Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums

A Fair Contract with Significant Innovations
At midnight on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, Michael Fishman, president of Local 32BJ of the Building Service Employees International Union, and Howard Rothschild, president of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc. shook hands on a four year contract agreement that includes pay increases of 2.33% per year. for 32BJ’s 3000 residential apartment building workers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

Pledged Savings in Health Costs
The contract further provides that the Health Fund, which is jointly administered by trustees from the Union and from the RAB, will commission a study to help implement annual savings of $70,000,000 or 10% of the Health Plan’s current average annual expenditures beginning no later than January 1, 2012.

Employer Contributions Firmly Capped
Caps on employer contributions to the Health and Pension plans during the life of this contract ensure that if, as was the case in 2004, the reserves of either Health or Pension plans should become depleted, employers will not be responsible to make any additional contributions (the opposite was the case in 2004 when employers agreed to substantial, unexpected contributions ($2400 per employee) to rescue the then failing health fund. This dramatic change in the paradigm ensures employers of certainty in their budgeting for labor during the term of this contract. All parties are optimistic that no problems will arise, and that the anticipated economies will be easily achieved.

Reduction In Force
In addition, in recognition of the length and the extent of the economic downturn an important phrase has been added to the contract provision regarding Reduction In Force, enabling a building to reduce staff upon submitting proof of financial hardship, provided that no additional work is added to the job descriptions of remaining employees.

A Fair Agreement
The building service workers who are members of Local 32BJ are the best paid service workers in the world; they also have excellent benefits and training opportunities. And this is as it should be. These workers keep our buildings safe and clean. They are part of the community that is our cooperative or condominium. They watch our children grow up; they help us daily in many ways largae and small. We are all pleased that the current negotiation has produced a contract that is fair to one and all.

Pattern Agreement
The RAB negotiates a pattern agreement, which each of its residential members with 32BJ employees is then invited to sign, Copies of the agreement will shortly be sent to your building (or your managing agent). If your cooperative or condominium has six or more employees, your superintendent is a Resident Manager, subject to an agreement that expires June 20th.

Do not be taken in by the clever marketing ploy of a lead inspection company that may send to your buiding a very official looking notice advising you that you are required to perform inspections for lead paint.

Note that this is an inspection that building staff can perform in your public areas if your building was built prior to 1978, and that cooperatives and condominiums do NOT have any responsibility for inspecting apartments occupied by shareholders or unit owners. While professional inspections may be appropriate in certain situations (in which case, you will seek out a known, reliable company), the law permits inspections by building staff.

The City of New York is deeply committed to energy conservation, a goal which CNYC shares. However, some of the requirements which the City seeks to impose appear to CNYC to be costly to our members. On June 26, 2009, CNYC testified on four proposed bills, supporting two and challenging two on the grounds of cost and of imposing decisions upon boards of cooperatives and condominiums .which should have the right to set priorities for their own buildings. CNYC always prefers incentives to mandates and expressed this view in its testimony.

During much of last fall and spring, the economic crisis was aggravated by the reluctance of lenders to make money available for the purchase of homes, including cooperatives and condominiums. Happily, a number of lenders are now making loans available, but they are hesitant to lend for the purchase of apartments in recently converted buildings or those with a significant sponsor presence, since they want to be sure that the loans will qualify for purchase by institutions of the secondary market.

The 2008 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:

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: