Dear Neighbors,
If anyone attended Tuesday’s meeting—or even attempted to follow it on our miserable Zoom—one could easily come away with the impression that we are living under a dictatorship in our otherwise beautiful building.
Chairman Mao (Stewart) is firmly in control. If anyone disagrees, he is prepared to call the police—which he has actually done—or take whatever other measure he believes necessary to stifle dissent.
The rest of the Central Committee (Board of Directors) seems to follow along like little ducklings.
Why? Ask them.
Some of us blame Castle, Falcon, PG Restoration, or the other vendors we seem to shamelessly overpay.
They are NOT the ones ultimately responsible.
It is our Board that gives these vendors the authority to proceed and approves what they do. All vendors are in business to make a profit. When that profit is handed to them on a silver platter, they take it.
Consider Falcon Engineering.
Falcon prepared a Phase I Milestone Inspection Report in 2023 and, naturally, identified items requiring attention in a building more than 30 years old.
However, less than two years later, in Falcon’s Façade Restoration Project Manual, many of the items identified in the initial report underwent a substantial reassessment.
A glaring example is the Porte Cochere project.
The Phase I report estimated the skylight repairs at approximately $3,000.
The project we are now undertaking will cost at least $260,000.
That is an enormous difference.
We specifically asked Management to provide the Falcon report, recommendation, or other documentation supporting the claim that this work is part of Recertification, as stated in the Weekly Update of September 18, 2026.
We have yet to receive it.
What changed between 2023 and 2025 to justify such a dramatic increase in scope and cost?
Did any Board member question it?
Look at our neighbors in Towers 300 and 100, whose balconies, for example, appear to have undergone considerably less work, yet both buildings were certified.
How did that happen?
Who was responsible for making sure that the engineer’s recommendations were properly questioned and independently evaluated before owners were asked to pay millions of dollars?
The issue is not whether Castle, Falcon, PG Restoration, or any other vendor is making a profit.
The issue is whether our Board is doing its job.
We have repeatedly asked reasonable questions about projects, costs, contracts, and documentation. Instead of addressing those questions, Management and the Board have largely ignored them—including our request to explain the approximately $163,000 paid to Kmedia/Techno IP when the contracts we have been able to identify total only about $70,000.
Where is the other approximately $93,000 documented?
The fundamental question is:
Are our Board members exercising the independent judgment and oversight that owners have a right to expect?
If so, why are they unwilling to answer reasonable questions from the owners they represent?
We are not giving up.
Neither should you.
Thank you. Fabian Angarita, Henry Kaplan, Marty Soll, Matthew Roth
P.S. Please take a few minutes to read a financial analysis prepared by Ms. Orit Mimoun, now posted on the Documents page of mysticpointe500owners.org. Matthew and Orit have not always agreed on issues concerning our building. Nevertheless, this updated analysis is based principally on financial information, records, and calculations that owners can examine for themselves. We believe you should have the opportunity to read it and draw your own conclusions.