70-25 YELLOWSTONE BOULEVARD

Plagued by leaks in its large underground garage, the board at Gerard Towers, a 563-unit cooperative at 70-25 Yellowstone Blvd. in Forest Hills, was seeking solutions. The situation was simple but frustrating: an Olympic-size pool on the building’s ground floor was leaking into the garage below it. Not only was spalling occurring on the walls, but the water was harming the structural integrity of those walls – and damaging the cars as well. The situation had gone on for nearly a decade, with various stopgap remedies being employed to stem the tide, but a permanent solution eluded the co-op.

As a business researcher / strategist and former condo board member I have been active for years in my 500-plus-unit co-op, serving on finance and elevator committees and as research consultant to committees and board presidents on issues we all face as shareholders. I want to raise an issue of concern to many of our shareholders and to others in our form of housing: the disproportionate power wielded by holders of unsold shares, and the unequal application of the New York State Business Corporation Law, depending on when a co-op's bylaws became effective.