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The Co-op and Condo Insider
REBNY's Zachary Steinberg Discusses How Advocacy Shapes New York Housing
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From the cornfields of Iowa to the corridors of power in New York City real estate, Zachary Steinberg's journey reveals how policy advocacy shapes the buildings we call home. As REBNY's Executive Vice President of External Relations and Advocacy, Steinberg offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of an organization that serves as both the voice and convener for New York's complex real estate ecosystem.
Steinberg's political education began with Iowa's unique caucus system, where citizens physically stand with their preferred candidates and engage in persuasive dialogue—a process that taught him the fundamentals of coalition-building. These skills served him well during seven years working for Senator Tom Harkin, where he witnessed firsthand how bipartisan collaboration could produce landmark legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act.
What makes this conversation particularly valuable for co-op and condo owners is Steinberg's candid discussion of how REBNY navigates competing interests among its diverse 14,000-member base. "If it's good for the city of New York, it's going to be good for our members in the long run," he explains, revealing how the organization prioritizes policy positions that benefit the city's long-term health over short-term factional interests.
The episode shines a light on REBNY's critical advocacy work for co-ops and condos, including preserving the co-op/condo tax abatement program against efforts to redirect those funds, developing practical compliance pathways for Local Law 97's emissions standards, reforming facade inspection requirements, and renewing the vital J51 program. Steinberg also shares practical wisdom about knowing when to fight legislation head-on and when to secure protective carve-outs for co-op and condo owners.
For anyone interested in understanding how real estate policy gets made in New York—and why certain rules and regulations affect your building the way they do—this conversation provides essential context from someone working behind the scenes to shape the landscape of shared housing in America's largest city.
Introduction to Zachary Steinberg
Speaker 1You'll say get me the Rebney form , or what is the opinion of Rebney , or what is Rebney advising to do on this issue ? You're an industry leader , in a way , guiding this complex world called New York City real estate .
Speaker 2This is the Co-op and Condo Insider , the podcast dedicated to New York's cooperative and condominium communities . This is your trusted source for the latest insights , strategies and stories shaping the world of shared housing . You will hear from the people who are leaders in this community information and insights you will not hear anywhere else . If you want to stay ahead of the curve , you're in the right place . The views and opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily reflect those of the host or any affiliated individuals or organizations .
Speaker 1Hello and welcome to the Co-op and Condo Insider , where we explore real-world issues facing co-op and condominium communities across New York City with insight , expertise and a healthy dose of straight talk . I'm your host , jeffrey Maisel . I'm a co-op attorney and legal advisor to the President's Co-op and Condo Council . Now I'm thrilled to be joined by my co-host , richard Solomon . A seasoned voice in public radio for over 20 years , richard has taken his listeners around the world to meet experts , newsmakers , and they're making a real difference in our everyday lives . Richard , it's great to have you on the mic today .
Speaker 3Love being here .
Speaker 1Okay , and we're really excited to have our guest today Zachary Steinberg . Zachary Steinberg is the Executive Vice President of External Relations and Advocacy . That is a mouthful , zachary . You'll have to read that a few times to memorize it . But congratulations on your new role . At the Real Estate Board in New York , he leads advocacy strategies to advance the Real Estate Board's public policy priorities and oversees external relationships and outreach and policymakers . His work has helped advance sensible city , state and federal policies that support Rebney's objectives . Prior to Rebney , zach was Deputy Policy Director in the office of the New York City Comptroller and worked for the former US Senator , tom Harkin Zach , welcome to the show .
Speaker 4Great to be here . Thanks for having me , Jeff .
Speaker 1And I can say from personal experience that Zach is a key player on many , many issues regarding co-op and condo issues , and you know we kind of work behind the scenes sometimes sometimes not behind the scenes , but all your help over the years is appreciated by both myself and the co-op community in general . You've been a pleasure to work with Jeff . Okay , so we'll live from the beginning . How's that ? So , zach ? Last podcast Richard and I did was with Council Member Francisco Moya , and Francisco Moya lives in the same house he grew up in and doing a little research on you . You do not . Okay , so you were born in Iowa . Okay , we had Manitoba , so not the most exotic place that we of person we're interviewing , but getting there . Tell us a bit about your early life there and , you know ,
From Iowa to New York: Political Beginnings
Speaker 1tell us about the path from Iowa to New York City .
