The ADA Complaint That Went Federal

Accessibility complaints are one of those slow-moving threats that co-op and condo boards rarely see coming — until they're already in trouble. In this episode, Louis Lipson and Eric Cohen, principals and architects at Ethelind Coblin Architect, walk through a real case that landed a New York City building in the crosshairs of the Department of Justice. What started as a single complaint from a patient visiting a doctor's office turned into a year-long process involving federal regulators, city agencies, attorneys, and some genuinely creative architectural problem-solving. Lipson and Cohen are candid about the constraints, the costs, and the moments where there simply wasn't a perfect answer. If you've ever wondered how buildings navigate the gap between what the law demands and what's physically possible, this might be the answer. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview.

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