The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security and the Paycheck Protection Program acts that were designed to provide some financial support to those battling the COVID-19 pandemic did not specifically include co-ops and condos, and so many of our local residents in need were, by default, excluded from the resources they should have been due.
The Association of Riverdale Cooperatives & Condominiums, along with other similar organizations, has been steadfast in its mission to correct this wrong.
Many of our elected officials have singly, or in group, accepted the challenge we posed and have brought the issue to those in power in the Administration. Congressman Eliot Engel was the first to accept the torch from ARC and carry it forward into the halls of Congress. Engel’s May 4, 2020 letter to Members of Congress can be found here.
ARC’s reaction to Engel’s support can be found in a Letter to the Editor published in the Riverdale Press, which can be found here.
On May 22, 2020, New York Senator Charles Schumer broadcast his support of co-ops and announced his sponsorship of a new bill that would specifically make them eligible to receive support through the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP). As published in Habitat magazine, Schumer’s announcement can be found here.
The plight of co-op housing, currently excluded from provisions enabling proper federal funding, was brought to the attention of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and SBA Adminstrator Carranza by the entire New York City Congressional delegation on May 26, 2020. The letter from the New York City delegation can be found here.
On June 1, 2020, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and SBA Adminstrator Carranza were again petitioned, this time by ARC as part of a consortium of organizations representing co-ops around the country. The letter from the National Cooperative Business Association can be found here.