buiness in a residential apartment

You can run a business in a condo apartment, but not in a coop apartment.

Why are you concerned? Are your upstairs neighbors and their business bothering you with too much noise?
If that's the case, it's probably in violation of condo rules and regs.

"You can run a business in a condo apartment, but not in a coop apartment."

That's hardly the TRUTH, Truth.

It depends entirely on the business and the building.

I live in a co-op, from which I run my media consulting business. I also run a freelance voiceover business from my apartment. The next-door neighbor runs an import/export business from his home. There's also a freelance writer running her business from home in this building, too.

None of us, however, would be able to run a dry-cleaning business, coin-op laundromat, or any other "business" that requires the use of heavy, noisy machinery and necessitates the constant foot traffic of visiting clients.

What sort of business do they run? Where I used to live, the upstair neighbor was filming pornos at night (dragging lights and A/V equipment all night, not to mention the screaming.)
We couldn't get anyone to care until he beat his girlfriend bloody.
I've had neighbors who were day traders (very quiet), writers (very quiet), students (mileage varies) and I didn't mind. It's not the business, it's the noise/traffic.

this is the business :http://www.hypnosischangeslives.com/thhi/index.cfm

do we think this is allowed. It is a converted loft building where some of the apartments have been converted like mine andsome are still rent protected and not converted, ilke the hypnosis center. it doesnt really bother me but i still want to know.

i would expect that most coops would require it to be like a doctor's office, commercial space and on lobby level. there will be too much traffic compared to the businesses that matt pointed out.

it is a cono. so are there any official city laws or is this on a case by case basis?

sorry condo

Yes, in addition to the rules of the co-op/condo, there are also zoning laws. You can't just run a business out of your house, especially if it requires customers to constantly come and go.

you would need to check the condo book to see what is and is not permitted.

Matt: Obviously, nobody is going to run a laundrymat or a dry cleaning business out of an upstairs apartment, in a residential building.

And, I pointed out that noise from foot-traffic would be a violation of condo rules and regs.

Check your condo's bylaws, BigG. Matt lives in a co-op, so he doesn't know "the truth" about what is allowed in a condo building. What I suggested to you was certainly truthful enough. And, I have owned a co-op in the past, too. A business that involves an owner and his computer, would be allowed in any building. There are no rules against using a computer in a residential apartment.

I don't really know the details, but a neighbor of mine (a psychologist) sees his clients in his apartment (it's a condo). Most Manhattan neighborhoods are zoned for mixed use, so zoning may not be an issue, as long as the bldg. allows it.

We have shrinks with offices in my building, and not on the lobby level. It's a condo.

No shrinks were allowed to see clients in the co-op I lived in. Not in any other co-op that I know of.

I knew a shrink who worked out of her coop apartment, on a fairly high floor, so it's not strictly a condo vs. coop thing. This was in midtown on a very mixed res/comm street, so the cooperators were probably more comfortable with biz in the bldg. than others would be.

Anyway, I think we can reasonably assume that an industrial building at the tunnel on/off cluster permits hypnosis.

I don't know why Matt presented three cases of unemployed persons in denial sitting home all day ... it's not really relevant.

> No shrinks were allowed to see clients in the co-op I lived in. Not in any other co-op that I know > of.

I know two shrinks in co-ops, not on ground floor.

Well, it varies from co-op to co-op. In general, they don't allow it. Foot traffic, etc.

So, you're talking about the co-op you know of ; that allows it.

Contingent upon the house rules, most Condo's have a flex policy when it comes to running a business out of their apartment. (a completely separate issue if they are hanging signs out of their windows)

You can't hang anything outside your window, in my building. I would have hung out the President of the Condo Board, the super, and the managing agent. Then ,dropped them.

"I don't know why Matt presented three cases of unemployed persons in denial sitting home all day ... it's not really relevant."

What am I "denying", Boo?

you also must check zoning law at nyc.gov
There is some notions of what can be done where.
Coops and condos often have reles regarding just such questions.
It can be very building/business specific.
I just finished a zoning issue concerning a commercial coop. You would be suprised at what you might learn about when you investigate a property.

That's true, Falco. In my building, you'll find my super wearing his pink shirt. He's sitting in his office, behind the closed door; playing with himself.