Amid Health Emergency at Co-op City, Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc. Calls on State to Enforce Order to Reinstate Professional Management

NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Herbert Freedman, Principal, Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc., Co-op City's management company for the past 15 years.

"I am enormously concerned about the safety of the residents of Co-op City. The community is engulfed in a health crisis, and no one at the helm is remotely qualified to handle an emergency of this magnitude.

Two months ago, a small handful of new board members decided to run Co-op City on their own, without professional management. Now the community has been plunged into a health emergency and there is no one capable of managing it. They are flying without a pilot.

In November, the state ruled that the board members' decision to part with MSI was illegal, and ordered the board to reinstate the company. The board members have defied that order, and as a result the management of Co-op City has been thrown into chaos during a health emergency. We are calling on the state to enforce its order to restore professional management to the community before this situation deteriorates further.

This crisis was inevitable. This week, it's Legionnaires' disease from the cooling towers. Next week it could be the heat and hot water, or the electrical system. The state must step in to bring order to this dangerous, illegal situation and reinstate professional management to Co-op City.

This is not about MSI. If the board decides to hire a new manager in the future that is their absolute right. But the decision of a handful of reckless members to run the operation illegally by themselves has put the residents of Co-op City in danger. The state must step in immediately and enforce its order."

About Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc.

Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc. ("MSI") is a full-service residential property management firm with a specialty in affordable housing. Formed in 1990, MSI currently manages over 23,000 apartments under virtually every type of federal, state and city housing program.

SOURCE Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc.