N E W S
J U L Y 6
L E H A V R E
Le Havre Annual Shareholders
Budget Meeting Recap
Shareholders convened for the June 27 annual budget
meeting.
Le Havre Owners Corp. held its annual shareholders’
Budget & Finance meeting on Thursday, June
28 to introduce and explain the 2018/19 budget.
Since inclement weather made holding the meeting
at the #2 Pool deck impractical, it was held in the
Clubhouse, where a standing-room-only crowd of
approximately 80 shareholders gathered. In addition
to the Le Havre Board, Property Manager Margaret
Costello, attorney Geoffrey Mazel and accountant
Carl Cesarano also attended.
LHOC Board President Stanley Greenberg discussed
the 2018/19 maintenance increase of 2.15%,
which is lower than last year’s 2.58%. “Overall in
New York City,” Stanley said, “maintenance increases
have averaged 3.5% to 4% this year, and over the
past seven years, our increases have averaged 1.5%.”
The key drivers to this year’s maintenance increase
are the rise in real estate taxes (7.6%) and the new
labor union contract (3.3%) which went into effect
in April.
6 LEHAVRE COURIER | JULY 2018 | WWW.QNS.COM
L-R: LHOC Property Manager Margaret Costello; LHOC accountant Carl Cesarano; LHOC attorney Geoffrey Mazel; Board
President Stanley Greenberg; Board members Ray Bergen, Penni Nussbaum, and Judy Densky; Board Vice President Steve
Young; and Board member Mitchell Breidbart.
Stanley gave a recap of the major capital initiatives
that Le Havre has undertaken over the past several
years, including the conversion from oil to gas ($1.2
million); the upgrades to LED lighting throughout the
property ($200,000); the cement work completed (17
buildings thus far, $1.7 million); waterproofing on
the buildings ($385,000); seawall repair ($250,000);
and the current lobby and hallway renovations ($1.8
million). “These improvements total $5.5 million,”
he explained, “with no new assessments.”
The NYC-required elevator upgrades, which will
involve all 32 of Le Havre’s elevators, were discussed
at length. Stanley noted that the last time the
elevators were refurbished was in 1996. “If we had
more modern mechanisms,” he said, “the upgrades
could be done much less expensively.” As it stands,
the work is mandated because of changes in NYC
building codes, and they will be costly.
Phase 1, which has a deadline of completion of
January 1, 2020, requires the door lock mechanisms
to be replaced at a cost of approximately $500,000.
By 2027, a much more extensive refurbishment will
be required, for which Le Havre has been quoted $5.5
million. Stanley noted that the $500,000 for the 2020
upgrade would essentially be lost since that improvement
will not be adaptable to the 2027 work.
He said, “We’re trying to see if the work can
be postponed or if we will not have to do the
2020 upgrade.” He explained that a meeting with
Representative Paul Vallone, which will include representatives
from Cryder Point and the President’s
Co-op and Condo Council, is scheduled for July to
discuss the issue. Board Vice President Steve Young
added, “We’ve been fighting the City for years. We
fought them on the balcony enclosures and on taxes.
We’re going to fight this too.”
In the meantime, a new assessment $0.15 (1.5
cents) per share is being introduced in this year’s
budget to plan ahead. Monies from this assessment
are being put in a dedicated account for the sole
purpose of the elevator work. “If we start little by little,”
Stanley said, “we won’t have to get any outside
financing by the time we need to do the work.” He
also emphasized “that everything is subject to more
research” and that multiple bids will be sought from
various elevator companies.
Carl Cesarano then spoke to the audience about
the Board’s budget strategy. “It’s really a tale of two
budgets,” he said. First, “Le Havre’s operating budget
consistently has increases under the New York
City average.” The second component is the capital
budget. Returning to the topic of the elevator project,
Carl said, “We know we have projects that are
legislated. How do you raise the money? You do a
separate assessment and don’t co-mingle the funds.
If we don’t start now, we’re looking at some sort of
refinancing or a huge assessment.”
Carl continued, “The Le Havre board has the right
approach and is doing a really good job.” He smiled
and added, “And I’ve never seen anybody as frugal as
Stanley Greenberg,” to which the audience uniformly
applauded.