When Did the Co-op Die in New York City?
Short answer: The new co-op died between 1989 and 1991. We counted every co-op and condo offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General since our records begin in 1978. Co-op filings peaked in 1985 at 717 plans, against 214 condo plans. In 1989 condos pulled ahead (261 to 243) and stayed ahead every year since. By 1991, sponsors filed 13 co-op plans, 2% of the peak. Since 2000, co-ops have been 2% of the plans filed.
The co-op as a home isn't dead: the apartments created in the 1980s still sell every day. What died was the making of new ones.
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Co-op and condop plans filed with the NY Attorney General, by first submission year. 2026 is a partial year. Source: The Condo Book Project.
Co-op vs. Condo Plans by Decade
Every new co-op or condo in New York, new building or conversion, is sold under an offering plan filed with the Attorney General (AG). These counts include every plan developers ("sponsors") filed, whether accepted, withdrawn or rejected. "Co-op" includes condops (co-ops that own one unit of a condo building).
| Filed | Co-op plans | Condo plans | Co-op share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–1979 | 478 | 25 | 95% |
| 1980–1989 | 5,082 | 1,714 | 75% |
| 1990–1999 | 136 | 740 | 16% |
| 2000–2009 | 75 | 3,419 | 2% |
| 2010–2019 | 61 | 2,677 | 2% |
| 2020–2026 | 38 | 1,921 | 2% |
The Boom: Converting Rentals, Not Building Co-ops
From 1978 through 1988, sponsors filed 5,317 co-op plans and 1,478 condo plans. Almost none of those co-ops were new buildings: 98% were conversions or rehabs of existing buildings, and only 99 were new construction. Rental building owners sold the apartments as co-op shares to their tenants or to outside buyers.
It wasn't a Manhattan story. 49% of the boom's co-op plans were in Manhattan and 51% were in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.
Two laws shaped it. New York's Condominium Act (Real Property Law Article 9-B), in effect since 1964, already allowed condos, but turning a rental into a co-op was the familiar route. And General Business Law § 352-eeee let a non-eviction conversion go ahead once 15% of tenants agreed to buy; tenants who didn't buy stayed on as renters.
The Death: 1989 to 1991
The fall was fast. Co-op filings dropped from 717 in 1985 to 243 in 1989 and 13 in 1991. For the rest of the 1990s, sponsors filed about 8 co-op plans a year. Condo filings fell in the early 1990s too, but they recovered; co-ops didn't.
The filings show when, not why. The timing matches the end of the 1980s boom and the slump that followed. When filings picked up again, the new supply was condos, for reasons that still hold:
- No board approving every buyer. A condo board usually has only a right of first refusal (the right to buy the unit itself on the same terms). Investors, buyers using an LLC and buyers from abroad can close without a board interview.
- Ordinary mortgages and separate tax bills. Each condo is its own tax lot with its own mortgage. A co-op carries one building mortgage and one tax bill, paid through every shareholder's maintenance.
- Freedom to rent. Condo owners can usually rent out their apartments; co-op shareholders usually need the board's consent.
Buyers of new apartments pay for that, so a sponsor gets more by selling condos. See condo vs. co-op in NYC for how the two compare today.
The 2019 rent law (the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act) ended eviction plans and raised the share of tenants who must agree to buy under a non-eviction plan from 15% to 51%. It's often blamed for ending co-op conversions, but in the filings the wave had been over for nearly three decades.
Who Still Files New Co-ops?
Since 2000, sponsors have filed 174 co-op plans, and 51 of them are named as HDFCs. Market-rate co-op plans went from 75 in 2000–2009 to 8 in 2020–2026, while HDFCs made up 30 of 2020–2026's co-op plans. The ones still filed mostly do something a condo can't do as well:
- Affordable HDFC co-ops (income-restricted co-ops), where one building mortgage and board approval of every buyer keep income limits and resale caps in place. See what an HDFC co-op is.
- Buildings on leased land, where a co-op can hold the ground lease as a single tenant, and some landowners won't allow condos. See ground lease condos and co-ops.
- Condops, a co-op that owns the residential unit of a condominium. See what a condop is.
We read those plans in why developers still file new co-ops.
