Schumer to Address Annual Meeting of Presidents Co-op & Condo Council
Members of the Presidents Co-op & Condo Council (left to right): Mark Ulrich, Janet Schreibersdorf, Michael Kurtz, Warren Schreiber, Geoffrey Mazel, Bob Friedrich.
June 3, 2021 — A victory lap for politicians who helped co-ops tap into forgivable PPP loans.
New York City legislators at the federal, state and city levels – led by U.S. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer – will take a victory lap when the Presidents Co-op & Condo Council (PCCC) holds its virtual annual meeting on Saturday, June 5.
“Our efforts, thanks to Schumer and other elected officials, brought in tens of millions of dollars to New York co-ops when they were made eligible for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP),” says Geoffrey Mazel, legal counsel for the PCCC and a member of its executive committee. “He went to bat for co-ops, and it’s a nice opportunity for him to address our membership.”
Working in concert with the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums and other advocates across the nation, the PCCC got the New York City congressional delegation to convince Congress that housing co-ops, as small businesses, had been unfairly excluded from the first round of the PPP loans by the Small Business Administration. When a second round of the forgivable loans was approved by Congress, housing cooperatives were specifically included – though condominiums were not.
The $900 billion stimulus package included $284 billion to expand the PPP. Also newly eligible in addition to housing cooperatives were nonprofits, local newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters and local chambers of commerce. The loans were intended to help small businesses keep workers on their payroll during the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic. President Donald Trump, then a lame duck, threatened to veto the measure because it included stimulus payments of just $600 to individuals, and he wanted $2,000 payments. When he realized there were sufficient votes in the Senate to override a veto, he relented and signed the bill into law on Dec. 27, 2020. The money began to flow in early 2021.
Saturday’s PCCC annual meeting will feature opening remarks by Schumer, followed by U.S. Reps. Tom Suozzi and Grace Meng. Also scheduled to attend are state Sens. Toby Stavisky and John Liu, Assemblyman Ed Braunstein and City Council members Francisco Moya and Barry Grodenchik. The PCCC’s executive committee will then hold an open discussion of council business, and attendees will be able to participate in the ongoing discussion.
The PCCC represents more than 100,000 residents of New York City co-ops and condos in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn. The free Zoom webinar of the council’s annual meeting will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 5. To register, click here.