No Pets, No Parties—No Smoking? [No smoking in your own Manhattan home, rules co-op board]

NY Magazine ^ | Feb 19, 2006 | S.Jhoanna Robledo

[summer]

No Pets, No Parties—No Smoking?

A co-op votes to declare itself smoke-free, and potential buyers fume



Barbara Langdon and her boyfriend saw a loft for sale on West 15th Street right before Christmas and knew they’d found a winner. It was in great shape and sprawled over 2,300 square feet, just what they wanted, so they made an offer for $1.75 million that was quickly accepted. “We were excited because we’d only been looking three weeks,” Langdon remembers. Soon after, though, their broker called to convey a fussy bit of news: The co-op was entirely nonsmoking, not just in common areas but also in the apartments. “That was the deal-breaker,” says Langdon—never mind that she doesn’t smoke. “How dare they tell me what to do in my own apartment.”

Apparently, they can. “It’s absolutely enforceable,” confirms co-op attorney Adam Leitman Bailey. “By signing on to a co-op, you’re giving up some of your personal rights, and in this case, that would be smoking.” Co-ops, after all, have long dictated “house rules,” requiring owners to carpet floors, turn off music late at night, and forgo pets. “[They’re] small democracies, and if the appropriate majority of shareholders agree on a policy, as long as it doesn’t discriminate against protected categories—and smokers are not—then they can institute and enforce it,” says Mary Ann Rothman, from the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. Sotheby’s International Realty’s Elizabeth LaGrua, who represents the seller at the West 15th building, says the board put the rule in place because people griped about wafting fumes. “They know from past residents that smoke does travel through the building,” she explains.

It’s not the first time a co-op has tried to go smoke-free. In 2002, the Upper West Side’s Lincoln Towers at 180 West End Avenue instituted a ban on incoming smokers, igniting a flare of controversy; the rule was later rescinded because of the uproar, says lawyer Stuart Saft, the building’s counsel back then. (He says he hadn’t heard of any other buildings trying it.) Civil-liberties types complained, but an increasingly nonsmoking city may find such buildings more acceptable. Quite a few California buildings already have bans. A recent survey by the New York Coalition for a Smoke-Free City found that more than 69 percent of New Yorkers want to live in a smoke-free building, and that nearly 50 percent would pay more for the privilege. Langdon and her boyfriend, however, are bailing on their deal. “If you can smell what’s in other people’s apartments, I don’t want [it] anyway,” says Langdon.

[summer]

And I thought FL's infamous "Condo Commandos" were a pain!!!

[summer]

FYI.

[summer]

This seems very weird. A little too much authority in this co-op board...

[summer]

FYI. Look like you would not be welcome here, Fintan. :)

[summer]

FYI. Looks like you would not be welcome here, Fintan. :)

[Billthedrill]

It isn't that unusual, especially in older places where the ventilation is such that a fart on the first floor stinks up a living room in the third. Typically these rules are grandfathered, meaning that a board can't tell existing owners what to do in their own units. But they can make non-smoking a condition of sale. Or no pets, or whatever. And if these conditions of sale aren't communicated to prospective buyers, the existing owner is liable.

[gidget7]

If you can smell what’s in other people’s apartments, I don’t want [it] anyway,” says Langdon.

Touche' And so true. No one smoking in the next appt has ever bothered me in the least. Still more and more condo complexes in CT are smoke free. Or at least indoors, for now.

It's ridiculous as far I am concerned, and will end up costing them money.

[summer]

I realize rules are not unusual, but, it still seems strange to me that a man's home is no longer his "castle" in certain places -- you're forever a "tenant" in my view, when you can't even make your own rules inside a home you own.

[summer]

I agree; I think it drives down the value of property. Not up. People don't want to spend a million plus only to be told if they throw a party, their guests have to smoke OUTSIDE on the sidewalk!!!

[summer]

But I did not realize they are doing this in CT, too. CA did not surprise me -- but CT, too, huh...

[umgud]

They can make most any rule they want. If ya don't like it, don't move in. But, for $1.75 million bucks, you'd think you could do most anything you want in your own space. I also don't smoke and this ticks me off, but it is their business.

[gidget7]

CT has for years, MA too. My sister has a condo, I wouldn't have bought it. She smokes, and must go outside, at her own home. No way! Plus I would never be in a position, to have to send guests outside. And yet they will collect 350. a month for condo fees. And you don't even have a say over what happens in your own home. No thanks.

There is a lot of fuss about it, as there was when they allowed rules of "no children", but in the end these socialists do what they want. Taxes are so high in CT, I sold my house there. I was paying more for taxes a year than for a new car payment!

[gop_gene]

Wish I could say the same about my condo--not only can I smell smoke, but also food, cleaning agents, feces, and other miscellaneous scents and odors. This is a higher-end condo, no less, in a building around only 25 years old, but the ventilation sucks.

That being said, I find the reaction to be overreactive.

[diverteach]

“How dare they tell me what to do in my own apartment.”

I have a similar problem in my own truck with the state telling me I HAVE to wear my seatbelt.

[Melas]

Nope. Co-ops can and will change rules midstream. It's not usual at all. Many instances of owners being forced to get rid of beloved pets or move when a co-op changes the rules. You don't actually own your own apartment in a co-op. It's not like a condo. Outside of NYC, the idea is unhead of. I have a good friend that lives in a co-op that I've been trying to coax to Dallas for years now.

[Melas]

There are housing options other than a co-op in NYC. A sane person (IMHO) would seek those out instead of buying into a co-op where you technically own nothing.

[Pharmboy]

Just think of living in an apartment building with 100 Hillary Clintons for neighbors...

[dalereed]

"I have a similar problem in my own truck with the state telling me I HAVE to wear my seatbelt."

I drive a 65 Chevy PU and seatbelts weren't in them and they can't make me install them or wear them!

It's only got 1,200,000 miles on it and I will drive it until I die.

[VeritatisSplendor]

I wanted to get an injunction against a landlady once - she cooked asparagus casserole and broccoli soup in the English style - that is, for hours, AND her friends smoked. It wasn't a huge problem until I got pregnant...

Mrs VS

[Seeking the truth]

How very true!

Crusty, black pant suits are odoriferous.