Page 17 - NY Cooperator November 2019

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — NOVEMBER 2019 17 Cesarano & Khan, PC Certified Public Accountants PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO THE COOPERATIVE AND CONDOMINIUM COMMUNITY Reporting on Financial Statements • Tax Services Budgeting & Consulting • Election Tabulation Services For additional information, contact Carl M. Cesarano, CPA 199 JERICHO TURNPIKE, SUITE 400 • FLORAL PARK, NY 11001 (516) 437-8200 and 718-478-7400 • info@ck-cpas.com cesarano &khan1_8 use this_:cesarano &khan 4 7/22/15 4:59 PM Page 1 Disclaimer: The answers provided in this Q&A column are of a general nature and cannot substitute for professional advice regarding your specific circumstances. Always seek the advice of competent legal counsel or other qualified profes- sionals with any questions you may have regard- ing technical or legal issues. tags under $1 million. The complex also in- cludes 320 rentals, and has a 25,000 square foot “private park,” a rooftop pool with ca- banas, private wine rooms, and a coworking lounge. Ditmas Park welcomes a condo building at 1702 Newkirk Ave. to its stately neigh- borhood of Brooklyn Victorians. Two of the 12 condos are for sale; one of them is a two-bedroom with two balconies, floor- to-ceiling windows, and a large dining area, listed at $799,000. The building amenities also include private storage rooms, a bike room, a gym, and a roof deck with grills. A new “passive house” at 852 St. John’s Place in Crown Heights is an eco-friendly condo building with five units, all priced under $1 million. The building’s insulation, airtight envelope, and triple-glazed win- dows virtually eliminate heat and air-con- ditioning needs, reducing costs and carbon emissions for owners. The Rowan, a 46-unit condo building in Astoria set for completion in 2020 will soon launch sales, starting at $495,000. Studio to three-bedroom units with wide-plank white oak floors, oversized windows, and Miele appliances range in size from 425 to 1,857 square feet. The building is flush with amenities, including a gym, and indoor/ outdoor lounge, a soundproof music prac- tice room, a pet spa, and a landscaped roof deck with Manhattan views. In Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, 82 one- and two- bedroom units priced from $630,000 to $950,000 will sit across the street from each other at 175 and 192 Spencer. Residents in the two buildings will enjoy covered park- ing and a gym along with their hardwood floors, exposed concrete ceilings, and Bosch kitchen appliances. A new condo being built at 567 Ocean in Flatbush, Brooklyn, will have 108 units, 95 of which will be priced below $1 mil- lion when sales launch in November. Start- ing around $400,000, the studios through three-bedrooms with have hardwood floors and Bosch appliances, along with access to to call a special shareholders’ meeting to elect a new board. Prior to the meeting, the reader should confirm with neighbors who will be running to replace the sitting board mem- bers’ seats. A quorum in accordance with the bylaws is necessary to proceed with the elec- tion, and thus proxies should be gathered in advance to ensure the desired candidates are er with a legal parking spot in the building’s elected. “The top priorities of the new board caregivers. She is unable to walk securely to should be hiring an independent accoun- tant to conduct an audit of the co-op’s re- cords and accounts and paying off any un- paid property taxes to avoid a tax lien filing rage so my sisters can park in my garage spot against the property.” Staff Holiday Fund Tax Implications Q For more than 30 years, my con- dominium building has had a res- ident-managed fund that collects cash gifts for the staff at holiday time. This has worked very well and was always 100 percent independent of the condominium board and the management firm, with no members of the board ever involved with the fund while they were serving on the board. This past year, for the first time three members of the board were listed on the notices as members of the committee that handles the collection of contributions and distribution of the money to the staff. (This year more than $50,000 was collected and distributed to the employees.) My understanding was always that board members could not have anything to do with this process, as they are designated as the ‘employers’ and their involvement would trigger the need for the condominium to handle the payments with appropriate with- holdings and the condominium paying its share of FICA. Is that accurate, or is it legal for the board members to be involved in such a process that distributes this large amount of funds to the staff? Does their involvement create po- tential IRS violations? —Protecting the Gifts A According to attorney Aaron Shmulewitz of the Manhat- tan firm of Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, LLP, “In New York State, condominium boards are vested with very broad authority to manage their buildings as they deem most appropriate, subject to vari- ous restrictions imposed by law. While this condominium’s bylaws would need to be re- viewed to confirm the specific answer here, generally speaking, creating and populating committees and deciding on holiday com- pensation to staff fall squarely within the board’s authority. There is no legal prohibi- tion on board members serving on a com- mittee that decides holiday compensation for staff, and doing so does not create any additional legal liability for the condomini- um. Tax obligations with regard to any such payments—both for the condominium and for the staff members—would be the same regardless of who is on the committee.” Is My Co-op Ignoring ADA? Q My 88-year-old mother has just moved into a co-op on Staten Is- land where I am also a sharehold- garage. My four sisters and I are her daily any cars parked outside on the street due to the fact that the building is on a very steep hill. I have requested extra access to the ga- while I am at work during the day. The board and management company have denied this request and stated if anyone parked in my spot—even family members— the car would be towed. I have also requested extra access keys to the front door for my sisters in case of an emergency where my mother would be unable to use the intercom system to allow them entry to the building. I was granted one extra key. I also questioned management on how 9-1-1 emergency response would access the building if required, as my mother does wear a medical alert system. No reply has been ob- tained as of today. Please advise if ADA reasonable accom- modations apply to my requests under these scenarios and if I should continue to pursue my requests? —Care-Giving Daughter A “Based upon these facts,” says attorney Bruce Cholst of An- derson Kill, a Manhattan law firm, “I believe your mother is absolutely en- titled to a reasonable accommodation by rea- son of her disability (mobility impairment) under Federal, New York State, and New York City law. The accommodation would be in the nature of granting each of your sisters access to your parking space during working hours while you are not using it so they can more easily provide essential caretaking ser- vices for your immobile mother. “What may be giving your board some pause is that this is not a direct accommoda- tion to your mother, the disabled sharehold- er, but rather an accommodation flowing to your sisters, to whom they owe no duty as a shareholder. However, the law states that dis- abled shareholders must be accommodated in such a manner as they are put on equal footing with their non-disabled neighbors so long as the request does not inflict ‘un- due hardship’ on the community. Here your mother is unable to greet her caretakers on the street the way her non-disabled neigh- bors are, and the request does not impose undue hardship as the subject parking space is otherwise vacant during the times when your sisters are using it. The same reasoning continued on page 18 Q&A continued from page 5 applies to the issuance of extra keys. “I would suggest approaching the board again with these arguments as well as a med- ical diagnosis as to your mother’s immobil- ity. Do any of your sisters have mobility is- sues as well? I would suggest providing that documentation as well if such be the case as it establishes the difficulty of your sisters obtaining access to your mother, further demonstrating the disparity between your mother and her non-disabled neighbors. “If your board continues to refuse this ac- commodation, you have two choices: Your mother may commence a lawsuit in State Supreme Court or in Federal Court on the basis of illegal disability discrimination, or she may file a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights or its New York State counterpart and they will undertake an administrative investigation and pursue the matter with the cooperative. I suggest the latter course and, in particular, filing with the New York City Commission as they will pursue the matter most aggres- sively free of charge if they believe there is a case.” n PULSE continued from page 4 Our attorney advisors have the answers to all of your legal questions. Write to The Cooperator and we’ll publish your question along with a response from one of our attor- ney advisors. Questions may be edited for taste, length, and clar- ity. Send your questions to: darcey@cooperator.com. Q&A