New York City is looking to soften its groundbreaking sustainable buildings law just six months after it came into effect, as residents in cash-strapped households raise affordability concerns.
Local Law 97, described as “one of the most ambitious plans for reducing emissions in the nation”, demands that NYC’s largest buildings slash emissions 40% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050. Under the law, around 50,000 buildings larger than 25,000 square feet must undertake retrofits to meet these targets, or pay a penalty for failing to do so.
But now, if Local Law 772 is approved by council, Local Law 97 will be amended to ease both its decarbonization requirements and its non-compliance penalties for buildings that house low- and middle-income residents, reports The Gothamist.
The new bill would allow such residences to factor green spaces into their emission calculations, and reduce their penalties by as much as 100% till 2035, if they demonstrate financial need or a “good faith effort to comply.”
The proposed changes would cover 10% of the buildings affected, mostly condos and housing co-operatives.
Alicia Fernandez, treasurer of a co-op in Queens, told the Gothamist that her fellow residents, mostly retirees, would welcome the amendment. Fully electrifying their 726-apartment complex will cost US$60 million, or $51,000 per household.
“There’s no possible way that we could raise the $60 million,” Fernandez said, adding that many residences would likely just pay the annual non-compliance penalties to avoid upgrade costs. “It’s really promoting paying the fines,” she said. “The easy way out for all these buildings is… just pay the fine and let’s kick the can down the road.”
City council member Linda Lee, who is leading the effort to amend Local Law 97, says it comes down to what people can afford.
“A lot of the folks who live in the co-ops and condos are already working-class, middle-income folks,” said Lee. “It’s people that are teachers, labour union workers, seniors who are downsizing and on fixed incomes, as well as a lot of young families that are just starting off.”
Proponents of the current law are worried about the impacts of softening it, as it is designed to match the urgency of the climate crisis.
“The stakes are very high here,” said Pete Sikora, campaign director at New York Communities for Change. “It would gut the world’s most important city-level project.”
“The bill eliminates penalties for a large number of co-ops and condos and garden apartments, so it makes the law effectively voluntary, because there’s no penalty,” Sikora said. “If there’s no penalty, there’s no need to follow it.”