Speaker 4Yeah Well , you know I wasn't actually born and I was born in Boston because I was born to some college professor parents who were , you know , I think , like many college professor families , were trying to figure out where we're going to land permanently , which means where your family is going to get tenure . So eventually my dad wound up getting tenure at the University of Iowa . So off we moved to Iowa City , iowa , and you know it was a really wonderful place to grow up . College towns are great , but they're a little bit different than New York City . Obviously the nice thing about Iowa from my perspective , or one of them at least , is that it's really hard not to get into politics and government when you live there , you know , not just because of the university and the community that it generates and supports . But Iowa City especially was a huge draw for politicians from across the political spectrum when I was growing up , back when the Iowa caucuses were still , you know , the first in the nation and one of the most important political events in the country every four years , and so you know candidates would come through and the great thing about the Iowa caucuses you could go see them at a union hall , you could go see them at a VFW , you could see them at the supermarket and you could talk to them and you could meet them and you could understand and exchange ideas and go to rallies and really understand how do politics work , how do politicians think , how does government happen , and so I guess that sort of got the bug for getting into the line of work that I am in today . You know so , when I was 17 , not long before I went off to college , I participated in the Iowa caucuses and I think that's sort of how I got interested in working in and around government .
Speaker 4You know , after I went off to college , I decided to move to DC where I started working for , as you said , senator Harkin , who was a 40-year Iowa congressman and senator . I spent seven years in his office doing all kinds of things . I started my first job was responding to constituent mail and eventually worked my way up to having my own sort of policy portfolio and advising him on issues ranging from labor policy and retirement policy to financial services , trade and a number of other things . You know , tom was an amazing person to work for .
Speaker 4As I said , he'd been in office for 40 years when he retired and he was the kind of person who I think was really in government for the right reasons , about making life better for people every day . He was a progressive Democrat who knew how to get things done and how to work collaboratively with people on all sides of the aisle and all sides of the political spectrum to make a difference . For example , he's the author of the Americans with Disabilities Act , which is one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in recent memory , signed into law by President George HW Bush . It's hard to imagine that kind of bipartisanship and collaboration in Washington today . But eventually he retired and shortly thereafter my wife got a job in New York City , so we moved up here .
Speaker 1So one thing , I guess differences between New York and Iowa . We don't have college football and our presidential politics in New York are boring . They don't even come here because there's no reason to come here . Explain to me and this is really a personal question I don't understand exactly what is a caucus , what's everybody talking about and what are they doing ?
Speaker 4I'm not sure I understand it either , jeff .
Speaker 4Basically what you do is you get in a big room and you go stand in a corner and the corner is basically which candidate you want to support , and there is a first round where everyone goes and sort of splits up and then at least the way it worked when I was , when I was doing it there is a time for then each person or each group of supporters to make a speech , try to try to talk to your neighbors , convince them to move corners , and that's important , because if candidates didn't get over a certain percentage of the of the room , they were determined to be what's called non-viable , and then those , those people and everyone else called non-viable , and then those people and everyone else gets to go split up and there's a second round and that's where they decide okay , how many people are going to be for this candidate or this candidate or that candidate .
Speaker 4And each polling site , caucus site , gets a certain number of delegates and the delegates then get apportioned based on how many people decide to stand with that particular candidate , and those are delegates to the county conventions and ultimately , the state conventions where that person is chosen . So instead of going into the ballot booth . You fill in a little circle and you are off on your way . You have to make a commitment of time . You got to talk to your neighbors . You have to sort of identify where you are , and it's a different process .
Speaker 1Amazing , amazing . So what years did you work for the senator ?
Speaker 4I was there from 2008 to 2015 .
Speaker 1And did you get to work with them closely ?
Speaker 4Yeah , you know , the thing about Senate offices is they're big but they're not that big , and in a state like Iowa , you know everyone's problems become your problems in some ways , and so there's an expectation that from you know staff assistants and legislative correspondents who are sort of entry level , first jobs out of college , kind of things . You know you're interacting with constituents and you're reporting back to the senator on what people are saying . What are they writing him about , what are the issues they're experiencing , what does he need to know when he's going to walk into a room of people visiting him , you know , from whatever part of the state they're in , and so you get a real opportunity to both help him or her , whoever the elected official may be , but also then , you know , respond back to the folks who send you to Washington in the first place . So it's a wonderful experience but Senator Harkin .
