Emily Myers

The board at a small eight-unit co-op in Lenox Hill is celebrating a hefty insurance payout following a sewage disaster. After the collapse of the wastewater line at a neighboring embassy building swamped the co-op’s boiler room and basement, the co-op’s insurance carrier denied coverage, recommending instead that it file a lawsuit against the embassy. The outlook was anything but promising, but after a four-month investigation, the embassy’s carrier agreed to pay the co-op’s $270,000 claim. “We were pretty surprised it agreed to pay the entire amount,” says Aaron Weber, a property manager at Weber Realty Management and the co-op’s agent.

Under new rules from the Department of Buildings (DOB), carbon offset certificates — available to help buildings comply with Local Law 97 — are going to have the circular benefit of generating funds to electrify low-income buildings, including some co-ops. The rules give buildings flexibility to lower fines by effectively buying continued fossil fuel use. The city has announced the money generated by the offsets will go into a specific fund, named the GreenHOUSE Fund, to help decarbonize affordable housing, including the city’s cash-strapped low-income co-ops.

Energy upgrades at Clinton Hill Cooperative have cut gas use by 50%, improved resident comfort and lowered penalties under Local Law 97. (Photo courtesy Kelvin)

At Two Charlton Owners Corp. in Hudson Square, the board has implemented a forward-thinking strategy to enhance energy efficiency through three key electrical upgrades. "We've created a brand new electrical infrastructure," says co-op board member Chris McGinnis, who began planning these initiatives several years ago when he saw electrification on the horizon.

> GREEN IDEAS > CABRINI TERRACE CO-OP RESTORES ORIGINAL STEAM HEATING SYSTEM, CUTTING GAS USAGE BY 15%

Con Edison incentives and financing split helped fund the $900,000 project, completed in a historic district. (Map courtesy Property Shark)

NYC co-ops and condos can apply for $10M initiative to host cutting-edge low-emission heating and air conditioning units.

Would you like your building to play host to cutting edge low-emission heating and air conditioning units? That’s the opportunity open to a handful of New York City co-ops and condos as part of a $10 million initiative by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Through participation in the Packaged Terminal Heat Pump (PTHP) program, boards can apply for their buildings to become demonstration sites for next-generation, high-efficiency cold-climate heat pumps.

The clock is ticking for boards hoping to take advantage of the newly passed J-51 rules to offset their co-op and condo renovation costs. With the mayor's signature on December 18 setting the new legislation into law, boards face a tight timeline: applications must be filed within four months of either the law's effective date or a project's completion. "If your work is already done, the application filing deadline is April 18, 2025," explains attorney Benjamin Williams, head of the property tax department at Rosenberg & Estis.

Remeasuring the building’s gross floor area and adding smart heating and cooling controls has slashed emission penalties at Executive Towers, a 453-unit co-op in South Bronx. (Photo Courtesy of Parity)