My family moved into this building in 1966/67. We lived in Apt 1R. It was rent controlled at that point. When the owners chose to put it up for sale at $40,000.00, my father organized the other tenants into buying it together. This was such a new concept that even the lawyers didn't quite know how to deal with the idea. In the end it all worked out and all 8 resident families paid 5k apiece for the units that are going for 1.whatever million now. There were monthly meetings and a pool of money set up for repairs. If I recall correctly the roof was replaced in '71, the furnace in '72 and the outside metal entryway with the doorbells in '72/'73. All the tenants got together with paint stripper, chisels and hammers to take off the old paint on the fencing outside in preparation for a new coat of black paint. To earn my allowance I had to wash the 3 big windows using a brush on the end of a broom handle. I vividly remember the dumbwaiter we had in the kitchen into which we deposited the trash. A guy named Mike came 3 times a week and emptied it and set the cans out for the garbage men. It was a great place to live back then and I give credit to my dad for having the brilliant idea of creating what I believe was the first co-op in Brooklyn.
My family moved into this building in 1966/67. We lived in Apt 1R. It was rent controlled at that point. When the owners chose to put it up for sale at $40,000.00, my father organized the other tenants into buying it together. This was such a new concept that even the lawyers didn't quite know how to deal with the idea. In the end it all worked out and all 8 resident families paid 5k apiece for the units that are going for 1.whatever million now. There were monthly meetings and a pool of money set up for repairs. If I recall correctly the roof was replaced in '71, the furnace in '72 and the outside metal entryway with the doorbells in '72/'73. All the tenants got together with paint stripper, chisels and hammers to take off the old paint on the fencing outside in preparation for a new coat of black paint. To earn my allowance I had to wash the 3 big windows using a brush on the end of a broom handle. I vividly remember the dumbwaiter we had in the kitchen into which we deposited the trash. A guy named Mike came 3 times a week and emptied it and set the cans out for the garbage men. It was a great place to live back then and I give credit to my dad for having the brilliant idea of creating what I believe was the first co-op in Brooklyn.
Posted by: ethan57 at December 8, 2008 8:02 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 90 Prospect Park West