Speaker 1During that time period he was a senior member of the Democratic caucus and was extremely influential , so that must have been fascinating for you as a young intern .
Speaker 4It was an incredible place to learn the Senate and Congress in general . It was filled with incredibly smart , passionate , thoughtful people from all sides of the political spectrum and , for someone just out of college , you couldn't get a better crash course in how to think about the world , how to understand policy , how to meet people , how to make relationships , how to live in the world .
Speaker 1So now you leave DC and you come to New York City , did you go to REBNY ? And , by the way , for you folks listening , rebny is the Real Estate Board of New York , so we're going to use the initials REBNY . Did you go to work for them right away or did you work somewhere else before ?
Speaker 4Yeah , you know . So after moving to New York City , I spent several months trying to figure out what I wanted to do next . One of the things I learned and I was a little surprised by it was that there's not actually a very strong pipeline between Washington DC and the New York City government and policymaking world . There's a very big , strong pipeline of people who move between Albany and New York City and city and state government , but not so much at the federal level , you know . So it took me a while to build connections , to meet people , to sort of understand the structure of New York City and New York state government , and eventually that took me to the New York City Comptroller's Office , who was then Scott Stringer .
Speaker 4It was a really great place to land as my first job in New York City government world . You know Scott and the team he had around him had been in office for , I mean , since Scott was a teenager , they'd been working in government , and so for someone like me coming in new to New York City , it was an incredible place to sort of figure out who's who here , what does . What agency does what kind of things . How should I think about how city government is structured ? How should I learn about who these various people are ? And so it was a really wonderful experience , and obviously I think the common thread in my career to that point was working for elected officials who were driven by policy . They're politicians , but they have incredible policy accomplishments and have really made a difference in people's lives , and so I think you know I spent a couple of years there and then it was sort of time for me to figure out what was next .
Speaker 1And next was revenue . So explain to us what does the Real Estate Board of New York do ? Who do they represent ? And I know that's a long answer for a short question , but do your best . I know that's a long answer for a short question , but do your best .
Speaker 4Well , I'm still figuring it out myself . I think we are about a 14,000-member trade association that represents the New York City real estate industry , and I really think I use industry maybe ecosystem might be a better word . We're a 130-year-old organization
Understanding REBNY's Role in NYC
Speaker 4and we've come to be known , I think publicly , as the advocacy arm of big real estate , but we're also the convener for the industry and in some ways function a bit like a chamber of commerce , might you know . So we host committee meetings , we do events they're networking events , they're education events , they might be policy conversation events . We do award ceremonies , whether that's for residential brokerage , commercial brokerage , property management , and we do things like develop standards . You may have signed a lease at one point in your life that was the REBNY lease and so we sort of do a lot of different things in the New York City real estate world , in addition to sort of our advocacy and our work in that space . That's probably most well-known .
Speaker 3Is REBNY unique to New York ? Because I used to live in DC also and there was really no strong real estate industry at the time that I lived there . It was very dispersed Right .
Speaker 4Yeah , we are pretty unique . I think there are obviously not federal trade associations that do a lot of work in sort of DC and the federal government level , from groups like the Real Estate Roundtable , the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts , et cetera , et cetera . There's a sort of an alphabet soup of them , but there are relatively few who operate at the local level . You know there are some , there are some groups in California , there are some various chapters of an organization called the building owners and managers association , boma , that does a lot of sort of professional certification kinds of things . Um , but there's not an organization like us and I think why I called it an ecosystem that incorporates the entirety of the real estate ecosystem under one roof in a metro area like New York City or any other major city in the country .
Speaker 1And legislative adequacy is just a small part of what's happening at REBNY . I know invariably in conversations you'll say get me the REBNY form , or what is the opinion of REBNY , or what is REBNY advising to do on this issue ? You're an industry leader in a way , guiding this complex world called New York City real estate .
