NYC Real Estate Insurance Specialist
Principal, Somers Agency · Founder, City Building Owners Insurance Program
For nearly five decades, Stu Cohen has helped landlords, building owners, and homeowners across the New York metropolitan area understand their insurance options and make coverage decisions with confidence.
About
Stu Cohen has spent his career focused on a single market: real estate insurance in the greater New York City area. That depth of focus translates into practical advantages for clients—an understanding of which carriers perform well in this market, which programs offer genuine value for specific building types, and how to navigate the underwriting realities that make NYC property insurance different from anywhere else.
His work is guided by a straightforward principle: clients make better decisions when they understand their options. That means plain explanations, honest comparisons, and recommendations built around each property's specific risk profile rather than a standard product offering.
Stu is the principal of Somers Agency, a full-service insurance agency in Westchester County serving clients throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and the founder of the City Building Owners Insurance Program, which specializes in landlord and building owner coverage for properties of 50 units or fewer.
Named a Power Broker by Risk & Insurance magazine, he has served as an advisor to Small Property Owners of New York and the Community Housing Improvement Program, and has been quoted in The New York Times.
Credentials & Recognition
Approach
The NYC real estate insurance market is not straightforward. Carriers enter and exit, programs shift, and the factors that determine whether a building is insurable—and at what premium—change more often than most landlords realize. Stu's role is to track those conditions continuously and translate them into practical guidance for each client.
That means reviewing coverage at every renewal rather than rolling policies over automatically, identifying programs that may offer better terms for a specific building type, and flagging risk factors that could affect insurability before they become problems. Roughly half of new clients either reduce their premiums or receive improved coverage at a comparable cost after an initial policy review.
The 92% year-over-year client retention rate reflects that approach. Clients stay because the relationship keeps delivering value.
City Building Owners Insurance
The City Building Owners Insurance Program, founded by Stu Cohen, provides landlord and building insurance for residential and mixed-use properties across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The program specializes in smaller buildings—those with 50 units or fewer—where tailored guidance matters most and standard policies often fall short.