NYC workshop helps Riverdale co-ops navigate costly climate law requirements

Whitehall board president Jeffrey Moerdler at the Oct. 13 workshop.

Olivia Young

Local cooperative residents have expressed frustrations about unique financial challenges they face when complying with local environmental laws, and a new city initiative is trying to bridge the gap.

City representatives hosted a workshop Oct. 13 at the Whitehall — a luxury co-op at 3333 Henry Hudson Parkway — to inform about 20 residents and board members from various buildings on what resources the city provides. Namely, NYC Accelerator, a program launched in April that connects building owners with financing options and vetted contractors, among other things, to make the process of complying with local energy efficiency laws easier.

Most larger buildings have to follow Local Law 97, which was created in 2019 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting an emission goal sometimes requires costly capital improvements — like green roofs or solar electricity systems — usually handled by a landlord. But in a co-op, costs fall on shareholders, in the form of higher monthly maintenance fees or assessments.

More than two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to buildings, according to the city’s department of buildings.

“Cutting Carbon in Co-ops and Condos” is a workshop by the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, in partnership with nonprofit Building Energy Exchange and not-for-profit Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. It falls under NYC Accelerator, and helps develop a decarbonization plan for buildings, which is a cost-effective, long-term strategy for Local Law 97.

New York City Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung said at the workshop the city heard concerns on matters such as changing board members, long project timelines, capital planning and not knowing where to start. Cutting Carbon in Co-ops and Condos was created with co-op-dense communities like Riverdale and the northwest Bronx in mind, she later told The Press.

“We want to make sure that buildings are more sustainable, healthier and safer,” Yeung said. “And that we are giving building owners and residents the tools that they need.”

According to data released last month from the city’s department of buildings, City Council District 11 — which encompasses greater Riverdale, Bedford Park, Norwood, Wakefield and Woodlawn — had a 96% compliance rate with Local Law 97, 1% higher than the citywide average.

Local Law 97 operates in five-year intervals with increasingly stricter emissions caps. The first compliance period is from 2024 to 2029, according to the city’s department of buildings, with annual compliance reports starting in 2025 to ensure buildings are on the right track.

Planning, financing and permitting can take years, said Building Energy Exchange CEO Richard Yancey. The decarbonization plan can help take advantage of “trigger events,” he said, such as “if a piece of equipment’s getting near the end of its useful life, or if you have a refinancing coming up.”

Generally buildings operate in a reactive mode — the roof needs replacing now, the boiler just broke and a new one is needed, Yancey said. But a long-term plan helps optimize doing upgrades over time.

Found in an interactive workbook distributed at the workshop, the decarbonization planning process is: Initiate the project by building a team of board members and shareholders with clear roles and goals, examine current conditions with an assessment of the building’s equipment and finances, develop a long-term plan that says what measures to implement and what financial resources can help, execute the plan with qualified vendors and contractors, and monitor the impact of the plan and file compliance reports to the city. 

Jeffrey Moerdler, board president of the Whitehall, explained challenges faced during his more than 20-year tenure. Among other infrastructure issues, the roof of the garage — which was under the pool deck along with a number of brick cabanas — “leaked like a sieve,” he said.

Moerdler said in order to repair the roof, the building had to rip off the concrete and cabanas. It opened up the deck and revealed an opportunity.

“We realized that once we ripped off the cabanas, we have a huge asset here,” Moerdler said. “We have an almost 30,000-square-foot deck that was used by 20 or 30 families for cabanas, and not really used by the rest of the building. So we decided to build a green roof.”

This is one example of a building taking advantage of a trigger event.

Kathleen Carroll, vice president of 3001 Henry Hudson Parkway’s board, said her building is already set to meet the emissions bar for 2030. But, as the costs for insurance, heating and real estate taxes rise, she wants to be prepared for the next compliance period.

Yeung said buildings are where New Yorkers live, work and spend a majority of their time, and making sure these structures are healthy improves quality of life and benefits the planet.

“If we’re really serious about tackling climate change,” Yeung told The Press, “We need to start with our buildings.”