The camera may not be illegal or discriminatory at all and the coop may have very sound reasons for locating it where it does. While it might be pointed at your door it may be picking up everything in the hallway and has been located in such a way as to maximize the area under surveillance because of some past problem. In any case anyone in a public hallway or who leaves their door open should have any expectation of privacy.

My suggestion is ask in writing why the coop has located the camera where it is. Perhaps they will give you an answer that is reasonable. Or if upon determining that there are other locations it can be located with equally good surveillance costs, you can offer to pay to move it.

Hi Alan, That is not what I have read. They can't just do one door. One door is discriminatory. Especially if there is any history of different treatment or prior discrimination of the residents of the apt with the camera pointed at it. They would have to place cameras in all areas of hallways pointing at all doors for it to be non-discriminatory.

“... attorney Dean Roberts of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A. “Residents do not have an expectation of privacy in common areas, hallways, lobbies, laundry rooms, so any security measure installed there is usually reasonable.” Roberts continues to say that security only can become a problem if say, a camera is pointed at the interior of a particular unit or measures target individual owners or shareholders.
.....“You couldn't use [security] to harass,” Goldstein adds. “In other words, if I don't like my neighbor, I can't decide, if I'm the board president, to set up a camera outside their apartment, just so they know they're being watched. That would be bad faith. Boards always have to act in good faith. They can't act in bad faith. So, something would be lawful so long as done in the best interests of the co-op. If it's meant as a vendetta or based on personal animus, automatically becomes illegal.”

Dean and I are in total agreement.

see above . there is lots of animus in our bldg.

we agree that there may be a valid reason for camera location and if it is in the hallway and focused on hallway and closed doors there is not necessarily any invasion of privacy.

Ask the Board what their reasons are for locating it.

If they don't answer, you can waste money and sue (it will be very hard to win unless you find a smoking gun in discovery showing discriminatory behavior or a desire to invade your privacy) or you can opt to simply keep the door shut.

and remind us not to move into your building.
there is no reason for a camera to monitor residency if there are lobby entrance cameras.

It has come to my attention that even though there are security cameras every couple of feet most are just dummy ones and the only one working is directed at my apartment. Please advise

Perhaps they are in an eviction process and trying to prove that the Shareholder is either not living there or maybe they are illegally subletting the apartment. Before you jump to conclusions, there may be a specific reason to the evidence that they are building on this particular unit.

no changes in all that time it is a family apartment. Same residents there since before it went coop. I suppose a co-op could try to mess with that. But they have little to stand on.

NY Law Journal, 2010


“…..the business judgment rule will not insulate a board from liability where its actions are discriminatory or involve self-dealing—for example, where an apartment owner can demonstrate that he or she has been singled out for adverse treatment by a board decision to install security cameras only on some floors but not others."

Sounds like they over-stepped themselves.