Speaker 4Well , thank you for that . Yeah , you know , I think we try to be . You know we try to find ways where we can add value . There are issues I think back to the pandemic which I tried not to think about but you know it was also an opportunity where we really did have to step up and play a bit of a leadership role , because you had guidance coming out from the federal government , from the state government , from the city government , and it was dense , it was technical , sometimes it didn't always agree and our members looked at us to help them understand .
Speaker 4Okay , what do I do ? What are the right standards for air handling in a building ? What are the right ways to bring people back into a building ? What is the requirement for how many people can be in an elevator at any given time ? When can I reopen my gym and health club ? You know we were intimately involved in trying to craft responsible policies in that space and so you know we try to do that . Where we can make a difference , we try to do it in a way that we're not just sort of , you know , adding burden , but hopefully it's something we can do and execute and make things better for people .
Speaker 1And also I've seen REBNY brings government and the private sector together , whether it be the DOB finance things like that . Why ? Don't you talk about that a little bit .
Speaker 4Yeah , it's absolutely a core part of what we do , and I think it sort of bleeds into what I call the advocacy arm of big real estate . Our members are very well-versed at their day-to-day business , which is it might be running an office building , it might be building a new housing tower , it might be managing a co-op or a condo , and the government is well-versed in what it does , which might be permitting a new building , it might be thinking about a rezoning , it might be understanding a particular tax , administering a tax benefit program . But you know , those things don't always talk to each other , and so I think where we really come in is trying to sit at the intersection of those different groups and say to our members okay , here's the problem government's trying to solve , how do we help them solve it ? And say to government well , here's the problem our members are trying to overcome , how do we help them solve it and how do we try to collaborate between those two parties ?
Speaker 4A lot of that is relationship building , making sure we know folks in government and in the industry who we can talk to to try to find common ground , and a lot of that is just bringing folks together and putting them in a room and letting them talk things out . You know we do a lot of work and , jeff , we've worked with you and the President's Council and a lot of your members on issues like this all the time . You know , I think about the co-op condo tax abatement where , you know , the Department of Finance has for a long time had challenges administering that program , not because I think they've wanted to make it difficult , but they have an outdated technology system . It's a complicated process and we've really brought the industry and the Department of Finance together in the last couple of years and I think in a way that has really improved things . It's a perfect no , but there's more dialogue , problems are getting solved , things are getting better and I think that's a role we play , that hopefully we're able to help with everyone .
Speaker 1Absolutely . I have the privilege of being a legal advisor to the residential management committee , which is mostly called Pancanda real estate managers , and I attend the monthly meetings and every month is a masterclass in new regulations , new laws , guests from government , guests from private sector , and it's a tremendous service and I know this community relies on that committee very deeply .
Speaker 4One of the things that has changed , even in my time at REVNI and I've been there for seven years now almost the volume of issues we work on has only gone up in that time and the complexity of the issues we work on , not just in terms of what the political environment is like , but just the volume of issues . You know the city council is considering more and more things . The state legislature considers more and more things all the time . There's new regulation from the Department of Buildings , there's a new operating system for the Department of Finance , and all of that just makes , I think , the importance of being able to convene government and industry and to be able to communicate across the industry to sort of say here's what to expect , here's what they're trying to do , are there ways we can help them do it better ? Here's the next iteration of this regulation . Here's what we should be commenting on when we have the opportunity . It is a really helpful thing for us as well and hopefully helps the industry be successful .
Speaker 1So it's almost like a facilitator organization for the management companies and the building owners . I hope so . Tell us what you're doing for REBNY , what your day-to-day job entails , and if you want to repeat your new title , feel free .
Speaker 4Thank you . Yeah ,
Advocacy Strategies and Member Conflicts
Speaker 4so I run external relations and advocacy at REBNY . What does that mean ? I think it means ensuring that we execute on our advocacy priorities , whether that means we're trying to make something happen or whether that means we're trying to prevent something from happening , excuse me and we're trying to do that to advance the interests of our members . So what does that mean ? It means making . It means retaining growing relationships with policymakers and elected officials . It means keeping in close touch with our members to understand the issues that are forefront of their minds and their priorities .
