winthrop's Profile
Author's Posts
October 7, 2009
How To Compare Maintenance
Can anyone recommend a tool or resource or database for doing neighborhood-by-neighborhood comparisons of coop maintenance fees? I live in a coop in PLG, and we have a lot of conversations about whether or not our maintenance is reasonable, and it would be nice to be able to get beyond anecdotal evidence.
Let me describe the thing that would make me happiest: A spreadsheet, where each row was a New York City neighborhood, and where each column was a category of coop building ("large, w/ doorman," "small, w/o non-doorman," etc.), and the cells contained a rough estimate of average or reasonable maintenance figures for that kind of building in that neighborhood ... perhaps expressed in dollars of maintenance per square foot of apartment.
(Apparently what would make me happiest is a robot real-estate broker.)
Thanks, everyone.
May 6, 2009
Ah, Coop Board Politics
I have a question relating to coops and the rules that control how a sponsor may (and may not) vote its shares during a board election. I'll spell out the scenario below, in case any of you want to take a crack, but I would appreciate any recommendations for reliable & reasonably-priced lawyers in Brooklyn or Manhattan.
Let's assume that a coop has a 5-member Board. Let's say that 1 of those is an automatic designee of the sponsor, and the other 4 are elected by the shareholders. The question is, what are the qualifications required of the 4 elected members. Specifically, is it legal for any of those 4 elected members to be employees of the sponsor?
(If you're still reading, you're probably enough a legal buff to want to know this tidbit, too: The Bylaws contain the famous, and famously vague, clause about "not exercising voting control" that led the to Rego Park, etc. case.)
April 16, 2009
Southern Lights?
Hello.
I realize this is an unusual question, but if no one at Brownstoner knows, then I throw up my hands. It's about 10:30pm on Thursday night. And, for the last two hours, looking south by southwest from Prospect Lefferts Gardens, there is a strange glow on the horizon, as if enormous lights were shining at the Dyker Beach golf course. Does anyone have an explanation?
Author's Comments
PLG is changing, and, if you haven't, you should check out the blog hawthornestreet.com, which gives a good feel for the state of play.
There is a fine dry cleaners on Flatbush at Fenimore, the Pioneer supermarket on Parkside and the Associated on Flatbush will serve for most day-to-day grocery needs, and PLG is a four-minute drive from the Park Slope Food Coop, which is the mightiest grocery store on the East Coast of America. It appears that PLG's first true wine shop is about to open, on Fenimore at Flatbush, called 65 Fen. There is nowhere to buy good bread in the neighborhood yet, the gyms leave something to be desired, but there are good fish stores, and plenty of places to get your nails & braids done, and damned fine roti and patties. Men can get a respectable haircut for $10 from Bibi's Unisex on Flatbush at Winthrop. It's a fully-functioning, perfectly safe, mostly vibrant, occasionally filthy, working-class & middle-class neighborhood. But it ain't Park Slope and it ain't Fort Greene.
Posted by: winthrop at September 3, 2009 11:56 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
Interesting. So your understanding is that, so long as the election does not produce a Board on which employees of the sponsor make up a *majority,* the sponsor is within its rights?
That would some kind of make sense, I suppose. It is frustrating though ... the practical result is to reduce from 4 to 3 the number of seats that those of us who live in the building can compete for.
Posted by: winthrop at May 6, 2009 9:19 AM in response to Ah, Coop Board Politics
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
Not sure that "gaming" approach is going to work in the future (some schools now google you to find addresses attached to you, and question you about that discrepancy). You are going to have to educate yourself, apply everywhere, and hope for the best. Most of the tricks friends have used have been eliminated by new, stricter approaches.
The Maple Street School is a preschool only.
PLG is great, no question, but just be ready for a whole big headache re: the schools (no, there are no local schools that come near adequate right now). I know someone whose child just did not get into ANY good public schools for Kindergarten. If you can swing private, you have more options, of course. If at all possible I would get your child in a private ongoing preschool as soon as possible (say, threes at a decent private)... or wait til he or she is already into a good public somewhere else. Not to be a downer, but it is a grueling and stressful scene, and the stress goes on for a long, long time, and you may end up commuting every day to a school far away on a packed subway train -- and feeling lucky to do so.
Good luck!
Posted by: gussy at September 3, 2009 7:50 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
BCtoBK,
I'm not sure what criteria Bob Marvin is using to qualify a "middle class" family. I have a well paying union job and my husband is an attorney with a fairly large international law firm, so I would like to think we make the cut. We live in PLG and send our children to school in the neighborhood. So do at least 3 other middle-class families that live on our street. These are just the ones in our daughter's kindergarten class. Our 6yo went to Maple Street School and will start her 2nd year at her zoned school, PS 161. Our 2yo will be attending Maple Street. PS 161 is one of the main reasons we didn't purchase a house in "Lefferts Manor" since none of the homes there are zoned for 161.
