New York City Council Member Amanda Farias, former majority leader and representative of District 18 in the Bronx, joins Geoffrey Mazel to talk about the bill co-op boards across the city are preparing for right now: Intro 1120-B, the cooperative application timeline law. Farias grew up in Soundview, raised in an intergenerational household by grandparents who came from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and who fostered children for decades. She traces her path from pulling the voting lever for her grandmother to working on Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, staffing Council Member Elizabeth Crowley in Queens, and running for office herself at 26. She lost that first race in 2017, came back, and won the seat in 2021.

The heart of the conversation is 1120-B itself. Farias walks through what the law actually requires: standardized applications, written acknowledgment of receipt within 15 days, board decisions within 45 days of a completed application, extension provisions, summer recess tolling, and civil penalties starting at $1,500 enforced by HPD through a complaint-based system. She explains how the bill landed on her desk after a decade of stalled attempts, the long list of stakeholders who shaped the amendments, from REBNY and the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums to the Association of Riverdale Cooperatives and Condominiums, and why the council overrode Mayor Adams' veto. The law takes effect in July 2026, giving boards and managing agents six months to update their procedures.

The episode wraps with a personal round covering her favorite spots in the district, from Barrio BX in Castle Hill to Willy's Steakhouse in Parkchester, her painting habit, and a Pokemon card collection that keeps her connected to her younger brothers. She also previews what's next: new co-op construction at Stevenson Commons, a resolution supporting Mitchell-Lama residents, and the Good Food Purchasing Program. For anyone serving on a board or managing a building, this is a direct look at the thinking behind the biggest change to the co-op application process in years.