Leading the Way: Board President Stanley Greenberg, Le Havre, 168-68 9th Ave.

Size matters. Because we’re so big, keeping up the integrity of our property is a huge job. We have 32 buildings spread over many acres, which means 32 of everything — elevators, boilers, roofs, you name it — plus parking lots, swimming pools and tennis courts. Back in 2005 we had a serious problem with water damage. We’re located on the East River, and there was terrible water leakage into people’s apartments. We did a $35 million, 30-year mortgage refinance, which gave us the cash to repair the facades, install new windows and roofs, and also repave the parking lots. But we arranged for the loan to be interest-only for the first five years, which allowed us to do all the repairs without a big assessment or maintenance increase.

Repeat performance. We refinanced last year to take advantage of low interest rates, going back to the original $35 million at 3.5% instead of 5.5%, and doing five years interest-only again. That allowed us to set aside $8 million to put into a “major major” capital improvement fund, which will be fed by the monthly savings on the debt service. We also have an ongoing assessment that goes into a separate account for routine repairs and allows us to keep our funds liquid.

Cash cushion. The capital projects just keep coming, and in the next 10 years we have a lot of big-ticket items to tackle, including replacing the elevators and whatever needs to be done to meet Climate Mobilization Act requirements and reduce our carbon footprint. At this juncture we have no idea what the costs are going to be, but they’re going to be pretty substantial, which was the whole reason behind the refinancing and my idea to tuck away some major capital reserve funds. I’m looking to have a nest egg of around $22 million by the time we’re ready to start these projects. That’s probably a drop in the bucket given the way inflation has been going, but it’s a good start.

Stanley R. Greenberg

Board president (11 years)

Le Havre, 168-68 9th Ave.,

Whitestone, Queens

Years of board service: 17 

Type: Co-op

Units: 1,024

Buildings: 32

Year built: 1955-1958

Operating budget: $20 million

Ongoing assessment: Yes

Maintenance increase: 1% in 2021

Property management: Self-managed

Accountant: Cesarano & Khan

Attorney: Hankin & Mazel