senior online services co-op

Programs: Membership dues were paid by 1034 cooperatives and condominiums, including 24 new members. 95 professionals renewed their affiliation with the council and six new professionals joined this year. They all received cnyc notices and publications, including the comparative study of 2015 operating cost, and were able to avail themselves of the benefits of the organization at no cost or at special member and affiliate rates. Commencing in 2017, membership in the national association of housing cooperatives (nahc) became mandatory for cnyc members. The new program gives all cnyc members full membership rights at nahc, whose advocacy function with the federal government is very important to cnyc.

on sunday, november 12th, the council held its 37th annual housing conference at eleanor roosevelt high school on manhattan's upper east side, where it offered 65 classes on all aspects of cooperative and condominium housing. 465 people attended the conference to listen to 93 speakers and visit 47 exhibits of products and services. A number of "scholarships" were awarded to board members of limited equity cooperatives through the urban homesteading assistance board (uhab), which has presented a special series of classes at the conference, focused on the needs of its member, for more than a decade. Members of other new york city organizations for housing cooperatives and condominiums were welcomed at this conference at member rates, as were members of the national association of housing cooperatives. The conference also drew registrants from city government and from lending institutions, and manhattan borough president gale brewer had a table in the exhibit area and came herself at the end of the day to greet attendees at the final assembly, where john lee of the mayor's office of sustainability encourage energy conservation as a way of improving building comfort and costs while also helping preserve the environment.

consistent with the council's goals of enhancing member cooperatives and condominiums' ability to function efficiently, affordably and safely, and in compliance with all applicable laws, the council conducted 21 evening classes in the course of the year which, in the aggregate, were attended by more than 400 people. Several were presented in partnership with other groups, including the big apple chapter of the community associations institute, which is a new partner for cnyc.

d. On june 14, 2017, the council held an issues forum for professional subscribers in coordination with the federation of new york housing cooperatives and condominiums. There was lively discussion of many of the topics raised, relating to key issues confronting new york cooperatives and condominiums and the professionals serving them. Suggestions made at this annual event continue to influence cnyc's agenda in seeking legislation and in its discussions with lawmakers and government officials. E. The council compiled and published its annual comparative study of building operating costs which included data gleaned from the annual financial statements of 1179 cooperatives and condominiums, reported in eight categories, east side cooperatives in manhattan), west side cooperatives (in manhattan) , manhattan condominiums, condominiums outside of manhattan, large cooperatives outside of manhattan, small manhattan cooperatives, small brooklyn cooperatives, and loft cooperatives and condominiums. The comparative study helps members determine if their own buildings are operating efficiently and enables them to target areas where they may be able to reduce current costs. This year, consultants at decision fish prepared for cnyc's website an online tool to facilitate comparisons in the study. In addition to its use by cnyc members and professional affiliates, the annual comparative study is used by brokers, appraisers, journalists and economists in studying new york city's cooperatives and condominiums. F. The council's award winning website, www. Cnyc. Coop completed its 22nd year in october. Links to hundreds of websites of related interest and scores of "pages" of information about cooperatives and condominiums make this a popular information center. It continued to grow and flourish, providing information about the organization to surfers of the internet and answering their questions via e-mail the internet suffix dot coop continues to be effective in calling attention to cooperatives and in further 'branding' cnyc services. G. Through its action committee for reasonable real estate taxes, the council continued to help members cope with modifications to the property tax abatement program that has been in place since 1996, sorting out confusion relating to the primary residency requirement instituted for the city's fiscal year 2013. This year new online reporting forms were introduced, which require both cooperatives and condominiums to conform annually that their buildings wish to continue to participate in the abatement program. The council worked with the nyc department of finance and the office of the taxpayer advocate to help reach all affected building and ensure proper completion of these forms. H. The council continued to work with other organizations in the real estate industry in new york city to mitigate the cost of various filings and building modifications required by law, and to expand opportunities for grants, abatements and other incentives to defray the costs of compliance for those who struggle with these costs. I. The council continues to help members cope with city laws that requires all buildings of 50,000 square feet or more to conduct energy audits every ten years and to 'retro-commission' building systems to ensure that they function at peak efficiency. J. The council took part in discussions aimed at requiring that buildings of 25,000 to 50,000 square feet begin to 'benchmark' their water and energy use in 2018 for 2017. Cnyc urged the city to provide plentiful advance notice and free help with the first year of benchmarking, since many of these buildings are self-managed. K. The council tried again to have state legislation passed to eliminate prohibitions on reverse mortgage loans to seniors in housing cooperatives. Passed unanimously by the state senate, the bill was again held back in the assembly as staff sought to ensure that consumers would be adequately protected from predatory lending practices. Amended bills with consumer protections have been prepared for the 2018 legislative session. L. The council convened a meeting of leaders of diverse organizations for housing cooperatives to develop a joint strategy for dealing with legislative attempts at state and city levels to control the admissions process that is so important to housing cooperatives, where ownership is shared and all shareholders are expected to contribute to the community. M. The council's executive director was selected to participate in committees revising the nyc building code as it applies to existing buildings. N. The council's executive director continues to serve on the board of the realty advisory board on labor relations inc. (the rab) which represents property owners in their dealings with service employees. She also serves on the advisory board of the thomas shortman training fund's school for union members. O. The council continued to provide courses that qualify for continuing education credit for cpas in new york state. P. The council was granted multi-year continuing legal education accreditation for seven of the classes that it presents regularly and was thus able to advertise in advance the availability of cle credit. Four new classes first offered in 2016 received one year accreditation for that year and again when they were repeated in 2017. Q. The council ran its three-session seminar entitled self-management 101 to help very small cooperatives and condominiums understand their management responsibilities towards the physical plant, the financial realm and legal requisites, and two cycles of its two-session class entitled inroduction to co-op biard responsibilities: an intensive seminar for new directors, plus two sessions of its free wheeling workshop for building treasurers, where questions brought by participants set the discussion agenda. . R. The council encouraged its members to attend trade shows and educational offerings of other organizations in the real estate industry. Cnyc members generally receive discounts or free admission to these events. S. The council continued to be represented on the legislative action committee of the new york state chapter of the community associations institute, joining forces with other cooperatives, condominiums and homeowner associations statewide to work together on legislative priorities. T. The council's executive director continued to serve on the board of the national cooperative bank, which is responsible for a significant percentage of loans to housing cooperatives and condominiums nationwide. U. The council's treasurer continues to serve as president of the national association of housing cooperatives, where the council's executive director chairs the government relations committee, and the council's assistant treasurer serves on the governance committee. Nahc has been very instrumental in having congressional legislation introduced to enable fema to make grants to housing cooperatives, condominiums and home owner associations when disasters destroy building wide systems or devastate common property. V. The council's executive director continues to serve on the advisory committee established by new york city finance commissioner jacques jiha, which meets quarterly as a forum for reviewing new projects of the department. W. The council's executive director serves on the board of the urban homesteading assistance board (uhab), inc. Which provides funding and training for the establishment, refurbishing and maintaining of cooperative housing for low income families. Uhab organized three classes specifically focused on the needs of its members at cnyc's 37th annual housing conference and arranged for 62 of its members to attend the conference. X. The council participated in three industry trade shows, which provided opportunity to reach large audiences with information about the organization and its activities.