An elderly woman, who resides in a cooperative apartment building which bars residents from maintaining window air conditioning units, was allowed to keep her window unit based on her asthmatic condition.

The cooperative, which has central air conditioning in all units, demanded that the woman, Ms. Clara Feldman, remove her unit because she had installed it without co-op board approval and in breach of her proprietary lease.  Ms. Feldman explained that she suffers from asthma and that she needs her own unit to remove dust, pollens and airborne allergens from her unit.

The Court sided with Ms. Feldman and maintained that due to her medical condition, she was entitled to maintain her own air conditioning unit and that any effort by the cooperative to remove the unit would violate the Fair Housing Amendment Act.  Even though Ms. Feldman could not prove that she was handicapped, the Court still believe that she was entitled to keep the unit for medical reasons.

The case is cited as Feldman v. The Cryder House, (NY Sup.Ct. Queens Cty Index #16570/06).