Speaker 4It requires designing and executing advocacy strategies . That might be building relationships with other stakeholders outside of government . It might be working directly with elected officials to help them advance their priorities when we support them or try to give them feedback about proposals that we think need to be improved . It means managing a team of professionals . There's a whole group of us at REBNY , both who do public policy analysis , who do data analysis , who are plugged into the market and whose job it is to have these relationships and making sure that we're executing on them effectively , and so all of that is what we try to accomplish in our external relations work , and hopefully we get it right more than we get it wrong .
Speaker 1I always say it's like a sinking ship . They just keep coming at you and you can't keep up . How do you guys identify the issues that you want to work on and then facilitate that into action ?
Speaker 3And question how do you manage conflict between the policy choices of your members on the same issue ?
Speaker 1That's a great question . I was going to get into that Because Zach and I , just in full disclosure , we've disagreed on issues and we're allowed to disagree , but I'll let Zach answer that we what conflict no um , well , you know , I think the thing about about having such a diverse membership base is that you know yes , I think there is .
Speaker 4There are times where there are issues where segments of that membership may have differences of opinion . Sometimes it may be someone wants us to prioritize something over another . Sometimes it may be there are just people at odds , or there's winners and losers , and you know who wins a real estate RFP . There's a winner or a loser , you know . But I think what we try to do is is stay at the level of is the overall policy trajectory good for the city in the long run or is it going to hurt the city in the long run ? And , generally speaking , if it's good for the city of New York , it's going to be good for our members in the long run . So I think we try to take that sort of longer term perspective .
Speaker 4There are some issues where that's not possible , some issues where that's not possible and where that's the case , it requires , you know , having built trust and relationships with our members , to have those frank , honest and sometimes difficult conversations . Um , and , it's okay to have disagreement . Uh , I think it makes us better at our jobs at REBNY to hear from all sides of our membership and I think it generally results in us taking smarter , better , more thoughtful positions . So you know there's no magic bullet when that happens , but I will say we don't take a lot of votes so we try to avoid as much conflict as we can .
Speaker 4You know , jeff , you asked about sort of how do we do advocacy with we ? How do we do advocacy with the sort of the mountain of of of stuff coming at us ? And I think a lot of that comes from both identifying issues with our members and staying in constant dialogue with them about the different things that are happening . But it also requires keeping our ear to the ground about what policymakers are trying to accomplish . You know so being in contact with state senators , state assembly members , the governor , the mayor , city council members . What are they trying to do ? Where are their priorities ? What are they hearing from their constituents ? How can we help them solve those problems ? What are the things they're prioritizing ? How can we give them feedback early on ? And so that's a big part of how we try to do it also .
Speaker 1Yeah , just to add to that , just from my experience , you guys also work with other organizations . You know the New York City Cop and Condo Council , where their legislative director is a member of one of your committees . I know my personal experience with the President's Cop and Condo Council and we partnered on many issues you know that we agree on , which has made everybody more effective . Also , one thing we didn't mention there's also a broker segment or whatever the word you want to use in a group as part of Remney , and there were many issues , especially being a co-op attorney , that there was a balancing act that I thought was always carefully treaded and everybody's point of view was always respected .
Speaker 4You're right , you're absolutely right . There is a very large segment of our membership the most members in Rebney are residential agents , professionals , brokers who are very active in the New York City real estate ecosystem and we're proud to represent them . You're right that sometimes there are things that are on their minds that are not necessarily on the minds of developers , or there might be not on the minds of co-ops and condos , but to your point , you know . I think a frank dialogue and open door and trying to find the right solution is often , you know , what all of our members are looking for us to do .
Speaker 1Last legislative session , around June of last year , Zach and I were working on issues regarding the state level Corporate Transparency act and Zach was very helpful in guiding me on that and we were able to amend the language of the statute so it would exempt co-op and condos . Uh , the very that very same day , a real deal article came out about ground leases and Zach and I were on the exact polar opposite ends of the issue . So , uh , we still remain friends after that , but , uh , that's the nature of the beast . I'm still remain friends after that , but that's the nature of the beast .
