Apartment owners now have their own social media networking site. MyCoop.com, launched by advertising executive Alex Norman in an effort to foster communication among residents, already counts residents of the iconic Upper West Side building the Ansonia among its participants.
The site is exclusively available to co-op, condominium and cond-op residents — with MyCoop vetting phone numbers and billing addresses to double check eligibility. There are 91 buildings on the site so far, including the Ansonia, at 2109 Broadway, which was the site’s first user.
“A lot of buildings in New York City share this [problem] that there really isn’t a medium for residents to communicate with each other,” Norman told DNAinfo.
He aims to have residents use the site as more than a tool for fostering potluck dinners and Superbowl parties, he told DNAinfo. Ultimately, he wants MyCoop to serve as a forum that brings residents together to solve building problems.
“The Ansonia is a building that has many troubles … [but] we can hardly communicate,” resident Adelheid Christian, told DNAinfo, adding that she views MyCoop as “a political tool” that has helped residents push for changes such as improved maintenance in common areas.
Over the course of the next two months, Norman said he plans to monetize the currently free site by offering subscriptions for landlords who want to interact with tenants. He is also looking at advertising from home supply outlets such as Ikea and Home Depot. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland