NYC Lobby Day: LIBOR Borough Members Push Co-Op Transparency at City Hall

Long Island Board of REALTORS® (LIBOR) proudly organized our first local "NYC Lobby Day" on October 23rd to ensure that our Queens REALTORS® can advocate directly with local New York City Council members. This collaborative effort gave REALTORS® the opportunity to directly engage with New York City Council members and their legislative staff, reaffirming their professional commitment to advocate for fair housing by calling for a new law requiring transparency in co-op transactions.

As part of the initiative, LIBOR brought Queens REALTORS® to meet with Council Members Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills, Richmond Hill), Dr. Nantasha Williams (D-Cambria Heights, St. Albans), and Julie Won (D-Long Island City, Sunnyside). Discussions centered around the urgent need for legislation that would require co-op boards to operate with greater transparency, especially as cooperative housing has increasingly become the most financially attainable option to achieve first-time homeownership in the midst of record-low residential inventory in New York City. LIBOR is proud to have successfully advocated for the passage of similar legislation in Suffolk County, NY and working to strengthen the current Nassau County statute on co-ops.

In the weeks to come, LIBOR Queens members will continue their advocacy efforts with more meetings, including with REALTOR® ally Council Member Linda Lee (D-Bayside, Glen Oaks). These engagements aim to secure broader support for a proposed bill sponsored by City Council Majority Leader Amanda Farías (D-Parkchester, Soundview). The Majority Leader’s bill would legally require co-op boards to respond to offers within a specified timeframe, provide written reasons for application rejections, and account for reasonable delays under good faith conditions.