Apartment 12E at 550 Park Avenue was in a co‑op. You can't always do what you want in a co‑op or a condominium. In fact, a co‑op may be more restrictive.
For the repairs that had to be done, particularly in relation to accessibility, would special approvals have had to be obtained from the city council, for example, since this was a heritage apartment and its structure or its architecture needed to be changed a little?