I am a homeowner in a New York City cooperative / condominium. 

I just learned that the City Council introduced T2024-2744 to enable the Department of Sanitation to charge co-ops and condos ten units and larger an additional fee of up to $55 per apartment per year for costs related to garbage collection. I am also aware of the simultaneous introduction of T2024-2775, which would provide garbage containers free of cost to single-family homeowners, two-family homeowners, and other residential buildings nine units and under.

Co-ops and condos are - for all practical purposes - the only affordable pathway to homeownership available to most New Yorkers. And yet, it is co-op and condo homeowners who are continually burdened with financial responsibilities while other homeowners are not. My housing costs have skyrocketed over the past serveral years, and most of the increase is directly attributable to compliance requirements the City Council has imposed - and continues to impose - on my building.

I have made a significant investment in my home, building, neighborhood, and New York City. My fellow shareholders/unit owners and I support local businesses, send our children to local schools, sustain the city’s arts and cultural institutions, contribute to the city’s economy, and participate on community boards and in other local organizations. Together, we cover a substantial portion of the city’s real estate taxes. 

Ask yourself what the city would look like without us - because if costs and operational burdens continue to escalate, our homes will not be sustainable. It is not enough for homes to be affordable and workable at the point of purchase - they must remain so over time.

We urgently call on you to OPPOSE T2024-2744. If the containerization program proposed by the Department of Sanitation cannot be funded from the City’s general fund then it should be reconsidered.

Other existing compliance requirements must be streamlined and simplified. It is crucial that City Council members consider the financial and operational impact new legislation has on the city’s true stakeholders - the co-op and condo homeowners charged with the task of compliance.

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