A co-op house divided: Bronx, N.Y., building considers leaving Mitchell-Lama.

Publication: Daily News (New York, New York) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2005 Daily News

Byline: Lore Croghan

Sep. 19--James McCarthy is 70 years old and afraid to retire.

The board of his Bronx co-op wants to pull the building out of the Mitchell-Lama program -- which would jack up his maintenance charges from an affordable $600 per month.

A recent residents' vote about whether Orloff Towers should quit the affordable-housing program for middle-income New Yorkers didn't go the board's way. But the board's looking to try again in six months.

"I don't know what's going to happen -- that's what tortures me," said McCarthy, who was wait-listed for 10 years before he got to buy co-op shares for $16,000, and secure a home for himself, his wife and his sister.

That was 16 years ago. Now, he said, "I feel like we have something special -- and somebody's trying to...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.