At Village View, a sprawling East Village Mitchell-Lama complex, a quiet move to market one of its parking lots has turned into a full-on shareholder revolt. Residents say they were blindsided when the co-op board began shopping Parking Lot 7, a 110-space surface lot behind the buildings, and started drawing developer offers in the mid-$30 million range. Roughly 400 residents have now signed a petition demanding answers after learning the board spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal and lobbying work tied to the effort. The board, for its part, insists no final decision has been made and says it is simply reviewing proposals.
Board quietly hired a broker, meeting minutes show
According to EV Grieve, the Village View board voted in January to bring on broker Alan Cohen of ABS Partners under a six-month exclusive contract to market Parking Lot 7. The parcel sits on East 2nd Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, within the seven-building, 1,236-unit Mitchell-Lama complex. Meeting minutes reviewed by the site show the board has also met with law firm Sheppard Mullin and former City Councilmember Domenic Recchia to talk through possible development options.
Developers' bids, what they propose
Shareholders told the New York Post that the co-op has received six or seven bids that start in the mid-$30 million range, including proposals for nine-story rental buildings with some affordable units. Some affected residents say one bid came in at roughly $30 million and that the board has already asked developers for "best and final" offers as it considers its next steps. Those price tags have rattled long-term shareholders who depend on the lot not just for parking but also as a steady revenue stream for the co-op's budget.
Residents demand transparency
Neighbors and former board members told EV Grieve that more than $300,000 was spent on legal, lobbying, and development-related work before many shareholders even knew Parking Lot 7 was in play. A resident-run website and a petition with about 400 signatures are pushing the board to provide a public accounting of what has been spent and why. One former board member has accused current directors of operating "in secrecy" and not giving shareholders enough say. The fight has revived old questions about how much control Mitchell-Lama residents really have over their own complexes and what protections still matter when land values spike.
What the law says about asset sales
New York's Business Corporation Law §909 requires shareholder approval to sell "all or substantially all" of a corporation's assets when the deal is outside the ordinary course of business, and it spells out notice and voting rules for such sales, according to the New York State Senate. Whether selling a single parking lot legally counts as selling "substantially all" of the co-op's assets is a fact-specific question. If counsel determines the Parking Lot 7 deal does not meet that standard, the board can pursue the transaction without a shareholder vote. The statute also allows a board to walk away from a proposed sale even after shareholders sign off, as long as it does not violate the rights of outside parties.
Board says proceeds would shore up finances
The board has retained land-use attorney Jodi Stein and lobbyist Domenic Recchia in 2024, and Stein told the New York Post that nothing has been finalized. She said that any money from a sale would be placed into a trust, with the interest it generates helping to pay down the co-op's bills. Stein also told the paper that Village View faces roughly $1 million in obligations, a number that board allies say explains why directors are exploring options like this. Longtime residents including Sebastian Kot and Stephen D'Andrilli counter that losing the lot would gut a daily convenience and chip away at the cooperative's identity.
What's next
Shareholders say they will keep pushing for a public forum and full disclosure of any potential deal terms, including how lost parking would be addressed and where every dollar of the proceeds would end up. For now, the board is reviewing offers behind closed doors, and residents on both sides acknowledge that the showdown has laid bare a tough tradeoff between quick cash and preserving the neighborhood fixtures that have defined Village View for decades.
