Co-ops can be attractive with their prewar lobbies and nice size rooms plus their discount over condos. However, even if you are the type of person who does not mind the sometimes onerous house rules and a lack of freedom to sublet your apartment, there is another risk now associated with small co-ops. Small co-ops can be less onerous and in a building of 4 or so apartments, it can be very neighborly. However, due to the scarcity of land available for developers to build, a new gambit has emerged. The developer buys a “super majority” (75%) of the shares of a small co-op and in essence can collapse the co-op and possibly force out the rest of the shareholders. This has pitted neighbor against neighbor in this high stakes game at times. Read the full NYT story.