Shareholders say the new law requires approval from a full 80 percent of residents for their buildings to be privatized.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul just signed a Mitchell-Lama program “affordable-housing reform” bill that shareholders say prevents them from privatizing their building, as intended under the program. They want that part of the law amended. It should be.
State Sen. Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan/B’klyn) and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsors, say the law gives residents and shareholders greater latitude to “provide meaningful input into how their buildings are governed and to decide the co-op’s financial future in a more equitable and transparent manner.”
But shareholders tell The Post the new law also requires approval from a full 80 percent of residents for their buildings to be privatized, making that near impossible. They see that as a confiscation of their property rights.
Some buildings are in need of millions in repairs that residents say they’re not getting. Many see privatization as their only hope, and before Hochul signed the bill, that could happen with only a two-thirds vote. Now they’ll need 80 percent.
Remember: Mitchell-Lama housing was never intended to keep units off the market forever. Created in 1955, it was meant as a way to keep low- and middle-income families in the city, giving them the opportunity, usually after 20 years, to own their units and return them to the market if they chose. Now their hands are tied.
This isn’t just a matter of fairness: City housing is almost always better in private hands. If Hochul and lawmakers want to improve the city’s housing stock, they’ll reconsider that law and make the adjustments shareholders request.
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