CO-OP / CONDO CAUCUS: MARK WEPRIN Q&A

 

How did your interest in the co-op/condo caucus develop?

I was actually campaigning for election to the city council knocking on doors and I came to realize that so many of the people I represent are cooperators and even though I represented the district, it never occurred to me until I started meeting people, how many issues they had, whether it was water rates or the real property tax rates that they're charged, and just how co-ops are treated more like an investment than as [a home]. In my district, you're talking about middle-class people who own co-ops. …

We sent out an e-mail to all of the council members, explaining to them that we were putting together this caucus to help educate people about issues that are coming down in the city council or [to propose] things we can advocate for that would help co-op and condo owners.

In addition, I reached out to them saying, "We need to change some of the image out there about co-ops." While I understand that there are really a lot of very nice co-ops in Manhattan – beautiful fancy co-ops – the co-ops by me, with the exception of North Shore towers which I represent, are not what I would call fancy co-ops. It's about middle-class people. There is an image problem for co-ops and condos, to be honest, and I want to help change the image that somehow co-ops are for rich people.

People need to know that this is a great form of living. It's a great investment in the future of our city. When people move into a co-op, they care about where they live. Renters are important, and sometimes it's the only way to live. But it's so much better to own a piece of where you live because it makes you care more about the neighborhood, it makes you feel more deeply rooted in the community. You care about not only yourself but about the parks that are attached, the benches, and everything around it. And maybe you're a little more careful about whether you drop litter on the floor.

What do you think are the problems co-ops and condos are facing?

There is an image problem for

co-ops and condos, and I want

to help change the image that

somehow co-ops are for rich people.

People don't understand what co-op living is about. The laws treat co-ops like investors, and the public and the government treat co-ops like landlords, and they're anything but. When you hit a co-op for a fee, when you mandate that they have to do a certain type of audit, when you mandate that they need to use a certain type of heating oil, you're mandating that all of those shareholders have to pay for it. It's not like a landlord who owns a building and says, "If you charge me more I'm going to pass it down to my renters." Indeed they may, but they don't have to. A co-op, they have to. It's the shareholders who are getting charged. Right off the bat, it isn't a landlord, it is average Joes and Janes out there who are homeowners. I do think there needs to be a distinction.

We're going to work for tax fairness, for fairness in things like the heating oil issue that's coming down. There are people out there who are absentee landlords, who own a co-op who are subletting, who bought up a number of co-ops and are sponsors out there. I'm not against sponsors, but let's face it, my big concern is [for] those shareholders who are living in their units, who are raising their family who we're trying to encourage to buy. Buy in my community, don't just rent. Don't just come for a year or two, try to stay long-term.

How do you think you can move the city away from treating co-ops like rentals?

Well, look, when we say "the city," it's easy to say "them" and "they." Now that I'm in the city council, a lot of laws that have passed, the legislation that will be passed, are [voted on by] city council members. So, I can say "they" all I want, but in the end it's "we." One of my goals is to educate my colleagues, some of whom don't represent many co-ops at all.

 

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