I'll put in my usual recommendation for Matthew Adam Properties. We've been with them for seven years and they're great.

Allarea is probably the worst managing agent in NYC.

Can't possibly be worse than Maxwell-Kates.

can’t be worse than J&C Lamb

Someone praised Greenthal. We have had them for 12 years and they are awful. The on site manager is a bully and talks down to residents. He will lock his office door and no one is permitted to enter. If you see him on the premises he will not talk to you and he does what he wants, not what the board dictates. At this point, Greenthal runs the whole show and residents have little if anything to say. Much of this is the result of a board who allowed the decision making to go to the management company, however, they are still bullies and rude to those of us who pay their salaries.

Dianne Stromfeld:
This sounds just like MKI (Maxwell Kates), how awful. Agree with helene all MA are corrupt, not there to save you money and they all think they run the building. It's too bad most shareholders are so manipulated and don't realize they control not the MA. Starting to believe more and more in Ombudsman. There has to be a way to control these MA's that don't really care except for their annual paycheck and kickbacks. I know there was proposed legislation by Senator Krueger on this issue. This issue should be pressed to see where it stands to help shareholders and diminish the so called power of the MA's.

I am so glad you see the value in an ombudsman for co ops/condos. Please contact your state senator and assemblyman by writing letters backing the bill. If you and your neighbors begin a letter writing campaign, we can get a foothold on passing this bill. We need shareholder support to the electeds.
Thanks again

I second Dianne Stromfeld email of 5.17.13 regarding letter writing campaign urging passage of Senator Kreiger’s bill to have an ombudsman who co-op/condo shareholders can turn to in order to control the outrageous abuse of managing agents/corrupt or clueless boards. If you care, please contact your state senators and assemblymen telling them to pass Senator Kreiger’s ombudsman bill.

What is the status of this legislation? Which state senators are for it and which against it? And how do we find out what's in the legislation? Thanks.

for info about sen.kreiger’s bill the best bet is to call her office. the last i heard is that it was hard to get it by the upstate republicans but there have been a lot of changes since the last election. also the allegations of wrong-doing may interfere with the movement of bills.
the real estate industry campaigns against bills that help shareholders so we need to get active.

There is a very good Habitat article on the pros and cons of the proposed Ombudsman Legislation here: http://www.habitatmag.com/Publication-Content/2010/2010-December/Featured-Articles/Ombudsman-Bill#.Uc2h3qyAbTo.

Totally agree with Maria M. Nothing can be worse than Maxwell-Kates. The worst people around, building beware.

I definitely agree that All Area is probably the worst management company - when they managed us they did not pay total Withholding taxes for over 6 months - the IRS charged us over $50,000 but 7% interest; they did not pay Union Benefits bills, etc - that cost us $200,000 and probably interest costs of 125-150% - They did not pay worker's compensation, they paid RE taxes very late and of course all the repair work that was done, their vendor charged 100% more, and the work was either not done or done very poorply that it had to be redone - this during years when we had 25% assessments and increases - of course where were certain board members who were in charge of these things and of course our accountant didn't tell us that these bills were not paid - great trio

I am not sure who wrote the libelous message in my name regarding Orsid Realty and Neil Davidowitz and alleged kickbacks but it is completely untrue. Orsid is a solid management company who I have worked with for many years. There is no money changing hands and certainly no kickbacks.

My 118 unit coop has been managed by Greenthal Management for 3 years and we've been happy with the agent and their back office support.

Does anyone have experience with New Bedford? My coop is switching right now and the Yelp comments, from 2011, are awful. Thank you.