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Maybe it's the sudden change in weather, but June's been an… interesting month for some co-op boards in New York. There was the board that asked to interview a potential buyer's child and another board that instituted a policy requiring tenants to submit their pets to DNA tests to screen out undesirable breeds. Then there was yet another board who attempted to conduct its own criminal investigation until the Queens District Attorney's office told it to stand down. Well, hold on to your hats, folks, because yet another board — this one in Midtown East — is allegedly threatening to enforce "living in sin" rules. Nope, we all haven't traveled through time and space to Victorian England. In this week's Ask Real Estate column in The New York Times, a shareholder tells Ronda Kaysen that not only is the co-op threatening to enforce a rule that dates back to "when such arrangements were viewed as scandalous" but also threatening to do so selectively — which is, of course, a big no-no. Kaysen tackles the first issue — the, erm, "living in sin" policy, and says, "Surprisingly, a handful of states still have laws on the books restricting cohabitation. An unmarried couple living together in Florida, for example, could face 60 days in jail and a $500 fine for violating a 19th-century state law." That's good-ole-conservative Florida, but what about New York? Well, according to Thomas P. Higgins, a Manhattan real estate lawyer, a co-op trying to enforce that rule "would be in violation of the state's roommate law, which allows tenants to live with a roommate." Higgins adds that, furthermore, "the battle over same-sex marriage has substantially changed how the courts view an individual's constitutional right to exercise autonomy over personal matters, such as whom he or she chooses to live with." The bottom line is that while a co-op board may earn itself a rotten reputation for demanding you get a DNA test to prove Fido isn't a banned breed in the building, it certainly cannot ever question your relationship with the person who lives with you. "If you decide to move in with your significant other and the co-op gives you any grief, a terse letter to the co-op's lawyer would likely resolve the matter quickly," concludes Kaysen. As for enforcing this or any rule selectively, Higgins says: "Any board foolish enough to threaten to selectively enforce any rule is not getting good legal advice."
We've seen what happens when we try to fund public spaces with luxury buildings. Just take a look at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Barely a hop, skip, and a jump away from there, bibliophiles are fighting to prevent the same thing from happening to the Brooklyn Heights Library. Curbed reports that "an epic hearing over a contentious plan to replace the Brooklyn Heights Library with a new, smaller one at the foot of a wedge-shaped 36-story condo building was, in the end, anti-climactic. After hours of testimony from both sides, Brooklyn Community Board 2 postponed a vote on an application involving the sale of the library property to developer Hudson Companies." Opponents of the plan for Brooklyn to get its very own Flat Iron-like building on the triangular-shaped corner of Cadman Plaza West and Clinton Street are crying foul because the new library space is a third smaller than the current space. Furthermore, according to Linda Johnson, president of the Brooklyn Public Library, "[the proposed space] lacks the functionality you'd like to see in a public library," and the library would also lose all the storage space it currently has below ground. It certainly looks like it is Brooklyn Bridge Park all over again. On the one hand, the library wouldn't be lost forever. In fact, it would replace a building originally built partly as a fallout shelter in 1962 that has a broken air-conditioning system. But at what cost? The library and its patrons seem to be getting the short end of the stick. The community board will cast its final vote next week.
Rendering by Marvel Architects
It's no secret that some co-op boards tend to have bad reputations — too nosey, too bossy, too draconian. Certainly, sometimes boards do have a tendency to go too far. In recent weeks, for example, one board made headlines for asking to interview a potential buyer's child and another for instituting a policy requiring tenants to submit their pets to DNA tests to screen out undesirable breeds.
But as we've said before, along with bylaws and proprietary leases, house rules allow boards to keep their buildings running harmoniously. With the official start of summer right around the corner, now is a good time for boards to remind building residents of some of those rules — particularly regarding roof and pool access and grilling.
Speaking of super-tall condo towers that are causing people a lot of grief, get a load of this one. Parts of Cherry Street, located behind an active construction site, have cracked and sunk a few inches, locals say. Trever Holland, president of the tenants' association at Two Bridges Tower, told DNAinfo that residents of the affordable housing high-rise building — located adjacent to the construction site — are nervous: "if the land is sinking on Cherry [Street]," they wonder, "what is the land doing under [our building]?" What's being constructed at 250 South Street? Curbed reports that documents dated May 29, 2015 confirm the luxury tower will be condos. Those condos. Holland also told DNAinfo that "the roadway was just one of a number of construction issues facing residents of Two Bridges Tower. The sidewalk that provides the building’s access to the street has also buckled… and the pile driving at the construction site — which occurs six days a week — can be heard for blocks for several hours a day." Affordable housing community versus luxury condo development: which will win? Well, let's see what's being done to remedy the situation. DNAinfo reports: "A Department of Transportation spokesman said the agency, along with the DOB, had inspected the site last week and this week and asked Extell [the developer] to monitor the situation on a daily basis." Hmm, okay. In the meantime, residents of Two Bridges Towers "plan to address the issues with the developer at a quarterly construction meeting next month." These issues also include cracks in the walls of their apartments as well as misaligned doors and mailboxes, which the developer has reportedly promised to fix.
