Our building is dealing with something similar. How long has your building been coop? We are waiting a judge's decision on who is really on our board, as we hired a lawyer to help us fight this. Needless to say, that has been expensive. We are also working with local politicians to get help from the Attorney General's office. Who is your sponsor? What borough are you in?

thank you for your response. we have been a co op for 25 years and I fear that we may end up with the ag's office except I would like to have all the majority of the owners together but with sponsor interference and offer of sweet deals.. I don't know how that is going to happen.

Read your bylaws/black book and house rules. You may be surprised by what you discover... Put every thing in writing. Keep every EMail,,, dont accuse,,, ask questions... such as ,,, is this legal... the bylaws state that........... We just got rid of our Mang ousted a BM who had been running the building as if he owned it... Stay focused on your objective, be persistance and with only one or two other SH you will be amazed by what you can do...
VP

Your first step is to read your offering plan cover to cover. Do not make accusations, document every question and then every response. Document minutes of every meeting. After you gather the facts from your offering plan of what you believe to be your legal rights, hire an real estate attorney. Ask for recommendations from others. Be diligent in your research.

excellent advice thank you.. I know there is a lot of work to be done...I hope these owners are not discouraged by the expense or work . ...

I also am a Superintendent. That falls into line with our job description. If you want to get technical then the very top floor of your building should be responsible for clearing of their clogged pipes. I clear pipes all the time in my building I never charge but sometimes they do tip me.

If your super unclogs a tub or replaces a washer occasionally, he should let it go. Most supers do these things now and then and don't make a fuss about it. But if he does this repeatedly for the same people or you have many apartments and it happens often, that's another story.

You should tell your Shs that unless a task involves an area of maintenance or service that your coop is responsible for, the super is under no obligation to do it. You should also tell them if they want him to do work outside of his required job duties, he can do it on his own time and should be paid for it accordingly by the Sh.

I can see the resident's point, but I can see the super's point too. Some people in coops think the super is supposed to fix everything as if they lived in a rental building. We had Shs who'd call the super to do something like replace a light bulb in a ceiling fixture because they didn't want to do it. We even had a Sh who wanted him to change the cat litter for her twice a week! It can get out of hand.

If the task involves the building's pipes (i.e., a leak in a waste or supply pipe) it falls within the super's duties; if it involves pipes originating within the resident's apartment, it's the Shareholder's responsibility.

I agree that unclogging a drain is within the super's discretion... but also that Shareholders should not "expect" or "demand" service.

One addendum to my post above:

If the problem is a building pipe, please use a licensed plumber!!

E-MAIL POWER:
Three years ago our new mang company tried push through am $11,000 contract for AC brackets we had replaced the year before (and a $5000 parking perk for our Super which we could not afford or need). According to our agent the AC contract was a great deal, and the contract had to be signed by 5pm on a Fri... Fortunately this got out -- and started an Email revolution in our building. This was our first RedFlag.
It has taken us three years, and one of the worst mananged and most expensive (we hired an Independent engeneer to investigate) LL11 projects -- to finally get rid of this Mang company. Certain BM, no matter how bad things got, (unpaid bills, uncollected funds and virtually no recordkeeping [No SH list] to name a very few) continued to support this agent. The Email Trail, both from BM who saw what was going on, and the SH, did them in. We just discovered that they did not register the new owners for the Tax abatement and numerous SH for the past three years, did not recieve this abatement check -- which in some cases is substancial.
Start the Emial trail now (keep all Emails) and ask questions. Dont accuse but ask if its necessary... Ask that BM take recorded votes... make everyone accountable. and good luck.

call this fantastic woman: Arline L. Bronzaft of the Council on the Environment , NYC

This restaurant sounds like such a bad neighbor, I think you ought to make a little noise yourself.

First, let everyone know. Go to restaurant blogs and urge people not to eat there. Post flyers around the neighborhood.

Get a picket line in front of the place, after first alerting news organizations that something big and visual is going to take place -- stressing (this is important) that the legal process is broken, that the new law doesn't work, and that a whole building of average, everyday working people are being deprived of the sleep and peace that they need in order to work.

Let your community board know. Let your State Assemblyman know. Ask your attorney if you need a permit to protest, and get one. If you can't get one, protest anyway -- you have a First Amendment right, and it'll get on the news.

Don't forget to shoot video of the picket an e-mail it to TV and online news orgs. The overall purpose is to give this disgustingly selfish restaurant such embarrassing PR that they'll have to fix the violation. Also, it'll call attention to loopholes in the city law, which makes it legitimate news.

this is perhaps a bit easier and she can help you mediate with the restaurant.

call: CENYC phone 212-788-7900 fax. 212-788-7913

Thanks for all your suggestions-hard and soft ones alike! I will follow up on both recommendations and let you know our progress. These responses just affirm what a great online community Board Talk is-thanks, Habitat, for getting it back up online!

We are a mid-sized coop in NYC (80 units)
We have a contract with Securitas Inc and we pay aprox $14 per hour per guard. We have 4 guards at 8h shift plus 1 extra guard on Sun
Annual cost aprox $135

Annual aprox $135,000

I am a Superintendent of a Cooperative and we use Academy Intercom for maintenance, new installation and for engravings. They are very professional and their response time is Great.
Telephone number Academy Intercom(718/212) 539-1000

We had a similar problem. Start to document everything with an Email. Dont sent Emails accusing anyone of anything. but ask questions. Such As: Is it legal for two board members to vote without consulting the rest of the Board. or I dont think its legal to bypass the bylaws,, could another BM clarify this.
KEEP every Email... You will be surprised by the results. Good luck

Rose,

The first thing you need to do is check your by-laws and become family with the rules of it.
If you can get 2/3% of the owners together, you should be able to remove these 2 off the board.
This must be done quietly at first and then call a special meeting of all the owners or have proxies set up by them.
If you can get them removed, be prepared to refill their positions immediately.
Try to have as little communication with these 2 as possible...
That is the only way to get your situation resolved...
Good Luck..