New-Construction Co-ops Since 2010
Our records hold 58 new-construction co-op plans since 2000 that aren't named as HDFCs. Here are the 20 filed since 2010, newest first. Some of them are still affordable or nonprofit co-ops under another name.
| Co-op | Filed | Borough | Homes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201 East 23rd Street | 2024 | Manhattan | 69 |
| 869 Myrtle Avenue | 2020 | Brooklyn | 2 |
| 1228 Madison Avenue | 2019 | Manhattan | 15 |
| 85 Steamboat Road | 2019 | Queens | 10 |
| 42-14 Crescent Street | 2018 | Queens | 48 |
| 1 City Point A/K/A 138 Willoughby Street | 2016 | Brooklyn | 458 |
| 269 West 87th Street | 2016 | Manhattan | 39 |
| 100 Barrow Street | 2015 | Manhattan | 33 |
| 70 Charlton Street | 2014 | Manhattan | 122 |
| 45 Great Jones Street | 2014 | Manhattan | 5 |
| 10 Bond Street | 2013 | Manhattan | 11 |
| 535 West 52nd Street | 2012 | Manhattan | 95 |
| 137 Franklin Street | 2011 | Manhattan | 3 |
| 64 East 111th Street | 2011 | Manhattan | 123 |
| 700 Brook Avenue | 2011 | Bronx | 71 |
| 194 Vernon Avenue | 2011 | Brooklyn | 8 |
| 853 Macy Place | 2010 | Bronx | 62 |
| 775 Lafayette Avenue | 2010 | Brooklyn | 82 |
| 305 West 16th Street | 2010 | Manhattan | 53 |
| 212 South Oxford St.,/673,677 & 681 Atlantic | 2010 | Brooklyn | 79 |
What This Means If You're Buying
- A co-op listing is almost always an older building, often a 1980s conversion. Ask for the co-op's financial statements, its underlying mortgage and its reserves, and whether the sponsor still holds unsold shares.
- A new co-op has a reason. If a new building is sold as co-op shares, find out why: a ground lease, an income restriction or a condop structure each changes what you're buying.
- Compare the full monthly cost. Co-op maintenance includes the building's property taxes and mortgage; condo common charges don't. Compare maintenance with common charges plus taxes.
Search new condo and co-op plans on The Condo Book Project, or see the newest filings.
FAQ
When did the co-op die in New York?
Between 1989 and 1991. Co-op offering plans peaked at 717 in 1985, condo plans outnumbered them from 1989 on, and by 1991 only 13 co-op plans were filed.
Are co-ops dying in NYC?
Not as homes. The co-op apartments created before 1991 still sell every day. But new co-ops are rare: since 2000, they've been 2% of the offering plans filed, many of them affordable HDFCs.
Why are new buildings in NYC condos instead of co-ops?
Buyers of new apartments pay more for what a condo gives them: no board approving the purchase, an ordinary mortgage, a separate tax bill and freedom to rent. Sponsors sell what sells for the most.
When were most NYC co-ops created?
Most were rental buildings converted in the late 1970s and 1980s. From 1978 through 1988, 5,317 co-op plans were filed, and 98% of them converted or rehabbed an existing building.
Did the 2019 rent law kill co-op conversions?
It made them much harder: a non-eviction conversion now needs 51% of tenants to agree to buy, up from 15%, and eviction plans are gone. But by the filings, conversions had already dwindled to a handful a year by the early 1990s.
What do these counts cover?
Every co-op (including condop) and condo offering plan for a New York City building on The Condo Book Project, 5,870 co-op plans in all, grouped by the year first submitted to the Attorney General, whatever happened to the plan after. Our records begin in 1978, and 2026 is a partial year. HDFC status is taken from the name in the AG record, so the HDFC count is a floor.
Where this comes from: the Attorney General's records for the offering plans on The Condo Book Project, counted by first submission date; plan type, construction type and borough are as recorded by the AG. The legal history is from New York's Real Property Law Article 9-B (the Condominium Act) and General Business Law § 352-eeee as amended by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. This is general information, not legal advice. Updated November 2026.
Related: NYC Co-ops That Don't Need Board Approval or Restrict Subletting · What Is a No-Action Letter? How NYC Condos and Co-ops Skip the Offering Plan