It's Time for Co-op and Condo Boards To Make New Year’s Resolutions

With winter descending and the year drawing to a close, it’s the normal time to make resolutions for the New Year. Of course, nothing about this year has been “normal,” but in the spirit of optimism that 2021 will not be overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic the way that 2020 has been, I submit a few modest resolutions for co-op and condo board members to consider:

Schedule a vacation. On top of the personal difficulties we have all faced during the pandemic, board members have had to bear the added burden, stress and occasional heartbreak of trying to protect all of their neighbors and staff from the virus. This month, we have entered a strange purgatory during which we are suffering record deaths every day, but a vaccine is miraculously ready to be widely distributed. Let us hope that after a few more months of discipline, board members will be able to get a respite from their pandemic responsibilities. They have certainly earned it.

Learn lessons from the pandemic. No one would wish to operate a building under pandemic conditions again, but we have learned some valuable lessons that board members should bring with them to 2021. For example, we learned that virtual annual meetings and board elections can work successfully. While in-person meetings are preferable in many ways, we found that most virtual annual meetings were surprisingly well attended and smoothly run. If permitted in future years, a virtual annual meeting may make sense for buildings with, for example, a high number of non-resident owners. Annual meetings aside, virtual board meetings can be an appealing alternative for buildings that otherwise would hold their meetings at the offices of their managing agents or at some other site.

In addition, boards also will have learned a great deal this year about their management company, contract vendors and other professionals. If your building’s team rose to the occasion this year, there is little doubt they’ll be able to meet tough challenges in the future; if the team fell short, resolve to find ways to improve their performance in 2021.

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Work on something besides the coronavirus. With any luck, co-op and condo boards should have time and energy in 2021 to devote to initiatives that were overshadowed or put on hold by the pandemic. A prime candidate for your board’s attention should be compliance with the Climate Mobilization Act. This law aims to reduce New York City’s carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 by imposing, among other things, mandates for the installation of green or solar roofs on certain buildings, and caps on carbon emissions beginning in 2024. Buildings that fail to meet the caps face stiff financial penalties.

On top of that, the City Council passed an amendment to the law earlier this year that applies the carbon emissions caps to many buildings that had previously been exempt. For New York City to meet its ambitious carbon-emission goals on time, it will take another heroic effort by boards and management, not to mention their energy consultants, engineers, architects and contractors. All boards should resolve to start planning as early as possible to comply with the demands of this sweeping law.

No matter whether your board adopts these New Year’s resolutions, different ones or none at all, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season, with the hope of a better year to come. 

William D. McCracken is a partner at the law firm Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer.  He can be reached at wmccracken@ganfershore.com.