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Examining Cooperative Conversion: An Analysis Of Recent New York Legislation, Robert M. Nelson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

New York City contains ninety-five percent of the cooperative housing units in the United States. While there are historical and social factors for this statistic, a specific factor is the New York State Legislature's support of conversion of residential real estate from rental to cooperative ownership. Specifically, the "Goodman-Grannis" bill provides a method whereby developers may convert residential rental housing in New York City to cooperative housing without obtaining an agreement to purchase a cooperative apartment from any of the existing tenants. Under this method, tenants who do not desire to purchase their apartments as cooperatives may remain in the …