BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF MORNINGSIDE GARDENS

Under the auspices of the following institutions, our Morningside Heights Housing Corporation became a reality: Barnard College, Columbia University, Corpus Christi Church, International House, Jewish Theological Seminary, Juilliard School of Music (then on Claremont Avenue), Riverside Church, Teachers College, and the Union Theological Seminary.

In 1957, MHHC became home for 980 families, a population of approximately 2,000 people of diverse ethnicity, creeds, and backgrounds. On June 24, 1957, the first cooperators began moving into 80 LaSalle Street, the first building to be completed. Over a period of six months, all six buildings were fully occupied. To the question "What shall we call ourselves?", raised at an early meeting of new cooperators, the answer was "Morningside Gardens." Already at that time, the rubble and mud that had greeted newcomers was being transformed into what was to become a beautiful garden. And, indeed, it is the imaginatively conceived and well-tended garden that makes MHHC one of the most distinctive housing developments in New York City.

At a special meeting on October 19, 1993, the shareholders of Morningside Heights Housing Corporation ("Morningside Gardens") approved a reconstitution plan that became effective on February 7, 1994. This meant that Morningside Gardens had amended its Certificate of Incorporation to remove itself from the jurisdiction of the Private Housing Finance Law and, consequently, from the supervisory authority of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

As a cooperative housing corporation, created to further the development of Morningside Heights into an attractive, integrated residential community, Morningside Gardens has fulfilled its mission.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Under the provisions of its Bylaws, governance of the Morningside Heights Housing Corporation is overseen by an elected Board of Directors consisting of twelve (12) members whose function it is to make all policy decisions of the Corporation. Four members of the Board of Directors are elected from a roster of candidates nominated by and presented by the Elections Committee at the annual meeting of the shareholders generally held in April of each year. (For more information see “About the Board” section.)

The execution or implementation of the Board's policy decisions is the function of the management staff, a group of experienced employees of the Corporation whose services are essential to the proper maintenance and operation of the entire cooperative. The management structure is headed by a general manager who is hired by and fully accountable to the Board of Directors. The General Manager is the chief operating officer of the cooperative complex with full authority over the areas of general administration, financial management, personnel supervision, and plant control

The operational efficiency of the entire cooperative is dependent upon a close and harmonious working relationship between the General Manager and the Board of Directors. They are, and must be, in constant communication with each other. The General Manager attends Board meetings, is in frequent contact with the President, and reports regularly to the Board on the status of current operations or pressing concerns. The General Manager not only assumes responsibility for the working order of the physical plant, but is expected to propose and, with the Board's consent, implement plans for ongoing preventive maintenance

The General Manager has the secretarial and clerical services of an administrative assistant/Office Manager and a receptionist. The rest of the management staff is subdivided into the following departments or functional areas. Each of these is headed by an overseer who is directly responsible to the General Manager.

1. The operations staff of the Maintenance Department includes eleven porters, five maintenance persons, a groundsman and a fireman.
2. The Accounting Department is staffed by a Controller who oversees the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable clerks.
3. The Captain is assisted by a staff of five security supervisors, armed security personnel and seventeen security officers.
4. The Sales and Transfer Office is staffed by a sales manager, an assistant to the sales manager and a full-time employee to show apartments.
5. The Morningside Garage is staffed by a garage foreman and three garage attendants.

The nerve center of the entire management system is the central Management Office located on the ground floor of Building III (80 LaSalle Street). All requests for services or information should be directed to this office (212) 865-3631.