Like PLG in general, PS 161 may not be for everyone, which is fine. We're comfortable that as involved parents our children will receive a good education there. I also strongly feel that there is much to be gained from going to school with the people we live with as part of that education. I did some volunteering via Jr Achievement, so I was able to spend quite a bit of time in the school before I was a parent. Last year I helped out in the class a few time and with school trips. I'm looking forward this year to getting more involved with my daughter's school. It's not even close to being perfect, but you would be surprised at what a few like-minded & motivated parents can achieve. If just 10 neighborhood parents a year that send their kids to Maple Street School would put half of the energy & resources that Maple Street demands, our schools would be something to envy indeed.
I had high expectations when I moved to PLG 6yrs ago and so far they have been greatly exceeded. I was looking for the a neighborhood were my inter-racial family could feel comfortable. Some place we could live and not merely sleep. Somewhere my family can be involved and a part of the greater community. I loved the work I've done to help bring new things to PLG. I love being a part of the things & getting to know the people that drew me here in the first place. Living in PLG, I feel when I send my children off into the world, they will be surprised at how special the community they come from truly is.
Posted by: DD at September 3, 2009 9:37 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
Well, gussy may be right about there being slimmer opportunities to game the system today than many years ago when this was my family's challenge. But, I just don't buy into the notion that the situation is totally hopeless. There are just way too many young families with children who have moved into PLG in the past 5 years; surely not all of these children are enrolled in private schools from the age of 3 forward! As one who tries to see the glass half full, I contend that there are solutions out there to be found --- if you want to find them bad enough! To deepen your research efforts on this question, you might want to touch base with Maple Street School, Almond Tree Group Family Daycare (another popular preschool program here) and those who are working towards the goal of opening the Lefferts Gardens Charter School in 2010. http://www.hawthornestreet.com/2009/03/plg-charter-school-in-the-works.html
(And, DD, what a great post! I must have been working on my response below while you were submitting yours. IMO, yours is exactly the kind of family I was suggesting BCtoBK might want to connect with for getting more helpful contemporary advice/opinions on how to deal with the education challenge.) ___________________________________________________
Posted by: Brooklynista at September 3, 2009 10:00 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
DD,
Glad to hear about your experience with PS 161. It wasn't on our radar back when we were looking for schools and,with a 26 year old I'm far from up to date on neighborhood schools, other than following news about the proposed charter school. Still, I didn't expect to learn something about my neighborhood from a forum thread--thank you.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 3, 2009 10:42 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
DD, great post and very helpful. Thank you.
Amen to this:
"you would be surprised at what a few like-minded & motivated parents can achieve. If just 10 neighborhood parents a year that send their kids to Maple Street School would put half of the energy & resources that Maple Street demands, our schools would be something to envy indeed."
I mean, PS 321 wasn't the envy of anything 10 years ago was it?
Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 10:53 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
A big fat thank you to everyone that posted today. I got a ton of information and perspective and I'm only sorry I can't meet this group for coffee. I think the conversation would be awesome.
Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
A big fat thank you to everyone that posted today. I got a ton of information and perspective and I'm only sorry I can't meet this group for coffee. I think the conversation would be awesome.
Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
"I mean, PS 321 wasn't the envy of anything 10 years ago was it? "
Actually, it was. I moved from BH to PS in 1990 to send my kid there.
Posted by: denton at September 4, 2009 6:22 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
BCtoBK,
RE: your 11:20 PM comment; if you hang out at K-Dog for a couple of mornings you're likely to meet a fair percentage of us.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 4, 2009 8:21 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
Sorry for the late reply! I totally crashed last night. Anyhoo, below is the shortlist I came up with in all my research broken down by neighborhood, in no particular order.
Park Slope
Ps282
Ps321
Ps372 - think this is special needs only
Ps39
South Slope
Ps10
Ps124
Ps172
Windsor Terrace
Ps107
Ps154
Prospect Park South
Ps130
Kensington
Ps230
Ditmas Park
Ps139
Ps217
Ps245-considered an "up and coming"
Ps249- consiered an "up and coming"
Greenpoint
Ps31
Ps34
Ps110
Brooklyn Heights
Ps8
Ps29
Carrol Gardens
Ps58
Ft Greene
Ps11
Ps20 = some controversy but overall ok
Prospect Heights
Ps9
Bed Stuy
Ps21
Ps261
Ps10
I'm sure I left some out... this is just what I came up with. You'll also notice I skipped some neighborhoods b/c this list was drawn from areas we were looking for our new apt, and some areas were off the list for us for various reasons. There are lots of others!
Don't forget that going to see the school / talking to a school coordinator can be way more valuable than a million opinions posted on the web. Good luck! :)
Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 8:21 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities
Thanks, everyone.
Serpentor: I like your initial idea ... but I'm not sure I'm the one to devote the time to it. If I do, I'll certainly let Brownstoner know.
klmmc: Thanks for the wisdom. My experience so far has been roughly like yours, that comparisons are hard. Still, it would be good to know how high a building's maintenance can go before potential buyers feel like it's simply too far out of whack.
mopar: You raise an interesting point: what percentage of Pre-War coops buildings do carry underlying mortgages? In Brooklyn, it must be a majority, no?
Posted by: winthrop at October 9, 2009 9:40 AM in response to How To Compare Maintenance