COH´-ahp
Co-op is short for cooperative, a building owned by shareholders, each of whom has the right to the use of an apartment within the building.
Co-ops differ from condominiums in that condominium owners actually own their individual condos as real property, while co-op members are investors in a building.
Co-op boards set their own standards for approving new members, and they can be notoriously picky about whom they select.
Most of New York City’s prewar apartment buildings are run as co-ops.
We’d love to live in a Manhattan co-op, but the snooty residents reject us every time we apply.