Co-op Board Pres. Josette Cerasuola: "You Have to Know Your Strengths"

What do you do professionally? 

I am a dressmaker. I have my own business and work from home. My side of the family — my mother's side of the family — we are all artisans and craftspeople. Lots of dressmakers and cabinet-makers and furniture-makers and painters and [my 23-year-old daughter, a graphic designer who lives in Brooklyn] just followed in those footsteps from the time she was really little.

Why did you choose to live in a co-op?

I didn't choose. It was a rental and then we were offered to buy at an insider's rate; it was a deal we couldn't refuse. We had a one-bedroom apartment. We bought that and several years later we bought the studio next door, and we combined the two. 

Why did you become president?

Nobody else wanted the position and I strongly suggested that one of the board members who is a lawyer take it, but he wanted the treasury position, so I became president by default. I strongly believe that everybody who owns a co-op should serve on the board one time or another because you really learn what it's all about.

What qualities do you think are important in board members?

Patience and being a good listener. Because everything in a co-op takes forever to get done. Right now, we are trying to decide whether we should change our water system, how the water gets circulated through the building. Two of us on the board are ready to go, we think it's a great idea, spend the money, let's get it done, move the building into the 21st century, and two of the other board members, one in particular who is very concerned about spending the money and what it's all going to mean, [says,] "If it isn't broke, don't fix it."

Did you always have an interest in serving on your co-op board? 

No, I didn't. Actually it wasn't until 1992 that things in the building were going kind of weird that a few of us decided we should run for the board. 

How do you handle the tricky balance around empathy? You have to care about the people but you also have to make hard choices.

It's not easy. In the beginning, I was very sensitive to people making comments against me. I took it very personally. But then over the years, I realized this is a corporation; not only does a corporation have to be run, but you have to take everybody into consideration because we are all part of this corporation. 

What are your thoughts about co-op leadership?

You have to know your strengths. I kind of learned over the years how to deal with people and find the help if I need it because some of the other board members are stronger in other areas than I am. I have no legal background whatsoever, and I am not good with finances, and luckily, there are two people on the board: one is a lawyer and he does the finances, and one of the other board members was a mortgage broker, worked in the industry for lot of years. And they are terrific at that stuff. I am the only board member who works from home. I work very closely with the super, so I would say I put in a fair amount of time. He and I discuss the building at least once a day — what's going on, what needs to be done, how you should proceed, do we need to involve the other board members? So, I am pretty hands-on every day.

What's rewarding about being on the board?

Every year I say maybe this will be my last, but I am still on it. So, I think what's rewarding is to actually see a building well run and to finally get things done. We all keep saying, "We will stay on just so we can finish this next project." But there is always another project. Not very many people really want this job, so as long as I feel I can do it and do it well, I will stay on until I get voted off.

Photo by Jennifer Wu. Click to enlarge

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