NY Climate Law Uncertainty, Pols Mull “Anti-Slumlord” Bill

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Hello, let’s get into today’s news at the intersection of policy and real estate:

Real estate and sustainability experts are paying close attention to potential revisions to the state’s climate law.
Lawmakers float a new “anti-slumlord act.”
A new group of co-op and condo owners has entered the policy chat.
Reforms to SEQR are advancing in the State Legislature.
City Council republicans are trying to mothball Local Law 97 — again.

In this edition we mention: Joe Chavez, director for sustainable buildings at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, Stuart Saft, a real estate attorney with Holland and Knight, State Sen. Rachel May, Assembly member Ana Kelles, and others.

We Heard

Climate law reset? Gov. Kathy Hochul is signaling potential changes to New York’s climate law, citing affordability concerns and a warning from the state’s energy research agency that implementing the law as written could spike costs for households and businesses. That has piqued the attention of the city’s real estate and sustainability industries, particularly as building owners’ long-term compliance with the city’s Local Law 97 was designed to be interdependent with the state’s long-range plan to green the grid. Joe Chavez, the director for sustainable buildings at the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, conceded that revisions could create “regulatory uncertainty” but that it’s too soon to say what the impacts could be for building owners. “We’re not going to make any knee-jerk reactions or decisions based on any of this,” said Chavez. As the electric grid becomes increasingly powered by renewables, the idea is that buildings that heat and cool electrically will seamlessly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and energy bills. With that in mind, buildings should stay the course and invest in electric building technologies, said Chavez. “We’re not asking buildings to do things that are out of line with what they might already be considering to help save money.”
New “anti-slumlord act”: Bronx State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda introduced a bill that seeks to prevent landlords from purchasing new properties if they own buildings with outstanding immediately hazardous, or Class C, housing violations. That could be inadequate heat, no hot water, mold, rodents, roaches or other conditions. Under the bill, the prohibition would remain until the violations are resolved and certified by housing officials. The bill would empower the state attorney general’s office to invalidate deals by buyers with the open violations. Property owners who knowingly violate the measure would be subject to a $10,000 fine for each open violation; the funds would be used by housing officials to conduct emergency repairs. As written, the bill doesn’t include exemptions for nonprofits or any consideration for buyers who’ve purchased distressed properties and are in the process of rehabilitating units.

Co-ops and condos unite: Co-op and condo owners representing more than 100,000 units across the five boroughs launched a new advocacy group: Co-ops and Condos United of NY. The group held its inaugural meeting on Feb. 26 and publicly launched on Tuesday to advocate for a spate of policies, including for the renewal of the state’s J51-R program, reforms to the city’s Local Law 97 and to push back on Mayor Mamdani’s proposed 9.5 percent property tax increase. “The owners of co-ops and condos are pawns in a chess game between the mayor and the governor,” said real estate attorney Stuart Saft, an executive member of the group. “This gives us the ability to say enough is enough, we’re not taking it anymore.” Saft, who is also the chair of the nonprofit Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, said the group will function as an umbrella organization to bring together existing co-op and condo groups and shield them from political blowback for directly coming out for or against a policy.

SEQR shake-up: While budget negotiations are underway for Gov. Hochul’s proposal to streamline the State Environmental Quality Review Act to accelerate housing, another bill aimed at softening SEQR is advancing in the Legislature. State Sen. Rachel May and Assembly member Ana Kelles’ bill, known as the Sustainable Affordable Housing and Sprawl Prevention Act, advanced to a third reading in the Senate — where it can remain indefinitely or advance to a floor vote. Last session, a version of the bill passed the Senate but died in the Assembly. May and Kelles’ bill would exempt affordable housing projects with fewer than 1,000 units from SEQR. Under the bill, affordable housing would be defined by the state’s regulator; that’s a more restrictive approach compared to Hochul’s, which aims to also relax reviews on market-rate housing and infrastructure.

Local Law 97 Hail Mary: City Council Republicans have reintroduced yet another bill seeking to delay the city’s building decarbonization law, this time by seven years. The measure, sponsored by Queens Council member Vickie Paladino, has zero chance of passing in the Democratic-led body, but it does have a notable sponsor: Farah Louis, the Council’s zoning subcommittee chair, and a Democrat who represents Flatbush. Louis’ office did not return calls by press time.

Have a tip or feedback? Reach me at caroline.spivack@therealdeal.com.

Who’s Who

Want to know more about City Council member Pierina Sanchez, chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings? Read on:

Sanchez’s position helps set the agenda on housing policy, move legislation forward or stall it and coordinate with lawmakers and stakeholders on issues ranging from zoning to code enforcement to property tax programs.
She represents District 14 in the northwest Bronx, including the Kingsbridge, Fordham, University Heights and Mount Hope neighborhoods.
In 2021 she was elected to the Council to represent the same West Bronx neighborhoods where she was raised and was reelected in 2025 in a landslide.
Sanchez served as a senior advisor for housing, economic development and labor to former Mayor Bill de Blasio and as the New York director at the influential think tank, the Regional Plan Association.

Bill Tracker

The Catch-Up

Chinks have begun to show in Mamdani’s armor. The first was a controversial property tax proposal, the second was blowback over his Sunnyside Yard proposal, writes The Real Deal columnist Erik Engquist.

Mamdani is under pressure to decide by March 25 whether to fully implement or renegotiate recently passed laws that expand city-funded housing vouchers — a major campaign promise he’s backed away from amid budget concerns, reports Gothamist.

Gov. Hochul’s proposal to expand the J-51 tax break for building upgrades could help owners of multifamily and affordable housing pay for renovations, but its impact may be blunted if the mayor advances a citywide property tax increase, writes David Wilkes at Bloomberg Tax.

Sunnyside Yard could become Mamdani’s Fiorello LaGuardia moment, writes columnist Ross Barkan for Crain’s New York Business.

The Kicker

“Is he going to have them start all over again, or is he going to pick up the bill that is sitting in his Albany office and introduce it?”

— A former Adams administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss how the Mamdani administration will handle a property tax reform plan quietly floated to state lawmakers by Adams last spring.