Why I am running

As you may have read, I moved to Astoria in 1996 and lived on 18th street, almost in the shadow of Shore Towers, for more than 16 years before I had the opportunity to purchase an apartment in this building.

Although the multiple, nearly continuous assessments were a significant shock to this new owner, beginning after only three month of ownership, I am not here to talk about the past. Whatever issues or people that have contributed to where this building was when I bought in is not important to me; proper stewardship going forward is. And proper stewardship is vitally important both for residential owners and investor owners.

In a market that is about to grow ever-more competitive with the next-door development and local improvements, both in terms of rentals and real estate, its imperative that Shore Towers never loses its edge in attracting excellent tenants while fully satisfying the needs of the residential owners in terms of valuation and services.

The one agenda both groups can agree upon – the assessments and common charges increases have hit both investors and residents in the pockets. Investors cannot necessarily recoup that loss, depending upon existing leases, durations and market prices; and residential owners who often budget on a fixed income are hit even harder, bearing the full brunt of all assessments in the wallet. This should be a serious concern in light of the disruptive development next door that will likely pull rental prices in the building down even as it increases property value and local taxes.

As an owner, this concerns me. What concerns me even more is how the current board and management seems less concerned about cutting waste to reduce expenses than finding ways to have owners pony up more and more money. In terms of capital improvements, this Board and management has a history of being too optimistic about the outcomes long before the project even starts – such as the Local Law 11 repairs. Putting the cart so far ahead of the horse in terms of expectations is a recipe for disappointment again.

I will be putting forth several examples of current waste that has not been properly managed, costing all owners money for no good reason, as well as some of my own ideas on monetizing the building further to develop revenue streams.

In terms of my personal availability, I work a mostly "prime-time" shift at CNN, meaning I would be an on-site resource to this building through the morning and into the afternoon, weekdays.