. For further information contact:

INCENTIVES TO HELP YOU BE ENERGY $MART

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is encouraging residents to replace old, inefficient through-the-wall (TTW) or window room air conditioning units (window ACs) with units that meet or exceed ENERGY STAR guidelines.

Incentives are available for each unit replaced--$35 for window ACs and $100 for TTW units.

For multifamily buildings replacing 10 units or more, bulk purchasing is available from participating Be Cool Program retail partners--and the Be Cool Program will coordinate the pick-up and recycling of the old units.

This program is only available to residences and multifamily buildings receiving electric service from ConEdison.

In addition, the Be Cool Program provides information on how to reduce energy use and shift some of their summer energy load to off-peak hours (morning or evening).

For more information on the Be Cool Program, log onto www.GetEnergySmart.org or call 1-877-NYSMART.

CNYC & REBNY PUBLISH CO-OP BOARD ADMISSIONS GUIDE

CNYC and the Real Estate Board of New York have published a new guide designed to explain the anti-discrimination requirements that all Boards must follow. Included are recommendations on how a Board should conduct the application process.

Click to download the guide (PDF Format).

NYC BAR ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES MEDIATION PROGRAM

Mediation is a fairly informal, totally voluntary approach to settling disputes instead of going to court. Most (70-80%) cases brought to mediation settle, and the process is quicker and cheaper than litigation. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York has initiated a mediation program which is described in its new brochure, "Mediate (Don't Litigate)". The brochure can be found at the New York Bar Association website at www.nycbar.org.

Please click to download the brochure (PDF Format).

The Gallery is a special section of this website dedicated to displaying newsletters provided by our member buildings, and to giving recognition for all the hard work that goes into creating them.

To submit your building's newsletter for the Gallery, please send a PDF version to info@cnyc.coop, or mail a hard copy of the newsletter to: