The Urban Land Institute New York (ULI NY) and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) released a report today, entitled Decarbonizing NYC Co-ops: A Local Law 97 Compliance Roadmap. The report shares a wide range of recommendations emerging from a ULI New York Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) — a two-day workshop of cross-disciplinary real estate and industry experts that was hosted in May 2025.

The TAP was commissioned by MOCEJ to focus on the unique challenges the city’s co-operatives face in meeting the requirements of Local Law 97 (LL97): The cost and complexity of necessary building decarbonization investments, nearly all of which will have to be borne by building residents, present challenges that are particularly acute for the city’s limited equity co-ops, which provide deeply affordable housing for low- and middle-income New Yorkers.

The report charts a path forward for these co-ops in pursuit of their 2035 emissions goals and 2050 net zero goals, outlining strategies to overcome the technical, funding, and regulatory challenges that stand in the way of co-ops complying with LL97. The report also emphasizes the critical importance of maintaining or even enhancing the quality and affordability of housing units for existing and future residents.