How NYC Co-Ops Are Saving Themselves by Breaking Their Own Rules
The city’s most desirable addresses used to have some of its most insane requirements. That’s changing.
Illustration: Klaus Kremmerz for Bloomberg Businessweek
Try to explain how some of New York’s “best” co-ops function to an out-of-towner, and you’ll be met with slack-jawed disbelief. Yes, the city’s limestone-clad apartment buildings are home to some of the most powerful people in the world, but, no, these moguls can’t buy a dog if it fails to meet their co-op’s breed restrictions.
Nor are they allowed to move their primary residence to another state or—God forbid—renovate during the fall, winter, or spring, lest construction noise disturb residents. Also: They can’t sell their apartment without the co-op board’s say-so, meaning that even if they’ve lined up a willing, able, and solvent buyer, the building can—and often will—simply reject that person for no stated reason.