Speaker 4I'm really glad you brought it up . You know , one of the things that is really important for us is our ability to work with groups who we don't always agree with and to build relationships with organizations across New York state , whether that's , you know , in the with organizations across New York State , whether that's in the co-op condo space , whether that's in the development space , whether that's in the economic development space . And it's been a real part of our efforts over the last several years to try to work more broadly in coalitions . And I think that's been a very deliberate choice for us because , to your point , you know who the messenger is to .
Speaker 4Any particular elected official is a really important thing should and does talk to and is in some issues where we are the right people to be out in front and to be leading the conversation on things like how little housing we've been building , et cetera . But there are some issues where you know you might be better suited to have a conversation , even though you know where we have alignment . And so I think it's been great to work with people like you and to try to expand those coalitions and to grow the number of people who legislators hear from , because , at the end of the day , government and particularly legislative bodies are , I mean , small C conservative institutions . They respond to pressures that the public puts on them , and so when you can work across multiple organizations and amplify those views , it's always more effective .
Speaker 1Another issue that we worked on several years ago and again we're in a very pro-tenant environment at the New York City level and the New York State level and the Tenant Protection Act passed . New York State Good Faith , good Cause , eviction Bill passed and of course the co-op and condo community was , you know , self-interest with , wanted to just do a carve out , while I'm sure the property owners wanted to defeat the bill .
Key Co-op and Condo Issues
Speaker 4Property owners wanted to defeat the bell . And I will say , when the tea leaves were read and it seemed like the carve out was the best we can do , we always got great support from Retni and it was appreciated and noted in the co-op community . Mentioning it , you know , I mean , I think that's a what you put your finger on , um , on a really important thing in sort of the um advocacy space right , which is sort of like living in the world of the possible Um and and a lot of what we do is try to figure out , okay , um , what's the problem we're trying to solve , what are the different ways we have to attack it , and then what are the politically viable solutions and , um , once you sort of identify what that is being able to , to develop strategies around , that is really important . So that's a great example where you know we were able to work , work together and um identify the right way to go about trying to address a very important piece of the policy puzzle for co-ops and condos and you know that's extended . And you mentioned the LLC disclosure effort where we worked closely together last year .
Speaker 4You know where the legislature I don't think they ever intended to sweep in co-ops into it , but the way the language was written . It was arguable whether they had or not , and so we're able to go to them and clarify and make sure that co-ops weren't included was a really important thing , and so opportunities like that are a big part of what we try to make sure that we accomplish . So there's the management arm , there's the brokers , there's property owners , developers themselves , and there are a lot of other , I think , very good organizations who wake up every day thinking about representing Co-op Ocondo boards , whether that's the President's Council , whether that's the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums or others , you know , who are not necessarily members of REVNI but I think of , as you know , as peer organizations who we partner with on many things .
Speaker 1Yeah , and you have the Venn diagram . You have the overlap . What are some of the issues that REBNY's worked on that would affect the co-op and condo community ?
Speaker 4Yeah , we've talked about a bunch of them already , but you know things that jumped in my mind . I talked a little bit earlier about the co-op condo tax abatement , which is obviously a super important piece of policy for the community , and that's really been two things in the last several years . One is advocacy for the abatement program , which was designed to help equalize and rationalize the property tax treatment of co-ops and condos . It's not a given that things like that get extended year after year after year . You know there's been a pretty loud and aggressive policy push from some elected officials to end that abatement and redirect the money to some other purpose , as they would argue it , you know , and so we've been able to push back on that and make sure that the program gets extended to the point where we're able to get the first long-term extension several years ago , which we're going to have to do again in the coming years . And then it's about implementing right . So now that the program's been established , how's it administered , how does it run ? And I talked already a little bit about the work we've done together around helping the Department of Finance make sure they have a system that could actually work so that taxpayers can actually benefit from the program On so that you know taxpayers can actually benefit from the program . On other things , like local law compliance , I think we've spent a lot of time working with the co-op condo community . We haven't talked about it yet , but I know a big issue over the last several years has been compliance with Local Law 97 , you know , the city's building emissions and performance standard , which you know , from our perspective is a very well-intentioned but fundamentally flawed approach to accomplishing a goal I think all New Yorkers share , you know , because it asks co-ops and condos many of them to take very economically irrational actions no-transcript and so we've worked very hard with the community to try to make sure that there's some rational compliance standards in this first several years and I think we've made some progress and we probably have a lot longer to go .