Photo credit: Bowery Boogie
Battle to Preserve View of Brooklyn Bridge Ends After Judge Green Lights Controversial Hotel-Condo Project
June 17, 2015
Community Board 5's Sunshine Taskforce isn't the only group fighting to keep super-tall condo buildings from ruining their view. Brooklyn locals have been trying to stop developers Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group from building a hotel and condo development "that critics say destroys majestic views of the Brooklyn Bridge." According to the New York Daily News, the group claims that the view of the bridge from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade was supposed to be protected by a deal hammered out with Brooklyn Bridge Park officials in 2005." But their fight came to an end last week, after the Supreme Court ruled that the developers can resume work on the Pierhouse hotel and condo project. The Daily News reports that the "there’s no evidence that the construction breaches the terms of the deal, which was drawn up under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Governor George Pataki." Supporters of the controversial project, including Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., insist that "the construction is vital to the fiscal stability of the park, which is being financed through revenue from several real estate developments." Without the super-tall structure there would be no park. Not surprisingly, local residents "said they were disappointed by the court’s decision and by the behavior of Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., which they say places the interests of private developers above those of park-goers and neighborhood residents." Who needs an eyeful of one of the world's most beautiful bridges when you can stare at yet another shiny glass and steel structure instead?
Photo credit: Postdlf for English language Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
A READER ASKS: Two of our newer board members want to start the ball rolling on revisiting our admissions process. I personally feel that it shouldn't be high on our priorities list, but the newer members feel times are changing. Admittedly, the procedure can do with a bit of streamlining, but it's time-consuming work that we really need to tread carefully with to avoid opening ourselves up to potential discrimination lawsuits. With the board's limited resources, do you think we should proceed and is there any advice you can give us to avoid trouble?
Move Over Key Food: Here Comes Another Condo (Again)
June 15, 2015
Another Key Food has bitten the dust to make way for what will probably be a new condo. Again. No, this is not a repeat from February of this year. The supermarket in question this time is — erm, was — located at 946 Myrtle Avenue, and it will be replaced by a new seven-story, 132-unit apartment building designed by Karl Fischer. YIMBY reports that "[Fischer] filed a new building application last October," and has obtained a rendering of the project. YIMBY adds that, according to the most recent filing, the building will be spread across 163,631 square feet of residential space, for an average unit of 1,239 square feet. That's a lot of new people coming to a neighborhood that will be down one supermarket. Let's hear it for limited resources! There may be light at the end of the grocery-less tunnel, however: it's a mixed-use building, which means there will be a commercial tenant. Hopefully, it will be another supermarket, but it's too soon to tell. "The rendering," explains YIMBY, "still depicts the 10-story version of the building, not the squatter 7-story structure sketched out on the new permits." We're guessing a few folks in the neighborhood don't care what the end product looks like as long as they get a comparably priced supermarket to replace the one they lost four months ago.
Rendering: Karl Fischer Architect.
It's a tale as old as time: residents of New York City rentals often have to put up with a lot grief and aggravation. But going to court is expensive, and withholding rent until serious problems are resolved can backfire tremendously. Very rarely do you hear about residents scoring a victory, let alone a major one. Sometimes, however, shady landlords mess with the wrong tenants. Meet Marjorie Magid. She is a retired real estate agent, who has lived in the same rent-stabilized one-bedroom at The Evelyn at 101 West 78th Street since 1973. You won't be surprised, upon registering the address, that the building is being converted into a condominium. The problem, as it turns out, is not the conversion, but rather how the landlord tried to go about it. And Magid wasn't about to stay quiet about it.
A READER ASKS: I'm on the board of a small co-op in Brooklyn. We are considering revising our pet policy. We went from no dogs to accepting dogs that are ten pounds or smaller. However, I've pointed out to my fellow board members that larger dogs, especially when they are older, can actually be a lot quieter than smaller, sometimes yippy, ones. I think there are compromises that can be made so that shareholders can have canine companions without disturbing their neighbors' peace of mind. Do you have any tips on how we can accomplish a fairer, more inclusive policy? Do you think it's even possible? What advice can you offer us?
When it comes to the swankiest of New York buildings, One57 tends to get the lion's share of attention. Back in late April, for example, the building on Billionaires' Row made headlines when one of its condos — a two-level duplex penthouse — sold for a record $100 million. But that's just one condo, and when it comes to entire building stats, it looks like the top dog in the Big Apple is still 15 Central Park West. The building still commands the top spot as the city's most expensive, and it looks like it's not just because of location, location, location. Although being located on CPW certainly helps. What helps more, it looks like, is the list of celebrities who have lived or continue to live there. The New York Daily News lists them: Sting, Denzel Washington, financial bigwigs like Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, and sports stars like Alex Rodriguez. One57 is in second place, though, and the Daily News reports its reign may soon be over: "Sales at new Midtown mega-towers such as 220 Central Park South and 432 Park Ave. may finally snag the top spot once sales start to close over the next couple of years." Tick-tock, 15 CPW. Nothing lasts forever.
Photo by Christopher Bride for Property Shark
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