BOMA/NY ratchets up plans for tackling terror.

One has only to read the headlines to know the BOMA/NY agenda.

Just as killer hurricanes, securing the homefront, the changing tactics of terrorism, and record-breaking gas prices have dominated the global stage, they have also become a part of the BOMA/NY educational, informational and preparedness platform.

"With the exception of 2001, rarely have so many critical, headline-making issues shaped our agenda. And now we have Mother Nature added to the mix," said BOMA/NY President Anthony S. Lifrieri, RPA. "Our goal is two-fold: on an individual level, give our members as much information as possible so they can be adequately prepared, and Association-wide, speak up and fight hard for our industry on the larger issues--at City Hall, Albany and Washington, DC."

Two continuing news stories are top of mind and targeted for action at BOMA/NY; one is painfully close to home. The Association has not only condemned the recent $40million+ cuts in Homeland Security Funding, it has aligned its support with New York Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, Congressmen Vito Fosella and Peter King, and New York City's Mayor Bloomberg.

The second--hurricane disaster preparedness--is more associated with tropical climes. But as BOMA/NY members learned at its recent May kick-off luncheon for the Association's Hurricane Initiative, the best scientific models and statistics are giving high probability rankings to a strong Category 2, or a possible Category 3 hurricane making landfall in the greater New York area, bringing with it multi-millions of dollars in property damage and possible loss of life.

BOMA/NY is meeting this challenge head on with a multi-pronged program that includes a joint venture with longtime partner, New York's Office of Emergency Management. And for the first time, it gets personal, providing members, a number of whom live in floor or storm-surge prone areas, with survival guidelines for their homes and families. Among the Initiative components are supplying all members with the READY New York Hurricane for NYC guidelines, complete with evacuation maps, and joining with OEM in the PALMS program to create a database listing the most-needed goods and services during a crisis. BOMA/NY is also urging all members to join the Corporate Emergency Access system, which will credential employees as "essential" and thereby allow them access to their premises following a crisis. BOMA/ NY continues the educational/preparedness process with a targeted seminar on September 19, and as one of the focus topics at the BOMA/NY Annual Conference on October 24th.

Terrorism--or just as importantly--the threat of terrorism is now a fact of life for the real estate industry and BOMA/NY has been making its contribution on several fronts. On the national stage, BOMA/NY was and continues to be a strong advocate for extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, (now known as the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act or TRIEA). After meeting with New York's Senator Charles Schumer and other supporters who advised bringing the industry's message to the other side of the aisle, BOMA/NY launched a letter-writing campaign that reached as high as the White House. The process will begin all over again next year as the TRIEA comes up for renewal and BOMA/NY has pledged to put "the full weight of our membership behind its renewal. Our ultimate goal is to make it permanent," said Lifrieri.

The Association will also focus on terrorism preparedness--as it has more than a dozen times in seminars and coursework offered since 9/11--at its Annual Conference.

While there is nothing it can do to reduce pain at the gas pump, BOMA/ NY can help its members reduce energy costs, manage energy more efficiently, and adopt green practices by placing such opportunities before them.

And the opportunities are astounding. BOMA International recently estimated in a published report that energy use could be reduced by 30% a year--the equivalent of taking 12 million cars off the road annually--if green practices and energy management were pursued to their optimum level. It has created several programs including BEEP (BOMA Energy Efficiency Program) to demonstrate how this can be achieved.

To this mix, BOMA/NY is adding energy-related opportunities by staging its own seminars on topics ranging from the "how-to" of qualifying for rebates to buying energy more efficiently.

"At BOMA/NY, we focus on the fundamentals of real estate," said Lifrieri.

"It's not sexy or glamorous, but as 9/11 taught the world--fundamentals are everything. The work we do won't make headlines, but it keeps our 3 million tenants safe, our skyline secure and our City economy prosperous."