Building owners filed a lawsuit against New York City over a climate law

Two co-ops and one mixed-use building owner are suing New York City to block the law that imposes a greenhouse gas emission cap on tall buildings. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the state Supreme Court, Crain’s New York reports. 

Local Law 97 requires NYC buildings over 25,000 gross square feet to meet new greenhouse gas emission limits by 2024 or face fines. The law aims to cut the emissions produced by the city’s largest buildings 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050.

The lawsuit calls Local Law 97 “ill-conceived and unconstitutional". Under the new legislation, any building that does not comply with the requirements will have to pay a fine of $286 for every metric of carbon dioxide emitted above the cap. 

“The one-size-fits-all algorithms used to determine greenhouse emissions do not work for many buildings,” Bob Friedrich, president of Glen Oaks Village co-op, one of the plaintiffs, told 6sqft.

“LL97 requires older cooperatives to undertake costly retrofitting of heating, hot water, and ventilation systems to meet current building standards, regardless of need or ability to pay for such equipment. The burden of compliance sits squarely on the shoulders of working-class families living in some of New York’s older buildings, and there is no way to escape the crippling penalties imposed.”

New York produces more building air pollution than any other state in the country, according to the report published by RMI. Recently, Manhattan, Bronx, and Queens received failing grades from the American Lung Association for their high levels of ozone pollution. The Department of Buildings promises to release additional guidance for owners of tall buildings to help them comply with the law. 

“In NYC, our buildings are the largest emitter of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, and we are committed to fully enforcing Local Law 97,” Andrew Rudansky, Buildings Department spokesperson, told Crain’s New York. “We will review the lawsuit once it has been served.”

Resources:

“Coalition of co-ops, building owners sues to block Local Law 97,” by Caroline Spivack (Crain’s New York, 2022)

“Group of NYC building owners sue city over greenhouse gas emissions cap,” by Aaron Ginsburg (6sqft, 2022)

“Building Owners File Lawsuit to Block Key NYC Climate Law,” by Liz Donovan (City Limits, 2022)

“New York Emits More Building Air Pollution Than Any Other State,” by Talor Gruenwald and Stephen Mushegan (RMI, 2022)