Speaker 4Other things like that jump to mind the facade inspection program . The Department of Buildings and the City Council for many years now , have been very eager to reform that system . From their perspective , too many sheds , too long all of that , and we've been able to , I think , work really well across the entire real estate sector , including with the condo community , even as that conversation about hey , the work needs to happen faster . We need to get sheds down to help also rationalize the system so that hopefully , you know , over time now the Department of Buildings could extend out the life cycle of the facade inspection program . So it's not every five years .
Speaker 4Maybe it's a slightly longer time for many buildings , maybe there's a bit better way to like give people more time to comply , because you know you need to get terracotta and it takes a year to get it and all that sort of stuff which we know many of the co-op and condo buildings across the city are facing . You know , and then I just think about other things in the coming years that we're going to have to be dealing with , and you know things that jumped to my mind . You know the J51 program which , for example , is something that's very important , I think , to many of the co-ops and condos in the boroughs , particularly in addition to a whole bunch of rent-stabilized buildings all over the city . That program is up for renewal again in Albany this year and we're going to have to work really hard to make sure that that program can be turned into a more viable tool to help building owners meet their needs . So a whole range of things we work on and I think it touches almost all aspects of administering a cooperative economy .
Speaker 1Name Great stuff and thank you for your hard work on these issues , Richard . Time to shine , brother .
Speaker 3All right , so let's talk about the Iowa State Fair . Did you ever go ? I have been . What is it like ? It sounds very legendary , and what is it like for someone who's never been there ?
Speaker 4Like heaven , you know . No , it's not quite the field of dreams , but you know it's an incredible opportunity for people to see what happens throughout the state , whether it's , you know , uh , I think things like the butter cow are always super famous and the gigantic turkey legs you can eat , but you know , it's a good opportunity for for for different kinds of folks from across the state to show what they do . Um , particularly , you know , the ag sector and the ag community , um , which is a huge part of what happens there , and so it's great place to sort of see a slice of life .
Speaker 3Okay , so Nashville has the hot chicken , new York has pizza . What's the like Iowa dish ?
Speaker 4Maybe Maid Rites . It's kind of like a sloppy Joe Getting me hungry the other .
Speaker 3My other favorite thing about Iowa is , you know , you go and you order a salad and it's , you know , a little bit of iceberg lettuce and mostly cheese , egg and bacon , you know , but that's OK . Did New York emulate the Iowa caucuses in any way ? Would we benefit from something like that ?
Speaker 4I think New York would benefit from greater voter participation . You know , one of the challenges I think locally is just , you know , relatively low turnout , particularly in local elections . But even you know the one , the primary we just had , I think the highest turnout in a mayoral primary and it was not close to half the electorate participating . You know , does the Iowa caucus encourage ? Did it encourage turnout ? I think you could argue it both ways , but I do think the amount of engagement was often very high and I think New York would benefit from more civic engagement and participation , maybe not exactly in the same way but in that ethos .
Speaker 3And finally , you lived in Iowa and DC . Did they have any co-ops in those states or regions , or is it more of a New York Northeast kind of thing ?
Speaker 4I think Jeff might know better than me . I think it's more of a New York kind of thing . I think there's more akin to homeowners associations , a little bit more prevalent particularly in Iowa .
Speaker 1I can't speak to Iowa I've never been but in dc I know there's a in the southeast quadrant on the river is , I think it's called
Iowa Reflections and Final Thoughts
Speaker 1harbor square . It's a huge development and they're co-ops and my I know that because my father-in-law used to live there and I was fascinated because I assumed they I was assuming they were condos , and then I I they called it a board of directors , not a board of managers , and they were co-ops . So there are some co-ops in DC , but nothing's like New York . It's a very unique form of shared housing that is predominantly a New York thing . Zach , I want to take this opportunity to thank you for joining us and , by the way , congratulations . You are now officially a Co-op and Condo Insider and there's only 11 in the world , so you're one of 11 . It is a growing club and we thank you for your time and for your insights .
Speaker 4Thank you for having me and I look forward to the ranks growing .
Speaker 1Okay , all right . So everybody , thank you for listening and we'll see you next time .