New York Public Library Sues Condo Over Access

It’s inevitable. Given all the new construction, renovation, and mandated Local Law 11 facade work taking place in New York City today, every co-op and condo board will eventually be asked to grant access to their building by a neighboring contractor’s crew. The conventional wisdom of lawyers, property managers and engineers is that this is not the time to play hardball; negotiating a reasonable deal, including court-allowed licensing fees, will yield benefits in the future when the board needs to gain access to its neighbor’s property. What goes around comes around. Flouting this advice can be perilous.

The board at a luxury condominium on Fifth Avenue apparently didn’t get the memo. The New York Public Library is suing the condo board for holding up a $200 million renovation of the library’s Midtown branch unless the library pays $15,000 a month, Crain’s reports. Work can’t begin until neighboring properties are safeguarded from damage, as required by the city's building code. In this case, the condo board must grant contractors permission to erect protective scaffolding in a small park owned by the board. The library calls the board’s monetary request “exorbitant,” noting that the condo’s pocket park will still be usable during construction.

Boards have increasingly been demanding these types of payments from developers, and courts can award a monthly licensing fee for the inconvenience of enduring construction and ensuring access. As boards’ demands have risen, developers have been relying on a state law created 50 years ago that allows them to sue to gain access, as the library is now doing. Judges typically force recalcitrant neighbors to allow scaffolding to be temporarily installed on their property.

"Most judges are not likely to look kindly on a situation if they see a neighbor trying to hold up a library's improvement plan," says attorney Dani Schwartz, a partner at Wachtel Missry who has written extensively about this type of suit.