The New York Association of Realty Managers (NYARM)
held its last monthly membership meeting of the year 2000 on Wednesday, November 15 at Frank's. The
dinner meeting was attended by more than 75 members and friends of the organization. The special
guest speaker for the evening was Council Member Ronnie Eldridge.
Ms. Eldridge, a long time resident of the Upper West Side, has served as Council Member to District
Six for 11 years. She announced to the audience that next December, 2001 she would be retiring from
that position. But she made it clear, she would not retire from community service and dealing with
New York City issues.
When told of NYARM's vigilant efforts to pass a bill in Albany requiring the licensing of property
managers in New York State Ms. Eldridge jumped on the bandwagon and pledged her support. "I would
very much like to work with you on this issue. I believe licensing is extremely important, even
critical." With her influence and stature in the New York City arena NYARM is sure to make some
headway in this important campaign.
Equally important, Ms. Eldridge raised her concerns about the lack of affordable housing in
Manhattan and its impact on local residents. "We need an acceptable housing policy in New York.
I think with the next couple of years, we will find ourselves in an enormous housing crunch and
people will not be able to afford to live here anymore."
She also discussed the inequitable tax liabilities apartment owners face citywide as they pay
higher property taxes than their homeowner counterparts. Ms. Eldridge claimed this was an issue
she has been trying to rectify for many years and will continue to work on until there is more
parity in the property tax laws.
Ms. Eldridge then suggested to the membership that NYARM could benefit the community by
volunteering to partner with some of the not-for-profit housing organizations or tenant/owners
of buildings in an effort to educate and teach management skills. Those in attendance agreed
that it was an excellent project for NYARM to implement along with its other educational activities
including the certification program at NYU and seminar schedule.
Also on the program that evening was John Maniscalco, Executive Vice President of the New York
Oil Heating Association. With winter fast approaching and the cost of fuel skyrocketing Mr. Maniscalco's remarks were highly anticipated.
He offered several theories regarding this winter's escalating oil rates, focusing primarily on
a supply and demand theory. He explained that the major United States refineries miscalculated
the amount of heating oil needed last season which resulted in low reserves this year and higher costs. Additionally, because of last year's cold temperatures, a significant amount of crude oil normally held for gas production, was used to produce heating oil, leaving refineries facing a supply deficit this year.
Another contributing factor to increased fuel rates is high oil taxes. Naturally, if taxes were
lowered the cost of fuel would decrease. Mr. Maniscalco also refuted conventional theories that
the U.S. gets its bulk of oil from the Middle East. In actuality, our supplies are derived first
from Canada, followed by Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico.
Experts are predicting a cold winter season and with fuel prices rising many managers will be
juggling finances in order to meet budgetary demands.
Also on the evening's roster was NYARM's coalition with NY Cares in their annual coat drive.
NYARM publicized both in this newspaper and through broadcast fax to the membership that we would be collecting gently used outer clothing for the homeless that evening. As usual, the members of NYARM responded in kind and nearly 100 garments were collected. Frank's Restaurant graciously stored the donations until NY Cares was able to pick up the items at the end of November.
ABOUT RONNIE ELDRIDGE
A lifetime resident of the Upper West Side, Ronnie Eldridge has been in public service most of her life. She served as special assistant to Mayor John Lindsay in the early 70s and was the Director of Community and Government Affairs at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She served in Governor Mario Cuomo's cabinet as Director of the Division for Women where she proposed programs and legislation and acted as an advocate for women's needs and interests. Ms. Eldridge was the Director of Special Projects at MS Magazine and the Executive Director of the MS Foundation for Women. She also served as Executive Director of a feminist series on network public television.
A member of the City Council since 1989, Ms. Eldridge has been a leader in efforts to expand and improve child care; increase legal protection for victims of domestic violence; encourage and support arts and cultural organizations; improve oversight of the budget process as well as encourage sensible and comprehensive land use and economic development. She is a strong proponent of Council rules reform.
Council Member Eldridge was the prime sponsor of both the Automatic Teller Safety Bill and the all Civilian Complaint Review Board legislation. She was also the prime sponsor of the Clinic Access law that provides protection for individuals seeking reproductive health care as well as the health care providers performing those services and the recent Family Child Care legislation that sets standards for child care.
She is currently the Chair of the Women's Issues Committee and a member of the General Welfare, Economic Development and Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committees.
